Blog time : It’s early October 2022 and i’m packing up my boatbuilding project for this year aside from a few projects that I can do in the workshop – I have the next fortnight away from home and the shed because i’m due in court ; only as a juror though but it’s an absolute PITA just getting there and back because of where we live and our poor public transport connections and threatened strike action. By the time my jury service is over it will be that much colder in the mornings and dark in the evening so aside from the weekends I won’t get much more done so in that respect this is now the end of year two for the project.
At the end of year two then I almost have a complete boat in that with a couple of hours work I could strap an outboard engine on the back and go for a motor down the river – except that I don’t have an outboard motor laying around and more importantly don’t have any way of getting the boat down to the river. I’m close to having a working rig, in fact by the time this post goes live I may have had the mast up with temporary shrouds and measured for the first 2 sails which will be a winter order for Jeckells the sailmaker – at this stage though I don’t have a gaff or the sprit boom I intend to use.
In the next few weeks i’ll be messing about in the workshop – a bit like ‘ordinary’ people ie just at the weekend because it will be late and cold by the time I get back from court in the evenings. My weekend and then Autumn/Winter jobs are slowly forming as a new jobs list on the inside of the other workshop door – in the workshop I’ll be making the gaff and it’s yard and after that either the boom or sprit boom for the mainmast.
I feel that I now have time to try and do ‘nice’ work slowly rather than having to work ‘fast and dirty‘ like during the long working days when I was rushing to get the hull planked in year one or coated and glassed in year 2 on a warm day with the epoxy going off. One project I have in mind is to make a much nicer laminated tiller which will fit me and the boat better by being a bit longer ; the one I made is good enough to do the job but I just think it’s one of the parts that could be better.
There’s a new shopping list of parts and materials building up as well, once again i’m right of gloves and nearly out of epoxy resin and some of the epoxy additives. The shopping list is going towards larger and more expensive fittings though – the Bronze chainplates have arrived but because of the postal strikes the fasteners haven’t – I have to wonder whether we are heading into another winter of discontent because the posties are at it, so are the train drivers and I wonder who will be up next.
Shiny (read ‘expensive) Bronze chainplates but no fasteners.
As I write it’s both blowing hard and raining steadily, in fact the whole valley is full of a warm front ‘clag’ so aside from a quick check outside to make sure that the boat, it’s shelter and the workshop are all ok then work today will be inside the house. One thought I have about this winter’s work is to buy some fabric and have a go at making some canvaswork projects for the boat – the kind of thing I have in mind are some custom stowage bags in the shape of duffel bags for dry gear that will use the spaces formed between the cockpit seats and the coaming.
The actual work of kit protection would be done by a whole load of expedition drybags which we just happen to have lots of lying around here ; they’re functional but not very nice looking so I fancy doing bags in various ‘shades of grey’ to match the paintwork……all vanity I know but that’s the way I roll.
The main thing I intend to do this winter is to set myself some learning projects along the lines of stuff that iv’e been talking about in my recent post about education : one example is that I didn’t get to do any metalwork at school and right now that feels like a huge hole in my skill set. I didn’t get to do any sewing either but iv’e sort-of corrected that to some extent by now having a sewing machine and having made some simple things with it.
As above then I have a list of things to design and make – custom stowage bags/duffels as a warm up and then the big tent/tarp that I intend as the boat’s camping shelter.
If we get some dry weather during the autumn I would really like to pull the boat forward, out from under the shelter and have a look at stepping the mast for the first time – that would let me get on with the simple but enjoyable stage of making the standing and running rigging ; I may just invest in a swaging press and make the shrouds myself. The best thing about pulling the boat forward though would be to create a large dry space to empty the workshop out into and give it a thorough clean out and tidy up……having worked in there for 2 years, even with giving a basic clean most Sundays it’s just got really messy in there and notably full of wood scraps from the build.
Oh…..and what about the garden ?
Dirty Wet Dog, the great adventure. 