Tag: boatbuilding

An invitation for 5th December – see the Boatbuilding Academy student boat launch

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Sadie Snowdon Johnny Tyson Teddy at sea

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Some of the boats Academy students have built in the past: Sadie Snowdon’s dory; Johnny Tyson’s whitehall; Edward Hoogewerf’s Ebihen;Marc Chivers’ pilot punt; Bob Hinks’ Cirrus; and Charlie Hussey’s Seapod the Peapod

Boatbuilding Academy principal Yvonne Green and colleagues have extended an invitation to intheboatshed.net readers to see students launch their boats at Lyme, starting at 8.30am on the 5th December.

The boats are an interesting collection, and will include:

  • an 8ft traditional pram dinghy built using trunnels and without adhesives or metal fixings
  • a 16ft 6in half-size sgoth niseach
  • a 16ft cold-moulded motorboat based on a design by C G Pettersson
  • a 15ft 11in Haven 12 1/2 designed by Nathaniel Herreschoff
  • a 16ft 10in double-ended clinker Tirrik designed by Iain Oughtred
  • a 15ft Chestnut strip-built canoe built from Western red cedar
  • a 7ft 10in Auk glued clinker dinghy, again designed by Iain Oughtred

I won’t be able to make it – I live in Kent – but I hope the weather gets better by early December, as I doubt there’s a boatbuilder in the world who would want to test their boats for the first time in the kind of wind we’ve been having too much of lately!

By the way – if any readers do manage to get along and would like to send in some photos and their impressions for publication, I’d love to receive them at gmatkin@gmail.com!

For more on the Boatbuilding Academy, click here!

A carvel-built Mouse in Vietnam

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Here’s a surprise – a carvel-built The Edge member of the Mouseboat family being built in Nha Trang, Vietnam by Jacques Molinari.

I don’t normally write about Mouseboats here. They’re simple little boats intended to be made from plywood that I designed years ago for people without either money or skills who wanted to construct a little boat and get afloat. In fact, the first Mouseboat was originally designed for teenagers and children to make!

I’m delighted that some of the Mouse family designs have been very popular, but although some have been built to very high standards and many have been used for purposes very far from my original conception, I don’t generally see them as belonging on a weblog that focuses on boats that either are traditional, or which include a clear traditional element, and which also likes to celebrate old-fashioned rather than new-fashioned craftsmanship – so they rarely feature at intheboatshed.net.

But this particular scow-bowed spritsail Mouse is an exception, for it isn’t being built by stitch and glue, not least because plywood is difficult to obtain in Nha Trang. In the absence of the dimensionally stable and easy to work 20th century wonder material Jacques has clearly used the offsets from the plans, and is building his boat in the traditional way. He plans to be in the water in December, after the hurricane season is over.

Great good luck Jacques!

I’m greatly looking forward to seeing how this project goes; it’s terrific to see this boat being built in this way, and The Edge is one of my favourite Mouseboat designs, even if it hasn’t been built as often as some of the others.

For other stories relating to Mouseboats at intheboatshed.net click here.

If you’d like to join the Mouseboats forum and download the plans, click here.

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The St Ayles skiff hits the water

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St Ayles skiff 2

St Ayles skiff 1

The St Ayles skiff meets the water for the first time – as usual click on the images for larger shots

The Scottish Coastal Rowing Project’s first St Ayles skiff hit the water for the first time on Sunday, and had her first try-out with a set of borrowed oars.

Builder and key powerhouse behind the project Alec Jordan reports that the Iain Oughtred-designed boat is a joy to row, as she’s stable and fast at the same time. The photos above are courtest of Alec, who must be very proud.

The boat is to be officially launched at the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther on Saturday 31 October at 11am. Once the formalities are over there will be a chance to row the boat – if you’d like a go, please contact Alec by email at kits@scottishcoastalrowing.org.

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