Category: Small boats

Mouseboats built and launched at Faversham

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Folks on a training course at the Faversham Creek Trust’s Purifier Building led by local boatbuilder and repairman Alan Thorne have been building Mouseboats to my free plans – and yesterday they launched four of them on a pond at the head of the Creek.

A good crowd turned out to cheer and witness the event, and even the local press arrived with their cameras!

A fifth Mouseboat also turned up to be launched – this one was built by Terry Croucher, who has been working as an assistant to Alan.

Plans for the Mouseboats are available free from the Yahoogroup Mouseboats. To obtain them you have to sign up to join the  Yahoo (and the  Yahoogroup). Alternatively, some folks prefer to buy my book published some years ago – it is available from Amazon, but be warned that the new prices is a lot less than some folks are charging for second-hand copies!

The 8ft Mouseboats cost very little to make and are typically very light – they can be carried in one hand, yet can allow folks to go on the water very conveniently. Hundreds have been built around the world.

The boats built by Alan’s group are the Minimouse model with an easy to build flat bottom, but other similarly easy to build types for different purposes are available from the Yahoogroup.

BBA students build an Iain Oughtred-designed Whilly Tern

Devon, country, boat building photographer
Devon, country, boat building photographer
Devon, country, boat building photographer

Photos by Paul Dyer, Jonathan Hall and Jenny Steer

A 15ft 2in Whilly Tern double-ended beach boat built to Iain Oughtred’s well known plans was among the boats launched at the Boat Building Academy’s latest launch day.

Built by Nick Wunderly helped by Chris Webster, this double-ended beachboat has a laminated black walnut centreline and her hull is cold moulded using three layers of veneers. The inner hull is made of quarter-sawn larch veneers and the outer two layers are khaya.

The beachboat was sheathed in glass fibre and epoxy, bright finished on the inside and painted on the outside. She has a gunter sloop rig with Douglas fir spars and sails made by Elvstrom Sails.

Nick has a degree in politics and political history from London Guildhall University and a master’s degree in politics.  For thirteen years he worked in the Civil Service in project and programme manager roles. However, over three years Nick completely renovated his home in his spare time, and in doing so realised he enjoyed working with his hands, and decided it was time for a change.

Chris Webster worked alongside Nick as well as working on each of eight boats constructed by the class.

Chris joined the Academy from the Scottish Highlands where he worked as a senior instructor at the Outward Bound Trust. The Trust is an educational charity that uses challenging outdoor courses to help develop young people from all walks of life. He has qualifications in mountain leading, climbing, sea kayaking and open canoe leading and has also taken RYA powerboat and day skipper courses.

See the Whilly Tern boat building diary at the BBA’s website.

BBA students build a small faering

Devon, country, boat building photographer

The traditionally built faering named Pingvin, was built by Boat Building Academy students Max Stembridge and Ben Walker-Riley, and was designed by Max’s naval architect father Peter Stembridge, whose company, Seawing Europe, works with Sunseeker and similar.  The photos above are by Paul Dyer, Becky Brown and Jenny Steer.

The double-ended boat has laminated iroko stems and solid iroko hog and keel. She is planked in larch with rose.

Max joined the course from Hampshire just after completing his A levels. A practical person, before joining the Academy, he finished restoring a Triumph Tiger Cub motorbike, and for his design technology A level he enjoyed building a pop-up roof tent for his VW.

Taking a gap-year and wanting to do something meaningful in this time, Max came to the BBA to develop his practical skills.

Ben has worked as a photographer’s assistant in Brighton, and also has a degree in marine biology from Portsmouth University. For part of his course he joined the Atlantic Whale Foundation conservation programme in Honduras, where he focused on whale shark and coral reef conservation.  He has PADI Diving certificates and is also a qualified Ski Instructor.  Looking for a career that would combine his love for the water and enable him to work creatively, Ben decided to join the 38-week course.

Max has now been offered a place to study architecture at Greenwich, which he says his time at the Academy greatly helped him to receive, while Ben plans to use his new skills and level 3 diploma to begin a career in the marine industry.

See Pingvin’s build diary.