BUILDING A PORT MADISON PRAM WITH ERIC HVALSOE

Course Description

Join renowned boatbuilder Eric Hvalsoe as we build a new Port Madison Pram! This series of classes will take you through the complete build process from lofting, to planking, to spar construction and rigging. The project will blend traditional boatbuilding techniques with modern plywood and epoxy construction. We’ll be working off Bill Gardens original drawings from 1955 obtained from Mystic Seaport Museums Garden Collection. This will be the first Port Madison Pram built in decades, and the first Garden design to be built in the Bill Garden Boatshop of the Wagner Education Center. 

ABOUT THE PRAM
The Port Madison Pram was designed by William Garden in 1955 for the Port Madison Yacht Club on Bainbridge Island as a youth sail training vessel. The design quickly became popular among club members with dozens of prams built and raced regularly for decades. There is still an active, albeit small, fleet that sail off of Bainbridge Island. The vessel was designed as a low-cost sailboat that could easily be built at home. Its centerboard construction and plywood bottom make it easy to transport via trailer and launch from a beach. It was designed to use the sailing rig from the Philip Rhodes designed Penguin which were common and readily available.

Design: Port Madison Pram 

Length: 13’ 5” 

Width: 5’ 7” 

Designer: William Garden 

Year: 1955 

About the Instructor: 

Eric Hvalsoe has more than 30 years of experience in small wooden craft design and construction, marine carpentry and fine woodworking. Trained as a professional boatwright, Hvalsoe has also taught students around the world in the finer points of wooden boat construction.

CLASS SCHEDULE

A note about this class series: This is a complete build of a new boat. As such it is difficult to predict exactly what phase of the build will be conducted in future classes. There are multiple factors that can impact the build timeline such as: number of students in a class, unknown challenges, and mistakes that need to be remedied which can delay or speed up the process. We will do our best to articulate the next phase of construction as the project progress. Below is a tentative estimate of where the process will be at in future sessions.

Session 1 | January 13 - 16

Lofting, get out frames, transoms, apron with CB slot

This session has ended.

Session 2 | February 3 - 6

Build strongback, get out transom knees (optional) put up frames and transoms 

Set apron (make pattern of rocker for CB case) 

This session has ended.

Session 3 | February 17 - 20

Install and bevel chines 

Put up hull sides 

Bevel apron and hull sides 

Fitting bottoms 

This session has ended.

Session 4 | March 3 - 6

Install bottom plank 

Bevel bottom centerline for keel  

Glass bottom  

Minimum glass tape chines and lower transoms 

Fit, possibly install keel 

Possibly rotate hull 

Begin assembly of CB trunk 

This session has ended.

Session 5 |March 17 - 20

Install keel if needed, hull then upright 

Complete and install CB trunk  

Fit thwart cleats and thwarts, cap, floorboards 

This session has ended.

Session 6 | April 7-10

This session has ended.

Continuation of interior work, and/or rudder and centerboard fabrication