JanetAnne

I never said it was a car.... The gas valve/thermostat has arrived

I believe, for the first time in about 30 years, there is going to be a formula 1 boat running tonight.

And hire boats are required to have a yearly gas safety certificate plus a landlords electric safety check if they are running 240v though this one is not annually

Now where was I? ah yes scarph joints... Oops, can somebody clever resize these for me? As the days move on we are able to build up the layers of the keel. Here you can see the shape starting to appear at the rear While our glue is allowed to set fully - thats normally overnight this time of year - other areas of the construction are being looked at. The stem post is machined from a nice piece of oak ready for its flutes to be cut by hand. Using a spokeshave is something I have never really learnt and, after watching one side of the stem post formed expertly, I was handed the tool and told to do the other side... gulp! Of course my side is the good side.... And then another layer goes on the keel

Films? Youtube videos? You aint got a wide angle lens big enough to get me on screen and Robins chisels are camera shy. We are also somewhat committed to a time scale that wouldnt really allow for the time filming would cost us. Anyway, onwards and upwards. With our lofting taking shape we were able to finally start building something. Of course its traditional to 'lay the keel' first. But to lay a keel you need a keel to lay. Our keel is to be made from 'European' oak and laminated. This gives us a very strong keel (laminated is about 30% stronger than a solid one) without the worry of solid oak splitting and moving. As Vaughan mentioned above, keels were once pretty much carved by hand using an adze. Here in the 21st century we value our toes a bit more and so, even though a new adze currently resides in the office, we are very fortunate to have a big bandsaw that we can shape the keel layers on before laminating them together. In the past a keel would have been carved out and then held by a 'strong back', or similar, which would ensure the keel was kept both straight and rigid whilst the associated parts were attached to start the formation of the frames of the boat. You will also have seen in Vaughan's photo above that 'Heartbeat' was supported using the roof beams of their shed. Our roof beams are just a tad too high for this and so we needed a suitable base to be able to form 34ft of keel. Enter the trusty Black and Decker workmate, well 5 of them to be exact, all perfectly aligned and levelled ready for the keel. And finally, we get our hands on our first pieces of oak. Time for Robin to break out his g clamp collection again... Our first two layers are glued and clamped. We are using West System epoxy mixed with their 406 colodial silica to bond the individual layers together. Each pair of planks that make up one layer are joined using a scarph joint. And now I cant find the image of the scarph joint side on Its been a long day!

The other end from The Ferry. The boatshed and moorings are still there

Before we begin there are a couple of ground rules. I have needed to seek permission to be able to write this thread from the person who has commissioned the project. He has agreed that I can go ahead on provision that his privacy is respected. Should he choose to come on the forum and introduce himself then that is his choice but, in the meantime, I hope those of you who know who we are talking about will refrain from mentioning names or the thread will sadly have to be taken down. Where to begin... well about three years ago to be honest. A hyperthetical conversation at Beccles Wooden Boat Show about whether it was even possible to build a brand new traditional wooden broads cruiser in the 21st century? It was an interesting debate though the concensus was along the lines of a- whether you could find someone foolish enough/willing to take on such a project, b- more importantly, the cost of materials and c- even if suitable quality materials could be found? I didnt think too much of it until about six months later when a drawing arrived in the post. It was a plan of a proposed new build wooden broads cruiser. 34'6" centre cockpit, 4 berth, stepped deck, oak frames, carvel planked, lashings of mahogany and varnish.... it could have come straight out of the 50's! Over the next few months drawings were altered as more detail was decided on. Getting the draft (or draught - more on that later) right so she'd not run aground on the shallower moorings, airdraft for going under Potter, increasing galley space, bulkhead and tank positions etc etc, that initial drawing was revised and revised until it finally represented what he wanted. Yes, of course it would be cheaper to fully refit and convert an existing boat. It would be cheaper with a fibreglass hull. It would be cheaper to buy a finished project. All good advice but ultimately our man wanted to design and build - well, have built - a boat to his own specifications. The perfect boat for him, and his family. And he is in the very fortunate position to do it. Early last year I got a phone call. "Dave, how do you feel about taking 12 months off and building this boat?" Erm.... wow! I also knew instantly that I was nowhere near good enough to undertake such a project... but I did know a man who was. We just needed to talk him into it.... Meetings continued to take place and Robin agreed to come on board, so to speak. Not sure he will ever forgive me for getting him into this but, like me, the opportunity of building a brand new wooden broad cruiser (and possibly the last ever) is a very persuasive arguement. At this point we had ticked two out of our three boxes. Someone to build the boat and the finance to do it. Our third box was procurement of the right materials. Our customer was going to be doing this bit. We'd just provide a list of what we need and by when and he optimistically stated "it'll be there". And so it begins... before you can build a boat you need to draw it out full size. This is called 'lofting' (I believe it got its name because it was usually drawn out in loft spaces). By drawing the boat full size you get to test the measurements and any abnormalities caused by the scaling up from a drawing to a 34' boat. Our drawing was at 1:20 so every centimeter on the drawing is 20 centimeters on the lofting boards. For example, a 1mm thick pencil line on the drawing theoretically becomes 20mm wide at full size! Of course, we dont need 20mm thick lines, plus we need to be a bit more accurate than that so these are the sort of things that are put right on the full size plan. To draw a 34'6" boat you need a 34'6" drawing board. Plain MDF is the board of choice. It is very smooth so draws well and you can easily sand off wayward pencil lines. It has to be screwed down so it cant move. When our pack of MDF arrived I did manage to wind up one forum member by convincing him that the MDF was for bulkheads in the new build. Robin, of course, quickly put him right and, when I asked him why, he said that he didn't ever want anybody leaving his boatyard thinking he used MDF on his boats! Anyway, here's our 36ft drawing board Next you need a base line. A nice strong rigid fixed baton which all measurements are taken from.... ....after which its time to start drawing. Here's the hull along with one of the tables of measurements needed. I've tried and tried to get a decent picture of the full size lofting but it just will not reproduce. Its quite faint being pencil on a brown surface ... I'll try again tomorrow. Next time we will start to get up close and personal with the first consignment of oak.

Looking at Breeze's availability for the rest of this season I suspect the market has decided her fate.

If you're going to attempt those jumps can you make sure the GoPro is running

Can you also give the new rudder a second coat...

Certainly making a difference to Beccles Yacht Station. Every weekend there would be half a dozen or so of Silverline's finest spread out along the quayhead but, this season, almost nothing. That Silverline fleet heading north is maybe more noticeable because they were so distinctive but their absence on the southern rivers is most definately being felt.

Make sure to compliment Robin on his nice shiny fibreglass hull

Looking fabulous

Absolutely. I would sooner 10 false alarms than miss the true one.

Don't know if this helps? "Claims on social media saying six dogs had died from poisoning at a popular walking spot have been dismissed as "nonsense" by a town council. Facebook posts have alleged that six dogs had died after being walked by their owners on Beccles Common" https://www.edp24.co.uk › news Council says dogs not dying from poisoning at Beccles Common | Eastern Daily Press - EDP

Someone mention Setters? Aboard a Martham's Judith

Thanks everyone for both your input on this thread and via PM's. Collectively you managed to put me on the right track and we now have the correct parts on order.

Forgot piccys

Help!! I have a 4108 spread over a wide area and am having problems matching and locating the valve stem seals currently fitted. I know Perkins used o rings on the inlets only and I have those but this engine has what I would call proper caps, (photo below). Obviously Perkins can't supply these as they don't exist in the relevant parts book... I have a copy from Prior Diesels.... so I am wondering whether this was a common modification and, if so, would you have any idea of the original fitment of the seals used? Of course, once upon a time I'd just pop along to stores and ol' Fred would disappear out back and match them but, sadly, these days you need a computer degree just to get into stores and holding my pattern up in front of the screen and saying "I want one like this" didn't work, believe me I tried! Cheers mate

Steve Warner, Quayway Boats, Beccles It's the ex Aston yard next to the old bridge. Pump out and diesel on the port side as you enter the basin

Tingdene on Oulton Broad offer a self service pump out for private boats only. You need a token from the marina office (rarely manned at times) and the last time I used it the screw in adaptor for the boats deck fitting was missing. They said they were not intending to replace it incase it went missing again!

You missed one...

Anyone else remember the old air raid siren on top of the Lowestoft Co-op canning factory being used in the 70's to call the part time firemen out?

There are a number of versions of the Cortina sump but, chances are, I will have one. A piccy and block casting number should be enough to identify it.

If it's the same as a 1.8 (and I think the head is) then I can help