Jura — The building of a dream, 1978

The WoodenBoat · Number 11 · 1976 · 01–03

Peterson 33

02

The same Peterson 33 from the dock, two men looking on from the foredeck — 03

December 12, 1977

Dear Bent;

LetterVictoria, B.C. · December 12, 1977

Bent Jesperson,

10001 Fifth St.,

Sidney, B.C.

Dear Bent;

Upon your request I have compiled the following list which should contain all phases that are required to construct the boat to a stage which should allow us to launch and complete the remaining work in the water at a later date.

I have arranged this list numerically simply because there are no specifications per se for the boat, and the "construction drawing" is for strip planking and unsuitable for us, as you know.

I based the construction list largely on your suggestions and on our previous discussions. The numbering also allows me to elaborate on a separate sheet the way I would lika a particular detail done.

If there is more expedient and better way to achieve the same result, or if there are any omissions, please fill in the gaps as needed.

Of course the numbering doesn't dictate in any way the construction sequence.

Merry Christmas

Kaspar Schibli

KS/pms

Enclosure

EnclosurePETERSON 33

1. Lofting

2. Make Jigs & Molds

3. Make Patterns

4. Keel and Stub

5. Stem and Stern

6. Transom

7. Shelf

8. Clamp

9. Setting Up

10. Stringer

11. Breasthook

12. Quarter Knees

13. Framing

14. Floors

15. Planking

16. Fairing & Sanding

17. Rudder

18. Skeg

19. Bulkheads

20. Cabin Sole

21. Deck Beams

22. Strong Beams

23. Carling

24. Coach-house

25. Coaming

26. Cockpit

27. Cockpit Beams

28. Cockpit Seat Locker

29. Cabintop Beams

30. Partners

31. Knees

32. Decking

33. Hatches

34. Cabin top and Hatch Garage

35. Companionway

36. Molding

37. Splashboard

38. Drop Boards

39. Toe rail

40. Chainplate Backing

41. Chainplates

42. Stemplate Fitting

43. Maststep

44. Engine Beds

45. Waterline and Covestripe

46. Ports

47. Tierods

48. Stemband

49. Shafting

50. Strut

51. Thruhulls

52. Mast Collar

53. Mooring Cleats

54. Chocks

55. Ballast and Keel

56. Exterior Finish

57. Bedding and Fastening

58. Interior

59. ~~Center Bonding Strap~~

Items 1–9 · 04–09

Lofting, jigs and molds

SpecificationAmendments as shown 9/1/78

✓ 1. Lofting

✓ 2. Making Jigs and Molds

✓ 3. Keel (Ballast) pattern and Stemband pattern

✓ 4. Keel - Laminated oak, 3 layers of 1", siding as per lines. in pencil: 4 layers of 3/4"

Stub Keel - Laminated hardwood (mahog.) bolted and faired, sanded and epoxied (keel section)

✓ 5. Stem and Stern - Laminated Oak, dimensions as shown, lapping keel as shown and well throughbolted (nuts on inside) in pencil: Mahogany

6. Transom - Laminated say ½" Honduras mahogany on ½" cedar backing say 1½" sided of a harder wood. in pencil: check if stiff enough when laminating up

✓ 7. Shelf - Spruce say 1¼" x 6" notched to take frames. in pencil: – Fir

✓ 8. Clamp - Fir say 1½" x 4¼" bolted to shelf and to each frame tapered at ends to say 1½" x 3".

✓ Can the above things be done commonly for both boats?

9. Setting Up

A dark red plywood pattern standing on the shop floor beside the molds — 04

The strongback with the station molds set up along it, upside down — 05

A man fitting a mold at the forward end of the jig — 06

Three men at the molds, one leaning over the top of the jig — 07

Laminated curved timbers on the bench, the bandsaw behind — 08

The molds from the bow, the shop lamps above — 09

Items 10–14 · 10–14

Stringers, framing, floors

The framed hull upside down, stringers running the length of the molds — 10

The framed hull from the stern, the transom at the top — 11

Close view of the stringers and frames across the turn of the bilge — 12

Inside the frames at the stem, two pale plywood gussets — 13

A man working at the after end of the frames — 14

Item 15 · 15–25

Planking

The first planks clamped along the sheer, a man working above — 15

Planks and clamps at the after end of the hull — 17

Inside the hull: frames, stringers and the backs of the first planks — 18

West Coast Lumber for Boat BuildingFlounder Bay Boat Shop

WESTERN RED CEDAR — Thuja Plicata

Those in the east will recognize the first name as being the same as that for their Northern White Cedar, Thuja occidentalis. Red Cedar is commonly used for strip planking, cold mold laminating, small boat planking and thwarts. It is highly rot resistant because of the toxic resins and oils in the wood. These oils give the wood its distinctive fragrance. Red cedar crooks can be very dense and rock hard, and may be used for natural knees in small boats.

Knots and Pitch

Knots in the old growth cedar are generally loose or rotten. This is because the trees grow so close together that the lower limbs die for lack of sunlight, then hang on while the rest of the tree grows around them. The dead limbs make for loose, unsound knots. Pitch pockets are practically absent in red cedar.

Sapwood

Sapwood in red cedar is a very light creamy color and easy to distinguish. It also tends to be the most fragrant part of the tree. There is often a dark line between the sapwood and the heart.

The hull half planked, the bare stringers still showing at the keel — 19

Planks going on at the bow, clamps and shavings — 20

The planked bow from ahead, a man working on top — 21

The planked hull from the bow, the keel line still open — 22

Close view of the planking at the bow, fastenings in rows — 23

The planked hull with butt blocks and fastening lines, glue squeezed from the seams — 24

Price listFlounder Bay Boat Shop, Anacortes

Air Dried Boat Lumber — Price Per Board Foot

	Thickness	Width	Per board foot
DOUGLAS FIR
Planking and Decking, Vertical grain	4/4 – 8/4	4" – 8"	$0.95
Planking and Decking, Vertical grain	4/4 – 8/4	10" – 12"	$1.30
Flat grain	4/4 – 8/4	4" – 12"	$0.75
Timber	2¼" – 8"		$0.98
add 10¢ a board foot for lengths over 20'
WESTERN RED CEDAR
Planking grade, Vertical grain	4/4 – 8/4	4" – 8"	$1.00
Planking grade, Vertical grain	4/4 – 8/4	10" – 12"	$1.20
Flat grain	4/4 – 8/4	4" – 8"	$0.83
Flat grain	4/4 – 8/4	10" – 12"	$1.00
add 10¢ a board foot for lengths over 14'; add 20¢ a board foot for lengths over 20'
SITKA SPRUCE
Spar stock	to 2"		$1.30
Spar stock	2" – 4"		$1.50
add 10¢ a board foot for lengths over 20'
Planking stock, Vertical grain	4/4 – 8/4	4" – 8"	$0.95
Planking stock, Vertical grain	4/4 – 8/4	10" – 12"	$1.30
Flat grain	4/4 – 8/4	4" – 12"	$0.75
add 10¢ a board foot for lengths over 20'
Utility Grade as available			$0.35
Yellow Cedar as available

Thickness is expressed in quarters of an inch. Standard cuts are 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 8/4. All lumber is sold in the rough. Milling is available on a per hour basis.

Prices subject to change without notice.

The sheet gives its prices per 1000 board feet (for example $ 950). They are divided by 1000 here so they read per board foot.

NoteThe same woods on September 1, 2026

Price per board foot

	1978	1978 in 2026 dollars	2026
Douglas fir, vertical grain planking	$0.95	$4.86	$10.80 – $15.84
Western red cedar, vertical grain boat planking	$1.00	$5.12	$18.72
Sitka spruce, spar stock	$1.30 – $1.50	$6.66 – $7.68	$23.04 – $25.20

A board foot is a piece 12 inches by 12 inches by 1 inch thick.

The middle column converts the 1978 price with the US consumer price index: 65.2 in 1978 and 333.9 in 2026, a factor of 5.12.

The 2026 column is the list price at West Wind Hardwood in Sidney, B.C., the town where Jura was built: Douglas fir vertical grain rough kiln-dried boards $15 to $22, western red cedar air-dried vertical grain boat planking $26, Sitka spruce vertical grain clear spar grade $32 to $35, all in Canadian dollars per board foot, converted at 1.389 Canadian dollars to the US dollar (Bank of Canada rate for September 1, 2026). Those are retail prices for small quantities; the 1978 sheet sold rough lumber by the thousand board feet, which is part of the gap.

So the wood costs about two to four times what it did in 1978, after allowing for inflation.

Items 16–18 · 26–33

Fairing, sanding, and the turn

The planked hull along its length, a power plane on the bench — 26

The faired hull, long and pale, shavings on the floor — 28

Two men at the stem, one in white overalls bent over the planking — 29

The stub keel fitted to the faired hull — 30

The hull turned right way up, the planking bright under the lamps — 31

Looking down the keel line of the upright hull — 32

The upright hull from the bow, resting on its stub keel — 33

Items 7, 8, 11, 12 · 34–41

Shelf, clamp, breasthook

Inside the hull at the bow: frames, floors and the shelf — 34

A man leaning on a beam across the open hull, frames and floors below — 35

The open hull from above the stern, floors along the keel — 36

The shelf and clamp notched over the frames, bolts through — 37

West Coast Lumber for Boat BuildingFlounder Bay Boat Shop

FIR — Pseudotsuga menziesii

Fir is familiar to us in the Northwest as planking and laid decking for tugs, barges, fishboats and small ships. It can be gotten in large timbers and is used for backbones, bulwarks, and cabin foundations. It has a fine, even grain and is milled for tongue and groove cabin siding, wainscoting and ceiling. Although usually considered too heavy for skiff and small boat planking, fir is tough, flexible, resists splitting, holds fastenings well and has been used for that, too. Called the Prince of Woods by some builders, Douglas fir performs many jobs well.

A peculiarity of fir is that it continues to get harder and stiffer as it air-dries over the years. The optimum drying cycle for 2" planking, for example, is under a year. The older the fir lumber gets after that, the harder it becomes. Many people around here have found they must drill pilot holes for common nails in order to fasten anything to the rock hard fir studs of an old building.

The stem from inside, the breasthook fitted — 38

A man standing in the hull among the floors — 39

The upright hull in the shop, a stepladder alongside — 40

Floors and frames along the bilge, paint cans on the planking — 41

Items 19–24 · 42–56

Bulkheads, beams, coach house

SpecificationAmendments as shown 9/1/78

✓ 19. Bulkheads - as shown but ½" Bruynzeel Ply fitted along frames as customary, seal edges where inaccessible after installation

✓ 20. Cabinsole - 3/8" Gaboon Ply resting on floors fastened around edges but leaving say 2 center sections for bilge access. Seal before fastening

✓ 21. Deck Beams - 2¼" x 1¼" ~~Spruce~~ in pencil: Fir (lam. or grain to run vertically), notched and bolted into shelf and notched and screwed into carling, sealed where inaccess.

22. Strong Beams - 2¼" x 2¼" in way of Hatches and cockpit, fasten same as above.

✓ 23. Carling - 2¼" x 2½" ~~Spruce~~ or Fir bolted to cabinsides with ¼" bolts

✓ 24. Coach house - 1¼" Hond. mahogany, single plank for sides and front, horizontal tongue & groove at the after end, fastened and rabetted into corner posts, epoxy coated.

A plywood bulkhead standing on the shop floor — 42

Bulkheads in place, paint cans and ear protectors on the bench — 43

The hull with bulkheads fitted, from the stern — 44

Deck beams and carlings going in at the bow — 45

Inside the hull: bulkheads and the cabin sole — 46

The main bulkhead from forward, beams across — 47

Deck beams notched into the shelf, clamps holding a carling — 48

Two men working on the deck framing — 49

The deck framing from the stern, the cockpit opening — 50

The coach house sides and front, the deck plywood on — 52

The deck and coach house from the bow — 53

The grain of the mahogany coach house side, a corner post — 54

Inside the cabin, a lamp hanging in the dark — 55

The coach house and cockpit from above, two men on the floor beyond — 56

Items 43, 44, 49, 50 · 57–62

Engine beds, shafting

The red engine on a pallet on the shop floor — 57

Front page of the Westerbeke L-25 sales sheet, December 1977: a sailboat under spinnaker and two views of the engine — 59

Back page of the Westerbeke L-25 sales sheet: installation drawings, power curve, specifications and equipment lists — 60

The engine beside the finished cockpit — 61

Items 25–35 · 63–69

Coaming, cockpit, cabin top

SpecificationAmendments as shown 9/1/78

✓ 25. Coaming - 1 1/8" Hond, Mahogany with cap and winch island as per detail.

✓ 26. Cockpit - Well sides to be ½" Bruynzeel ply epoxy coated, sole say 3/8" ply epoxied plus ½" teak on top laid in paraseal, screw fastened, sloped forward to drain properly. Seat tops and bridge deck 3/8" ply and ½" teak as per sole. Bridge deck to slope aft to drain. Lay margin boards in bridgedeck and sole and locker and seats.

✓ 27. Cockpit Beams - and headers say same dimensions as for cabin top on 12" centers, spruce.

✓ 28. Cockpit Seat Locker - same finish as seats, except fitted to drain properly and recessed to be flush top and face, see detail. Hinged at back, through bolt hinges.

in pencil: NA 29. Cabintop Beams - 1¼" x 1½" Lam. Spruce on 12" centers, notched into headers on trunk sides. in pencil: Lam 3 layers of ¼ ply, dynel + epoxy covered

✓ 30. Partners - 3 layers of ½" ply laminated for 2 frame spacings

✓ 31. Knees - in way of partners of lam. wood or fabricated, through bolted, arms to be min. 12", also 1 set of knees hardwood at station 6 approx., fastened same way

The hull with its deck on, seen from the bow, a man on the coach roof — 63

The cockpit and coaming from the stern — 64

The companionway and hatch garage from above — 65

The side deck and coaming, tools on the cabin top — 66

SpecificationAmendments as shown 9/1/78

✓ 32. Decking - 2 layers of ¼" ply epoxied and 1 layer of ½" teak laid on top, bedded into paraseal and screw fastened.

✓ 33. Hatches - Fore and lazarette, coaming and trim in teak as per detail

✓ 34. Cabin top and hatch garage - 2 3 layers of ¼" ply epoxy coated to be covered with dynel & epoxy and painted with monopoxy (Brolite). Cabintop finished with mahog. molding.

✓ 35. Companionway hatch - Hond. mahogany with smoked ~~perspex top as per detail~~ in pencil: lam. Honduras, to stow in garage. Sill to be 1½" high.

✓ ~~36. Molding - aroung base of house ¼" round to be teak bedded in paraseal, screwfastened.~~

✓ 37. Splashboard - Hond. mahogany say 1 1/4" x 5/8" x 2" high to be raised over garage and form lip approx. 1" high to take dodger, and to follow down to cockpit coaming.

✓ 38. Dropboards - Hond. Mahogany Epoxy coated, sloped aft at edges say 30° to fit tight to each other,dim. say 1" finished.

✓ 39. Toe Rail - 1¾" x 1" x 2½" high fastened with 3½" x #14 screws,widened in way of chocks to accomodate them.

The hull primed, the bow turned toward the door — 67

The boat in the shop with cabin and cockpit complete, a stepladder at the bow — 69

Items 40–47, 55–57 · 70–73

Waterline, decks, finish

SpecificationAmendments as shown 9/1/78

✓ 40. Chainplate Backing - 2 layers of ½" Bruynzeel laminated and throughbolted to framing to run between bulkheads and down to shelf, see detail in pencil: amended as per box

✓ 41. Chainplates - S.S. ~~1¼" x ¼"~~ x 17" bolted to backing and clamp as per detail. Transom plates to bolt through transom and backing. Use min. 6 3/8" S.S. bolts each (nuts inside) in pencil: Gussets tied in as Upper backing

✓ 42. Stemplate fitting - manufactured stainless as per sketch, screwed and bedded as required. It may incorporate bowroller.

✓ 45. Waterline and Covestripe - scribe and paint boottop 2 coats antifouling, 2 coats monopoxy for covestripe.

✓ 46. Ports - min. 6 ports (fixed) ~~5/16" plate glass~~ in pencil: perspex cut and rabetted from outside, bedded in PRC and trimmed as per Oliver "Distant Drummer"

47. ~~Tierods - 3/16" S.S. to run through cabinsides to prevent splitting.~~

in pencil: Use 1½ x 3/8 SS

The laid teak deck from the bow, plugs over the screws — 70

The hull painted white with the boot top struck in blue — 72

The painted hull from the bow, ready to leave the shop — 73

SpecificationAmendments as shown 9/1/78

✓ 55. Ballast and Keel - Boring of keel bolts and installing thereof. Bedding of keel in PRC.

56. Exterior Finish - Mahogany: sanding and coating with epoxy as Oliver's boat and 1 coat of Captain's Varnish. Teak: sanded and left bare, decks to be laid in paraseal and screwed to beams and plugged, seal screwholes also. in pencil: Painting by owner + sealing

✓ 57. Bedding and Fastening - all exterior hardware,trim, etc. to be bedded properly in lifecaulk or equivalent. Fasteners in deck and trim to be dipped into PRC before installing to alleviate chance of leakage.

in pencil: Verbal agreement on above specifications as shown, except for painting and varnishing 1300 to 1350 hours max.

in pencil: Owners will be allowed to paint and varnish in shed while boat is under construction.

Sidney, B.C. · 74–84

Out of the shed

Jura in crane slings at the yard, the name on the transom — 74

The transom, JURA VICTORIA, above the crane truck — 75

The hull hanging from the crane, a woman in red looking up — 76

The hull in the slings against a bright sky, the fin keel and rudder clear — 77

Black and white: the hull swinging from the Mutual Cranes boom over the marina — 78

The mast lying beside a house, the foot at the camera — 79

The boat on cradles in the yard, cabin and deck finished — 80

The boat on cradles, JURA on the transom, a car passing — 81

From the foredeck: the crane, the teak deck and the varnished coach house — 82

The bow from below, hanging in the slings above the water — 83

Jura in the slings beside the boathouse, the mast not yet stepped — 84

Items 48, 52, 53, 54 · 85–97

Launch

Jura afloat for the first time, from the bow — 86

A man in a blue sweater laughing on the dock beside the bow — 88

Black and white: Jura alongside the dock, people on the float — 89

The stern at the dock, JURA lettered on the transom — 90

Rigging the mast on the dock, four people at the spreaders — 91

Stepping the mast, a crowd of hands at the foot — 92

The mast up, men on deck, the boathouses across the water — 93

The rigging crew on the dock beside the mast — 94

The transom: JURA VICTORIA in gold on varnished mahogany — 95

Jura rigged and moored beside the boathouse — 96

Items 58, 59 · 98–105

Design	Peterson 33
Designer	Doug Peterson
Builder	Bent Jesperson, Sidney, B.C.
Specification	December 12, 1977 · amendments 9/1/78
Launched	1978