The Dancing Dexter

AKA Dingy of Decadence

Project: Venetian Galley for use at weekend events.
Time frame: October 2002 - July 2003

After the completion of the Den of Decadence I began to realize how great an idea it is to have a dry roof over my head and real walls. The solution? Something small and mobile for weekend events. The answer was so simple it was in my field of view at Pennsic for years. A boat.

One of the gypsies down the road at Pennsic had a horse trailer they covered with planks and converted into a Pirate ship. A grand idea in my opinion. Fairly simple to do, and completely mobile. In true Tommaso fashion my journey to the end wasn't as easy or simple.

The first step was to pump the guy who owned the ship down the road for every bit of info I could get. How did it handle on the road, how long did it take, how he attached the exterior, making the keel, the ladder, etc etc etc. I'm pretty sure that the guy has me on his ignore list in his email. As luck would have it, I had been discussing the idea with one of my shire mates when he told me his brother in law had an old horse trailer he wanted to get rid of for free. Needless to say I picked the trailer up within a few hours.

The trailer was only 9x5 on the interior; it was designed for smaller horses and ponies and was in pretty bad shape. The hitch was messed up, the metal walls were rusted thru and the wooden floor was broken and soiled. I slowly began to disassemble the trailer while I tried to envision how I was going to make it into a Venetian ship. Originally I wanted to work with the existing structure for simplicity and safety, but as I progressed I realized the size was too small for me to be comfortable. Trusty sawzall and grinder in hand, I reduced the trailer to its base, the walls, roof, and wooden floor were removed. Only the frame and wheel wells remained. The hitch was cut off and a new, safer replacement was installed by the same gentle that installed the hitch on the den of decadence.

With the bare frame no revealed, I went over the entire frame with a wire brush and paint, cleaning all the rust off and covering it with a coat of paint to prevent future corrosion. Image a 7x7 box with a triangle on end and that’s the frame. I still hadn't found a design but had an idea of what I wanted. A horse trailer is designed with a large box area over the dual axles to support all the weight of the horses, that large box is connected to the vehicle by a triangle shaped part of the frame (and a hitch). The area over the triangle is semicircular for wind flow and is used for the storage of feed, tools, saddles, etc. I didn't want to put allot of weight on that part of the frame, as it wasn't designed for that purpose. To increase my interior space I bent two pieces of 3/8 flat steel I had (2" wide by maybe 48" long) into slight arcs. On either side of the triangle about 18" back from the hitch they ran to the outer part of the wheel wells. This was to be the base of the exterior frame. These pieces were welded to the frame and wheel well along with some perpendicular pieces for support. A shorter, slightly curved piece was put in across the interior of the triangle to 'complete' the semicircle. The idea was to give it a graceful looking bow without being too wide or too narrow, while increasing the interior space a good deal.

At this point I had the boat down to designs, a 15th century Venetian war galley which is more functional with a single mast and one raised stern castle and a more grandiose 14th century Grand Galley. The grand galley features more masts, several rows of oars, and a covered stern castle. The latter is a far more 'ritzy' boat and was usually reserved for the Doge or other blue bloods. I was shooting for the grand galley but in the end the war galley was simply a better application to the design I was following.

The curves for the bow were in and I began to build a frame out of angled steel. Vertical pieces from the wheel wells at the bow curve were done first, then vertical pieces at the tail of the trailer. A piece was then attached to the wheel well and to the two uprights to create square corners, then capped with a piece across the top. This was repeated on the other side, then the pieces were connected with a length across the top of the stern. About 2 foot in front of this piece another was placed spanning the sides. This piece was turned so the outer flat sides were to the bottom and back to allow the floor of the deck and the stern castle to be built off this right angle. Another piece was placed across the top connecting the uprights at the front of the wheel wells. This piece is if greater importance because it is the center of my spoke. I had welded two pieces to the curved pieces at the base of the bow. These pieces came straight up (not curved outward) and were held in place by a spoke originating from this cross piece. If looking down on the trailer with the hitch being due north, the cross piece was east/west and these new uprights were northeast and northwest. These were put in straight rather than curved cause I wasn't sure of my bow curvature yet. I figured I could insert spacers to get the curve I wanted later on. A third piece of the spoke was put on going north to hold the keel in place. A long piece of flat steel (bout 3/8 thick, 3 inches wide) was run along the length of the center of the main section floor and welded to the frame to help stiffen the floor up a bit. The old floor was 2x6 planks that ran the length of the trailer, so they were very firm, but heavy. After the steel was welded in I put a layer of 3/8 pressure treated plywood down as a floor. In hindsight half inch or 3/4 would have been a better choice. The floor was rather bouncy, but I was able to fix that a bit.

Keel

With the frame in place I made the keel. I wanted a nice curving keel to help match the rest of the bow, but it isn't really easy to bend a piece of wood that size. So, using scrap pieces of 4x4 I cut 2 foot pieces and laid them on the workbench overlapping to get the curve I was looking for. Fairly sharp curve at the bottom that straightened out but did angle out slightly at the top. I cut the scrap pieces and scabbed them together to put onto the boat to be sure I got the angle correct. Using the scabbing I was able to take a screw out, adjust the angle a bit with a wedge of wood, put the screw back in and look at the curve. The main trouble was that the curve had to end and go straight about half way along the keel, and it took several attempts to actually get it right. In the end each of the 4 pieces had a bit of an angle cut off of it, the next piece having much less of an angle. Once satisfied with the look I traced each piece's shape on a piece of scrap 1/4 wood and cut the pieces out of a new pressure treated 4x4 and assembled them with countersunk screws. The bottom piece was notched a little bit to over hang that slightly curved piece I welded between the legs of the triangle, the keel was bolted to this piece and a flat piece of steel welded under it. Finally that last welded 'spoke' mention before was attached to the top of the keel to hold it in place.

Now that I had a skeleton I needed to give a bit more definition to the curve of the bow. I cut several pieces of 2x4 into short lengths then assembled them to form a curve, cutting them at angles the same way I did the keel. Laying them on the workbench till I got the curve I liked (and that fit from the keel to upright at the wheel well) I scabbed them together and made a second one. These pieces were attached to the back of the keel at the top and then to the upright at the front of the wheel well, so looking down from above the first pieces welded to the frame gave the bottom of the ship its curved bow at the water line, these pieces gave the bow its (wider) curve at the deck level. Along with giving the bow definition it provided me with a surface to trace my deck against and to attach both decking and side planks too. Remember those uprights along the curve? Since the ship would be wider at the top than the bottom, a spacer was needed to connect the top curve to the upright. Finally, to give that nautical look I took a scrap of 4x4 about 4 feet long and cut a taper into it. Three of the sides were brought in an inch then cut and sanded. I'm not sure what it’s called; I’ve been referring to it as a bow mast though. It was screwed (with very long screws) to the top of the keel.

Heres what it looked like at that point. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Metal is a pain to attach wood to. And it’s heavy to boot. So to give me a more workable surface I studded out the walls of the ship. I notched the ends of the 2x4s so they would be flush with the surface (2 deep by 4 wide) of the angle steel then screwed them fast. Since the boat isn't that long I only put 2 studs on either side of the main body and then studs on either side of the corners and the middle of the back. I figured now was as good a time as any to add windows so I studded out one on either side along the back about chest high from inside the trailer, neck high from the outside. At this point I began to build the stern castle as well. Nothing amazing about it really, just a foot-by-foot box on top of the back of the frame with two windows over the deck.

Deck

The deck was next. I couldn't add the walls till I had a roof, since they'd have to connect. In the skeleton I had placed a piece of angle steel upright to give me a flat surface to work against. The stern castle was built against this and it is where I started the decking. Using a sheet of 3/4 plywood with marine paint on it that I had gotten for free I made the first part of the deck. I laid it on the roof, lined it up, marked the overhang line, cut it and screwed it to the steel frame. As luck would have it this piece stopped right about where the curve began, right at the 'spoke'. The next piece of plywood was also 3/4 but of different grade and quality, it was placed up against the first piece and was centered on the frame. Using a pencil I traced the curve onto the sheet then cut it out with a saber saw. This piece was attached to the steel frame from the underside like the first piece but was also screwed to the wooden curves. This is a good time to note my dumb luck. Several times I had to get off of the boat when working on the decking. Seems the shocks are designed to have a lot of play in them, and I kept getting seasick from the rocking I was causing while working on it.

The Name

When i had originally proposed the idea of making a boat out of a trailer one of my friends had decided to have some fun with me. She started coming up with names for this new boat, the barge of booze, the ship of sin, etc etc. She finally decided on one that was most fitting, the Dingy of Decadence. It was rather fitting cause the house i built for Pennsic was the Den of Decadence. So in between steps on the project, or during a bout of builders block i worked on the sign. Not long after the sign was finished i had found a better name. My dear and loyal dog Dexter was almost always a companion on my weekend events and as he was getting along with age I felt it was a fitting tribute to name it after him. The dingy of decadence was officially renamed the Dancing Dexter, and a new sign, carved in an exotic wood and colored with gold was made. Though Dexter was on hand for the design, construction, and preparation of the ship he sadly passed away three weeks before its maiden voyage. His collar with its licenses now hang inside the ship, above the door so that the unique sound they made is never far.

Exterior

I also at this time began to toy with the interior layout. Where would I put the bed? The cabinets? Would things fold out or be static? With the skeleton of the ship in place I could begin to envision where things went, though my dimensions were very limited. The boat was barely wide enough for me to sleep in, but I made due with it for sake of the vision (hindsight: put personal comfort before the dream, joy becomes despair at 3am when you are sleeping on your side in the fetal position on a very hard surface). I decided to put the cabinets on either side of the main part of the frame since it was designed for the most weight, while the bed went over the bow area. I decided on 4 cabinets: 3 would face into the interior, one being tall for hanging clothing, one being shelves for foldables and mundane clothing, the third for a fold out table or larger storage area. The fourth cabinet faced out on the starboard (right) side of the ship. This cabinet sort of came out of nowhere and became one of the highlights of the ship. The outer covering of the cabinet was designed so you reach your hand inside, pull out a cotter pin and slide down a lock, the cover would then tilt outward and come off of two points. This was your table, with its legs folded up on the inside. Behind this table a cutting board would fold out and shelves and storage space would be found. An external dry goods cabinet with a built in table. You can see it a bit here: 1

The main reason behind the elaborate sign was that I had reached a bit of a snag in construction. I was looking for a material for the outer skin. It had to be flexible enough to make the curve of the hull, but strong enough to stand up to weather and hauling. And it had to be affordable. I had found a local company that made a extremely flexible plywood, so flexible in fact you could fold an 8 foot sheet over so the ends touched. But it was only an eighth of an inch thick and rather expensive. In the end I bought some luaun at the local home center and used that. But how would I apply it? I had been using some very flexible particleboard pieces I had to figure out how to achieve the bend and curve I wanted without having large gaps or overlapping boards. Plus how wide should I make the boards? To narrow and it wouldn't look right, too wide and the boards wouldn't handle the curve properly. I took a little mathematical creative license and found a number that would give me the easiest route. I took the height of the keel plus the height at the point where the curve met the flat wall (at the wheel well) then divided by 2. Making 6-inch wide planks would give me an even number at 13 planks per side. While I double-checked and re-double checked my math I put planks on the back of the trailer. Firstly I made a door and put into the existing opening and temporarily attached it to the structure with some screws. Since the back was flat I used some thin plywood I had lying around and went to work. Starting at the bottom and working my way up, I worked all the planks off of one corner to keep them even. All except one, due to room constraints I had to do one the other way. Once the back was done, I climbed inside with my sawzall and cut out the door. It was easiest to do it from the inside cause I could use the frame to keep the blade straight. Downside is that the blade did some damage to the edge of the boards, in hindsight I should have attached a scrap board to the outside to reduce the damage caused by the saw. Heres what the back looked like: 1

The hull was by far the most annoying and troublesome part of the whole project. No straight lines, no square corners, everything was a curve or an angle or something else to put a wrinkle in the plans. First step was to figure out how to attach it to the keel. Originally I thought about putting the end of the planks behind the keel, but that created too harsh of a bend. I tried attaching a board to the side of the keel and using it to bend the planks against. But that created to many gaps at the keel. On a whim I cut a half inch groove along the inside corned of the keel on both sides. This way the planks would fit into the groove, could be nailed from the inside, have pressure to bend against, but not exceed the bend and crack the plank. To further assist the proper bending of the planks I took several 2x3s and repeated the process I did with the keel. The first was cut to angle outward and screwed to the floor. The others would be angled and attached as I went along. When the first side was done then I could climb inside and duplicate the first one to make both sides even. The first plank was slid into place, bent and marked for cutting. Since the planks were 8 feet long I had to cut the first few short to fit against the wheel well. Once cut and held in place with a clamp I came back with my brad nailer and secured it in place. The second went in the same way, though I made sure to apply downward pressure to it as I nailed it to prevent gaps from appearing. When I did the third one it was only partially affected by the wheel well, so I began a staggering of the cuts from there on. By that I mean that the third plank was 7 feet in length and was attached to the 2x4 upright over the first wheel. The fourth plank was cut 6 feet in length and attached to an upright I put in just behind the skeletal frame at the wheel well. The staggering is shown here: 1 2 3

As I progressed up the bow, I began to notice that I wasn't able to control the curve as much in the open gaps between supports. Under the suggestion of my father I took scrap pieces of the luaun and used them to bridge the planks together. I would take a piece of the scrap and run it perpendicular to the bow planks. The end of the scrap would be placed on the inside of the planks just over the seam where the two met. The bottom one would be nailed to the scrap. The nails would push the board back but that was easily fixed with a scrap 2x3 or a pair of pliers. Once the lower piece was tight the plank above it would be manually adjusted to make the two line up and then attached with another series of nails near the seam. The process was repeated at several points along the hull, at any point where a slight bit of pressure could cause the planks to separate. This helped to keep the boards tight and firm as it provided another point for stress distribution. Also I would mark every third or fourth board at the point of a wooden vertical support. When the skin was done I came back and drilled pilot holes and drove screws into the wooden support that were then covered with a piece of Veneer that I punch out using a leather punch. The idea was to give the impression of dowel pegs, which would have been used to hold the ship together while securely attaching the skin to the frame. 1 2

With the first side of the bow finished and looking quite snazzy I moved on to the other side. I duplicated my bow curve support and began to attach the planks. This time I started from the top thinking it would be slightly easier, but it wasn't. About 2/3 of the way down I realized my curve wasn't coming in as well as I’d like and ended up ripping several planks off and starting at it again. But eventually I was able to get both sides of the hull finished. I climbed inside and drove some more support nails thru the planks into the keel as well as some more of the cross pieces along the bow to help keep them from moving. With the bow finished I moved onto the sides of the ship. The windows were done the same as the door; the frame was attached with screws and then planked over. The sides were far easier as there was no bending of curves to work with. The only tight spot was that some of the planks were tight to start due to the previously installed ones. The back corners were of no concern, as they would be covered by trim later on. The roof of the stern castle was covered with a piece of 3/8 plywood for the decking and the face was done same as the windows and doors, covered with luaun then later cut out with a saw. Two heavy-duty hooks were run into the top of the stern castle on the port side for the hanging of a rope ladder for access to the roof/deck. 1 2 3

Interior

The Dancing Dexter now had a skin. But the project was far from over. I moved to the interior. First step was to seal all the gaps in the hull. The last thing I needed was for water to be coming in and rotting my work from the inside. So I picked up some black silicon caulk and went to work. By working on it in the middle of the day, locked up inside I was able to see all the gaps by the incoming light. The black caulk was applied over any gap I saw. Why black? It looked like pitch. It took several tubes but I was finally satisfied that I had gotten a majority of the spaces. With the interior sealed, I ran my wiring for the tail and sidelights; the wiring would be easily hidden by the interior coverings. Next step was to frame the bed, so I took some 2x4s and ran them across the front of the trailer using pieces scabbed to the angle steel uprights and attaching them to some of the wooden upright pieces. Once the bed itself was framed I began to frame out the cabinets. Fairly easy in retrospect, I used the wheel wells as the dimensions. A piece of 2x3 on the inside of the wheel well running the length of the trailer at both the bottom (floor level) and at the top of the wheel well. This was mostly to provide a surface to attach the rest of the cabinet frame and to hide the metal wheel wells. Shorter vertical pieces were put in between these pieces to provide a nailing surface later on. Other verticals were placed back against the wall and out at the edge of the wheel well to make the cabinet. The cabinets at the windows stopped at window level, so I could us the window framing as a guide. The only one that required special work was the tall cabinet, but that simply ran to the ceiling. Once the framing was all finished I used the same luaun for the exterior to cover the cabinets, bed, floor, interior walls, and ceiling. Inside the cabinets, I substituted a random piece of luaun with a piece of cedar to help prevent pests and keep away that musty smell. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Paint/Stain

I wanted to give the exterior a weathered look but couldn't decide on any particular stain to use. Since I had used luaun from different sources, I had a variety of grains and textures and wasn't sure how each would take a stain. In the end I simply went over the entire structure with exterior polyurethane semi gloss. The semi gloss was recommended to give the ship that 'wet' look. The ship was sanded with medium grit then light grit. A first light coat was applied then a second heavier coat, both brushed on. I'd like to mention at this point that cheap brushes suck. I used some cheap ones I bought on Ebay and spent a good deal of time trying to get brush strands off the boat. Also latex gloves are great for this task, easy clean up. After the second had dried for a day or so I went over the ship again with light grit sandpaper, then a third coat was added. As this third coat was drying, I stained the interior with a cherry stain using a glove brush. These things are great, stained the entire interior in 20 minutes. Never did poly the interior, I was running out of time before the debut. Along the stern castle I painted small heater shields with my colors, something I noticed on the original art. When working on it later on, I sanded the exterior again and this time applied a high gloss coating of polyurethane. I took a slightly different approach this time, I used a left/right application brush stroke, following the length of the boards, but after I had done a section of it I would come back and go over the section again doing an up/down dry brush stroke. The poly would be slightly tacky and the up/down motion would redistribute the excess. Also I think the left/right motion created horizontal channels in the coating, which would cause the excess to gather in, so when it dried you would have small bubbles. The high gloss really makes the Dexter shine in the sunlight. 1 2 3 4

Trim and finishing touches

Using my table saw I ripped leftover Luaun into 2" wide strips. These strips were painted with dark brown oil based paint and set aside to dry. The deck was also painted this color. Along the front of the deck, roughly the area where it is curved along the bow I added a 3 inch high section on either side. This is to give the idea of sides or a railing on the deck. This addition is also painted dark brown like the trim. Along all the windows, the door and the corners I’ve put this trim, to accentuate the colors as well as hide any imperfections. On the back corner I attached a metal bracket for the lights and license plates before putting the trim on. For the removable table/cabinet I placed the trim along edge of opening where the windows and door the trim is actually attached to them, hiding the seams. Also along the top of the stern castle I put a railing with dowel rods, painted the same brown and some generic house trim to make the transition from the sides/back to the railing. Also it covered the seam of the railing and the walls. Along the sides between the stern castle and the bow railings is where the oars would go. Using the base images I cut 2 pieces of luaun to have arches along the bottom and flat along the top. Then a piece of 1x2 was placed along the deck level at this point with the luaun cut out attached to the 1x2 at the top and attached to the side of the boat at the bottom. This gives the impression of 3 dimensions. Along the 1x2 at equal distant points, 2 dowel pieces were glued into the wood; these would be the oar guides with 3 sets on either side. The keel itself was covered with luaun strips and painted the dark brown to give it a more curved look and to cover the joint of the bow planks and the keel. With the ship finished I put a brass doorknob and dead bolt on the door and prepared it for its maiden voyage. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Maiden Voyage

East Kingdom, Southern Region Warcamp, Shire of Eisental. The trailer hauled far better than I could have possibly imagined. The aerodynamics of the hull made it stick to the road and have very little drag. Nothing on the inside shifted during transit either. Upon arriving at the site, I simply backed it into my spot, dropped some chocks behind the wheels and leveled the boat. Since I had all my stuff inside the boat I had no need to transfer anything from my vehicle. I pulled out the rope ladder (which I also made), climbed up onto the deck and added some decorative flags (using normal flag brackets and long dowels) and the mast. The mast was also a long dowel with some fabric attached to it that went into a socket I had made (piece of tube welded to a flat piece of steel). That done, I took off the exterior table and set up my kitchen and some chairs and began to entertain guests and questions.1

Future modifications:

Bed: I miscalculated the bed, since it was in the curved part of the boat there isn't enough space for me to stretch out and sleep comfortably. A 2x3 foot section was added on one side so that I can sleep the length of the boat, which should accommodate my size better. Also a better mattress is in order, wood isn't all that soft and an air mattress just doesn't look or fit right.

Cabinets: Interior cabinets still need some sort of door/covering, I’m not sold on doors as they'll hit stuff and require a fair amount of craftsmanship. I may go with a hanging cloth or a curtain type covering. Also the cabinets will need shelves to hold stuff, the shelves themselves can be designed with lips to prevent stuff from shifting in transit. The large cabinet needs to have a rod installed for hanging of longer clothing (Installed). The exterior cabinet needs to be finished and have a shelf or two installed (installed) Weatherproofing: I have not tested the Dexter in rain yet, and won't until I’ve gone over it a few more times with polyurethane and caulk to make sure its sealed to my satisfaction. And then I’ll try to test is in somewhat controlled situations (like leaving it out in a rain storm at home). Update: Since then I have gone over the Dexter several times with caulk and polyurethane and have driven it in the rain as well as washed it with a hose with no noticeable leaks.

Lighting: Several LEDs are now rigged to a switch and 6v battery, these are what I affectionately refer to as my ‘its 3am and I have to pee, where are my shoes?’ lights.

Exterior: oars, an anchor, some deck guns, and more flags and better mast. Kitchen: An awning that attaches to the side of the ship, but can be easily put away. Also a stove stand to free up the table for eating (also my stove left a burn mark on the table). Update: An awning was created. Using aluminum piping for the cross sections and legs and stainless steel pipe for the corners I was able to create a frame that, when covered by the canvas, slides onto some bolts protruding from the boat at specific points. The bolts are secured using pins (there are holes drilled into the bolts). Since the bolts are holding the cross pieces and canvas in place the rest of the awning can go up and down on that hinge. This is to help accommodate uneven terrain and allow me to change the length of the legs.

Also a small camper stove was acquired. A small box was built around it with two small holes near the back on the bottom. These holes line up with two L bolts. Using table leg brackets, you screw into the front of the bottom of the stove two legs, then place the back holes onto the L bolts, then adjust the front legs for proper height. The result is a stove that is practically out of the way, but nearby and functional without being a heat or fire hazard.

If you have a question or comment, drop me a line

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