Boat build project

[Zimbo]

Useful advice, thanks. I hadn't considered "tacking" between the stitches, and the "peanut butter consistency" quote is easy to get.
Re bottom and side panels, the plans call for a butt joint with a 150mm butt plate section epoxied over the top of the join on the inside, and fibreglass tape over the joint on the outside saturated with epoxy.

The designer supplies a helpful guide to construction here, which I am following

https://spirainternational.com/download ... sConst.pdf

[Zimbo]

Had some spare time today so cracked on with this boat.
Completed cutting the panels out of ply:



And then started putting them together, using little cable ties to join the panels and hold them where they should be.

Loosely tied together first to make sure it all fits:



and then fitted more ties and tied it tightly together. Mixed up some thickened epoxy and have "tacked" the panels together with a little epoxy fillet in between each cable tie. Once dried it should be all stuck in place and I can snip and remove the cable ties and complete a continuous fillet of thickened epoxy along every seam and panel join inside, followed by a layer of fibreglass tape for strength, and then apply a coat of unthickened epoxy over every internal wood surface to strengthen and waterproof the ply. It will then be ready to flip over to work on the outside.
Around 8 hours of construction to date I reckon.





Managed to acquire a little two stroke mariner outboard in the week on ebay, 2.5hp. It was a bit neglected but I only paid £140 for it. got it home and set about cleaning it up, spent £30 and treated it to a full service, new impeller and spark plug and changed to lower gearbox oil. Run it up in a wheely bin full of water today and it seems to work well and is pumping coolant through it well after poking the outlet with a bit of wire to free up a blockage.

Can't wait to get it on the water now!

[Zimbo]

I was going through old threads and realised I never completed the saga of my boat build, so just in case any of you were watching it at the time, here is the ending!

Got it finished, coated in epoxy and then painted


heaved it on top of the car, strapped it down, and headed down to our local canal with a couple of mates


Popped in Ito the water, checked for leaks (it didn't, luckily!) and went for a row about for a bit. It was easy to propel with oars, but lacked directional stability as these isn't any keel, so I stuck the outboard on the back, much better!


We spent a happy afternoon messing about on the water, then took it back home and put it back in the garden.

Few weeks later I bought a "proper" boat


and have been happily using that ever since




Sadly I didn't really have much use for the little project any more, so I never used it again. Shame but I enjoyed the experience of building it and then having a go on the water with it.

[David]

Excellent! I have to admit that I had a little boat on the English canals when living on a bigger boat and had lots of fun. When we moved onto a harbour tug in Holland I bought a little boat, but used it very little and finally gave it away.

[Yambo]

Looks like a nice little boat.

[Zimbo]

I'd have kept it perhaps to go with the bigger boat, but canal trust licensing means I would have to buy it a separate river licence. Wouldn't be so bad if it stayed on oars, but the moment you put an outboard on the back it gets silly, £400 for a six month licence, that's twice what it cost me to build it!

[Yambo]

I'd have kept it perhaps to go with the bigger boat, but canal trust licensing means I would have to buy it a separate river licence. Wouldn't be so bad if it stayed on oars, but the moment you put an outboard on the back it gets silly, £400 for a six month licence, that's twice what it cost me to build it!

That's ridiculous.

I can moor my boats in the bay for nothing and when I registered the CLC Skerry it didn't cost me a penny to do so as it's under 5 metres length (just!). Having said that, I dread the day the local authorities realise that they could start charging. But at the moment the sea, outside of private marinas, is free.

[Mr. Dazzle]

IME the sea is free in the UK too, although I freely admit I haven't hoisted a sail in some time! Marinas charge obviously, but that's like parking your car.

Canals kinda make sense though, they need maintenance which is hard to find funding for by other means. Only boaters (and fishermen!) want to use them.

[Zimbo]

IME the sea is free in the UK too, although I freely admit I haven't hoisted a sail in some time! Marinas charge obviously, but that's like parking your car.

Canals kinda make sense though, they need maintenance which is hard to find funding for by other means. Only boaters (and fishermen!) want to use them.

Agreed, users of the canal and river network should pay to maintain them, however I feel (and so do quite a lot of boat owners) that they are constantly putting the fees up by as much as they can get away with, and delivering less - not maintaining the way the used to (dredging, cutting back undergrowth) and this year they are introducing an additional charge on "constant cruisers" - those that don't have a home mooring and keep moving every couple of weeks. The CRT (canals and river trust) seems totally focussed on promoting the canal and river network as a leisure day out destination for non boat owners, with very little of their funding going towards providing for those that use the waterways and pay for them. Bit like the UK tax system I suppose ...

[Count Steer]

IME the sea is free in the UK too, although I freely admit I haven't hoisted a sail in some time! Marinas charge obviously, but that's like parking your car.

Canals kinda make sense though, they need maintenance which is hard to find funding for by other means. Only boaters (and fishermen!) want to use them.

The CRT (canals and river trust) seems totally focussed on promoting the canal and river network as a leisure day out destination for non boat owners, with very little of their funding going towards providing for those that use the waterways and pay for them. Bit like the UK tax system I suppose ...

They've pretty much asset stripped them since they got handed over by the British Waterways Board. Sold off stuff like lock-keepers cottages etc. I assume more public money went into the BWB and they were handed over with a 'make 'em pay their way or drain 'em' sort of mandate.

Funnily enough, one of our main charity support things is a group trying to reopen the canal that linked the Thames to the south coast. They're having to do some big stuff inc rerouting and building new bridges etc etc. It's a slow job! Lots of volunteer groups and you can get trained to use some quite big machinery.

[Horse]

one of our main charity support things is a group trying to reopen the canal that linked the Thames to the south coast. They're having to do some big stuff inc rerouting and building new bridges etc etc. It's a slow job!

Any website linky?


I was at sixth form when substantial chunks of the Basingstoke Canal were being restored.

Ironically, it's the final few miles into Basingstoke that can't be returned to use. Partly because the long Greywell tunnel has collapsed and is now a massive bat colony (ie many thousands of bats, not just one massive bat), some has been filled in as fields.

But most significantly is that the then little market town of Basingstoke is now a sprawling metropolis and it's all been built over

[Count Steer]

one of our main charity support things is a group trying to reopen the canal that linked the Thames to the south coast. They're having to do some big stuff inc rerouting and building new bridges etc etc. It's a slow job!

Any website linky?


I was at sixth form when substantial chunks of the Basingstoke Canal were being restored.

Ironically, it's the final few miles into Basingstoke that can't be returned to use. Partly because the long Greywell tunnel has collapsed and is now a massive bat colony (ie many thousands of bats, not just one massive bat), some has been filled in as fields.

But most significantly is that the then little market town of Basingstoke is now a sprawling metropolis and it's all been built over

Here y'go. https://weyarun.org.uk/

They're quite a good example of how to run a charity/trust. It's a help that they do lots of things that people want to volunteer for and they pretty much spend everything that comes in rather than watch the bank account swell.