10'-6" Rhodes Wherry
The Rhodes wherry is a wonderful little boat with a very long ancestry, being a direct descendant of the wherries used along the Thames in 15th century England. This particular model was bred for the Atlantic Salmon fishery that flourished here on this part of the Maine coast for about a century. Duck Trap was, and still is home to the wherries—and we've built more of them than anyone.
The original Rhodes model was built by Stimp Rhodes over the winter of 1898-99, and launched in Duck Trap Cove in the spring. She was a present for Ozzie Wade on his 10th birthday; he was destined to become the last surviving salmon fisherman, some 80 years later. This boat is the one I built early in 2004. A great deal more background information is in Wherries, as well as on photo CD—in fact, this is the boat that was photographed for it.

She was an ideal boat for a boy. A smaller version than the ones his father was using regularly to tend the salmon weirs, she was nonetheless an able sea boat, and one that would take care of a youngster when the going got a bit rough. She’s a wherry, after all, and they are well suited working on and off the shore.


But even at 10’-6” overall, she’s a lot more than a youngster’s boat. They make very able yacht tenders, and they will carry an adult or two and a couple of children. Of course, it’s a great design for teaching young sailors the fundamentals. It’s also a great design for gunkholing, because with her plank keel, she can slide right in through reeds and over shoals where other boats would ground out. When it comes right down to it, the Rhodes Wherry is a lot of fun to row and sail—and she can even be outboard powered if you are so inclined.

Specifications include: 9mm Okoume planking, oak transom, thwarts, and rails, spruce spars, Dacron lugsail of approximately 60 square feet, and spun Dacron lines. Construction is glued lapstrake for ease of maintenance. Kickup rudder and daggerboard are Okoume marine plywood, aromored with epoxy. Belaying pins, rudder fittings, oarlocks and sockets, are bronze, our pattern. She is complete with a pair of 7' spruce oars...again, our pattern. This is a serious small craft with a very long pedigree, built to last a lifetime and beyond.

Located at Duck Trap Woodworking
Lincolnville Beach, Maine.

She has been sold, so you'll have to build your own.

Check out our Boatbuilding in Pictures CD...
this is the boat that was documented on the CD.
Of course, we also sell her plans.

 

Contact us by email should you require further information,
or phone 207-789-5363.

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© W. J. Simmons 2008