Caladesi Dory Build Part 1 

Fantastic video. Truly genuine. I hope to build one as well some day.

It’s a beauty👌

Really enjoyed this. Thank you! And, terrific work! Love the colors and the wood choices.

I'm sure the boat show people were drooling over all that white oak. Looks great.

Excellent choice of materials. I see so many homebuilder skimp there, but with the amount of labor invested I cant unserstand why anyone would go cheap.

Great video on your build. I'm doing the same design and have been working on it on and off for about 18 months. You did some of the same things I did. I haven't skinned it yet, but had settled on the thicknesses of plywood you mentioned, as well as doing 3 layers of 6 oz fiberglass instead of 2. Some things I did differently: Instead of butt-joining the frames, I cut 1/2" deep laps so that the resulting shoulder would give extra strength after joining. Further, I did not butt and pocket-screw the transom together. I half-lapped at every single intersection; I believed this would be stronger. I epoxy'd each joint fully and face-screwed with 1-1/4" stainless screws. I also cut in 1/2" plywood panels on the inside of the transom with a router, sanded it perfectly flat, and then applied 2 layers of fiberglass on that surface and sanded. Seemed like doing this ahead of time made more sense as doing so sitting inside the boat would be a pain. Your "jig" for flipping the boat was pure genius. I'm stealing that idea. You're from NC, my second home. I miss it so sometimes. Great place to live. One day I'd like to drop the boat in Bogue Sound. BTW, I believe the unidentified wood may be cypress. Plentiful down in NC near the coast. Mills up great and is quite resistant to rot.

Nicely done! Great video as well. Very informative.

Thanks so much for your work in recording this! I plan on building Jeff’s Tillamook dory, and this helped me understand the process a little better. I love the colors you chose, and your use of materials. I hope you’re enjoying your boat!

Like and subscribed. Keep up the excellent work!

Awesome build and beautiful paint job ! Two 👍👍up ! Where's part 2 ?

Proud of you dad!

Nicely done, she is looking great! Let me know if you'd be willing to share the plans with me. I am looking to build a dory and have Seneca plans but like the heavy rake on the sheer this one has.

Great job!

Hi Brother Michael. Thanks for this video. You've done a great job with both the boat build & video production thus far. Interesting to watch you complete the interior. Any particular details in mind? If you go with our dear belated friends advice of doing what ever you want with your boat, all will be o.k. Just a quick question about the frames. Did you use 1x4 lumber instead of 2x4 for some of them? If you did, that's great, it would reduce the over all weight of the boat. If you didn't, well, it's time for me to change my glasses. I see that you did like me and cut out the slots for the chine log and sheer clamp before assembling the frames unto the strong-back with the keelson. I realized that when I was ready to attach the longitudinal lumbers, most of my previous cuts to the bow & stern ends of the boat where off angle and I had to do some extra cutting and filling for the gaps left. I also had to do more fairing of the frames. I fell for this mistake because it was easier for me to cut these slots with the frames unattached. All in all, keep up the good work that you're doing on your Caladesi. This will certainly prepare you for a greater challenge down the road. Until your next video, may blessings be upon you and yours.

Nice job! Would love some video of it at sea.

Beautiful boat! That’s the one I was planning to build after I retired but sadly Jeff passed just before I left my job and it was too late to purchase the plans. I did build a similar scale model to see if I thought I could recreate something similar but I have not convinced myself that I can build it full scale yet but I may try this winter. I’m thinking maybe powering with a 40 hp what are you going to use for your boat if you don’t mind my asking. Thanks for the video I enjoyed it very much…

Now that Jeff Spira has passed away, all of his designs are lost. Only those who have these last prints are privy to his work. sad.

Sire i want to build a Panga boat were did you get ur plans ?? Thx for you advice...

Would you be willing to share the plans? I've bought one of his plans in the past for a dory and intended to buy a skiff plan but, as you mentioned he passed away and I can't get them now...