Is there anybody out there?

[Port-Na-Storm]

Hi all, It's been a bit quiet round here for a while so I was wondering if anyone was actually building anything at the moment?
I'm currently between builds but I did make this the other day.



No Prizes but have a guess if you like.   That's except if your initials are R. R.

And also, because we all like to see photos of boats here is Mark Smith at Cobnor in his recently completed Waterlust Sailing Canoe.





Well done Mark.

[Chris Waite]

Slots over the transom to take an outboard??

That doesn't quite work of course, because the slot would go over the upper gudgeon, but that would leave the batten sticking proud and fouling the 'G' clamps, which would not be the case if it was on the other side.

Case??  There's a possibility, but what for; how about something on a thwart, or if RR has anything to do with it some way of attaching an outboard to a bracket on a canoe stern?

Hmmm!?

I have boats in mind yet to come, once I can clear a space in the tightly packed junk yard that is my garage

....nobody hold their breath

Chris W

[Paul H (admin)]

Heron restoration for cruising. She dates back to 1968, more or less.

I've blended in Paul Fisher's modern S&T plans for a plywood Heron. Seating Mirror style, 6ft long and bulkheads each end. One glued to King post and one for rear seat.

There was a lot of work removing the floor board frames. I sanded away 50 years of varnish with a belt sander, then fitted seat sides, then glued 6ft panels of ply between the seats to strengthen the floor, to about 11mm.

Foredeck removed for access to add a half height buoyancy tank - the foredeck also leaked and the 1960s glue joints cracked easily. Ditto for the King plank, only held by screws.

The inboard side deck joints were weak. I slid a thin scraper in to easily crack the joint at one end, twisted to raise a copper nail, pulled out the nail, then slid scraper to next nail. I removed 26 nails each side!  Then epoxied the long curved joint, clamped until dry. It is significantly stronger.

Wherever possible I've cracked old joints, cleaned them and epoxied back stronger.



Finally, I bought an electric winch for £55 from Vevor.co.uk  It's brilliant and in 10 seconds can lift the entire hull sideways to work on the keel. Halfords garage floor mats give a soft landing.

 

https://www.vevor.co.uk/electric-wire-rope-hoist-c_10453/scaffold-winch-electric-hoist-lifting-250kg-lifting-heavy-equipment-heavy-duty-p_010278164799

[Port-Na-Storm]

Close enough for Jazz Chris.

Yes, it's an outboard bracket of sorts.



The idea is to have it over the quarter to keep it away from the rudder.
The slot is to allow for the quarter knee.



I'll probably get drummed out of the Brownies for this but I bought this Torqueedo from RR.
Mainly so that if I'm taking the grandkids out I know I'll be able to get home if the wind drops.
The idea is that there is enough "give"  in the plywood cheeks to grip the transom when the clamps are tightened up, the electric o/bs don't vibrate like the petrol ones.  We shall see.



The Torqueedo came with an extention cable so the battery can be dismounted and moved inboard and there is also a natty remote throttle control.  Both useful if you were planning some sort of multi hull canoe contraption.  





But who would be daft enough to do a thing like that?



 

[LASER41420]

I went quite a long way down that road with an old Heron but then figured out I was converting it into a Mermaid and I already had one of those
Steve

[Chris Waite]

So the Old-Grey-Matter-Test is passed once more....

Pity I can't remember where my glasses, or the garage keys are, or why I'm standing back in the bedroom, (??with nothing on), at 11.35 in the morning.  Also my non-existent typing is increasingly illegible; if you think this message is perfect, that is because I've spent half an hour correcting the transposed letters afterwards.

I was so looking forward to retirement as well; in the middle of the night recently I wrote a message to myself and when I looked at it in the morning it said -

"I don't know how doing nothing in a bungalow can have become so difficult"

Chris W

[GregHBBR]

Chris Waite wrote

So the Old-Grey-Matter-Test is passed once more....

Are you sure you haven't taken over my body?
That story is so me at the moment. (Retired early in 1998!)

Greg

[David Bewick]

It's the way to go Graham.  I took my good lady out on the Helford River in my Tela with the eProp Spirit motor on the back this summer and she actually said she enjoyed it!  That is the first time in over 30 years for her!

If only I could stop it fighting the rudder, it would be brilliant.  I usually take the rudder off when I am using the motor, if I can, but it is not always convenient to do so.

On other matters, I am now the owner of an Ebihen 16.  This design has been on my short list for years and I finally decided to go ahead and order the plans and a kit, earlier this year.  Just before I did, one popped up for sale on Apollo Duck.  I have never seen one for sale in the UK before.  This one was built by a chap as his "dream boat".  He launched it earlier this year but his circumstances changed (long story) and he decided to sell her.  After much soul searching, I decided to buy her.  Having saved myself something in the order of 1000 hours of time, I am now thinking about what else I might do with that time.  First up, I have bought the plans for a Prospector canoe.  

Have you seen the price of plywood, lately?

All the best,

David.

[Port-Na-Storm]

Hi David,
Good to hear from you.
The Ebihen 16 sounds lovely, I'm sure you will enjoy sailing her.

For those not familiar with the design, here it is.
ebihen-16

This is the Cutter Rig.  What rig does yours have David?



On the subject of Ply I have been looking for some 4mm Birch Ply for a small project I have in mind.
There seems to be a huge variation in price with some of the builder's merchants wanting £120 per sheet.
I want to use Birch because it bends well and is sustainable.
Some suppliers are offering hardwood Marine Ply at less than half that price but I would want to see the quality before buying.   I'll need to get out there and have a look.
 

[Timmo]

Ebihan looks like a proper sailing boat, lots of ropes and spars! Vivier seems to do that sort of boat well.

At my end life desperately busy with "sorting things out for the future" (not yet ready to go fully public on that, though some of you know,) dealing with sick cars and commuting between UK and France. Boats haven't managed to figure much recently. Once future is sorted should be able to get back to the water. Have got an ancient and much beaten up glassfibre canadian canoe in the workshop. Now patched, filled and sanded and been given new gunwhales. Next steps are breast hooks, some varnish and a couple of coats of paint then it will be ready to take grandson out on the Charente next summer.

Nice to have some chatter here.

Look forward to finding some way of meeting up next year. Seems a long time since we last gathered.


Tim.

[LASER41420]

Hi Tim,
Definitely overdue for a get together, almost a reunion after this long, any chance of some photos of your restoration project?

Has anyone heard from Phillip of piano tuning/GP14 cruising fame?

Steve 

[Jason Mayer]

Wow everyone is still around.  Hello from down under.

I built a tabernacle for my Argie 15 after I nearly dropped the mast on the car whilst stepping it in a breeze.

Jason

[Jason Mayer]

Oh you might also notice since last time that she now sports a bermudan rig.  I just needed better pointing abilities I'm afraid.  Otherwise the outboard was getting too much work in my narrow sailing grounds.

[David Bewick]

Mt Ebihen has the gaff sloop rig.  I'll post some pics when I get them.  There are many rig options with this boat but this is the one that I would have chosen if I had built it myself.  I think it is a good traditional rig without too many sticky-out bits at either end.  I would have been tempted by the simpler lug yawl option.  This looks great and would be simple to set up and use but it probably doesn't go quite as well.  I would like a yawl, though...

[The Q]

I'm still here.. just about to add to the Blue Moon thread as she's out of the water for the winter, with planned modifications to do.