My daughter turns 16 in a few weeks. This year, she has expressed interest in learning to sail. In honor of those two things, Magic Brock and I are refurbishing his 1969 Ranger sailing dinghy. Rich Passage still makes a form of this little vessel under the name Minto (for that whole story, see their website) and they will be the ones from whom we get a replacement sail and daggerboard. I’d love to get a spruce mast for her, but for now we will make do with the aluminum one that Brock had used in the past.

It is, of course, immediately obvious that all of the wood around the perimeter will need to be replaced. The teak seats are in decent condition; a light sanding and oil will bring them back to good shape.

I was thrilled because this meant that a trip to the “fancy wood store” was in order. Mahogany, purpleheart, cherry, teak, padouk, all just waiting to be worked into lovely pieces of art on a boat (to my mind, at least). Rockler Woodworking here in Seattle is a great source for hardwoods.

Goncalo Alves was my choice for the project. It has a beautiful reddish tone to it. My understanding is that there are two species of GA, one of which has more distinct striping and is called tigerwood. This one doesn’t have much striping to it, which is fine. It should be gorgeous when finished!