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My boat building project


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I've nearly finished this little sailing boat that I built in my garage.  I bought the plans online and got all the wood and paint from my local Leroy Merlin.  The mast and sail came off the last boat I built - 31 years ago in my bedroom in Clapham!

Just got to finish the painting, make a rudder, and screw a few fittings on, then launch day should be very soon.

I plan to explore and chart the estuary and tidal creeks of the River Authie this summer.  Next year I'm hoping I'll be allowed to build a bigger one.

[IMG]http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af173/patmobile/painting3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af173/patmobile/painting2.jpg[/IMG]

Patrick

 

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French chandlery shops, in this area, anyway, are not well-stocked and their prices are high, so I have shopped around online and bought most of my fittings, rope, etc at the best prices available from chandlery suppliers based all over UK.

The oars came from Bosun's Locker in Devon, even though they are made by Plastimo, a French company.  Rope for halyards and sheets from Force 4 online chandlery, a few bits and pieces from Guernsey where I frequently visit family, and the rudder gudgeons and pintles should arrive in the post this week from Trident UK on Tyneside.

The plans are from Selway Fisher Design.  It's their "Greenshank" pram dinghy - but I made a number of modifications to suit my needs.

This shot shows the French V33 exterior gloss paint I've used with reasonable success on the hull.

[IMG]http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af173/patmobile/topsidepaint.jpg[/IMG]

Patrick    

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[quote user="Patmobile"]I was planning to build a voile-aviron of about 5m to do the semaine next year - if the boss says I can.

Might be just a pipe dream though
[/quote]

I've got the same intention. The boss is sympathetic, but I may have too many other commitments. How about you build the back, I build the front and we stick them together when you get here? [:D]

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[quote user="La Guerriere"]That's a very dinky dinghy (or should that be a dinghy dinky?). Can you put up a link for where you got the plans ?[/quote]

Greenshank dinghy plans from Selway Fisher Design - I made some modifications because the very nice slender Needlespar mast, that I saved from another dinghy I built years ago, needs support at deck level.  Also it's OK for kids to sail these little boats sitting or kneeling on the floor, but I'm too old for that so I put in side benches.

[quote user="Albert the InfoGypsy"]I've got the same intention. The boss is sympathetic, but I may have too

many other commitments. How about you build the back, I build the front

and we stick them together when you get here?[/quote]

Good idea!  My end will be built in metric units.  I'm only saying that because sometimes plans are drawn in Imperial and I haven't got any rules or measuring tapes with feet and inches on.  I believe they had a problem with the Hubble telescope because some parts were built by people working in metric and the rest by people using Imperial measurements.  We wouldn't look too good with two halves of a boat that wouldn't fit together!

Patrick  

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Mirors are still going strong: http://www.ukmirrorsailing.com/

However, I'd like something a bit roomier and and more traditional. My next build will be one of these:

http://www.grapeviewpointboatworks.com/humblebee.html

to get experience in the construction method. And then I'm tempted by one of these:

http://vivierboats.com/html/stock_sail_and_oar.html

probably the Aber.

 

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Although I am normally a fan of Jack Holt designs, I never liked the Mirror.  It's always looked awfully clumsy to me.

I really like the Francois Vivier designs, but most of them look complicated to build.  And there's always the problem of the instructions being either in French or a bad translation from French so that some crucial bits might not be clear.

Ian Oughtred designs beautiful boats and the plans are works of art - they should be framed when you finish building.  But the boat I fancy building next is Paul Fisher's 15ft Medway Doble.  Construction is actually easier than the dinghy I've just built, it's lightweight for its volume, it rows well and it carries a decent amount of sail for its size.  Just right for Morbihan Week I reckon.

Patrick  

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I've decided to concentrate on glued clinker now that I've lashed together something that floats (a Bolger Pointy Skiff, if anyones interested). I've also extended my AE registration to include boat building and I reckon that something obviously traditional like clinker will attract a premium over a stitch & glue design. Another reason for the choice of the Humble Bee is to keep it small enough to be outside the Leisure Craft regs and saleable.

I'm not worried about French instructions -- I've just bought a Gougeon Brothers book in French because I can't find an English version. Also, Francois' English is supposed to be pretty reasonable and it's nice to support a local designer.

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What is AE registration?  Does it mean you're a real craftsman - not an amateur like me?

I refer to my Gougeon Brothers book frequently when working with Epoxy.  I hadn't used it before - I used traditional marine glue, screws, nails, and polyester resin last time, 30 years ago.  This time everything was joined by epoxy resin and there are only about 4 screws in the whole boat.

I may switch to ply clinker construction next time because it gives you a clean interior finish without lots of glass tape and resin to hide.

Just had another look at Francois Vivier's site, and see that he supplies full size mylar film patterns for some designs.  That would certainly save a lot of time and effort.

Patrick 

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AE = autoentrepreneur. Not a craftsman but an amateur who hopes to flog a couple of boats a year and stay legal.

This is my current vessel. She was put together pretty fast last year so that I could get some boating in before going into hospital for a while. I didn't have time to paint her so she just got a spit coat of epoxy to keep the worst of the water out. When I get a chance I'll take some piccies of her properly painted -- she looks quite good if you stand far enough away.

[IMG]http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg188/photopikey/CIMG0029.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg188/photopikey/CIMG0036.jpg[/IMG]

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