Scout 20

The Scout 20 was built over the stretch of a long year and was launched early fall of 2009 for John and Helen Carlson of Washington State. John had brought in the well thought out design to us from his own hand and we converted his basic hull shape to the Stitch and Glue boat building method. Once we agreed upon a price, we started in immediately by cutting out the bulkheads and other structural members and set them up on a simple building mold in the shop. A couple of days later, the plywood was scarfed for the hull panels and we had the bulkheads skinned over and were starting the cold molded layers (1/4, 6mm) on the bottom of the boat.

Many months later, both John and his wife were present for a quiet and solemn launch ceremony. Just moments after touching the water however, the engine was throttled up and she roared off over the bay. All of us were pleased with the speed and her presence on the water and it’s really quite hard to imagine a larger little boat design that might exist. She has an interior that has two bunks, the proverbial porta-potti, a galley complete with pressure water, wood stove for interior heat, hanging locker, and lots of sitting headspace. She is really quite the little cruiser and offers her owners the pleasure of getting somewhere in a short amount of time and once the hook is firmly set on the bottom, a calm and comfortable evening lounging in either the cockpit or in the cabin.

Her speed with a Yamaha 90hp outboard topped out at 27mph and cruising at a comfortable 18-20mph. For our South Puget Sound waters, she is ideal for poking in an out of all the small coves and sheltered anchorages.

With Johns permission, we are working on the full homebuilder plans for her. I hope that you will enjoy the pictures of her under construction and cruising in the Sound and think that you will agree with me that this little boat has a real presence on the water. — Sam Devlin