Pocketship – a 15-foot cruising sailboat

A 15 foot cruising sailboat that sleeps two

Currently in the shop is a Pocketship design by John C. Harris. This amazing little gaff-rigged sailboat is 15 feet long, plus a bowsprit. It has a sitting headroom cabin that supposedly sleeps two very close friends. We view it more as a solo micro cruiser. The boat is built using Chesapeake Light Craft’s stitch-and-glue method in which plywood panels are held together using wire ties, then joined with fiberglass and lots of epoxy. The entire hull is then covered inside and outside in fiberglass and epoxy. Sounds simple but there is a lot to do finishing this complex little boat.

POCKETSHIP NEWS – The Pocketship is sold and will be out of the shop soon. Time to look for the next project. This is a good opportunity for a custom build. Let us know what you have in mind. 

It is a major life downsizing effort, going from eight summers in France on a 21 meter, 65-ton steel canal barge. But it is loads of fun to build, step by step by step. We’ve just started and expect it to take two winters to complete. We’ve already melted 120 pounds of reclaimed lead and poured the keel. Hull panels are just being wired together.Here’s is where the construction is at now. 

sides attached copy
The Pocketship fills the shop. Here the bottom and side panels are joined to the keel with twisted wire ties. Next comes adding the remaining frames, floors and bulkheads and then lots and lots of epoxy and fiberglass

This is what the boat should look like when it is completed.

pocketship-lead-photo

If you squint a bit to shrink the size of the sailor, it will look like a full sized sailboat.

Here’s a video from Chesapeake Light Craft. We’ll post progress photos.