That Shetland Boat again...

Well, here she is, sans oars and floorboards. What can I say?

Tom's Rules of Thumb

Tom Whitfield has been my long distance mentor ever since I began building and writing about building boats. He lives as far away as possible, but served his apprenticeship in an old Devon yard, long since gone, a victim of changing ways and the advent of glassfibre. But he forged a new life in Australia, building and designing boats, including some of the country's best loved Tall Ships.

He sends me critiques of my boats, which are always to the point: he spares me nothing. Whereas most people (bless them) go "ooh, aah, how lovely" he'll point out a slight discrepancy in the third land down, near the bow, or a flaw in the timber which he reckons might lead to a problem down the line.

I'll post more of his wisdom as the months go by, but here's his Rules of Thumb for wooden boat building to be getting on with.

RULES OF THUMB.

There are a number of guides to building a boat I have used over the years.

Clinker planking for a 12ft dinghy about 3/8in thick lap is 3/4in. 2 to 1

Plank width no more than 5in plus the 3/4in lap narrower is better.

Nail spacing to be six times the plank thickness. 6 to 1

Scarphs to be six times the plank thickness. 6 to 1

Outer end of scarph to have a butt about 1/16in on 3/8in planking. 6 to 1

Ribs to be at every second or third nail spacing.

Plank joints at least three plank or three frame spaces apart.

Ply scarphs to be slash cut and glued. 8 to 1

Mast or spar scarfs to be about 10 to 1 or better still 12 to 1

Rowing seat height no less than 10in above the floor.

Seat riser 7in down from sheer + 1in for the thwart.

Rowlock to be centered 12 ½in aft of the back edge of the thwart.

Oars need to be 1 ½ or 2 times the beam of the boat.

Working oars - the blade is about 1/3 the oars length.

Racing oars - the blade is about ¼ to 1/6 the oars length.

Beam/length about 3 to one or 4 to 1 is normal.

I have built good boats with a 2 to 1 ratio.

Some dinghy designs are as wide as 1 to 1 [eg 6ft long x 6ft wide. Anything is possible.]

Cornish gigs are about 5 1/3 to 1.

Racing eights are 12 to 1.

Designer Pete Culler's stems in light craft were 2 times the plank thickness plus the fastening [¼in] plus 1/8in.

Rivets to have a rove 1¼ the head size of the nail. Allow a bit less than the square of the nail projecting through the rove to allow riveting. 

Tom Whitfield.

Where did the Heliflex Go?

Dedicated followers of this blog, all 13 (bless you) may wonder why an earlier post or two about a recaltricant V-Tronix VHF aerial has been removed. Well, it's a long story, involving a fierce email exchange with the makers, from whom I am awaiting a definitive reply as to why an aerial consisting of a spring, base plate, bracket, rubber grommet and two set screws should cost £51, rather than £5.10 (a healthy margin, I would have thought).

The importers  were quick to explain the fundamentals of electronic marketing (margins, cost of materials, packaging etc) but I was still not convinced. In short they offered me a free aerial to shut me up (which I have reluctantly declined) preferring to see if my soldering technique and heat shrinking ability will prolong its life. After all, we are told to recycle if possible.

So, pending a definitive reply as to why this collection of simple bits and pieces warrants half a hundred quid, I will say no more. If any reader with knowledge of FarEast manufacture (this thing is assembled in Korea) can put a price on it, please let me know.

Small Reach Regatta

These delightful pictures just came through from my good friend Turner, who resides in Bradenton beside the Manatee River in Florida.

Two trips there and the West Coast really got under my skin. OK, it's flat, and a bit hot, and there's alligators (or rather 'gators) and raccoons (that'll be coons by the way) and the inhabitants can't understand a word I say (let alone my attempt at jokes) but their hearts are in the right place, couldn't be more friendly and a week in their company banishes all the old world cynicism that curses us this side of the pond.

Delightful boats too, as these photos show, although this was in Maine for last year's Small Reach Regatta. That's Turner, at the tiller of his Penobscot 17, designed by Arch Davis (www.archdavisdesigns.com).

Forget Drascombes: I reckon this little cat ketch lug-rigged beauty is the perfect day sailer, and overnighter. In fact, if I were asked to build a boat in epoxy/plywood, this would come pretty near the top of my list. And great colour scheme too.

That's Turner at the tiller, below, concentrating hard, trying to beat that other sonofab*** up front. Nothing if not competitive these Americans. God help the North if the South ever decide to open round two of what they call The War of Northern Agression. Reckon they'd win this time round.

Oh, and just look at that lot (above) cooling their heels somewhere on the St John's River. I tell you, we don't have a clue about how to enjoy ourselves over here. Well maybe we do, but in a different (often chillier) ways. The Solent Raid looks fun, and there's the Classic Malts Cruise, and Toberonochy...

There's more of the same from The Great Gulf Coast Small Craft Festival and the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet, and many more. Bring a little sunshine into your life by going to http://ftp.ij.net/wctss/wctss/gallery.htm

More Than a Sum of the Parts... and Infinitely Repairable

Finally got round to taking a photo of the Shetland boat I have been restoring. She was built by Ian Best on Fair Isle and has survived on an exposed beach for some years, before coming to me for refreshment. And I just cannot get enough of her shape. A good, honestly built working boat with no frills or fancies. Fit for purpose, form and function in harmony...

I expected a number of planks would need replacing after such a long time in the open, but the damage was limited to just a few sections which were popped out and replaced. I cannot over emphasise the ease with which a traditional clinker boat can be repaired. It is their unique selling point, and like the new axe (just two new shafts and two new heads) will survive indefinitely (albeit with next to nothing original).

It's just that all the components are held together with a view to replacement, should they get damaged (which was often the case in hard-driven fishing boats, like these Shetland types.) You needed to be able to pop out a plank, and scarph in a new section when the occasion arose. Which meant no glue (even if they had something up to the job in those days). Just a case of grinding off the heads of the nails, popping the roves off, removing the damaged plank (use it as a template to make a new one), bevel the edge, cut the scarph, a smear of mastic  (or twist of cotton as in the case of this boat) rivet up and it's back in the water in a matter of hours, given the kind of simple skills once found in the fishing harbours around our coasts.

Which is one of the problems I have with plywood epoxy/clinker. OK, it can be repaired, and seamlessly too. But what a palaver. In the time it takes to repair a clinker plywood boat, a traditionally planked boat with the same damage would have been back in the water long since. And there's a flexibility in those old Shetland types which is quite delightful. Don't confuse movement with weakness. Pretty light too, if the Shetland boat in my shed is anything to go by. The photos above were take in the Faroes, where the boats are similar but subtly dfferent. Thet don't sail much there, due to the currents and weather. Note the boulders to stop her blowing away, it's a fearsomely breezy spot (or maybe it's an anchor?!)

I expect the Shetland boat will leak a bit at first, but that shouldn't last long. Sail trials in March. Can't wait...

Woodseal RIP

And so farewell Hempel's Woodseal, gone the way of the late lamented International UCP (which was not a patch on it, and came in ridiculously small tins to boot). You have served me well over the years, laying down an impervious clear coat over which I have laid everything from varnish to topcoat. 

It always did, however, smell rather dodgy, but like any glue-sniffing addict, I got quite fond of it. The decision to drop it has probably added a few months to my lifespan. One more for the 'elf and safety boys... Not a bad thing, perhaps, and it was shockingly expensive too...

PS I have it from Hempel's excellent Norman Curtis that Episeal, two-pack clear epoxy, will achieve much the same result.

Spot the Difference

Beauty is in the eye... Having said that, who could find anything nice to say about this boat? But then, who knows. Maybe she's home for a young family, evicted from their house, or an elderly seafarer, home from the sea? Perhaps, soon after this photo was taken, her owner set sail for the South Seas in search of  love and adventure. Who cares whether she's good looking, in other words. She's someone's pride and joy.

And so are these, owned by a good friend of mine in Florida. What's the difference then?