intheboatshed.net

Instructor Justin and dog Worthington guiding young Matt on his first time in
a narrow, round-bottomed rower. I don’t think he’s talking about a fish, but
about balance in a naturally tippy boat

Yvonne Green, principal of the Boat Building Academy at Lyme Regis (see earlier posts) has promised to send us material about the student boats launched a few days ago. The first comes from Matt Stiles:

‘Matt from Buckinghamshire was the youngest student on the March course. He is a qualified RYA Dinghy Instructor and is pursuing his love for sailing and woodwork.

‘He built a 20ft Joel White Bangor Packet rowing wherry, cold moulded with 1.5mm sapele veneers (two layers diagonal, final layer fore-and-aft) spiled to simulate carvel planking and finished bright throughout.

‘Matt confessed shortly before the launch that he’d never rowed, so academy instructor and Atlantic rower Justin Adkin gave him a crash course in what not to do and advised a dry suit. Matt, happily, didn’t capsize and the wherry looked fantastic.

‘Gav, Happy Christmas. It’s a pleasure dealing with you, and we love the site. Here’s to many more communications in 2009.‘

Many thanks for the photos of this terrific piece of work by Matt. Here’s to a great Christmas despite all the gloom, and here’s to many more many more projects from Lyme!

SS Robin at Lowestoft, December 2008

Intheboatshed.net reader Robson Danton Green spotted the familiar form of the 1890 steam ship SS Robin at Lowestoft, where she’s undergoing a £2 million refit.

Read about her at the National Historic Ships Register and the SS Robin website, and see this earlier intheboatshed.net post: Oldest complete steamship SS Robin is demasted and towed away for restoration.

Easy to build - get free plans for the 15ft 7in flat-bottomed Julie skiff! Click here.

Onawind Blue, December 2008

Down on Spain’s East Coast, Ben Crawshaw has written a post this week celebrating two years since he started The Invisible Workshop - his weblog about building and using his Light Trow light-weight plywood beach cruiser.

I can’t tell you how pleased I am that he’s enjoying his boat so much. Take a look also at his recent posts about the local polbeiros with their excellent hull forms, wild rigs and even wilder tillers; and also at his posts on the Battle of Lepanto and a locally built currach.