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Yes, you don't needs buckets of water to remove amine blush - just a panful will be fine. I prefer to use warm water rather than cold.

Regards Neil

Excuse me chaps but your floorboards are, I suggest, sole boards. Picky I know but I was castigated by a real expert boat builder when I started and he persuaded me never to use floor again unless I...

The mysteries of clinker boat building, how a plank like this:-
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Can look like this on the hull :-
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Perhaps I should ask D'Arcy, our latest addition he seems to like lying outside...

Hi David,
You are certainly getting closer to launch :-)

You might want to have a glance at the following - I came across it whilst wandering around the splinternet on a rainy day. I've...

Goodness me - I'd never do that....................................................fibber...................

It is part of owning a boat, making mistakes, owning up to them and amusing onlookers...

Lovely yachts sailed in a beautiful part of the world (I used to sail out of Helensburgh in my younger days) - I believe the Portsoy festival was also on just recently.

Thanks for the photos.
...

I forgot one of my favourites that I gleaned from Geoff Kerr's videos. For thwarts and sidebenches round the top edge, and bevel the underedge - using a router/trimmer - it makes a 25mm thwart look...

Looks good Ken - big step forward getting her turned over. The hull will stiffen a lot after you have added floors, breasthook, transom knees and inwale (if you have one).

Before you recycle the...

Like most boat things, it depends..........................
My Gannet has a curved sole which is lowest midpoint and bends upward at bow & stern. So I use silicon bronze screws to bend the sole...

Well done with the trial launch, lack of water in the hull is an excellent sign. I know Dick Bedell loves his boat - know he has been in contact with you. He'd probably be happy to discuss sailing...

If it is clinker design then paint the outside of the hull whilst upside down - the paint will run into the plank edges. Leave a bare strip along the top of the sheer plank where you will glue on...

Glasgow - very remote??

Yes, go ahead, build the boat - you will never regret it (though there may be days during the build which will challenge you). There is Nothing like launching & then sailing the boat You built!!

I...

I'd suggest - it depends.......................
Do you want the boat to look like a traditional timber pin & rove clinker build and what would the edges have looked like after a traditional...

My boats are glued clinker hulls designed by David Payne or Iain Oughtred - they live on trailers and are doused in the water sometimes. The oldest (Bella) was launched in 2018. I have no sprung...

Well done David, and no water around the centreboard case which is just excellent. And yes the trailer fixup just usually takes a few trial runs + some fiddling, then it will be fine. Looking...

Just wondering if you have seen the Off Center Harbor website videos about fibreglassing, filleting, etc........................ I watched them yesterday and am now looking for 3mm plastic to make...

At last 5 planks on each side. Recent progress has been glacial due to lots of complexity including a stretched Achilles tendon which was (for me) surprisingly sore but now much better. Weather has...

Hi Tom,
I was thinking of rocker in the hull shape rather than any rocker in the keel - my 17' David Payne Snapper boat has a completely straight keel from stem to aft but lots of rocker in the...

David, certainly you are not the only one who has had to spend time tuning their trailer. As someone else said many modern trailers seem to be built for hulls without rocker - which makes me wonder...

I'd be tempted to put as few hatches in the sole that I could get away with - none preferably. Except for a hatch that allows access to the sterntube & sterngland.

Quite a few motor boats only...

Very true - try watching the recent Tally Ho video regarding centre-of-buoyancy and centre-of-gravity. Altering proven designs has its risks, but perfectly ok if you accept that there is a process...

Classic Boat Supplies in Australia sell tufnol blocks and some other fittings. Think there is also a company in the UK that also supplies them

Regards Neil

I have one boat with the hull painted Teal colour, the other is painted using Sea Mist colour - both made by an Australian company called Norglass. I contrast the hull with a varnished gunwale made...

Looks great, looking forward to seeing her sail. Have you dry run raising the sails yet. I tried this with my Gannet only to find the gaff jammed on the mast - later found I had mis-measured the jaws...

Sorry to hear about your dog - they do leave big gaps in our lives. My wife and I now tend to bring in a younger dog when the boss of the house (currently Chilli the chocolate Lab) starts to get...

Good to hear that you are studying before starting - good strategy as long as you don't stall too long. I'd second the idea of using the Off Center Harbor videos - they have saved me many times and I...

A lovely looking boat with lots of fabulous workmanship - well done :-)

Remember to tighten the clamp where the shaft meets the gearbox so that the propellor spins when the gearbox does - a...

My father was born in Perthshire - gods own country he used to call it - lovely country but then the weather here is warmer.........................

Sorry to hear about the mishap & glad to hear...

One can easily buy a solar rechargeable fan powered vent - they often fit well into a circle cut in an overhead cabin roof. They keep the air moving well through the interior of the hull. And they...

Did you bend the timber quickly? I allow about 1 minute to get the timber out of the steamer and bent to shape. Any longer and I go back & restart the steaming process.

And I use welders gloves.
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Looks good :-)

Yes, shop staff who are proctively helpful are rare nowadays - note his/her name and keep for future reference. Manufacturers seem to be trying to enhance their profits through excessive maintenance...

I use a Volvo dripless shaft seal on my 17' day launch - it works very well as long as I remember to burp the seal after launching her at a ramp.

Regards Neil

Yes, timber is getting expensive. I'll need try to reduce the volume of offcuts perhaps.................................

Nice Spars btw.

Regards ...

A tip I learnt from a local boat builder is to round over the upper edge of the gunwale and bevel the underside, both using a trimmer router. This makes the gunwale look 'lighter' and it becomes part...

My David Payne designed snapper boat is a 17' open day motor launch & she has a 'loose' sole which is made of long lengths of spotted gum planks (with 3mm gaps between planks). the planks are joined...

Hi,
I checked with Dick and he is fine if you'd like to contact him directly about Flinders, the dinghy he built.

His name is Dick Bedell and his email is dickandmerry@bigpond.com - think...

That article is about a dinghy built my a friend of mine, we live on the south coast of NSW - the boat is called Flinders. He built the boat from Huon pine (very expensive now) and did a beautiful...

A point worth spending time on is the consistency of cambers around the forward half of the boat - so decks, cabin roof, foredeck, other 'flat' surfaces often look best if the have consistent camber....

Congratulations on the turnover, always a memorable activity..... Your hull will stiffen a lot after you have the inwale + breathooks + knees + floors in - they make an enormous difference. And yes,...

Yes, clamping breasthooks not simple I agree - what you can do is to screw a couple of pieces of timber to your workbench at the angle and spacing that reflects your bow/inwale, wrap the timber in...

What you are building now is practice for your next build :-)

Oh, and the 79 year old just along the road from me is building his 14th boat :-)

If you want a knot that doesn't slip in shockcord I use one called the Zepellin knot - it doesn't slip (so far :-) ).

Your boat looks as if its crying out for a swim......................nice.

...

Yes, rolling the cloth over the side of the deck is a good idea. If you want some sharp(ish) edges then lay down some good masking tape along the edge, glass overlap onto the tape and after the epoxy...

As well as buying the books written by Greg Rossel and Iain Oughtred I would also recommend subscribing to Off Center Harbor and looking at their videos on using epoxy and glued clinker boatbuilding,...

Well done on the flip - I'm always surprised how lightweight clinker plywood hulls are. But then I look at the pile of scrap left over!

Regards Neil

Yup, good thinking on cutting slightly oversize - planing back to the sheer is a doddle - and strangely satisfying.............................. And painting/sealing before fixing - anyone would...

Looking good David - will be a smart wee boat this one :-)

I researched tiller tamers for a while & there are several different types out there. In the end I've gone for one which is ultra simple...