Gavin over in the boatshed has just written some nice things about my boat building exploits.
He’s wrong though, when he says building my Walkabout must be a challenge – it’s easier than an Ikea wardrobe. No, really – or at least not in the ways you might imagine. Let me explain why I believe anyone [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Easier than an Ikea boat
Posted in Uncategorized on 19 December 2009 | 2 Comments »
The Slow Sailing manifesto
Posted in Uncategorized on 28 November 2009 | 4 Comments »
This is the kind of sailing I’m looking forward to. When I’ve finished Slow Boatbuilding…
Whatever your craft, whether a rowing boat, or a luxury yacht, it’s your realationship with your boat and the sea that matters. Regardless of length, price and equipment, your craft isn’t just another of your many possesions but rather an agreeable [...]
You must be fair chuffed…
Posted in Uncategorized on 14 November 2009 | 3 Comments »
…said my neighbour when she saw me working on the boat in my drive the other day. And you know what? Yes, I really am pleased with how the boat is coming on. Here’s what been going on…
All the planks now on, rear bouyancy tank and tiller tunnel partially done. Queen plank fitted, boomkin made [...]
Build a boat in 7 easy steps
Posted in Uncategorized on 17 September 2009 | 1 Comment »
David emailed me: he saw the photos in my previous post and said he’s been admiring this design for a while. But doesn’t understand the buding method.
It can’t be that difficult to explain I thought, so last night I got out pencil and paper. Here’s how it works, all fiddly detail – daggerboards etc – [...]
An elegant building method
Posted in Uncategorized on 14 September 2009 | 4 Comments »
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 [...]
North Berwick Traditional Boat Muster
Posted in Uncategorized on 7 September 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I had hoped to be at this event on Saturday, but the weather was against me. Several interesting new and historic small boats were going to be there. No report from the East Lothian Yacht Club yet.
The organiser emailed me:
We did manage to run the rowing race, but it was hard work in a bit of [...]
Opening the garage door…
Posted in Uncategorized on 4 September 2009 | Leave a Comment »
…for my Walkabout to see daylight for the first time:
and for me to have more space to fit the second planks from the bottom.
This was a couple of months ago. Since then, the planks you can see have been tidied up; the stringers at the top of the planks planed down to give a flat [...]
Selkie
Posted in Uncategorized on 24 August 2009 | Leave a Comment »
My other boat is a sailing canoe…
Selkie is a open canoe set up for sailing within the rules of the Open Canoe Sailing Group. From memory there is only one class rule – sail area no more than 44 sq ft.
Selkie is a Waterman 16, designed by Selway Fisher, built from plywood by myself a [...]
Back in the flow
Posted in Uncategorized on 27 June 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It’s been a long time since I updated the blog. I’ve been very busy with work and any spare time has gone on building the boat, not blogging it. Anyway my plan is for the blog to be about sailing – and rowing – the Firth of Forth, not a documentary of the build.
The Firth [...]
Stringers and stem
Posted in Uncategorized on 21 April 2009 | 2 Comments »
If you have to make mistakes to learn, as they say, then I’m learning. I’m almost too embarrassed to post these images, but it does show that I’ve learnt I must be more careful cutting the stringers.
Exactly how I came to make such a mess, I’m not sure. I don’t think it was impatience to [...]
