intheboatshed.net

16ft traditional West Country motor launch Lisa receives her engine

Hampshire-based boatbuilder Nick Smith has just sent me these photos of his current motor launch building project Louise as she has her engine put in place.

Here’s what he says:

‘Louise now has her engine fitted, her decks laid and her middle thwart in place. The next jobs are fitting coamings, gun’l cappings, bulkheads, side seats, rudder and tiller, engine controls, exhaust, fuel lines, sole boards and a list of smaller finishing off bits. Luckily for me, the customer is going to do the majority of the varnishing.

‘She may look like identical to the last build Lisa, but at 16 foot Louise is a foot shorter and less beamy at six foot, and her sheer is much flatter – you can see from the photos of Lisa on the water at Noss Mayo that she has quite a high bow for coastal tripping and fishing. [See the link below - ed]

‘So Louise is less ‘cocky’. I have built her smaller, lighter and finer, because the owners will dry sail her and need to be able to launch and recover easily.

‘The engine is a Vetus twin cylinder diesel rated at 11 hp , plenty of power for a boat of this size.

‘Thats it for now! Regards,

‘Nick’

Thanks Nick! For more photos of Louise during her build click here.

For photos of the previous build Lisa click here.

Nick comes from Devon, learned boatbuilding the traditional way and specialises in new builds in clinker and carvel for sail, motor and rowing power from 8ft to 28ft with a special emphasis on West Country style and design, and also takes on repairs and refits from 25ft to 50ft. These days he’s based in Hampshire, and can be contacted by email at nick_smith_boatbuilder@yahoo.com and by phone on phone on 07786 693370.

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The skiff in question – photo published with the permission of photographer Walter Bachteler. Thanks Walter!

A reader has been in touch to ask what this boat might be. Does anyone know? And why does it have windows to allow the rowers to see the level of the water?

See the photos in question at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65538230@N00/3405009991/in/set-72157616150345313/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/65538230@N00/3428080202/

PS It turns out this is a Jersey skiff used in lifeguard competitions, and that the ‘windows’ are holes intended to free the boat of water when it starts to fill in surf.  The point is clearly made by a series of astonishing photos from the 2008 Asbury Park Lifeguard Challenge – thanks to Jim Mason for indicating the way, and to everyone else for a splendid set of comments and links.

PPS

Jim later sent me some more links, which are too good to miss.

http://www.lifeguardart.com depicts the men and women of the South Jersey beach patrols using the version of the Jersey beach skiff that originated in Atlantic City and environs. It is round-bilged and fuller-bodied than the flat-bottomed Seabright skiffs used up on the northern beaches. It is also heavier by 50 lbs. and not self-bailing.

Also check out the http://www.lifeguardraces.com galleries at http://web.sendtoprint.net/proofbook/galleries.asp?CouponID=Lifeguard

Thanks Jim! Some of the Lifeguardart images in particular are superb.

Water Craft’s July/August edition is a cracker

The latest issue of Water Craft sounds like a real gem – probably the best I can recall.

For the first time, editor Peter Greenfield has included free plans for a 16ft pocket gaffer from boat designer Paul Gartside. I’m intrigued!

There’s also a piece about Honnor Marine’s Devon Scaffie, the final preparation and launching of the story of a newly built gaff-rigged pocket cruiser drawn by John Leather, and Water Craft staffer Jo Moran visits the UKs sailing schools.

Beyond that… In Newport, Rhode Island, Ian Scott finds students at the International Yacht Restoration School can start their two-year course on catboats and end it on the schooner Coronet, Kathy Mansfied meets the restored Sunbeams in The Med, and in a garden in Cornwall the editor has erected moulds originally made by Connie Mense as the first step towards building Phil Bolger’s lovely 20ft Chebacco Boat. Other good things to read are a review of the latest generation of epoxies, a feature on cooking in small boats, a review of Iain Oughtred’s new book, a preview of the Thames Trad Boat Rally, a feature on Francois Vivier’s ‘Folkboat of the future’, and of course an obituary of the great North American small boat designer Phil Bolger.

See the advert in the right-hand column of this weblog to subscribe to this splendid magazine. You won’t be disappointed!