Rescue Wooden Boats has now put up some 70 short films, many of them of old time fishermen talking about their work and lives – here are some examples.
The organisation also has a substantial online photo archive.
Tag: boat restoration
Working in the open air, Ben Wales makes progress in restoring the Royal Lymington Yacht Club motor launch Mary
Brave Ben Wales has written in with an update of his ambitious restoration of an 18ft motor launch named Mary. (See earlier posts about Ben’s project here and here.)
‘At the start of June we had began to replace the topside planking in khaya mahogany. I had found it difficult to locate any suitable boards of the width we required to cut out new 20ft planks and also they would need to be planed all round off-site, as there is no power available to us on site.
‘The old planks were carefully cut out using a hack saw, and to release them, the copper nails along the plank lands and some nail heads were drilled out.
‘Most of the old planks were either fragile or just rotten, so did not make an ideal template to mark out the new planks. What’s more, due to the widths and lengths needed we decided to scarf in three new planks on each plank run. The scarf joint is glued and nailed.
‘Painting will hide the scarf joints – Mary was never finished in varnish – and the only clue will be the extra nails, so while scarfing isn’t usually employed on a new boat of this size, it has saved us a great deal of material and money, and left very little waste.
‘I have attached some recent pictures of the work we have done. The starboard side is nearly complete and soon we have some more timber arriving to complete the port side. After that, the next stage to re-timber the launch, more of that to follow later this year.
‘Regards, Ben’
Thanks Ben – and great good luck. I hope the weather’s good when you get your next batch of timber.
A cool new Andrew Woolstenholme motor launch from Win Cnoops’ Star Yachts
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Win Cnoops of new Bristol-based Star Yachts has written to tell us about a new boat, the Bristol 22.
He writes:
‘We had it in an unfinished state at the Southampton Boatshow, next to the Wooden Boatbuilding Trade Association stand, and now she is in the water, though still not completely finished.
‘Designed by Andrew Wolstenholme, she is strip planked and looks as sweet as anything. She is powered by a 27 hp Yanmar diesel at the moment, but the plan is to either add a Bellman electric drive or replace the whole unit with a Nanni or Beta hybrid.
‘Thanks to the exhibition showing we received a commission to build a 27ft version (not the one on the website), which, thanks to the longer length and the addition of a fixed windscreen, has a racier appearance. I’ll send you a preview of the design when it’s more worked out. We are very excited!
‘We are also two months in the build of a new Cornish gig for the new Clevedon Gig Club, so really it’s our best year ever, as far as work is concerned, and that in these meagre times. We must be doing some things right!’
‘Best wishes, Win’
Cheers Win. Well done to you and to Mr Wolstenholme, and do please keep us up to date with developments.
By the way, I understand that Win’s new venture Star Yachts does not mean the end for the Slipway Co-operative – it still exists but will focus on maintenance and repairs.
Contact Win at 0117 907 9938 or email win@staryachts.co.uk.