Australian Boatbuilding Materials

[PsiPhi]

Hi.
Having just read Swallows & Amazons for the 2nd time (1st time was 40 years ago!), and because I now live on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, I've decided it's time to try sailing as a hobby.
I quick look around the web shows that building your own boat first might be even more fun.
So i'm thinking to build a (budget) plywood sailing boat (David Beede's Summer Breeze maybe) to learn to sailing in, and to learn the techniques of building a boat.

Most of the web sites, blogs, ect., seem to be U.S. based and mention the materials they can get [usually from Home Store?].
My question is "What do people here in Australia/Queensland use?"
- Glues
- Epoxies
- Fibreglass sheet/tape
- Polytarp?
- Cheap mast options
- Paint
- Wood (ply & hardwood)
and "Where do you shop? - Specialist Store v. Bunnings"

[PAR]

Duck tape and eucalyptus resin are primary sealants, which can be mixed with talcum powder and kangaroo spit to make a reasonably fine adhesive.

Couln't resist Max ;)

[raw]

Here's a better idea:

Look into a boat that has a class association and active fleets in Australia. If you do a good job, you will be able to sell it if it has a valid measurement certificate and you will get all the tricks while building.

Australian plywood dinghies that are in australia that might suit you:

Mirror (I wouldn't suggest this though that's personal preference - slow boat)
125 - good 2 person boat, used to race these - Active association in qld.
sabre - single hander, have seen a few very good (read better than your best furniture) examples more common in vic though are sailed from cleveland.

the sabre is probably the simplest, though it is only a single hander


good luck.

[Bergalia]

Duck tape and eucalyptus resin are primary sealants, which can be mixed with talcum powder and kangaroo spit to make a reasonably fine adhesive.


Come now PAR...don't lead the poor boy astray. You assured me that Wombat sh*t applied by a C# didjeridoo was the best sealant and Koala spit (because of it's high eucalypt content) made the best adhesive.

Just imagine what will happen if he takes you seriously....:(

[Bergalia]

...Australian plywood dinghies that are in australia that might suit you:Mirror (I wouldn't suggest this though that's personal preference - slow boat)

On a serious note PsiPhi - if you are really starting from basics (and congratulations and welcome) Arthur Ransome books are a pretty good guide to the joys of sailing. 'Coot Club' will give better details - and illustrations - on sail settings and rigs. (I was weaned on Ransome and still have the complete library (volumes 50 years old) - now handed on to my youngsters).

Raw suggests the Mirror Dinghy as being 'slow'. True - but face it, no novice rider begins on a race-horse. The Mirror is stable, comfortable and very forgiving. It's also simple to build, ply (stitch and glue) and plans are widely available. It's also 'car-topable'.
And like my learned colleagues - Good luck. (PAR by the way, designs and builds beautiful yachts, future classics - when you get more experienced - have a look at his portfolio...And I hasten to add - he's not paying me to say this...)

[PsiPhi]

Yeah, thanks guys.
Did I say, I've never even been in a sailing boat before?, never ever sailed one?, and only first considered building one a couole of weeks ago?

RAW, those dingy classes look good, just a little above my abilities at the moment, think I'll stick with PAR's eucalyptus resin and talcum powder (worked fine on my lounge chair!) until I get the hang of it.

Now, where can I buy Koala Pooh varnish . . .

[PsiPhi]

But seriously, at the moment what I need to do is prove to myself (and my wife:)) that . . .
a) I can actually build a boat.
b) I'm not too old to learn to sail.

All the boat building blogs I ready talk about 'PL' adhesive. Is that available in Australia? Is there a local alternative? What should I avoid?

[raw]

Of the boats I mentioned,

All are stitch and glue plywood. similar construction techniques.

The simplest to build would be the sabre.

All are easy to sail, but hard to sail well. All forgiving. the sabre the easiest due to one sail, and one person. The others have jibs and spinnakers.

The worst boat amongst them is the mirror:

[Bergalia]

...The worst boat amongst them is the mirror:

Pah...tell that to half a century of Mirror enthusiasts...Anyway, what does a junior member know....:D

Perhaps you were facing the wrong way when you tried to sail it...

[raw]

Pah...tell that to half a century of Mirror enthusiasts...Anyway, what does a junior member know....:D
.

I know enough to be dangeous.........listen twice, speak once....

All those classes are decades old........whats your point.....

My old 125 would be around 35 years old now, and there were some 1500 boats before it.....

[Bergalia]

I know enough to be dangeous.....My old 125 would be around 35 years old now, and there were some 1500 boats before it.....

Fifteen hundred, Raw. Wow, certainly makes the 70,000 Mirrors look silly. And I seem to remember a Mirror was successfully sailed from Liverpool (England) to the Baltic...

Your serve, I believe.....:P

[raw]

I say that if 140,000 englishmen want to sail a heavy, pram bow, plywood shoebox with a spinnaker the size of a tea towel and red sails, then let them. I'm an australian, and though I am well past the 125 in terms of performance sailing, I like to sail something that feels like it does what it was meant to.

Besides, I know of a sabre fleet and a 125 fleet in SE Qld, but haven't seen a mirror for well over a decade........

[MikeJohns]

The 125 was a fine boat I tought my kids to sail in one decades ago and I am very fond of the design. Mirrors are good for newbies but in light air they sit there like a flock of bored gulls.

[Bergalia]

I say that if 140,000 englishmen want to sail a heavy, pram bow, plywood shoebox with a spinnaker the size of a tea towel and red sails, then let them. I'm an australian....Besides, I know of a sabre fleet and a 125 fleet in SE Qld, but haven't seen a mirror for well over a decade........

Errrr. Not just Englishmen, Raw. Although most popular in the UK the Mirror also has a strong presence in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, most of Europe, and many Asian countries.

The International Class Association of Tasmania was able to record 2,000 Mirrors in Australia in 1970. Just think - even before your 125 was built its class was already outnumbered by this English invader. If you haven't seen one for over a decade - perhaps you haven't been looking.

But that apart, PsiPhi is looking for a simple, inexpensive dinghy to begin with. He suggests he has neither experience in building or sailing. That's why I suggest the gentle - OK sluggish in light winds - Mirror. Though at the end of the day, it's up to him to decide.:)

[PAR]

Okay, kidding aside even if Koala hair brushes rank as some of the best, small, easy to build dinghies plans abound. Literally thousands of them, from old classics, through 'round the buoys war horses to new, state of the art, precut kits.

The selection of a design is an overwhelming process, for many. What do I need, how do I know what I need, can I build this, is this to ambitious a project for a rank amateur, etc. are questions that run through the heads of each making such a contemplation.

You'll do best with a forgiving hull shape that can offer a beginner a stable, safe ride, but also has the ability to challenge the intermediate sailor, who's developed some skills, a good thrill. Other wise you'll get bored with it in a few years.

So ask yourself, what kind of styling do you want, classic or modern. What will you do with it, sail on Saturday afternoons, maybe some over night camping on the water, beat up on the local 'round the buoys crowd, just look good, gliding along in an expression of your craftsmanship, etc. What type of construction do you want to try, are you a handy person, have you a reasonably selection of tools, can you employ these tools without loosing too many fingers in the process, etc. What about where you'll build, will your other half get in on the fun (very important if you expect to keep them around) . . .

Then start looking at designs that sort of meet these ideas and desires. You should find a ride on a boat (as many as you can) so you can get a feel for it (it's easy). Local sailing clubs are always looking for "rail meat" (extra crew) to fill out their rosters. Stop down and see what you can get into. You'll learn a lot from these folks.

If you'd like, I have several of these little day boats that may fit your bill of needs. Drop me an email (click on my name) if interested. There are also many places on line you can find low cost and free plans, for all sorts of boats. Be warned, you often get what you pay for in a free or low cost set of plans.

[waikikin]

Psipsi, how about buying a secondhand boat & sail it, see if you like it, heaps cheaper & quicker to have fun - keep wife happyer too, maybe something you can varnish/paint up to get a feel for the work, my suggestion would be a pacer (puffin pacer) 12' easy to sail, can be set to row too, easy to get under boom in tacks, not overpowered but but carries kite if your keen, search up the pacer website or look ebay , trading post etc. Regards from Jeff.PS:find a local club/sailschool that runs AYF endorsed lessons & enrol wife & self, sure it costs but a Good investment!

[frosh]

Hi psipsi, There are two aspects to your initial posting. Do you primarily want to go sailing, or do you want to build a boat? Maybe you want to build the boat yourself then get the tremendous satisfaction derived from sailing your own creation. Waikikin had a good point. Sail first to see if you like it. Do a social race or two as a crew on a fairly low performance dinghy to start. Then do it, build if you have got the bug to create. Be careful of advice given by posters such as raw. He is not thinking of your situation at all.

I like to sail something that feels like it does what it was meant to.-QUOTE -RAW. Notice he starts this quote with: "I like" -
Regards, and good luck, Sam

[raw]

Be careful of advice given by posters such as raw. He is not thinking of your situation at all.


Regards, and good luck, Sam

How do you figure that?

I give three seperate examples of classes that suit his philosophy and my thoughts on each of them.

By tapping into a class association as suggested he would get all the answers he has asked for and loads more. Perhaps I didn't spell it out, but I was pointing in this direction.

I do not see how my advice which includes local knowledge, is not helpfull in this case.

[frosh]

Raw, sorry if you saw my comments as a bit harsh on you. I still feel that you were not truly viewing the situation from the perspective of the absolute beginner. Performance is always relative. A Mirror planing under spinnaker on a windy day probably feels more exhilarating than an Open 60 doing say 75% of it's ultimate highest boat speed. Single handers also have a major drawback in every situation. There is no-one with you to share the experience, and from considerable personal experience, this is a very important advantage of going sailing with a close friend or partner, compared to even sailing a sailboard, which is probably the most exhilarating sailing experience. The sailboard no matter how exciting gives only an exquisite "alone" sailing experience at best, not something that suits everybody.

[alan white]

Errrr. Not just Englishmen, Raw. Although most popular in the UK the Mirror also has a strong presence in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, most of Europe, and many Asian countries.

The International Class Association of Tasmania was able to record 2,000 Mirrors in Australia in 1970. Just think - even before your 125 was built its class was already outnumbered by this English invader. If you haven't seen one for over a decade - perhaps you haven't been looking.

But that apart, PsiPhi is looking for a simple, inexpensive dinghy to begin with. He suggests he has neither experience in building or sailing. That's why I suggest the gentle - OK sluggish in light winds - Mirror. Though at the end of the day, it's up to him to decide.:)

I'll second Bergalia's view on this. A first boat--- to build or own will not be boring to sail, regardless of what a seasoned hand might think. More than anything else, a good sturdy proven design like the Mirror will be a doable project, easy on the pocket too. Sell it and move up, but wait until you feel the itch for more size, complexity, and speed.
Plenty of other designs too, but as PAR says, get good plans (what's fifty bucks (US)?)

Alan

[PsiPhi]

This thread has become most interesting, and I'm learning from it, thanks, and thanks to PAR for brining it back on track!
PAR, your last post is basically what I have been going through the last few weeks, scouring the web for designs, build blogs and opinions.
I've come to the conclusion by first priority is to prove the point, inexpensively, that I can build a boat, and also end up with a boat in which I can learn to sail. I fully expect to outgrow it in a year or two (then I'll build a bigger one for all the family).
My use for this first boat will be to learn to sail, and to amble around the lakes and estuaries, and maybe cruise the Pummicestone Passage on Saturday afternoons. I'm thinking flat bottom, shallow draft, car topper appears to be the right design.
I particularily liked David Beede's 'Summer Breeze' for its economical use of ply and popularity amoungst other builders.
http://www.simplicityboats.com/summerbreezetemp.html
The plans are free and serveral people have journalled thier building process.
I would appreciate opinions of my conclusions, this boat, and the materials to use.

[Bergalia]

Summer Breeze looks fine PsiPhi. Good starter boat. Prefer a 'dagger board' myself...but.
One thing I would add - avoid those bloody Philips screws...curse of the handiman. Stick to 'squareheads'. The glue I swear by is - or was called Cascamite. Probably changed names by now...I tend to store in bulk. It's a two stage marine glue, resin powder (to be mixed to a thin paste) and an 'acid' hardener. Mixed with sawdust it makes the perfect 'filler'....Not that I need fillers - my carpentry is always perfect :D
For any boat it's best not to skimp on materials. Use good quality Marine ply. Pricey - but durable. Lay out your patterns to get the best advantage from your ply sheet - shuffle them around to get the ultimate use (little or no waste). Etch your proposed saw cut with a sharp Stanley knife to avoid splintering when you operate the saw.
Take your time. Enjoy the cutting, shaping and assembly process. Don't rush simply to get it finished.
Ensure you have enough clamps, wedges, blocks and are familiar with the use of the 'Spanish Windlass' ready for the bext stage.
Then make sure everything fits snug before applying screws and glues.
While it's setting, sit with a can of beer and plan your next project...I believe 'Cutty Sark' needs rebuilding....And good luck. But remember you've been warned: Boat building is addictive.:D

[frosh]

I would go with a simple design incorporating a dagger board rather than leeboards. It is a much better method in the long run for obtaining the required lateral resistance, and you need only build one foil. As far as glues and fastenings are concerned, I personally prefer epoxy based. I have used the Queensland manufactured Bote-Cote range of glue and resin for several projects, and can't ever see myself using anything else. http://www.boatcraft.com.au/
Also modern small boats need little or no permanent screws or nails. Most of mine are fully glued only, and have been clamped during construction and the skin applied with staples, that were later all removed. The advantage is that you avoid the real risk of water ingress into the wood which will rot it out, at the point where the metal fastening meets the wood, unless you sink all fastenings below the surface, and meticulously fill, and encapsulate in epoxy resin. Bote-Cote also produces an excellent booklet regarding wooden boat building rechniques, where their products are also advertised and their exact use described. I found the booklet extremely helpful.

[PAR]

Yep, she looks like a fine little glide-about. I prefer centerboards, because they can bounce over things with no damage, daggers don't like this near as much, though they take up less space.

For the record, leeboards are more efficient then both daggers or centerboards, given the same draft and area. I personally don't like them as much as centerboards, but they do work fine if well engineered.

I'd also not use TiteBond II, but would use TiteBond III as it is a waterproof type I adhesive, where TiteBond II isn't, it's just water resistant. None of the TiteBond adhesives are considered "structural" so you've been warned. Gorilla glue will also make a good substitute.

You could increase strength, water tightness and eliminate a few pieces, if the boat was converted to a true glued seam construction. This will require epoxy, which is hands down the best of the marine adhesives. Epoxy can eliminate pretty much most of the fasteners and permit you to use lesser grades of material too.

[PsiPhi]

Thanks for that, I have seen a version of Summer Breeze with a dagger board and thought that was a better idea. Dumb newbie qestion: What's the difference between a Dagger Board and a Centre Board - I thought it was different terms for the same thing.
haven't found anyone locally who sells building materials, and the only on-line place that actually gives prices is the Duck Flat people, so I may have to buy mail order, but at least they supply everything (how many postage stamps on a sheet of 8x4?)
That might be the next problem, all plans appear to be written for imperial size ply sheets, 8' x 4' - but everyone around here seems to be metric 1200 x 2400 - about 135 sq in less board.

[alan white]

Centerboards generally pivot up. Dagger baords raise vertically in a sleeve. A Sunfish has a dagger.
Daggers are usually more efficient because they lack a slot aft of the board and do not change sectionally when partially raised. They are less troublesome because they rarely catch debris, and they take up far less cockpit space. They are unable to ride over shoals or obstructions like a centerboard, however, or adjust fore and aft, and when raised, they are in the way. Lastly, daggers are a snap to remove and inspect, repair, or refinish.

Alan

[frosh]

haven't found anyone locally who sells building materials, and the only on-line place that actually gives prices is the Duck Flat people, QUOTE psiphi

Hey check out the link I gave you before. Pacific Boatcraft. It is located in Queensland and they have Australia wide agents. They sell resins, glues, marine plywoods, cedar, machined strip planking, plans, and quite a bit more.
And no I don't get a commision from them, but they are really good value.

[PI Design]

I think Waikikin's idea of doing up an old Pacer is a good one. Pacer's are neat little boats, suitable for beginners but slightly bigger and quicker than a Mirror. If you pick an old one up, you can still work on it to get a feel for working on boats (probably need to replace some rotten ply), and at least you get the mast, rudder, rudder stock, boom, centreboard and (fairly knackered, I'd imagine) sails. These are harder to make than the the hull, so it's good to get them ready made. And you'll get all the rigging, albeit some will need replacing - but at least you'll get to see where it goes!
You'll be on the water heaps quicker. You'll soon discover which parts of the boat you would like to change, and can then pick a design to build with a bit more knowledge.
I don't know much about the 125 - it looks similar size to a Pacer, but lighter and therefore probably a bit more skittish (not great if you're an absolute beginner).

[PsiPhi]

More good advice, thanks. I have been looking at e-bay, but not really knowing what I was looking at most of the time.
Now a collegue of mine tells me he has a boat he (his wife) wants gone. 12ft sailing dingy with a slight hole in the hull due to storage, the rest of the hull and wood is supposed to be OK. He's off on holiday for a week, then I'll get some photo's and more info, maybe find out what it actaully is.

But while this thread is active I'll ask some more dumb newbie questions because I will build one anyway, perhaps when I have a better idea of what I want.
Newbie question: Flat Hull or V Hull. Lots of small boat plans have a flat bottom to them. What is the pro's and con's of each.
I know, I can go and buy a book on the subject, and I probably will, but real life up to date peoples opinions (especially if they disagree) make for a lively and informative debate ;o)

[Rick Willoughby]

PsiPhi
I am a frustrated Queenslander living in Melbourne. My boats have got smaller as I have moved south. My retirement project is to regularly sail back to Queensland but I have to build a boat first.

For now I am content to build little boats and learn about boat design. I have found pedal boats to be a lot of fun and a reasonable means of getting about while keeping fit.

Thinking a bit more laterally you might find a kayak type hull to be easier to build and get on the water. It is also more conducive to car topping. You only need a paddle to get moving.

If you want something more stable then think about a pedal catamaran.
http://web.mac.com/cschaffh/iWeb/HPB/HPB%20Trials.html
This boat was built by a boating novice from his own design. He taught himself FreeShip along the way. He has used it to get to work on a good day.

I have made 12 pedal boats. All of my own design - one using a standard OC1 canoe. It is amazing what you can do with a few sheets of aluminium and some good glue.
http://www.rickwill.bigpondhosting.com/v11_views.jpg
I can push this one at 11kph all day with my 1951 vintage engine.
There are endless suppliers of aluminium around Melbourne and I suspect there are plenty around Brisbane. I use aluminium for quick prototyping. I built the hull for the boat shown in 3 days. I have done others in a weekend.

I use FGI for glass and polyurethane foam materials:
http://fgi.findnearest.com.au/findnearest.asp?submittopage=locatorresult.asp&log=1
They have branches near you.

I have another supplier in Melbourne for polystyrene foam and some other nice building products but they do not have an outlet near you. I am sure you can find them though.

You do not need to go to the trouble of getting marine ply if you want something cheaper. As long as it is weatherproof it will hold up for a couple of years - longer if stored out of the weather. In my poorer days I used to get 1ft wide by 8ft long door offcuts to play with. You can make something useful with this.

If you really want a sailboat then you will get a lot of value from buying one second hand. The hull is only a fraction of the cost. It is the fittings, mast and sail that cost the money. Generally people forget about all the money they spend on these bits so you often get a bargain when you buy secondhand. Have a go on a few before you commit. Most sailing clubs will welcome an interested bystander to have a go. In Melbourne they have open days to encourage new members.

Rick W.

[PsiPhi]

Rick,
Thanks for the help, don't think I'll try ali just yet though.
But a good point about starting with a Canoe. My wife, who has no real interest in Sailing, would be keen on a Kayak, so I'll have a look around for plans for a simple, stable, beginers type Kayak, and that may be a better first project - although they are not always the best I'm still looking at free plans of the internet for a start project (I would be put off just because it sinks!).
We did used to use "Peddello's" on holiday in the Med., when we lived in the UK, that is another, though less simple, option. All the family would have a go on one of them.

[Rick Willoughby]

If the kayak idea is on fertile ground then one option without getting into building is a pedal kayak like the Hobie Mirage:
http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/index.html
You will see that they come in doubles as well.

An untrained person can move these about faster than a kayak and they have reasonable stability. They will cruise around 8kph all day. Not as fast as my boats but a lot easier to get on the water.

Rick W.

[PsiPhi]

I found the plans for Northwind, if you can call them plans, a rather old Kayak.
But it's wide, flat bottomed, and supposedly stable.
Think I'll have a go at redrawing the plans with modern materials and stitch-and-glue in mind (and metric 1.2x2.4 ply sheets).
Just downloaded Hulls program too.

[Rick Willoughby]

I found the plans for Northwind, if you can call them plans, a rather old Kayak.
But it's wide, flat bottomed, and supposedly stable.
Think I'll have a go at redrawing the plans with modern materials and stitch-and-glue in mind (and metric 1.2x2.4 ply sheets).
Just downloaded Hulls program too.

You will get better stability for beam with a 'V' bottom than square section. You see this form on modern cruising kayaks. Does the Hulls program provide metacentric height? This is an important stability criteria. It will allow you to compare different sections.

If you are going to draw your own plan then you should start with a good hull design.

You can read about Michlet program on this forum. It is available free. It has a hull optimising component called Godzilla that will produce you the best hull for your constraints. If you don't want to go to the trouble of learning it I can do a run for you if you provide what you want to carry, the speed you want to do, how stable eg able to stand and maximum dimensions.

The process is iterative but you get to understand a lot about the hull before you build it.

Rick W.

[Brands01]

Hi PsiPhi,

I was in a similar position to you 2 yrs ago (perhaps a bit younger:)). I built a 12 ft dinghy from www.bateau.com that has turned out to be an excellent first project. As a result, I now know how to sail! Admittedly an American site, but they give you plans in metric if you want and have good tutorials for first time builders.

Boatcraft Pacific is a QLD based company that will provide you with all the materials you need for your materials, including epoxy, glass fibre, and all the fillers you'll need.

[PsiPhi]

Rick
Thanks, I might take you up on that offer.
As a former software engineer I hate spending time working out how to use other peoples software - sepecially in a field where I don't know what I am doing and not familiar with the terminology.
Originally I was going to build myself a "Summer Breeze" - it was and easy and ideal choice.
Now I might have a chance on obtaining a dingy (in need of restoration) - so if I want to build something, I'll have to build something else. My choice would be a 16'-18' open cruiser, something I could take out into the bay or even across to Morton Island (when I have the experience).
That would be too much for a first project, so that's why a Kayak appeals - double value, it keeps the wife happy too.
I was looking for something stable and easy for her to paddle, and the Nothwind looked like it had enough room for the dog too (Border Collie) and that would be highly desirable. Me + dog must = 120kg!
Also the Northwind was too long, I understand short Kayaks are easier to manouver.
I'll draw some sketches and give everyone a good laugh!

[hansp77]

For some reason I really like Mirrors,
and would love to get an old fixherupper one day to leave down at my girlfreinds family beach house to play with.
I almost bought one a while ago, and in researching them found this guys story of cruising and sleeping alone in mirror dinghy. It was a good little read.
http://www.btinternet.com/~sail/mirror.htm

http://www.btinternet.com/~sail/mirror01.jpg http://www.btinternet.com/~sail/mirror02.jpg http://www.btinternet.com/~sail/mirror03.jpg

PsiPhi,
have you found out what that dinghy in need of restoration is?
Personally I would go down that route (or something like it) first.
IMHO, Get yourself something old, wooden and cheap that you can do a few weeks of work on, fixing damage, replacing a bit of wood, some rigging, some fresh paint and varnish, and then get straight out there and try sailing it.
That way, within a month or two you will have found out both if you enjoy boatbuilding and/or sailing. You may like both, or one, or neither- and it might be best to find that out quickly with a second-hand $300-$800 (ish) 'experiment' than the 'build it from scratch' option.
Then you can look at your next step, and with more experience you will be in a much better position to choose the design that you want to spend your (considerably more) time and money and blood-sweat-and-tears on building (or buying).
Again my humble opinion would be that something a bit more sluggish and stable, like a mirror, might be a more enjoyable and rewarding first boat to learn on than something a bit quicker, and possibly more likely to capsize, then say something like a 125 (almost bought one but never sailed one).
If your wife aint interested in sailing yet, and you want to keep the wife;) then I think you might have to bear that in mind and hopefully come up with something that is less likely to buck her or you off into the drink, scare the bejesus out of her, and resolve her negative feelings towards sailing immediatly.
note I said 'if you want to keep the wife', if not, then I hear foiler moths are fun:D

Anyway, best luck.
Hans.

p.s.
what would I know? After sailing ocassionally on and off as a kid, and then a bit more regularly the last few years with my uncles, I decided I wanted a boat. So for my first little boat, I went straight out and bought a 30 foot wooden offshore keelboat in desperate need of restoration, after it had been retired from racing to Tassy and back. A year and a half on, the purchase of a swing mooring, 3 and half months straight on the hard, eight or nine sheets of marine ply, a large sack of silcon bronze and stainless fasterners, a few litres of epoxy, and maybe a bit more blood, etc, later, I can count the amount of days I have actually been sailing on it on one hand, and the amount of solid months working on it on two. Most recently amongst much else, I have had to learn how to design, bend and weld stainless tubing for the new pushpit-seat (SOOo close to finishing now). If I was to count the amount of money I have spent all up, in thousands of dollars, then unfortunately, I would probably have to take my socks off and start counting toes as well:D
Sometimes I catch myself looking with a touch of envy and frustration at nice little boats like ^that^ that I could be working on in the sun in my back yard on a lazy sunday afternoon...
but then I go out and sleep on my boat on its mooring, cosy and warm, with my partner, and dream of the day (VERY soon to come) when she will be 'finished' and crusing around my local waters...

[Aramas]

If you have a reliable source of ducks and an old mangle you can make your own duck tape. It can be messy though.

Of course you could always use duct tape instead :)

[PsiPhi]

Don't know what it is - but here's a couple of pictures.
As Hans recommends, it looks slow, I think that would suit me.
http://au.geocities.com/simonfbroad/boat.html

[Bergalia]

If you have a reliable source of ducks and an old mangle you can make your own duck tape. Of course you could always use duct tape instead :)

Damn.....Anybody out there got a home for five hundred unused ducks...some only slightly squashed ?:)

[PsiPhi]

Damn.....Anybody out there got a home for five hundred unused ducks...some only slightly squashed ?:)

...of course you could stuff them with Koala pooh, marinade in Kangaroo spit and chuck them on the barbie....

[Bergalia]

...of course you could stuff them with Koala pooh, marinade in Kangaroo spit and chuck them on the barbie....


I did...but Ken objected......(think about it....):D

[PsiPhi]

So does anybody have any idea what it is (or was) . . .


14687 14688 14689 14690

Bigger pictures here http://au.geocities.com/simonfbroad/boat.html - and yes, that is a hole in last picture!

[Brands01]

Could be anything - looks like a sharpie of sorts, but you'd never know who designed or built it.

[PsiPhi]

Yes, I figured is was a home built. It appears to be chine log constructions and nail/screws showing where the paint has been sanded back.
There is a hole because bad storeage caused a bit of rot. Rot and everything suspect around it has been removed. supposedly the rest is all good.
Worst case scenario is I use it as a template and rebuild the hull - that sounds like fun too.