Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast
Salcombe trained traditional boat builder Nick Smith has been working on this nearly finished motor launch, his first major project since moving back to Devon some months ago.
The boat needs some more varnish work and some hardware odds and ends, but it’s looking fabulous already.
Contact Nick via his website http://www.nicksmithboatbuilder.co.uk/
Our boat designing and sailmaking pal Mik Storer has decided to share what he’s learned over the years about beating – arguably the most challenging and important point of sailing.
‘Many beginner sailors find sailing upwind more intimidating that it needs to be this explanation will give you an understanding that you can practice next time you go sailing – a basic lesson for beginners and some ideas that will also help intermediate sailors.’
The youngsters on Faversham Creek Trust’s annual Boat Camp programme have this year built a couple of two-handed Julie skiffs. Here’s one of them in action on the creek in a good headwind:
I’d say they were doing well despite their lack of rowing experience, and that the boat was doing well also.
Plans for the stitch and glue Julie skiff are available from the free plans page on this website. If you’d like the extra drawings for the two-handed version, email me at gmatkin@gmail.com.