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
I love the ingenuity of this – ingenuity that solves a problem that happily we never have in Kent…
Read about the remarkable Harry Bryan and his designs and boatbuilding.
I picked up this video via the wonderful Duckworksmagazine, which I don’t get around to boosting nearly as often as I should.
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.
Boat Building Academy students Jonathan Howard and Tom Moran have built and launched an Iain Oughtred-designed Acorn Skiff. The photos are by Jenny Steer and Becky Brown.
Some 13ft in length, she is planked in 6mm gaboon-faced marine ply, using glued-clinker construction. The skiff has a laminated khaya stem and apron, and her hog, keel and pretty wineglass transom are sapele.
Jonathan works for the BBC and has done so for the past 30 years. He first came to the BBA in 2009 for the eight-week woodworking skills course it then offered and designed and built a beautiful oak chest and took great interest in the 38 week course… (The eight-week course has been replaced by a 12 week course)
Five years later, Jonathan came back, and chose the Acorn Skiff for its light weight and elegant design. Her glued clinker construction will be simple to maintain and she’ll be easy to transport.
Tom enjoyed working on each of the boat projects built by the class but particularly enjoyed the detailed and delicate woodworking involved with the Acorn Skiff and the planking of the larger Nordlands boat (report to come).
Tom has a BSc in applied geology and before coming to the academy worked as an exploration geologist in Zambia and Australia, analysing extracted coal, copper and gold.
Tom came to the academy as a way of starting a new career as a boat builder, and soon after graduating, started work at Stirling & Son.
Jonathan has now returned to work at the BBC and will use his increased skills in his spare time to make furniture.
He decided to name his new dinghy Dash of Lyme, to reflect where she was built, and his time on the course which he says dashed by. She will be rowed and sailed on the Thames and during holidays in the West Highlands.