Good News

Clints design the Drake Rowboat, "A new take on the Faering for the modern oarsman" is featured in the 2010 Small Boats edition by Wooden Boat Publications. It is on newstands and it is a great issue. Click here for more info.

Clint is also a recommended US builder for Michael Storer boat designer and will be producing a line of high-performance rudders and centerboards using a unique foil template developed for small boats by Michael Storer with research done by Aerodynamicist Neil Pollock. In addition to high performance foils, look for tillers, Birdsmouth masts and spars, and a new oar designed by Clint employing carbon fiber blades on a refined Sitka Spruce loom. This new oar will be up in a few days, so stay tuned! You can see more about Michael Storers talk at my shop earlier in this blog site. Michaels website is http://www.storerboatplans.com/

Read More..

Some seriously good news

There be bigots assholes in Dent County Missouri, just some welfare for rich folks, and Im not quite sure the military and I share the same definition of the word humane...

Ive never been a big fan of carrying around a lot of pyrotechnics as things designed to explode/burn on a boat just make me nervous. A feeling underlined over the years by a too large number of incidents where flares became part of the problem rather than the solution.

Truth be told, flares scare me.

Then theres the ongoing need to replace your flares every couple of years... Yeah, I know flares have a three year lifespan but, try as I may, whenever I find myself needing to buy flares I only seem to be able to find flares with eighteen months or so validity.

Have I mentioned that flares are silly expensive?

So, in the "its about frelling time" department...

... Finally an electric flare that is USCG approved (and yes I know it looks like a man-overboard light).

The good news is from here on this is the only night signal you need to carry and combined with a distress flag as your day signal (which comes with the Sirius flare) its all you need to be 100% street legal with the USCG and other powers that be.

But wait... It gets better!

The Sirius electric flare is not "dated" with an expiry date which means the only thing you need to replace is the c-cell batteries when needful. That said, if you lose or screw it up you can order a replacement and get it shipped to you by the US Mail or something similar.

Of course I saved the best for last... It only costs $99!

Doing the happy dance...

Listening to Chuck Johnson

So it goes...

Read More..

Some apt Labor Day news

Someone making some sense, EBM asks an important question, and about that beefed up in blue with the telltale acne look...

For anyone needing to buy boat stuff over the rest of the Labor Day weekend or in the near future, you should be aware that the union warehouse workers at Defender are currently on strike. I dont think I need to tell any Boat Bits readers that its always negative karma to cross picket lines (and that includes an online order).

Listening to Billy Bragg

So it goes...

Read More..

Good news bad news

L,G, & M with a bit of RCN Dazzle, a comic strip worth reading, and about the bad side of desalination watermaking...

Some bad news regarding our French friend Yann and SKROWL.

The good news is that Yann is OK and already thinking of the next boat...

Listening to Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad

So it goes...

Read More..

Workshop News

It is about time I said a little bit about what is going on in the workshop. Being a one-man-band is very satisfying, but it means that just a few concurrent jobs take up all of my time. I like writing and designing, but at the moment Im definitely burning the candle at both ends!

Annapolis Wherry Tandem

In late 2012 I reported on the construction of a CLC Annapolis Wherry Tandem in this post  and showed some photos of the finished boat in this one. After completion the Annapolis Wherry Tandem sat for a number of months under shelter beside my workshop because the owner was overseas doing post-graduate studies. 

Well, the day finally came for a test row and the boat went very well indeed. The only problem was a slight bow-down trim, but that was sorted out on the second outing, and turned out to have simply been caused by having the foot stretcher set too far forward. With that adjusted the trim is now perfect. The following photos were taken on the initial outing, so you may just detect the trim I mentioned. Despite that the boat went fine, and on the second outing a few weeks later she was perfect.

That is the owner, Dr McArthur, looking on as I make preparations for the initial launching.  Dr McArthur is a very experienced oarsman, having rowed for 55 years of his long life.

Just getting the feel of the boat about two minutes after the launching.  You can see how we have the excellent  Piantedosi Row Wing adjusted for a "left-over-right" rigging.

A "turtles eye view" as Dr McArthur  becomes more familiar with the boat. 

Even though we had the foot stretcher too far forward, the boat is still trimmed  reasonably, and she certainly ran nicely, with excellent directional stability.

The boat proved to be stable and fast. Subsequent outings have been  longer, and weve  explored more of the performance envelope. She is a practical and enjoyable package.

Jim Michalak Scram Pram

In this post I mentioned that I had been given the job of finishing off the construction of a Jim Michalak Scram Pram. 

My part in the project is nearing completion, with just some detail work around the hull, initial coating work on the spars, and setting up the running rigging and sail to go. The owner will pick-up the boat and do the remainder of the painting and varnishing. However, I hope that he and I will be able to fit in a day or two of sea-trials prior to her departure (by road) for her home waters. Here are just a few pictures: -

View from the helmsmans position, port side, looking forward. You can see what an enormously roomy vessel she is for a light fifteen footer. It is easy to see that if the boat suffered a knock-down, the windows (not yet installed) and the raised deck on either side of the centre walkway would keep the boat dry and buoyant.

Forward/port window dry-installed with Pencil Cedar surrounds.  Window and internal framing held in with silicon bronze screws throughout. See the aft/port window loosely fitted and waiting for the surrounds to be fabricated.

Close-up of internal framing showing how I have stamped markings at the top/right to identify the components after disassembly. The window installation was a much more difficult and time-consuming process that I had anticipated, as each window is  slightly different from its fellows, and there were a number of lurking "tricks for young players".

Windows from the outside. The protective film and paper will be left in place as long as possible. Fore and aft decks will be screwed down onto flexible bedding compount to allow future removal for maintenance. When I did it, it took 93  #8 x 1-1/4" silicon bronze screws! However, it is a very good idea.

Filling/draining bungs for the three water ballast tanks were sourced from Duckworks. They come as a brass tube (see longest tube in the photo) and an expanding rubber or plastic plug. When the lever is pushed down the plug expands and grips the inside of the tube. My problem was that the bottom of the boat is only 9mm/3/8" thick and the tube would protrude. I worked out the shortest length that the tube could be and still allow the plug a full-depth grip, and cut the tube (see cut tube in foreground). I then fabricated some blocks so that the tube protruded only 9mm/3/8" below the block. When set in the tanks on the bottom of the hull, the brass tube and plug fit neatly without extending past the outer surface of the hull. Note how I cut holes in the blocks and the brass tube to allow water to drain right down to the bottom of the tank.

Bung set into the bottom of the tank, positioned below the inspection port to allow opening and closing.  The block was very thoroughly sealed with about four full coats of epoxy prior to installation, and the tube and block were set in polyurethane bedding compound during installation. This was done so that the expansion and contraction of the brass would be taken up by the bedding compound - an epoxy joint would surely show hair-line cracks before long.

Mast partner is held to the forward bulkhead by four 5/16" bolts - two of them are silicon bronze and two (which you can see) extend through the aft face of the partner and act also as attachment and pivot for the mast gate, which I made from 8mm alloy plate. These two bolts are from 316 stainless steel, and if I can locate the required plate, I may replace the alloy with 316 stainless.

1-1/2" thick laminated mast step sitting upside-down on the bench prior to installation in the hull. Note the groove to act as a drain to prevent water accumulating in the step, and also the very thorough sealing of the internal surfaces with epoxy. This was done ahead of installation because access is difficult after. The rounded-over edge at the rear of the step (as it sits in the photo) is to allow it to sit neatly against the glass fillet between the forward bulkhead and the floor of the cabin (which is also the top of one of the water-ballast tanks).

More about jobs, both in the workshop and coming up, and also some progress reports on stock designs such as Whimbrel and Fleet in a day or so. I need to go to bed!

Read More..