When I built my peapod as both a sailing and rowing boat I assumed, as someone who mainly sailed, that I would use it as a sailing boat. This I do – when there is wind, but when the wind drops I have been discovering that rowing can be fun too. Earlier this summer we … Read more

If it’s a while since this blog was updated that’s because I generally get round to doing so when I’m either ill or injured. This is one of those injured ocassions as I dropped a 12′ hardwood beam on my big toe yesterday. Where were my steel toe-capped boots you ask? Well, I was wearing … Read more

This commission was for an internal upgrade to a fairly new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49. The design brief, for a set of removable berth boards, was to make them look ‘as if they were fitted in the factory when the boat was made‘. A common problem with many of the larger production boats is that … Read more

A couple of weeks ago I made up a couple of hatches and a pair of washboards for a Nantucket Clipper ‘Tofog’. When setting to in order to make up framed teak washboards to replace some old painted plywood I was faced with the head scatcher of how to orient the vertical and horizontal members … Read more

I took some time out at the weekend to get over the the Kingdom (of Fife) for the official launch of the first St Ayles Skiff.  A new Iain Oughtred design based on a Fair Isle skiff and to be used for on-the-sea rowing races.  If you haven’t yet got the idea think Cornish Pilot … Read more

Since the new year its been a bit of famine and feast so, as so often happens, you don’t want to write and then don’t have time to write. The Katydid restoration project went on hold just before Christmas (for the normal economic reasons affecting most people this year) and for a while not much … Read more

This entry is more or less all about Katydid’s profile – the way that she looks when viewed from the side.  There’s lots more to say about her ‘end-on’ view but that will have to wait. More or less the first thing that I did once Katydid was moved into the shed was to level … Read more

Deciding if a component of an old wooden boat is original or a repair/replacement is not always straightforward.  What may initially seem original can turn out to have been the result of a previous reconstruction, enhancement or a repair job.  My purpose in trying to ascertain what is original is not just to decide if … Read more

Taking the ballast keel off an old keelboat is, for me, a stressful experience.  The weights involved (Katydid’s keel weighs about 1.5 tons) mean that mistakes with supporting structures can have serious implications – on my health – and the boat’s fabric. The process takes place in two stages, separate the keel from the ballast … Read more

Let’s get one think straight.  This blog is not a chronological account of work as it gets done.  It is selective, irregular and completely biased in favour of the colourful aspects of what I do. When Katydid’s garboards came off yesterday I just had to take (and post) this photo of the warm rich colours … Read more