It has been so long that I've forgotten how or
exactly when I learned about Renn Tolman and
his Alaskan Skiff(s). I'm sure it was at least 4 or 5
years ago. Renn spent 20+ years building fishing
skiffs in Homer, Alaska for commercial fisherman.
Needless to say, this is a demanding environment
and over the years Renn continually experimented and refined his product. Eventually, he
decided to write a book about the skiff and how to build it. With feedback, comments,
suggestions and requests for changes or modifications, he developed three variations ---
standard, widebody and jumbo models. And he published another edition to describe the
variations and further information on building techniques and plans. This latest is Tolman
Alaskan Skiff and can be found on Amazon or from Renn directly at his web site
Whoops. I overlooked explaining what a Tolman Alaskan Skiff is. Here's a description
shamelessly plagiarized from Renn's own web site. Renn writes,
"Tolman skiffs are dory-style skiffs with semi-vee bottoms made of plywood/epoxy/fiberglass
(sometimes called stitch-and-glue or composite construction). I have built over sixty since
1986 for sport and commercial use, and many others have been built by amateurs and
professionals in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Europe, and elsewhere. I retired from
building skiffs commercially in 2000, and I now spend much of my summers using mine here
in Alaska.
I have designed three models, the "Standard," the "Widebody," and the "Jumbo." The
Standard and the Widebody are identical in profile, but the Widebody has a 3-inch "chine flat"
between the sides and bottom, like most fiberglass boats (ten million fiberglass boats can't be
wrong). The Jumbo is a larger skiff in every dimension, has a 4-inch chine flat, and has a
deeper vee bottom. The Jumbo is designed specifically to use the new four-stroke 115 to 150
horsepower engines."
In any event, I bought the book and joined the Yahoo Tolman group. It turns out this was/is a
very active group of guys (I can't recall any gals) who either were building Tolmans, had built
a Tolman (or two), or were hoping to do so. What a great group! Plenty of humor, tons of
useful advice and interesting exchanges about boating, fishing techniques, and so on....but
most all somehow centered around building a Tolman. er, except for the occassional foray
into politics. :)
A couple of years ago, the Yahoo group was given up in favor of "our own" Tolman web site.
A great guy, Steve O., is an experienced web master and volunteered to set up a site and act
as web master. If you have any interest in Tolmans at all, you can't do better than to check
out our current home
A wee bit about my woodworking background. Nearly 10 years ago, I did a stitch and glue
kayak kit from Pygmy of Port Townsend. It was the first time I had ever worked with epoxy
and fiberglass but it came out well enough, not a piece of art, you understand, but
acceptable. I have also some experience with house framing, building small out buildings
and a built-in bookcase or two. In short, I know my way around hand and power tools, but
would never qualify as a journeyman woodworker.
One other bit of information: As I begin this Tolman project, I'm still finishing up a 15' Faering
based on a design of Iain Oughtred. He's a well known small boat designer whose boats are
largely based on, or are derivatives of, traditional Norse boats or those of the Shetland
Islands. While not a stitch and glue, it does involve marine plywood planks in a lapstrake
style. Not a kit, his plans do include some full size patterns for molds, stems and frames, so
one does not have to loft the design into real life. This also uses epoxy if not fiber glass and
has provided some great experience in boat building.
How do I handle two boats at once? Well, we have two different houses: One on Bainbridge
Island with a detached two car garage where I am building the Faering; and, one up on the
north end of Hood Canal, where due to circumstances with which I won't bore you, I find my
self with a garage of major proportions --- 24' x 36' x 12' tall. Just the size I need to build a
Tolman with plenty of room to spare. So, during the week and some weekends, I work on the
small boat and on weekends or other days off, on the Tolman.
NOTE: Click on the small pictures to get the larger version.