Chapter xvi

HOUSE-BOATS AND RAFTS


A House-punt


A HOUSE-PUNT of very simple construction is shown in
Fig. 1. The punt is from sixteen to twenty-four feet
long according to the size desired, but for a party of four
boys it should be twenty-four feet long, eight feet wide, and
two feet deep with a cabin eight feet high.
The sides and middle rib should be of pine, spruce, or
white-wood one inch and a quarter thick, free from sappy
places and knots. If the boards cannot be had as long as
twenty-four feet nor as wide as two feet, use two boards
twelve inches wide and make one joint at the middle of the
lower board and two in the upper board as shown in the
drawing of the side elevation (Fig. 2). Six inches down
from the top at either end and thirty inches in at the bottom
cut the sides as shown so that the punt will have a shovel-
nose at both ends and can be poled or sailed in either
direction. Make a third or middle rib the same size as the
side board. This is to be placed at the middle of the punt
so as to receive the sheathing and deck planking. The
arrangement of this middle rib and the side boards is shown
in Fig. 3 and at A in Fig. 3. A batten is shown to which
the upper and lower boards of a side are nailed fast. If the
two boards are used it will be necessary to arrange these
battens along the inside of each side about eighteen inches
apart. They should be of tough wood five or six inches
wide, an inch and a quarter thick, and two feet long.
Galvanized boat nails should be used, and when driven
in from the outside they should be clinched at the inside.
Good boat nails are of malleable iron stiff enough to go
through hard-wood but ductile enough to be turned over at
the ends with a light hammer and quick, sharp blows.
The sheathing and deck planking should be not less than
four inches and not more than six inches in width, and before
it is put on it should be well sun-dried to take out all moisture.
It should then be given two good coats of paint on both sides
to make it water-proof.
Lay the sides and middle rib bottom up and begin to
sheath from one end. Lumber sixteen feet long should be
used, and this, when cut in half, will make two pieces from
each length. If matched boards are used smear the edges
with white-lead before the boards are driven together, but if
straight edge lumber is employed it will be necessary to lead
and wick the joints. This is done by taking a piece of round
iron one-quarter of an inch in diameter and eight inches long
and bending it as shown at Pig. 4 A. Lay this on the fiat
edge of each board at the middle and heat the iron so as to
form a groove as shown at Fig. 4 B. The wood, having been
beaten in, forms a gully in which a string of lamp-wick can
be laid as shown in Fig. 4 C. The groove must not be cut
with a chisel for then its effect would be lost. The object
of this treatment is that when the punt is in the water the
joint swells forcing out the wood against the lamp-wick and
making a water-tight joint. The edges of the wood and the
wicking must be well smeared with white-lead in order to
properly calk the joint.
Between the middle rib and each side an inner keel should
be arranged so that each plank can be nailed fast to it. This
will act as an additional brace to hold the sheathing planks
in place and make the bottom more rigid. This inner keel
should extend from end to end of the punt, and short pieces
may be laid inside the bevelled ends to lend added strength.
At each end a spruce plank eight inches wide is made fast
with long boat nails, first leading all the joints to make them
water-tight. The deck planks are laid on the same as the
sheathing, and to brace them from underneath, in the space
between the middle rib and the sides, two-by-three inch
spruce rails are propped on short sticks which are nailed to
the inner keel and to the rails as shown at Fig. 5. These
under props should be arranged about eighteen inches apart,
the entire' length of the punt. Groove the upper edges of
the end and side, planks with the iron, then lay the lamp-
wicking in, lead, and nail down the planking, taking care to
put the nails in straight and true. When the punt is fin-
ished give it several good coats of copper paint on the bottom
and sides and several coats of good marine paint on the
deck.
To construct the cabin lay down the sill-joist of two-by-
three inch spruce, making the plan fourteen feet long and
seven feet and eight inches wide (Fig. 6). To this nail
the uprights and bracing timbers, forming the sides and
ends as shown in the drawings of the side and end elevation
(Fig. 7). The door spaces at the ends should be three feet
wide and seven feet high, so that when trimmed and the
doors hung the actual size will be two feet and eight inches
wide by six feet and ten inches high.
The window openings are two feet wide by two feet and
six inches high, and between all the uprights braces are
nailed fast to prevent the frame from racking. The arrange
ment of framing timbers is quite clearly shown in the draw-
ings, and in the deck plan (Fig. 6) the arrangement of the
bunks is indicated. Across the top of the framework one-
and-a-half-by-six-inch beams are laid having their upper
edge crowned as shown in the end elevation (Pig. 7). Over
these the roofing boards are laid lengthwise, and on top of
them canvas is drawn and tacked down all around the edges
with copper tacks.
The roofing boards may be of three-quarter-inch stuff
planed on both sides and from two to four inches wide,
whichever is the easiest to obtain. The boards should ex-
tend over the ends and sides for two or three inches so that
a finishing moulding can be made fast under the boards.
Give the top of the boards two good coats of paint, then
stretch oiled canvas over the top and tack it fast. Several
coats of paint will finish the canvas and make it hard enough
to walk on, for in pleasant weather this upper deck will make
a pleasant place to spend many hours under the shade of a
canopy. The cabin sheathing is of narrow matched boards
planed on both sides and as free from knots and sappy places
as it is possible to get them. The boards must be thoroughly
sun-dried before they are laid on and nailed fast, and it
would be well also to paint the matched edges so that moist-
ure may not get in and swell them. The inside and outside
of the cabin is to be painted to protect the wood from
moisture, and if painted a light tint of any color, or white, it
will be cooler in summer when the sun is shining than if
coated with a dark color. Dark colors absorb light and
heat while light ones reflect or shed them.
The window-sashes should be arranged on hinges so that
they may be swung in and back against the inside of the
cabin and hooked. Or, by cutting away a part of the up-
right, the sash may be arranged to slide. Wire screening
may be tacked over the window frame at the outer side to
keep out flies and mosquitoes, and screen doors can be made
also for the front and rear doorways-to swing in, as the
wooden doors swing out.
Over the rear deck a canopy is arranged on poles. This
is similar to a tent fly for camping, and will shed the sun and
rain from the deck when the cook is preparing meals.
A small cook-stove may be arranged inside the cabin, but
if it is not convenient to carry coal in a box on the deck an
oil-stove will answer every purpose.
Two bunks may be built in on each side, one above the
other, and four wire springs may be arranged to rest on
battens driven across the bunks at the head and foot. A
small hatch should be cut in the rear deck and another one
through the cabin floor so that a few things may be stored
in the hold. The aft hatch should be provided with a suc-
tion-pump so that any water that leaks in can be readily
pumped out.
Rings, cleats, and ropes should be provided for the punt,
and two anchors would be better than one, especially when
near the shore or in shallow water, to hold the punt from
swinging, which it is sure to do if there is any wind or waves.
Always anchor it so that the wind is blowing on one end and
not broadside as it is a strain on the anchors and ropes to
hold a boat broadside on.
By erecting a spar fifteen or twenty feet high and four or
five inches in diameter, a square-sail can be rigged on yard-
arms so that the house-punt can be sailed before the wind.
A long oar will be necessary to steer with, or a portable
rudder may be made and hung to the stern with pins and
ropes.
A house-punt of this description will be a very great
source of enjoyment to several boys in the summer-time,
and in the winter when not in use the punt can be hauled
out on shore, the windows boarded up, and old canvas
drawn over the decks to protect them from the sun.