Half a new dinghy

[cracked_ribs]

Just back from a week at the island place...turns out I'm not the only SFBC regular on Ruxton! Was greeted on the way in by a couple of people who recognized the boat from here. Very satisfying; it was a lot of work. Cool to get noticed a bit!

Of course, Saturday I mostly just hauled gear to the cabin - no backpacks yet on the wife's collarbone so I had to carry 10 days' worth of supplies (about 240 beers + whatever the wife is going to drink, plus I think there was some food) up the steep path to my place.

Sunday I went looking for some timber. Look straight enough?

And so the axe-work begins.

This looks dangerous but I'm actually just skimming the axe along the surface, not swinging it.

Then scraping it with the edge:

If you're handy with an axe you can cut stuff pretty precisely. Eventually I switched to a plane.

Here you can see that I am basically dependent on cordless tools to do any real boatbuilding work at all. Also careful observers will note that the sprit is nearly finished in this pic and that was the last piece to build.

I think my expression about covers my combined sense of satisfaction and fatigue

So off I went!

She really moves. Easy handling even with minimal wind. Points fairly well into the wind, considering. Absolutely HAULS downwind. Rows like a dream. Really happy she turned out as well as she did. Never want to build in my apartment again.

 

[getbent]

Missed this thread...some of the photos have lapsed but cool build man...missed the floating/sailing shot

 

[Tugcapitan]

Well done man, very cool.

 

[cracked_ribs]

Thanks guys, it was even interesting to me to read through this all again. I can't believe this was just a matter of months ago and I'm already in the beginning stages of something else. Holy cow if I'd read through the thread first I might not have committed to the next project. This was fiddlier than I remembered.

Really honoured to get mentioned in the Thread of the Year thread. Glad people enjoyed this.

 

[Dorman Point]

I just read the whole thread for the first time, now. What a fabulous project! I love stories like this. Well done. She's really a beautiful little boat. The name on the stern and all the brightwork really does justice to the effort you put in. Look forward to seeing her in WoodenBoat in the new year.

 

[cracked_ribs]

Thanks man! It really was satisfying to put her in the water...this coming year I intend to put a rod holder on her, and experiment with trolling 4-6 oz banana weights with spoons, just to try a bit of really stripped down fishing in the area. I was thinking about more complex setups at first but now I think I'll start with sinkers and spoons which would be less hassle and super fun if I can get it to work.

 

[Dave H]

I just finished reading most of this thread through and now find myself in a quandary as this is GOLD and Ironnoggin's story is too, along with a couple of other well-written and interesting pieces I'd missed earlier, so I have no idea who to vote for going forward.

Contributions like this one are the ones to be considered for reasons I've already given, but having said that I'm still grateful for the kind comments aimed my way and truly appreciate them.

But these actual action/adventure/building stories are each unique in their own way, whereas my annual contribution is pretty derivative and repetitious in nature and not in the same class really.

Besides, I only started doing my thing so I'd have some people to row around in the pool I could natter at.

Not that much fun all by yourself you know.




Take care.

 

[RODNREEL]

I just read the tread.
Really enjoyed it.
Thank you for taking the time.

 

[Dogbreath]

Finally found time to read this through-Thanks-Very Cool!

 

[cracked_ribs]

Well, I have to say I'm really happy this thread found a sort of second life after a mention in the TOTY thing.

It was a fun build and I'm glad people are still discovering the story and enjoying the ride. Having the thread to update as I went helped me stay motivated and focused because I wanted to have some kind of visible progress to post up as often as possible so it was actually a big help to the build.

So anyway I'm glad this was fun for people...there is something similar in the very early stages right now but I'm not far into it enough yet to tell whether it's worth getting a whole thread off the ground here. I am hoping later this year to being another project on a slightly larger scale, though.

 

[Corey_lax]

Well, I have to say I'm really happy this thread found a sort of second life after a mention in the TOTY thing.

It was a fun build and I'm glad people are still discovering the story and enjoying the ride. Having the thread to update as I went helped me stay motivated and focused because I wanted to have some kind of visible progress to post up as often as possible so it was actually a big help to the build.

So anyway I'm glad this was fun for people...there is something similar in the very early stages right now but I'm not far into it enough yet to tell whether it's worth getting a whole thread off the ground here. I am hoping later this year to being another project on a slightly larger scale, though.

Gonna need a bigger condo!

 

[outbeen]

Great read, hope you win thread of the year

 

[cracked_ribs]

Glad you enjoyed it... it's super cool to have made a mark amongst that set of contenders! Some really fantastic threads there and now it's a nail-biter of a finish!

 

[Tightlines22]

Like others I finally got to read the whole story. Well done and you will get my vote!