Varnish Sand x

After a 5 coats of clear epoxy it was time for varnish of the deck and sides. I have completed 4 coats of varnish and the amber tint has given a nice ivory color to the white stripes and toned them down a bit. Looks better I think. As stated on the varnish can (Epifanes), the first coat was thinned 50% with mineral spirits. I used a foam trim roller...

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Tidying Up Day

I tidied up some wiring today.  I enclosed in flexi trunking the remote start cable for the generator, the output cable and the power cable for the bilge pump, and connected the immersion heater wiring and a few other little jobs. The end of the runOnce done I fired up the generator with the shore power still plugged in and the auto switch...

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Clean up after yourself google

There is a widespread belief that technology creates energy.  It enables the delivery of energy but it does not produce it.  You cant use technology to create energy.  Energy exists of its own accord.  Technology helps with the delivery.  Thats all. Obviously there is a lot of technology involved in the delivery of energy,...

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Almost Forgot

I almost forgot to post some pictures on the wat...

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The 41st Waterfowl Festival Easton Maryland November 11th 13th 2011

We do a lot of shows during the year, generally around a dozen, or so. Shows that weve done cover many parts of the U.S: East to West, from the Chesapeake Bay to Lake Tahoe and North to South from Upstate New York to Florida and many places in between. Weve even been invited to shows in Scandinavia, Germany, England and Australia. Such invitations...

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Progress finally

15th December 07Well finally our busy week is nearly over, on Friday 14th, the guys managed to finish tackwelding FR 12 and F13 to the hull floor. Also the stiffeners on FR 1-3 lower sections were fitted having been sitting there for a week waiting to get fitted.Today Saturday, I managed to finish the last big frame, No 14. (below)Side stringers laid...

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Ranked No 22

I joined UK Waterways web ring type ting last week. Im really pleased that Im in at No. 22. Thanks everyone for readi...

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Its Been A While

We have been away for a week wild camping in the motorhome down to Cornwall and the west country.  This is wild camping at its best.   Cheddar GorgeIn line with our love of canals a visit to the famous Caen Flight of locks was on the agenda. This is my picture of the site.Before we went I ordered a load of stuff which has now started...

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Advanced Alternator Regulator

To finish the alternator modification I have added to the house battery system an advanced alternator regulator made by Sterling Power Products  I chose the ProD model.Unit on the right.  The left is the MPPTThe first thing to do was to connect 2 wires to the inside of the alternator.  Only one of these wires is used but it need to be determined which.These...

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Toilet Talk

Its a fact, when a group of boaters get together its not long before the talk turns to one of several subjects and pretty much every time toilets will crop up.Another topic is voltage drop, cable thickness, etc.  Well this bog blog post covers both.It was my intention to have all essential services on the boat running on 12v.  These I figured...

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Henry B Bigelow

Having an absolutely amazing time out here-- sighted many whale species (just saw two blue whales a few hours ago), lots of dolphins, and mola molas. On June 19th, dozens of dolphins surrounded the ship. Miniature dolphin calves swam next to their protective mothers while the others had a hell of a time jumping and dancing with each other. Just lovely....

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Joining Plywood Scarph Joints

This is the first of a series of posts about the methods of joining plywood. It is not a course to teach how to do this work but a basic explanation of how it is made and the benefits and drawbacks. Refer to that excellent book "The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction" to see various methods for making joints on plywood and solid timber.I...

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Moving forward

29th Nov 2007The lower side stringers upto frame 8 are fitted each sideThe front frames from 9 trough 15 need the backing strips fitted before we can tack them in forming the front of the boat.today we managed to get 6 frames completed and 4 frames remain.Backing strips welded to the inside of the frames.there is a radius of 150mm approx.. we used...

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To Paint or Not to Paint

Last week the builder of one of my boats asked me about painting the interior of his boat, what should he paint and what shouldnt he paint? I had not really thought of it before, that there are different thoughts about what to paint and why. Before I answer, I will tell you of my experiences on a wide range of boats, those built by me and those built by others.On all of the big boats that I have built...

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Tumarayulit Kayaks able to repair themselves

In Paitarkiutenka, My Legacy to You, Frank Andrews tells of kayaks able to repair themselves. On page 311 he says, "And some kayaks were endowed with supernatural attributes in the past.  At present, kayaks no longer have these qualities."Apparently, some builders were able to build these kinds of kayaks. Andrews reports that it is said that the...

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A Job That Well Remember

You probably havent noticed that Ive been away for a while. Writing time has been scarce, because among the many things going on here, weve been in the final stages of several projects. Our projects tend to be especially time and labor intensive during their final construction, and soon we will be posting photos of some things that have been in the...

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Kitchen Appliances

The kitchen appliances arrived so it was down to fitting them. Well temporarily anyway for the washing machine and microwave combi oven.  The oven housing needed a small amount of alteration as originally we were going to have a gas oven*.  I also have the hob but thats not shown here.  All of these have been set up to enable the placement...

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Quilting Techniques for Amateur Boatbuilders

Most of us learn boatbuilding techniques and tricks as boys, from our fathers. Michael Vermeersch, builder the Didi 950 prototype, sent me this tip that he learned from his mother. Her hobby was quilting, a pastime that I had never considered to bear any relationship to building boats.The methods that quilters use to cut through multiple layers of...

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Perhaps I shouldnt discuss Politics

...but I will to this extent...Learn all you can. Think for yourself. Vo...

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Mud Box Mods

I was not overly happy at the arrangements for the cooling water intake.  Its done through whats known as a Mud Box.The primary strainers on the hull had no way of being unblocked without getting wet.   Original strainer inletI asked on a Canal Forum and it emerged theres a better way which enables the primary strainer to be cleared...

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IWC NYC The Half Hull on The Wall

Any photos here are copyright their respective owners. Let me know and I will remove anything objectionable. I apologize for obsessing. We have models all over the world and in some very special places, for example, The St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco or the one in Dubai. There is something about this setting and the quality of the surroundings...

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