Boat builders' thread

[Pallet Fancier]

Have you built a boat? Post a picture! Tell us the story.

What went wrong?
What went right?
Would you do it again?

Inspire the rest of us with the story of your dream, fulfilled, or scare us off with your tales of pain and misery

I loves a wooden boat. I loves it even more when it ain't mine and I don't have to paint it!

 

[Keith 66]

I left school in 77 & trained as a boatbuilder, built a few wooden boats & restored a lot more! Lots of people look at the trade as some kind of ideal fantasy vocation i know i did to some extent!
The reality is it can be a seasonal trade that is notoriously poorly paid, you cant eat karma & it doesnt pay the bills! i ran my own oufit for 20 years then packed it in when overheads on the workshop got too big. Had a stint as a househusband for a while bringing up our son & started up again specialising in building rowing boats. Pulled the plug on that when the overheads got unsustainable!
Now im retired & just restarting the major rebuild of an Edwardian fast motor launch built by Sam Saunders in 1905, Its a long story, I remember seeing her when i was a kid & always admired her, Her owner had a collection of abandoned & derelict boats on the creek near we lived. Years later in 86 he died & i managed to buy her from his family. By this time she was in a parlous state & sat at the back of the yard for years while i pondered what to do with her.
In the end i bit the bullet & embarked on a total restoration, 90% of the hull was replanked, other stuff like paying work got in the way & she went on the back burner. Mum passed away 2 years ago & i realised that i had owned this boat for over half my lifetime & had better get my finger out!
Yesterday got the first new bit of timber stuck in her for too many years.
It was a nice feeling.
This shot is from 1986, me aged 25 standing on the jetty looking at the launch shortly after we had salvaged her, Im probably wondering what the hell i have done Lol.

 

[user22161]

I loves a wooden boat. I loves it even more when it ain't mine and I don't have to paint it!

Nice to look at but need to be a masochist to own one, I'll stick to plastic

 

[AFFF]

Check out Leo and the the Sampson Boat Co. Series of videos on YouTube. Simply awesome

 

[TRITON]

I've been following the Tally Ho vids. Certainly interesting.

Always wanted a boat, and nearly managed to get a 72' Schooner, but it meant every penny I had in the world or likely would ever have Used to sail, did a number of big races and regattas and won a bit as part of the crew on a mates racing yacht. Class 3,but we were actually a 30' boat, but given we won all the local races and were known as being s*** of a hot shovel they changed our handicap classification, to give other boats a sporting chance

Now Im hoping to eventually maybe get a small canal boat(how the mighty have fallen ) by small i mean 16-20'
Pretty much planned out something. Based on a lighter. Garden shed to sort the accommodation, chesterfield at the bow to sit on, with steering wheel for front steering,cabled to rear rudder, and a high end portaloo(high end have showers and ceramic toilet/sinks in them) Though I'd name that bit 'The poop deck'.
Then I could cruise the waterways of lower England making a spectacle of myself.

 

[Adam W.]

I have a mahogany canoe (weighs and awful lot) which needs a re-build. Once the house is done, which will be never, I'll make a start.

So we're getting smaller after each post.

 

[Jameshow]

LLo

I've been following the Tally Ho vids. Certainly interesting.

Always wanted a boat, and nearly managed to get a 72' Schooner, but it meant every penny I had in the world or likely would ever have Used to sail, did a number of big races and regattas and won a bit as part of the crew on a mates racing yacht. Class 3,but we were actually a 30' boat, but given we won all the local races and were known as being s*** of a hot shovel they changed our handicap classification, to give other boats a sporting chance

Now Im hoping to eventually maybe get a small canal boat(how the mighty have fallen ) by small i mean 16-20'
Pretty much planned out something. Based on a lighter. Garden shed to sort the accommodation, chesterfield at the bow to sit on, with steering wheel for front steering,cabled to rear rudder, and a high end portaloo(high end have showers and ceramic toilet/sinks in them) Though I'd name that bit 'The poop deck'.
Then I could cruise the waterways of lower England making a spect

How about a wooden wilderness boats copy??

Cheers James

 

[TRITON]

Yeah those look cool and about the right size. But im years away from such a project, if not just a flight of fancy.
I thought using a lighter/shed would mean minimum spend. I dont need fancy.

 

[glenfield2]

Some years ago we came upon ‘Venus’, a 1933 Broads cruiser built by H C Banham. ‘Don’t let your hearts rule your heads’ said the surveyor. We did and there followed a few years of agony and ecstasy - the most beautiful boat on the river but an agony of constant losing battles against age and decay. Did I learn a lot about wooden boats!
Eventually we called time and sold it. Some time later I saw it sitting forlornly on a Thames boatyard. Luckily someone bought it and it is now back on the Broads as a restoration project once more.
Despite owning plastic and steel boats, Venus is the one that has a special place in my heart. There is just something about a wooden boat...

 

[Keith 66]

One thing i learnt over many years, there is very little difference in the cost of keeping & maintaining a Wooden or GRP boat if they are in good condition. Where people fall down is that a wooden boat MUST have its regular maintenance without fail.
A GRP boat can be left for years go green & a bucket of Jif & a scrubber later it will look fine. Try this with a wooden one & you are in a world of hurt.
Heres a pic of my saunders launch in her shelter, hull replanked.

 

[TRITON]

Some years ago we came upon ‘Venus’, a 1933 Broads cruiser built by H C Banham. ‘Don’t let your hearts rule your heads’ said the surveyor. We did and there followed a few years of agony and ecstasy - the most beautiful boat on the river but an agony of constant losing battles against age and decay. Did I learn a lot about wooden boats!
Eventually we called time and sold it. Some time later I saw it sitting forlornly on a Thames boatyard. Luckily someone bought it and it is now back on the Broads as a restoration project once more.
Despite owning plastic and steel boats, Venus is the one that has a special place in my heart. There is just something about a wooden boat...

Oh I agree, wooden is so much better than plastic. Plastic boats smell.
Last boat i was with was a 38' 110 yr old Ketch Cutter, belonged to a navy commander who was on the point of retiring. 38,with an 8' bowsprit, square rigged. even had a yard for downwind sailing.
Big difference going from modern ropes to big hemp ropes, seriously hard on the hands.

Was taking it down south but needed to be put ashore on isle of man due to having the flu and being unable to continue the passage. Bit of a blow, felt i was letting folk down but what can you do ?, I could hardly stand up let alone turn a winch handle and live a 4h on/4h off routine.

Hell of a boat though.

 

[Pallet Fancier]

Yeah those look cool and about the right size. But im years away from such a project, if not just a flight of fancy.
I thought using a lighter/shed would mean minimum spend. I dont need fancy.

There's always those Triloboat designs. They're supposed to be quick and cheap, but strong and lots of space for putting your cabin/shed on. Fine for canals. Some people actually sail them in open (ish) water! Estuaries, protected coastal. But they're mostly mobile houseboats.

 

[Jameshow]

There's always those Triloboat designs. They're supposed to be quick and cheap, but strong and lots of space for putting your cabin/shed on. Fine for canals. Some people actually sail them in open (ish) water! Estuaries, protected coastal. But they're mostly mobile houseboats.

Yuck yuck yuck!!!!

 

[Adam W.]

One thing i learnt over many years, there is very little difference in the cost of keeping & maintaining a Wooden or GRP boat if they are in good condition. Where people fall down is that a wooden boat MUST have its regular maintenance without fail.
A GRP boat can be left for years go green & a bucket of Jif & a scrubber later it will look fine. Try this with a wooden one & you are in a world of hurt.
Heres a pic of my saunders launch in her shelter, hull replanked.
View attachment 112764

That looks excellent and I really like your polytunnel, it has wonderful light.

 

[user22161]

One thing i learnt over many years, there is very little difference in the cost of keeping & maintaining a Wooden or GRP boat if they are in good condition. Where people fall down is that a wooden boat MUST have its regular maintenance without fail.
A GRP boat can be left for years go green & a bucket of Jif & a scrubber later it will look fine. Try this with a wooden one & you are in a world of hurt.

I see very few wooden boats where we sail (Algarve and western Med) and a couple of friends who took them down there have constant problems with planks opening up in the hot and dry conditions, which they didn't have in cooler and wetter UK waters. One had been in the yard for the summer and on re-launch, it took about 48 hrs of pumping to get it anything like water tight. Seems to me wooden boat owners spend more time maintaining than sailing but seem to enjoy it.

 

[TRITON]

One thing i learnt over many years, there is very little difference in the cost of keeping & maintaining a Wooden or GRP boat if they are in good condition. Where people fall down is that a wooden boat MUST have its regular maintenance without fail.
A GRP boat can be left for years go green & a bucket of Jif & a scrubber later it will look fine. Try this with a wooden one & you are in a world of hurt.
Heres a pic of my saunders launch in her shelter, hull replanked.
View attachment 112764

Something about boat building and repair workshops. They always look like they're 200 years old.

Is yours this one ? The pic is on alamy. Cant post it due to copyright.
https://www.alamy.com/saunders-moto...reator-kirk-sons-of-cowes-image221519045.html

 

[Pallet Fancier]

I see very few wooden boats where we sail (Algarve and western Med) and a couple of friends who took them down there have constant problems with planks opening up in the hot and dry conditions, which they didn't have in cooler and wetter UK waters. One had been in the yard for the summer and on re-launch, it took about 48 hrs of pumping to get it anything like water tight. Seems to me wooden boat owners spend more time maintaining than sailing but seem to enjoy it.

Perhaps they're a species of model builder? What is the greater pleasure: the act of making the model, or displaying it afterwards? The display of it usually involves pride, but only the memory of the pleasure. The making of it involves skill, creativity, deep involvement in a craft, and a level of focus that excludes all worldly problems and concerns for that brief, and often relaxing, time spent modelling.

 

[Jameshow]

Seems there are boat builder and sailor rarely are both found in the same person!!

Cheers James

Partial to a HB or Laurent Giles!

 

[user22161]

Seems there are boat builder and sailor rarely are both found in the same person!!
Cheers James
Partial to a HB or Laurent Giles!

Our first two boats were 1970s Laurent Giles designs, grp Centaur & Berwick. I've come across a fair few sailors who sail their home builds, steel Bruce Roberts Spray types, wooden Wharram catamarans and some grp catamarans, quite a few having done circumnavigations. Doesn't need an expensive boat to have fun but I prefer living aboard for 6 or 7 months p.a. with a bit of comfort and as little maintenance as possible - getting lazy in my old age

 

[Jameshow]

Yeah those look cool and about the right size. But im years away from such a project, if not just a flight of fancy.
I thought using a lighter/shed would mean minimum spend. I dont need fancy.

I like the Paul Gartside houseboat.

https://store.gartsideboats.com/products/24ft-cruising-houseboat-design-216
Cheers James