I read somewhere that dowelled construction is almost as good as a mortise in general woodwork, but that assumed glue was used as part of the joint.

I found dowelled deckbeams took a fraction of the time compared to mortised joint, so what I did was use mortises for the foortest, backrest & the deckbeam next towards the stern from the backrest (ie the beams that will have the highest loads on them) and dowelled the rest.

Regards,

Phil.

: Any strength or time saving advantage for deck beams?