Jordania - Building the Uqbar Dinghy

Copyright 2014 by Redjeb Jordania. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The name International Marine and all associated logos are trademarks of McGraw-Hill Education. The publisher takes no responsibility for the use of any of the materials or methods described in this book, nor for the products thereof.

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By M. K. Benjamin and A. Flores

By John A. Russell, Jr.

T he pram-nosed rowing or sailing dinghy has long been a favorite of sailors for its stability, large carrying capacity, and seaworthy characteristics. Our Uqbar family of prams further enhances those qualities through superior design and the use of modern materials and construction techniques. (Note: Italicized terms are defined in the Brief Glossary or the Extended Glossary, or both.)

Uqbars are built of ash, pine, and marine mahogany or fir plywood held together with epoxy productsa composite construction that yields what is in effect a one-piece hull that cannot leak and requires almost no maintenance.

6', 7', 8', and 10' superlight prams even you can build!

Ready to sail.

The Uqbar Name

The name Uqbar is borrowed from Tln, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, a short story by the twentieth-century Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. In the story, an encyclopedia article about a mysterious country called Uqbar is the first indication of a massive conspiracy of intellectuals to imagine and thereby create a world known as Tln.

In much the same way, I imagined, designed, and built a trimaran and its tender, which I baptized Tln and Uqbar, thus creating my own new world in which to escape the humdrum of our everyday universe.

Estimated Materials and Costs

Costs will vary widely, of course, depending on which model you build, the type of soft- and hardwoods you purchase, and a number of other variables. However, below is a rough estimate of the cost of materials used to build a rowing model Uqbar.

Epoxy: about $40 per quart, or $160 for a kit that includes 1 gallon, plus pumps, thickeners, and fiberglass tape.

Plywood:

LUAN (Philippine mahogany)about $20 per 4' 8' Luan sheet. Luan usually has a solid core material sandwiched between two layers of veneer. In total, youll spend about $50 when using Luan.

EXTERIOR GRADE GOOD TWO SIDESa good alternative to Luan, and necessary for U10 since Luan does not usually come in 4' 10' sheets. About $31 per 4' 8' sheet, and $40 per 4' 10' sheet.

MARINEquite a bit more expensive, and not necessary. About $45 per 4' 8' sheet.

Other Wood: about $40.

Fasteners: very few fasteners are used, but set aside about $25.

The grand total for a rowing model, then, is about $300 to $375, to which must be added the cost of oars and oarlocks. These range from $12/pair (zinc) to $52/pair (bronze).

If youre building a sailing model, youll also need to include in your estimate the cost of spars, sail, pintles and gudgeons, and lines.

SPARS and LINES: about $45.

PINTLES/GUDGEONS (two of each): prices range from $15 to $54 each.

SAIL: about $250 for U8 and U7, or $300 for U10.

Keep in mind that even if youre building a sailing or motoring dinghy youll want to have oars (or at least paddles) aboard in case of emergency.