SibLim - planking the hull

  • 03 Jul 2016 06:41
    Reply # 4112984 on 3779106
    Deleted user
    Congratulations Annie!! Well done!
  • 03 Jul 2016 03:51
    Reply # 4112929 on 3779106
    OK, a different progress report picture this week, becuse the usual one won't show it: I've finished planking the hull!!!!  Whoo-hoo!!!  Did I drink bubbly last night?  Too right I did.  I'm really pleased with what I've produced.  I hope you like the looks of her, David!  You can see the larger photos here.



  • 03 Jul 2016 03:47
    Reply # 4112927 on 4109730
    Robert Leask wrote:

    What keeps me at it is taking a moment to stand back and look at what I've done. My boat has been my home for many years, and taken me more places than I can relate, and it was once only a mental image. Then an image on paper, then liines on the loft floor, and finally the good ship Loon. After all these years I can still see that image in my mind. A dream made real, by my own hands.

    I am almost the opposite from you, Robert.  I look at it one task at a time: I'd be overwhelmed by the project if I really took on board that I'm building a boat.  After all, it was quite clearly explained to me that I'm not capable of doing this sort of thing!

    Thats why we do it. The whine of drills, the buzz of power planes, the smell of epoxy in the morning, instant coffee rimed with sawdust, and a dream. If I weren't so old, I would build another. I'm enjoying your photographic boat building documentary, your pictures evoke all those sights, sounds and smells of building a wood boat. 

    Is boatbuilding a means to an end, or an end in itself?

    For me, it was almost entirely a means to an end, with some baggage thrown in.  Now I'm delighted to find that I'm really enjoying the process and in no tearing hurry to see it come to an end.  As long as they don't put my rent up, I can proceed in a more or less relaxed version.  I feel so lucky not to have any pressure on me.
  • 03 Jul 2016 03:43
    Reply # 4112923 on 4109305
    Jim Creighton wrote:

    Annie, my mother was trained as a pattern maker (clothing.) She was a perfectionist and the interior finishing was as good as the exterior. Not good if you're working for money but it suited her when making her own clothing. It was the standard she had to work to for her own satisfaction. I'm not so exacting but I understood where she was coming from. Nobody else will know where your "messes" are but you do. It's you you're pleasing.

    That's the point, isn't it?  At the end of the day you're doing it for your own satisfaction.

    I admire the fact that you can work average 8 hours a day, day after day. I couldn't do that, even back in the day. I worked in spurts, needing time to recharge.

    Ah, but Jim, I'm in the spectacularly fortunate position of being able to do this full time.  You had a job to hold down while you were building Marco Polo.

    I wonder how many people are building their own boats compared with the 1970's for example. I think back then I remember reading somewhere that the number of boats actually built to launch per number of plan sets sold was about 5%. I'll bet that was high.

    I don't think many people build these days, but then, with second-hand boats selling so cheaply, why would you?  Unless you really want to or unless, like me, you simply couldn't find anything to fit the bill.  However, as smaller boats age and die, and because so few are now being commercially built, you might see a resurgence in small boat building.
  • 30 Jun 2016 22:59
    Reply # 4109730 on 3779106
    Deleted user

    What keeps me at it is taking a moment to stand back and look at what I've done. My boat has been my home for many years, and taken me more places than I can relate, and it was once only a mental image. Then an image on paper, then liines on the loft floor, and finally the good ship Loon. After all these years I can still see that image in my mind. A dream made real, by my own hands.

    Thats why we do it. The whine of drills, the buzz of power planes, the smell of epoxy in the morning, instant coffee rimed with sawdust, and a dream. If I weren't so old, I would build another. I'm enjoying your photographic boat building documentary, your pictures evoke all those sights, sounds and smells of building a wood boat. 

    Is boatbuilding a means to an end, or an end in itself?


  • 30 Jun 2016 18:17
    Reply # 4109305 on 3779106

    Annie, my mother was trained as a pattern maker (clothing.) She was a perfectionist and the interior finishing was as good as the exterior. Not good if you're working for money but it suited her when making her own clothing. It was the standard she had to work to for her own satisfaction. I'm not so exacting but I understood where she was coming from. Nobody else will know where your "messes" are but you do. It's you you're pleasing.

    I admire the fact that you can work average 8 hours a day, day after day. I couldn't do that, even back in the day. I worked in spurts, needing time to recharge.

    I wonder how many people are building their own boats compared with the 1970's for example. I think back then I remember reading somewhere that the number of boats actually built to launch per number of plan sets sold was about 5%. I'll bet that was high.

  • 28 Jun 2016 23:22
    Reply # 4106482 on 3779106
    No problems, David.  I can take teasing from and old and proven friend.

    Ketil, I'm sure you will know that in English 'amateur' has the same root as 'love', ie we do what we do out of love rather than necessity.  I wonder what the equivalent word is in Norwegian and whether it has the same overtones.  Too many professional boatbuilders have to keep an eye on the clock and say 'this will have to do.'

    It is a great privilege to have both the money and the time to build my own boat.  I am truly enjoying the process.  It is absolutely essential to maintain a level of self-discipline: fortunately my chosen way of life has always required this of me, so it's not a huge effort, although there are many times when I'd like to 'take it easy' for a few days.  I try to put in 8 hours on the boat.  It seems to average out a bit less in the winter and rather more in the summer.  I suspect this has a lot to do with my being 'solar powered' and inclined to slow down and lose motivation when it's grey and overcast (like today).  Even though I'm building inside (aren't I lucky?!), the lack of sunshine still affects me.

    I'll be lucky to turn the boat over by my birthday, which would be great, but if it ends up taking a year, I won't be that unhappy.  Probably another year to fit out and then several months finishing off and making the rig.  Not a fast build, but it could be a lot worse and I reckon I have the energy to keep on as I am until then.


  • 28 Jun 2016 20:45
    Reply # 4106249 on 3779106

    When I build the interior of Edmon Dantes, I told myself: Your only doing it once. How many tries before the last and satisfying, does not Count. I had to make the main divider 3 times before I was satsified. Each try costed £ 100,-, but it was Worth it.

    Ketil 

  • 28 Jun 2016 07:26
    Reply # 4105284 on 3779106

    Annie, the best you can do is extremely good. As it needs to be, because this project is about building yourself a living space that you're going to occupy 24/7 for the foreseeable future, not just for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoons, as is the case for many boats. While many of us, myself included, would expend less effort on tidying the areas that only the spiders will see, I'm sure we all respect and admire the way that you are creating your boat, in your way, to your standards. I apologise for teasing.

  • 27 Jun 2016 23:46
    Reply # 4104752 on 3779106
    There is method in my madness.  I want this boat to be the very best that I can do.  But also, I will get endless pleasure in the future, from knowing that even the places 'no-one can see' are properly finished.  I suppose it's a matter of pride in the job.  It's also the way that Pete built and, of necessity, that is my most influential example.  I know I will have no regrets about taking longer to do a neat job (not furniture finish - I'm not clever enough for that!); I also know that I will always regret things that I rushed or bodged, just because I wasn't sufficiently patient to do it the way I thing is the proper way.

    I respect those who can knock out a boat in a year.  I even more respect those who can knock out a neatly-finished and complete boat in a year.  But I'm not one of them and am content to work within my nature.



       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
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