From Keel to Launch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Launch Day. Photos are Worth...

Talk About Just in Time...

The sails arrived from Steve Hall at North Sea Sails just a day before the owner, and the day the spars arrived was the day Mattis and I finished the daggerboard case, and finally hung the rudder and put the final coat of varnish on and, and...

But here she is, rigged and almost ready to launch, had not the heavens opened just at the wrong time. Hopefully (although the forecast is rubbish for Thursday) we'll bend on the sails and slip her into the water tomorrow.

Enough: here are the latest photos showing Mr Jeremy Freeland's spars; Viking Boats' way with rudder gear (34 quid, rather than £80's worth of bronze, of which more later); the rudder and tiller, showing the split tiller (that green string's temporary) and lines to up and downhaul the rudder and some photos showing Jan the owner and Mattis stepping the mast.

Throughout the riggging we tried to eliminate stainless steel and unnecessary boat bling; hence the shrouds have lanyards (albeit Excel V12 racing) led through wooden fairleads. This is in line with current racing practice which aims to eliminate unnecessary shiny bits.

Collars spars arrived the day Jan, her owner, arrived to supervise the rigging.

3Si supplied the 12mm swage rigging fittings, John McIntyre the 12mm stainless bar and tube; and this is how we hang rudders at Viking Boats. Cheap, strong and it works. The flat filed in the bar allows the bottom ring to disengage, then the rudder can be lifted off.

The tiller is formed from two lengths of oak, glued then split, bound at the end. The tiller will articulate up and down and can be drawn in or out if a little more or less length is needed. The lines are for uphaul and downhaul. The green string is temporary...

Stepping the mast. Jan, the owner, and Mattis

Latest on the Arctic Tern

Bottom painted and topsides varnished, we turned her over yesterday to fit the mast step and on Monday the spars should be arriving from Collars. The rudder is hung and the tiller made, which just leaves the rig.

Sails from Steve Hall at North Sea Sails came this morning, and the owner arrives Tuesday to supervise the rigging.

Then she's off south, not before we have a trial sail.

Nearly There

One more week and she'll be ready for the owner's visit, rigging, trial sail and off down south.

Then it's on with another Oughtred boat, a Sula, Iain's only design for solid wood, a Shetland boat destined for Ireland.

More anon...

Knocking Off for Easter

Here she is at close of play today. We had hoped to rove up the frames before knocking off for Easter and may slip down to the shed tomorrow and finish the job for (as Mattis says) we can't possibly work on Easter Sunday.

Fitting the top section of the frames entailed quite a bit of juggling of templates and angles. Needless to say Mattis and I had totally different ways of achieving the same result, and they took about the same amount of time. I relied on templates, cutting the frames at the wide side and by measuring the gaps, could transfer the measurements to the aft (shy) side, which was then beveled on the band saw.

Easier done than said (or maybe vice versa). Mattis used templates, and a bevel gauge, using saw cuts to transfer the bevel to the faces meeting the strakes. The bevel gauge neatly slots into the saw cuts from face to face. It's a technique I may have invented myself. But probably age old.

Happy Easter to all who stumble upon this, and especially to my 47 followers. Bless you!

What is Wood and What Not (2)

More people have read my post on the merits of solid timber vs plywood than any other post: to date 1,023 to be precise, and reading it again for the first time in years I find it hard to change a word. As the Arctic Tern nears completion I thank my lucky stars that the owner was persuaded to build her in larch and Scots pine, not plywood. "All that mixing of mayonnaise..." came to mind and something about the "deadness" of the material.

This boat already shows signs of life, and throughout the build has been a delight, albeit at times frustrating. But to turn out an almost flawless top strake from a board of creamy Scots pine, fire it through the thicknesser (should that not be thin-nesser?) and offer it up to its lower sister is a joy that cannot be matched.

What's the pleasure in hacking out a strake from a panel of 8 x 4, planing the edges (mind the splinters) and slapping on the goo compared to the tap tap of hammer on copper nail?

No, any wooden boat revival must be based on a reappreciation of real wood, not man-made laminates masquerading as wood. Build in plywood to the highest standards for all the best reasons but don't pretend they are anything but good boats. And when the epoxy's run out and you're sick of the sight of inert sheets of 8 x 4, have a shot at building a boat in solid timber. You will be amazed at the difference.