Clik here to view.
Sometime I sits and thinks; sometimes I just sits
I've been doing a lot of thinking, tooth-sucking and head-scratching recently and a lot of it has ended up with me sitting in a numbed daze. Two issues are exercising my mind of late. The first is my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Big sheets of plywood
One day, I'll fit the deck beams - promise. In the meantime, I'm still fooling around with big sheets of plywood that need to be fitted before that happens.I can't decide, in advance, exactly where...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Smaller pieces of plywood
Having started to make the forecabin locker so that I could put in the big piece of plywood, it became obvious, that underneath would be more pieces of plywood, which would be a lot easier to glue in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Forecabin fitout
For me, fitting out the boat is the best bit of the building. If I make a mess of it, it's not a catastrophe, like it would be if I made a mess of the rudder or mast. It also feels creative and I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First, some musings
Well, this is a blog. But if you are only interested in the boatbuilding part of it, then go down the page until you see 'Back to Boatbuilding' in big, friendly letters.I heard a programme on the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oooh! What a week!
Some weeks, the boat leaps forward and I think that it may even swim one day. Other weeks not a lot happens - on the boat that is. Life has a way of disturbing one's boatbuilding routine. If I were...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oryx is for sale!
As I mentioned in my previous post, Oryx is back in New Zealand. Pete tells me that, once again, he wants to try out another boat. He says he has 'one last boat to build', but at the moment, he'd...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I can understand why people skimp on coating with epoxy
I am not really the soul of patience and am in accord with Tilman that it is a virtue easily exhausted by exercise. I am more than ready to move on to another stage in the boat and this final locker...
View ArticleClik here to view.
With Christmas just around the corner
It's summer here, and everyone is feeling sociable, so I have had lots of visitors. No problems - I like visitors, but feel guilty when they leave because I've been chatting instead of working. Ah...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Christmas is nearly here
And I still have to put up the decorations, wrap presents and make a card. So this week I'll keep it simple.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Happy New Year
My apologies for not having blogged for a while, but Christmas, New Year and Tall Ships can all take their share of the blame. And I did try to have a bit of a holiday in the holiday season! Our Tall...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mainly deckbeams
Fitting deckbeams - for me at any rate - is slow, painstaking work. And not terribly photogenic. However, I'm quite pleased with the results. The first thing to do was to smooth down the upper...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lots of cutting
With the deckbeams in place, I could now take on a job that really required doing ages ago. The bulkhead at the after end of the cabin was built as an 'H' shape, the lower cutout allowing access...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Two satisfying achievements
My apologies for not having posted for so long. Life does get in the way and today it's already half past two in the afternoon, I've been on the computer since 10 o'clock and haven't written the three...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In the forecabin again
With the tabernacle in place, I can now think of getting the deck liner in. This will help keep the forecabin clean and allow me to fit out the saloon, with a certain knowledge of where I have full...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Recycling wood
I was very lucky, at the start of this project, to acquire a pile of kauri, which had originally been milled for cold-moulding. This is what I've been using to panel the bulkheads, and make the doors,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Visible progress!
Sometimes, it seems like one works for months and has nothing to show for it. At other times, you can actually see things moving forwards and the last couple of weeks have been like that. I confess...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Deckhead and saloon
Another week with something to show. There are some - rare - occasions when I think that this boat may even be finished. But I confess that I was a little stymied when David T asked me at the AGM, if...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Painting and panelling
I enjoy painting; I even enjoy sanding (as long as it isn't too fiddly) before painting; It gives my poor little brain a chance to relax and the opportunity to go over the next stage in my mind, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In the saloon, with a slight diversion towards rudders
As I concluded in my last blog, I was ready to put in the fronts and sides for the dinette area. It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, putting them all together, because they had framework or overlaps that...
View Article