AT17

AT17
The blog will now be devoted not to boat building but to my 82-year-old Vertue, Sally II, now undergoing a well needed refit at Johnson & Loftus in Ullapool (and gliding...)

Thursday 4 August 2011

Another I did Earlier

The new heading photo shows the stage of building a boat I like perhaps the best - when all the planking is done and it's just a case of fitting the knees and other bits and pieces. All the shiny roves gleam in serried ranks, set against the gold of the larch planking, the shape defined by the steamed timbers. It's the moment when you stand back and say "Gosh/goodness/blimey (etc) did I really make that?" It's the culmination of a number of small processes, spiling, cutting planks, thicknessing, dry fitting, cutting jerrolds or gains, steaming... All of which must be done methodically and as meticulously as possible over a period of 10 days or so, before the moulds can be taken down and the timbers steamed in. It's why, despite the complexities and frustrations, I build boats in solid timber.

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