Boats http://GrahamsBoats.fotopic.net/ 3 rows en-gb 60 Building an Iain Oughtred 'Puffin' http://GrahamsBoats.fotopic.net/c67025.html Building an Iain Oughtred 'Puffin' After building Gavin Atkin's Mouse design using the Stitch and glue method, I decided I wanted the challenge of something more complex. Increasingly, I was settling on the idea of building something using the clinker-ply method. I decided to build Iain Oughtred's 'Puffin', a lovely looking little dinghy. Clinker-Ply is similar to the traditional clinker method but with three main differences: the planking uses marine ply instead of timber, the planks are held together using a strong glue, intead of being clenched together using copper nails, and because of the innate strength of the plywood, and the stiffnes that comes with gluing the planks, there is no need for steamed timbers (ribs). But still, clinker ply is similar enough to the traditional method to give a good appearance to the boat, and to present an interesting challenge to the builder. Progress seemed pretty good from the starting time of September 2003, through to the planking being completed in March '04, and much of the fitting out done by summer (I was aiming to be finished by this time). Progress during the summer of '04 has been much slower; I have found myself busy with all sorts of other things. By mid-September '04, all the parts for the hull are almost complete. Just a few finishing touches to the last components, then it will be a lots of cleaning up to do, then varnishing and painting. Dec '04: The hull is complete and ready for painting and varnishing. Before doing that though, the last of woodwork will be done. The daggerboard, the rudder and the yard have all been completed. The Puffin was eventually completed and launched in May '05. She's called "Lazy Daze", a reflection of how I built her, and how I sail: no hurry, no racing; just sail in a steady lazy daze. Her first sail was a short one at Hoylake (on the Wirral peninsula, over the River Mersey from Liverpool). The wind was pretty brisk to start with, so I reefed the sail, but on launching her the wind had dropped. I'd forgotten my oars, so I got a little nervous when the tide was slowly taking me away, but I caught enough breeze to get me moving and I got back without a drama. In the summer I took her to Brittany for the family holiday, and got a few short trips out on her. Now that I'm getting to know her, and her abilities, I'm very much more confident with her and enjoy sailing her immensely. I may make one or two modifications, such as side-benches, and I'd may consider making a tent for over-nighting. Enjoy the pictures, and feel free to drop in any questions or comments. Cheers Graham Sunday 2 November 2003: Building an Iain Oughtred 'Puffin' After building Gavin Atkin's Mouse design using the Stitch and glue method, I decided I wanted the challenge of something more complex. Increasingly, I was settling on the idea of building something using the clinker-ply method. I decided to build Iain Oughtred's 'Puffin', a lovely looking little dinghy. Clinker-Ply is similar to the traditional clinker method but with three main differences: the planking uses marine ply instead of timber, the planks are held together using a strong glue, intead of being clenched together using copper nails, and because of the innate strength of the plywood, and the stiffnes that comes with gluing the planks, there is no need for steamed timbers (ribs). But still, clinker ply is similar enough to the traditional method to give a good appearance to the boat, and to present an interesting challenge to the builder. Progress seemed pretty good from the starting time of September 2003, through to the planking being completed in March '04, and much of the fitting out done by summer (I was aiming to be finished by this time). Progress during the summer of '04 has been much slower; I have found myself busy with all sorts of other things. By mid-September '04, all the parts for the hull are almost complete. Just a few finishing touches to the last components, then it will be a lots of cleaning up to do, then varnishing and painting. Dec '04: The hull is complete and ready for painting and varnishing. Before doing that though, the last of woodwork will be done. The daggerboard, the rudder and the yard have all been completed. The Puffin was eventually completed and launched in May '05. She's called "Lazy Daze", a reflection of how I built her, and how I sail: no hurry, no racing; just sail in a steady lazy daze. Her first sail was a short one at Hoylake (on the Wirral peninsula, over the River Mersey from Liverpool). The wind was pretty brisk to start with, so I reefed the sail, but on launching her the wind had dropped. I'd forgotten my oars, so I got a little nervous when the tide was slowly taking me away, but I caught enough breeze to get me moving and I got back without a drama. In the summer I took her to Brittany for the family holiday, and got a few short trips out on her. Now that I'm getting to know her, and her abilities, I'm very much more confident with her and enjoy sailing her immensely. I may make one or two modifications, such as side-benches, and I'd may consider making a tent for over-nighting. Enjoy the pictures, and feel free to drop in any questions or comments. Cheers Graham

One of the two braced moulds that keep the others in position vertically via a batten until the keelson is fixed in place. The inner stem. A lot of work went into this. The difficult bit was the inner curve, for which I made a number of sawcuts, then chiselled away most of the wood before making lots of use of a spokeshave, rasp and file. The transom, with the hole cut for the tiller, and shaped for the plank lands and keelson. Made from 2 The inner stem mounted on the frame and braced to keep it vertical and to take the strain of planking. Careful alignment was needed. A block is used to attach the stem to the mould. I also had to make a cut in the frame as I'd forgotten to make allowance for the stem placement when building the frame. Hanging the transom. This took a while to do single-handedly as I had to make sure it was centred and that the sheer height was correct on both sides. It was a bit of a handful, but I finally got it clamped in place before screwing it onto the posts (which are carefully angled at 87 degrees). The keelson gets roughly shaped at the forward end and then epoxied to the stem. Because it to pull the keelson down, some firm clamping was needed. With the clamps removed and some of the fairing done. Constant use of a batten is needed to make sure the curve is nice and fair. Nov '03: The keelson notch in the transom has to be angled to give a good fit. A batten is used to give the correct angle and saw cuts made as a guide before removing the wood and finishing off. The transom notch is finished. The holes are to help adhesion when the epoxy is applied. The keelson is brought down to the transom to be epoxied in place. A Spanish windlass is used to help force it into position. The keelson will later be cut back and planed flush with the transom. Angle brackets are used between the moulds and keelson to keep the moulds in place, and to allow the temporary batten to be removed ready for planking. Now for the process of fairing. First, the keelson is to be bevelled to take the garboard (first strake). Sawcuts in line with the moulds indicate where to plane down to. Planing down to the cuts. Between the moulds, the bevel changes gradually, which means some twist in the bevel. Where a plane won't do because of the twist, a spokeshave could be used. The first strake on the transom is faired and the keelson faired to that. The keelson is also cut back and planed flush. The strakes on the transom were square before; now they have been bevelled to the correct angle to accept the planks. Some of the fairing done to the stem. The rest will be done when a pattern is made for the garboard (bottom strake) To begin planking, the three 8'x4' sheets of ply are cut into four 8'x2' sheets and four 4'x2' sheets, the 4' pieces to be scarfed to the 8' pieces to make 12' pieces. Scarfing involves planing a 8:1 slope in the ends of the ply sheets and then gluing the two faces to make a nice flush joint. To get the 8:1 slope, a gap of 40mm is marked on each sheet, and they are then placed in steps. This makes it easy to get the slope as the steps provide a nice guide. The plies provide a guide to the evenness of the slope. The first two pieces are glued and clamped together to make one long piece. The boards used for clamping are taped with packaging tape to prevent them sticking to the glue. This is followed by scraping, planing and sanding to get a smooth joint. All four boards made up ready for planking. A hardboard pattern for the garboard was made, then tranferred to the planking stock. Here we see the first fitting of the garboards after a few adjustments. And the garboards are glued, using temporary screws to keep them in place, coated with a little candle wax to allow removal afterward. The block at the stem keeps down the foremost bit that was lifting slightly. To make planing the bevels much easier, this guide was made to facilitate getting the correct angles. The batten clamped or tacked to the moulds at the next plank land gives the base for the guide. The piece clamped to the plane is cut away to take account of the thickness of the batten. An angle bracket is screwed to this piece so that it can be clamped to the plane. Next job is the gains at the bow to make the overlap flush at the stem. Ideally, a rebate plane would be best for this, but as I don't have one, a sharpened chisel, a file, and some patience have to suffice. The result isn't too bad. Making the pattern for the next strake from hardboard. I forgot to add the width of the plank land, but its easy enough to add this to the plywood plank afterwards. Jan 04: After a few weeks' break back to work. The planks are cut out from the patterna nd tried on the boat. A good fit. The gains are planed out using a rebate plane. On this first one I rebated half way in each, but in future I've rebated the lower plank to a feather edge. Trying the rebated plank at the bow. A first dry run for the second pair of planks. Starboard plank of the second strake being glued into place, requiring lots of plywood clamps. Things are moving apace now. A few evenings' work after gluing the second strakes, the third strakes are ready for gluing. Again a pattern was made. I probably won't use one for the next strake. A useful tip: Using the screw that was used to fasten the plank to the stem, I've added a guide piece to help with planing the forward rebates (gains). The port side 4th plank in glued ( I spiled the 4th plank directly onto play), and the starboard side 5th planks is dry-fitted (I used an old pattern and some measurements to spile the 5th plank). Feb '04: More planks done. Sitting in the car on the front, I noticed how she looked from this angle, so I got a picture. Finally, all the planking is finished. Being such a milestone, I got another image.... ...and another. I like this view. Using my new (cheap B&Q) table saw, I ripped through a piece of Douglas fir to make a number of strips for laminating. I then took the time to make a pattern of the outer face of the inner stem and screwed a number of blocks to a board along this line. It took a few attempts to tempt the strips into the curve, and I was wary of splitting the wood. Eventually, and with a lot of force, I got the pieces to follow the curve. I'll leave them in position for a day or two to let the wood get 'used to' the curve. Mar '04: The stem has now been shaped and bevelled. This was a LOT easier than for the inner stem, which was shaped from sawn pieces, not laminated. The wood for the skeg is glued up and then spiled to the hull shape. The rough wood has now been shaped and planed to a taper. Damn! I didn't like doing this, but it had to be done. The daggerboard slot is cut through the keelson and planks. All the pieces for the keel/stem/skeg are now ready to be assembled. Here, a first try-fitting of the bits around the daggerboard slot. Gluing the keel parts in place. The stem is screwed into place, and the keel and skeg are pushed down by the battens braced against the ceailing. The cheeks around the daggerboard case are left until later. Before turning over, the underside has to be cleaned up. Here we have the starboard side cleaned up, but the other side needs doing yet. I have the option of putting on the gunwale rubbing strip now or after turning the boat. A pivotal moment, as the hull is turned over. A nice image of her sat happily on her keel and bilge runner. The lower rubbing strips first, that way I could use the plywood clamps. I've taped the strip and the surrounding areas to help keep things clean. Then the upper rubbing strip. Lots of clamps needed here to cope with the twist as well and the bends. Some of the plywood clamps are just wide enough to use. With all the rubbing strips in place. This emphasizes the sheer nicely, and makes the sheer strake look more in proportion. Some of the floors shaped but not glued.

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]]> Sun Nov 2 2003 Lune Longboat 'Brisk' http://GrahamsBoats.fotopic.net/c50676.html Lune Longboat 'Brisk' Tuesday 9 September 2003: Lune Longboat 'Brisk'

Brisk at Anchor on Windermere in 2003 Declan minding Brisk for a minute or two Brisk and Kopiava (pron. Koriana) at rest on Windermere in 1999 Brisk on Windermere at a DCA Rally in April 1999 Brisk on Windermere at a DCA Rally in April 1999 On the River Dee, me waiting for the last of the tide to go before bedding her down for the night. She looked so lovely sat there on tyhe sand as the tight receded that I had to get a picture. Again, on the sand by the River Dee after the tide went out. Becky enjoying being skipper for a bit. Brisk on Windermere On Windermere On Windermere On Windermere On Windermere On Windermere Brisk and Kopiava again Brisk on Windermere At Broad Haven, 2003, recovering her after a lovely long sail. More of us at Broad Haven Broad Haven

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]]> Tue Sep 9 2003 Building Gavin Atkin's 'Mouse' boat http://GrahamsBoats.fotopic.net/c15408.html During a discussion on the OPENBOAT yahoo group about taking children sailing, during which I told of how I regularly have to SELL to the children the idea of a trip out on the boat by engaging the children's enthusiasm with tales of treasure and adventure, it was suggested to me by Gavin Atkin that I might want to engage their interest in sailing for its own sake by building them a small boat of their own, something stable and easy to handle, beginning with forward-facing paddling, then on into sailing. I took a look at Gavin's MOUSE design (available at http://home.claranet.com/gmatkin/design.htm) and decided to give it a go. I'd never build a boat of any kind before. In fact, I'd done little woodwork before, except at school, and the odd bit of DIY at home. I decided to take the bull by the horns suggested it to the kids (thus forcing a point of no return), who where greatly enthusiastic about the idea. I then went out and bought some exterior ply and started marking out the design. I am fortunate that the recommended source of epoxy (at http://www.epoxy-resins.co.uk/) is close to where I live, so I ordered and collected the required epoxy materials. I cut out the marked panels using a cheap jigsaw I got from B&Q a while ago, stitched the panels together and set with epoxy (see http://www.bateau.com/tutorials/vprimer.htm for a full description of stitch & glue boat construction). The boat takes shape very quickly, but a lot of subsequent time is taken with lots of smaller jobs afterwards. I could have done more quickly, but the bug had bit and I was doing extra bits I didn't need to do, but wanted to, such as adding gunwales and inwales. The kids have helped with bits, but much of the work either messy (lots of epoxy work) or involves power tools. They have helped with little things like holding the batten in place while I drew curves, and holding other bits in place while I did other things. Declan also helped with binding the hull panels together with cable ties and has learned a thing or two about planing wood, as he help in planing down the laminated inwales/gunwales afterwards. All the way through they've been looking forward to painting it. In fact, as the time approached, they were beside themselves with excitement. I took them out to choose the colours, and then we prepared them for the inevitable mess. In the end, they were surprisingly free of paint, but I think the precaution of using plastic food bags for gloves was essential. I let them paint the bottom of the boat. Doing the inside would have been more awkward for them and would inevitably result in more mess. They worked hard on it and I only intervened to smooth bits out and patch bits up. They did a good job and I was proud of them. The kids have loved paddling in the Mouse. Declan's even had a play in the surf, standing up and surfing like a goodun! Sunday 23 March 2003: During a discussion on the OPENBOAT yahoo group about taking children sailing, during which I told of how I regularly have to SELL to the children the idea of a trip out on the boat by engaging the children's enthusiasm with tales of treasure and adventure, it was suggested to me by Gavin Atkin that I might want to engage their interest in sailing for its own sake by building them a small boat of their own, something stable and easy to handle, beginning with forward-facing paddling, then on into sailing. I took a look at Gavin's MOUSE design (available at http://home.claranet.com/gmatkin/design.htm) and decided to give it a go. I'd never build a boat of any kind before. In fact, I'd done little woodwork before, except at school, and the odd bit of DIY at home. I decided to take the bull by the horns suggested it to the kids (thus forcing a point of no return), who where greatly enthusiastic about the idea. I then went out and bought some exterior ply and started marking out the design. I am fortunate that the recommended source of epoxy (at http://www.epoxy-resins.co.uk/) is close to where I live, so I ordered and collected the required epoxy materials. I cut out the marked panels using a cheap jigsaw I got from B&Q a while ago, stitched the panels together and set with epoxy (see http://www.bateau.com/tutorials/vprimer.htm for a full description of stitch & glue boat construction). The boat takes shape very quickly, but a lot of subsequent time is taken with lots of smaller jobs afterwards. I could have done more quickly, but the bug had bit and I was doing extra bits I didn't need to do, but wanted to, such as adding gunwales and inwales. The kids have helped with bits, but much of the work either messy (lots of epoxy work) or involves power tools. They have helped with little things like holding the batten in place while I drew curves, and holding other bits in place while I did other things. Declan also helped with binding the hull panels together with cable ties and has learned a thing or two about planing wood, as he help in planing down the laminated inwales/gunwales afterwards. All the way through they've been looking forward to painting it. In fact, as the time approached, they were beside themselves with excitement. I took them out to choose the colours, and then we prepared them for the inevitable mess. In the end, they were surprisingly free of paint, but I think the precaution of using plastic food bags for gloves was essential. I let them paint the bottom of the boat. Doing the inside would have been more awkward for them and would inevitably result in more mess. They worked hard on it and I only intervened to smooth bits out and patch bits up. They did a good job and I was proud of them. The kids have loved paddling in the Mouse. Declan's even had a play in the surf, standing up and surfing like a goodun!

The panels marked out on the ply. The panels cut and laid out The frames, ends and sides in place. The frames, ends and sides in place. The frames, ends and sides in place. One floor in place, with Declan proudly overseeing the work. Another view of the first floor in place. Both floors in place. Declan and Becky proudly posing, now that it at least looks like a boat. Posing again The mouse turned over ready for adding the epoxy fillets. Another view of the upright mouse. Close-up of the epoxy fillets. The hull with all the internal epoxy fillets completed, ready for glassing. The hull with the bottom seams glassed after cutting the ties and smoothing the seams Close-up of glassed seam Another shot of the fully taped bottom Close-up of taped seam Close-up of corner seam Fitting the skeg: the frame keeping the skeg in place is covered with cling-film to stop the frame sticking to the boat. The skeg in place The kids display the boat - almost compete now, but there are a few fiddly bit to do yet. Adding the supports that will help carry the decks. Note the variety of clamps used. Anything goes... Another view with clamps in place. Deck supports with clamps removed. Clamps removed. Fixing the starboard inwale and gunwale, and the port inwale (not enough clamps/time to do it all together!). Fixing the port gunwale. The starboard gunwale is now fixed and the filling piece planed down flush with the inwale and gunwale. Close-up of the inwale and gunwale, sandwiching the filling piece, planed down flush. The finished product, except for maybe for a possible additional coat of paint, and the addition of a name. The decks and gunwales have been 'varnished' with epoxy, which is tough and seals the wood. It can suffer from discolouration due to UV effects, but this can be polished off with T-Cut (or so I am told). Decks in place and sealed. Note the fairlead on the bow for a painter. This is glued in place with epoxy as I forgot to add to the thickness of the deck here to take screws. Preparing the hired help for painting. Getting started on the painting. I got the kids to do the bottom rather than the inside (where they were more likely to get covered in paint). Busy at it and almost done. They actually did most of the work here; I just touched up and went over with the roller to even things out. Becky was very disappointed when they finished. She wanted me to build another so that she could do more painting. They got plenty of praise for a job well done. The launch of 'Tadpole'!!! Declan with an over-long double paddle. He learned to handle the paddles pretty quickly and was really enjoying himself. Now with Becky as passenger. Tadpole can carry these two with no problems. However, stick a 210lb dad and his 3-year-old daughter in there and we're pushing Tadpole just a bit far. Oh, and I managed to break the paddle, right in the middle where there was a zigzag scarf joint. Easy to fix. But with the less rotund mother and boy on board, Tadpole is happy... ...and so is mum.

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