More of Nick Smith’s handsome clinker-built launches

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Steam launch Puffin built by Nick Smith at Steam Boat Association rally 2007

Steam launch Puffin built by Nick Smith at Steam Boat Association rally 2007 Clinker-built 12ft 6in small motor launch by traditional boatbuilder Nick Smith for saleClinker-built 12ft 6in small motor launch by traditional boatbuilder Nick Smith for sale

Clinker-built 12ft 6in small motor launch by traditional boatbuilder Nick Smith for sale Clinker-built 12ft 6in small motor launch by traditional boatbuilder Nick Smith for sale

Two photos of Puffin on a grand day out with the Steam Boat Association and a new small motor launch both built by Nick Smith

Traditional boatbuilder Nick Smith has sent some more shots for our entertainment.

The first two shots of Puffin and other small steamers are from the Steam Boat Association rally at Bucklers Hard, near Beaulieu, a few weeks ago.

The little 12ft 6in mahogany runabout on the stocks in these photos is nearly finished and is now for sale – get onto Nick via the WBTA site now if you’d like to buy her!

Tell us about your traditional or traditionally-derived boat. Email me at gmatkin@gmail.com!

A wonderful shed at Bosham – and an even more wonderful zulu skiff!

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

A wonderful boatbuilding shed at Bosham - and a wonderful zulu!

This all-mod-cons boatbuilding shed at Bosham is on sale via estate agents Jackson-Stops and Staff in Chichester

A wonderful shed at Bosham - and a wonderful zulu restored by Nick Gates!

Zulu skiff Ocean Pearl restored by Nick Gates

Family matters and moving house are conspiring to keep me away from my computer and the Internet this week, but I’ve just about found time to put a post and these photos up from Chris Partridge. South Coast boatbuilders look out – this could be just the shed for you!

‘How about this for a boat shed? It has all the new technology including dust control, insulation, three phase power etc etc. Luxury!

‘It was built on the site of the old Combes yard at Bosham, entirely because the developer wasn’t allowed to cover the site with houses. The local council and the harbour conservancy didn’t want to lose all capacity for
boatbuilding in the area. Unfortunately, it seems likely that the shed will be demolished and replaced with a house anyway – an estate agent chum ofmine says it is to be sold with one of the new houses, and the owner is likely to hang on to it for a year, and make an application to replace it with a house on the grounds that no-one wants to build boats in it. So if anyone wants a cracking boatshed, apply to Jackson-Stops and Staff in Chichester.

‘I took the snap while out rowing, and coincidentally passed Ocean Pearl, a 1933 zulu skiff that originally fished out of Peterhead. She was restored by Nick Gates at Combes before it went under at the end of the last century. Doesn’t she look great?

‘There are pictures of the restoration on his website at www.nickgates.co.uk. The old Combes shed was definitely time-expired, but the new one deserves to have boats such as Ocean Pearl brought back to life in it.’

Warington Smyth’s Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia has more on the zulu, and explains how it derived from the fifie and the scaffie.

See Nick’s website at www.nickgates.co.uk.

Is Ocean Pearl a zulu, fifie or a baldie? Click here.

Follow the duck – plans and boatbuilders’ stories at Duckworks magazine

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Duckworks - the best site for home-built boating enthusiasts

Duckworks Magazine’s monthly bulletin linked to an intheboatshed.net reference to Joe Dobler yesterday, and I’d like to repay the compliment.

For years now, Duckworks Magazine editor Chuck Leinweber has maintained a steady stream of fascinating posts about boats and boating, mainly concerning small boats and in particular home-built boats and occasionally restored older craft.

What makes it stand out is that it’s a real miscellany, and that it’s made up of so many obviously genuine stories about real people. Some of the material is inspirational stuff about building and cruising small boats, but you can also find tutorials on how to perform particular tasks and dire warnings about how to avoid repeating someone’s mistake.

If you’re inspired to get into building small boats, I think it’s essential reading – as is Duckworksmagazine’s sister site Duckworks Boat Builders Supply. A good place to start might be the Duckworks BBS plans page.

Duckworksmagazine: http://www.duckworksmagazine.com

Duckworks Boat Builder’s Supply http://www.duckworksbbs.com/