An elegant building method

Just about to fit the seats – which form the tops of the side bouyancy tanks – when I remembered I needed to treat the insides of the tanks first.

As the wood preservative is pretty smelly, and the garage has a door to the house, I took advantage of the great weather this weekend to wheel the Walkabout outside. I tend to use the interior of the boat as a tool box and storage space as the garage is rather cramped. Cleared all the stuff out and decided she’s looking so good it’s time for some photos.

One of the things I love about John Welsford’s designs is the elegant economy of the construction method: no wasteful building moulds but instead frames that not only give the boat her shape but also form the seats/ bouyancy tanks. This also means that much of the internal fit out is done along the way.

Here’s the solution to the problem I was wrestling with about how to fit the stretcher brackets: laminated from three layers of 6mm ply, and for the main stretcher, bent into position wrapped in polythene before final shaping.

With advice from the designer I’ve adapted the rowing set up so she can be rowed singlehanded – as designed – or two handed. So I’ve added additional stretchers aft – not sure how they’ll work with mizzen mast – and lengthened the main stretcher brackets fowards.

I’ll need to make adjustable stretchers, i’ve got a design in mind, but will leave that for now.

Now it’s time to fit the seat tops and crack on with the next set of planking.