Category: Suppliers

Nick Smith’s latest motor launch – the ribs are steamed out and riveted

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Clinker built boat riveting ribs into place Nick Smith

Using an ‘iron’ or ‘dolly’ to drive the nail over into the ribs. It is of course very important for the iron to be in the right place as the nail comes through!

riveting ribs into position clinker built motor launch ribs clinker built boat ribs

Nick Smith’s latest project has taken a big step forward with the addition of her ribs, and our friendly boatbuilder has kindly sent in some more photos and a few words of explanation.

I must say the process looks like hard work, but no doubt many hands make light work, and entertaining banter too.

Nick tends to call the new project Bamboo Viper II, because she’s very much like an earlier boat he built by the same name – you can see earlier posts here and here. 

Here’s what Nick says about the latest phase in BVII’s construction:

‘Hi Gav,

‘Some photos of BVII yesterday.

‘We got a crew of five – luxury! – together to steam out the ribs on the new Bamboo Viper II. We pulled the first rib out of the steam box at 10.30am, and drove the last nail at 12.15am, which was the best time in all the years we have been building. We only broke three timbers, which was fine as the shorter lengths can be used forward or aft, where they butt onto the apron or transom knee.

‘So had some “spare ribs”, which I bent off the job to come in for odd repairs to broken timbers on customers boats.

‘The next task is to rivet up, I tend to do the upper-most four or five by myself (as my arms are long enough) then get my “oppo” to lie on the floor and “hang on” while I get inside the boat and rivet.

‘When I was apprenticed this job was done in one hit immediately after steaming had finished, so as the “boy” there wasn’t time to draw breath – as soon as the rib was in place I was straight under the boat (damp earth floor) holding on with an iron whilst the journeyman rivetted as fast as he could, no stop, no hesitation, no breaks, til we had done. And if ever I was on the wrong nail head as he drove or rivetted I was referred to by him in no uncertain terms as a ‘f****** c***’ so I learned very quickly to concentrate. This is not a teaching method I have carried on.

‘Gav, I think it’s brilliant what you have done and are doing with this weblog, many thanks,

‘Nick’

Thanks very much Nick – it’s particularly good to see photos of the riveting process in action. You must make a video one day!

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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.

Want to learn more about boatbuilding using the clinker technique? Try John  Leather’s book Clinker boatbuilding at the revived intheboatshed.net A-store.

Keble Chatterton on the early development of racing yachts, part II

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J Russell Scott

Naval architect J Scott Russell advocated a wave approach to the problem of resistance to hulls moving through water

Here’s another scrap from Keble Chatterton’s history Fore and Aft Craft. See the previous extract here.

‘Between the years 1823 and 1844 the Royal Thames, Royal Northern, Royal Western, Royal Eastern, Royal St George’s, Royal Southern, Royal Harwich, Royal Mersey, and Royal Victoria Yacht Clubs had been established, additional, of course, to the Royal Yacht Squadron. Thus, in all parts of the country the builders and designers of the fore-and-aft craft received every incentive to create the best which materials and existing knowledge could bring about. Presently these clubs were to be added to by the instituting of many more similar organisations in almost every suitable harbour or estuary in the United Kingdom. Royal patronage had also helped, and the first royal cup was given by William IV to the Royal Yacht Squadron in the year 1834.

‘All sorts of theories had for the previous hundred years been advanced in connection with the resistance of water in the progress of a vessel, and many an attempt had been made to design such a hull as would offer the least possible resistance compatible with seaworthiness. Of these theories many were of Gallic origin. But in the ‘forties Scott Russell made very valuable contributions to this science, suggested certain theories for dealing with resistance, and advocated a wave-like system. Others have since increased this body of information by further experiments. It was during the ‘forties that designers began to realise thoroughly that the old ‘cod’s head and mackerel’s tail’ was a long way from the ideal design. So in the year 1848 there was built on the Thames a cutter named the Mosquito, which was entirely original in that she posessed a long hollow bow, and a short after body of great beam, and generally was in conformity with the lines advocated by Scott Russell. She was of 70 tons displacement, and built not of wood but of iron. However, so great was the existing blind prejudice that she was not popularly received.

‘But in the meantime the Americans had developed the schooner and improved on the pilots and fishermen until they were able to produce a schooner yacht. During the early ‘forties the yachtsmen of the United States had been engaged in racing both in sloop and schooner. In 1844 a memorable race took place between two American yachts, of which one was the 178 ton centreboard sloop Maria, which had a clipper bow, and the other was the schooner-rigged Coquette of 74 tons. The result was that the schooner won, for, thanks to the influence of the Gloucester fishermen and pilots, this type of vessel had been  brought very close to perfection considering the amount of knowledge then extant.

‘There was a man in New York of the name of George Steers, who had obtained a first-class reputation for the building of crack pilot schooners, and to him now came the commission to build a racing schooner yacht that was to cross the Atlantic on her own bottom and see what she could do in English waters against English craft… when we say that she was the famous America, after which the historic races for the America Cup have been named, the reader will not feel himself disinterested.’

More information about the history of the America’s Cup can be found in this discounted book from Amazon: The Story of The America’s Cup: 1851-2007.

More on Nick Smith’s latest motor launch

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‘

Nick Smith has written in with some more photos of his current project, which he’s given the working title of Bamboo Viper II, because she’s very much like an earlier boat he built by the same name – you can see earlier posts here and here. Here’s what he says about his preparations for putting in the ribs.

‘BV II is now planked up, primed inside so the frames have paint behind them and less likely to rot out the contact faces between rib and plank. I have located some good New Forest oak and have machined that up ready at 15/16ths of an inch by 9/16ths.

‘I have had to pick and choose to avoid knots,short grain and sap, and despite that usually allow an extra 25 to 50 per cent extra for breakages anyway. It’s a nuisance to run short then have to machine and steam a second batch or even just an annoying one or two to finish off.

‘The oak is ‘green’ – that is wet almost straight from felling. It steams better having moisture inside, and in the meantime the ribs are wrapped in wet cloth and then polythene on the outside until they are ready to go in the steam box.

‘The cost of the material is around £200! English oak isn’t cheap, and amazingly kiln-dried American white oak is cheaper!

‘It’s getting ever more difficult to get hold of all three key components – seasoned planking timber, good oak and copper fastenings. The price of copper has rocketed in the last two or three years.

‘I’ll send some photos of the steaming out process and the planked and framed hull when it’s done – it’ll be a couple of weeks yet. Meanwhile I have jumped ahead a stage or two and machined the gun’ls and risers ready to go in on top of the frames.

‘Cheers

‘Nick’

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.

Want to learn more about boatbuilding using the clinker technique? Try John  Leather’s book Clinker boatbuilding at the revived intheboatshed.net A-store.