Little boats = More exciting

 Settled fine and warm weather enable this little craft to be enjoyed to the full and what a blast it is on the water. 20 knots feels quite fast enough.  The first video shows me and Andrew planing along the coast from Teignmouth to the Parson & Clerk stack of red sandstone and along the exposed rail line that is hving to be strengthened at Dawlish by loads of ugly concrete walls. The engineering of which is quite inferior to Brunel's original masonry. At intervals of approximately 20 feet the use of rubber expansion inserts have been used all along the wall so far built. Those rubber inserts are already degraded and hanging loose all along the wall where recent storms have hit.

 

And the next video is taken the same week at Babbacombe where the crowded beach is being enjoyed .

Soon I am off to Brixham and across Torbay past the Arcadia and Queen Victoria liners moored up and polluting the atmosphere and emptied of the bow tie brigade and cocktail gowned guests.
 

And here is where the lunch box sandwiches and coffee flask are emptied. Beneath us there are plenty of Bass and Mullet swimming in the harbour.

And the very next day Matthew and I are Bass fishing and enjoying the little cove just south of Dawlish known as Shell Cove. Its only here that one is able to find the little Cowry shells sometimes used as necklaces or wristlets. 

Seals were basking on the rocks near here

Landing on the deserted beach and looking for some shade - but there was none.

Still waters edge this deserted cove

30 degrees or more of heat - It was here that a yacht carrying illegal immigrants was found in distress only eighteen months ago.  The crew are now serving time in prison.

Woody Runabout - Sea Trial

 With two well built crew this little craft performs beyond expectations with it's 20 hp Honda outboard (4 stroke).

The youtube video here was taken in Labrador Bay, South Devon where there are a several cruise liners anchored with zero passengers and nowhere to go.

The sea state was only slightly choppy and with a gentle ground swell. The wind was light and the run shows us about two miles offshore, between The Ness and The Oar Stone. Just around the headland is Torbay, Torquay and Brixham.

Woody Runabout Pase 23 & Launch Time

"Hurry slowly" has to be the mantra towards achieving the result wanted at this late stage and the varnishing of oil based over epoxy resin. Application onto a surface of epoxy that still shed an amine bloom after three days of rubbing down and washing. The result was a coat that wrinkled and failed to dry properly. Like toffee, it was scraped off and sanded with wet and dry, then allowed to dry for several more days before another coat of varnish was applied and ft to sufficiently dry for work to continue as normal.  The interesting thing was the fact that the bow section of deck was not so severely affected, due to the fact that it had sun dried beneath the garage skylights.
Even at this late stage I am finding items that require attention. The heavy duty battery wiring had to be soldered for more durable connections, The floor needed a further coat of yacht enamel to obliterate some messy touching up and scuffs. The rubber grommets for the remotes had to be secured with sikaflex adhesive (rubbery and very sticky to apply). The "tennis racquet" seats secured more rigidly with cable ties onto the bench seat support.
The trailer is made ready with side rails - additional support alongside the rollers, and adjusted to conform more closely to the hull shape.

The motor  is checked over and the wiring is good to go. The fair weather weekend gives the moment for launching. I am awake at 4am and like a kid at Christmas about to creep downstairs to see what Santa has left !

The old car battery chose to give up the ghost, so an early morning trip to Mole Valley Farmers store gets me a new one (as backup). By 10.30am William and me are afloat on the Teign Estuary with grins from ear to ear. Not too much throttle, gently with the steering and heading west upstream into the warm westerly breeze.
At Coombe Cellars we turned to head back under the Shaldon Bridge and return to the harbour. Busy with summer traffic. We head out through the mouth of the estuary on the ebb tide at a rate of knots. The choppy bar is crossed without hesitation and the Bass are jumping by the Ness and we head on into Labrador bay.

Impressed by the quiet exhaust note and the ample power available at half throttle. The running in period is strictly adhered to, though the temptation to push forward is ever present. Briefly we opened up the throttle a little and she gradually rises up onto the plane. Into the turns the ride is quite flat, hardly any bank as the deep spray rails do what they are supposed to do - of keeping the craft on rails.

The buoyancy / stability is excellent, as I lean out over the gunnel there is only minimal roll. My worries over the degree of rocker I had used were quite unfounded, since there is no tendency to porpoise when the rise up onto the plane remains perfectly level. Apologies for not having images to show just yet. Too much excitement to bother with the camera, but they will follow shortly now this brief shakedown is done with.

Altogether I can say I am tickled pink with my design.

Ready for the road

Ready for the water

Ready to go !

Woody Runabout Phase 21

Tired of waiting for my local wood supplier to dig out some Sycamore I chose to look further afield. Within easy reach (45 miles up the A303) I discovered Yandles wood merchants (Link) tool shop and craft centre. Not only was their self selection department open, the variety of woods is amazing and the prices significantly lower than I have been used to paying in Exeter.

I came away having spent more cash than I needed to complete the boat. Some too good to overlook that will come in handy for later projects. The Sycamore plank freshly cut from the tree is complete with waney edges. The creamy white texture is easily worked and will soon take on a golden honey colour, once varnished and exposed to the light.

The gunnels are in place, plugged with dowels into the holes that were the ones made by screwing temporary fixings, while the epoxy glue set. The epoxy was thickened to make it adhere better to the vertical surfaces. Also attended to is the motor well edges that have the lovely white contrasting wood enhance the appearance of this design.  A cosmetic indulgence to spend so much time at this stage.
The  35 fixing dowels/plugs whittled down individually and laborious but satisfying.

Now using Abranet, an open abrasive fabric that does not clog like sandpaper does.  I do recommend  it to any woodworker. Also recommended is diamond abrasive sharpening stones that put a keen edge on steel with the minimum of effort.

On the to do list :....  fit windscreen and cleats (after the deck is varnished) . Box in the batteries and switch gear. Run control cables through rear bulkhead. Fit seal to base of motor well.  Fabricate and fit front seat backrests. Fit support rails to road trailer. 

Grey tinted screen dry fitted to be supported each side by an additional pair of knees

Woody Runabout phase 16

One of several mistakes made during construction (yet to be rectified) was the inadvertent use of a waxy sanding sealer on the side panels. The adhesion is poor and I shall probably have to re varnish. The lesson: ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. I  discovered the error when using gaffa tape to hold a few slivers of wood where the frames meet the gunnels. On removal of the tape a patch of bare wood was revealed minus the varnish!   I intend leaving the job until autumn.  The wax base will need to be removed with a solvent and vigorous sanding.

The floor  is laid and incorporates sealed flotation chambers between the frames, now being painted before completion of the decking, fore-deck and transom decking.  The outboard unavailable till June because of the Covid-19 epidemic, as is the interruption to wood supplies which threatens to slow up progress.

In advance of decking, there have been fixing points for cleats added, and also fixing points for screw down straps that will secure the fuel tank and battery. Remote controls for the outboard run either side down the gunnels, and I am pondering the idea of inserting some PvC pipework to contain it, so as to make insertion and removal simpler to do. Putting such ideas down helps in the decision making and yes, I think I need ponder no more, just do it!

Unexpected problems always arise in scratch built projects such as this, and solving them becomes part of the enjoyment of brain teasing, burning of the midnight oil. One of them is how best to arrange the seating. Two seats, three or four, and should the rear one(s) face forward, sideways or rearwards, The best solution I am presently considering is to have the rear pair of seats facing inwards, facing each other so that weight would then be into the centre and away from the stern. So far, only one of the seat backs has been fabricated, in the form of an an ellipsoid hoop that I intend to make fold forwards. Laced with supportive Dyneema paracord. Sounds like one of granddad's lash up bodges, or it might just be some artistic licence and definitely unique. 

Woody Phase 10 & design process !

Nearing the stage of turning right side up but potentially delaying due to limited access to woodshop and certain other materials during pandemic lockdown. ..

The skinning of the bottom and side panels is now virtually complete. I have to glue on the transom outer ply facing and will be ready to begin surface finishing and painting the underside. The side panels may be clad in Mahogany veneer but still undecided upon which glue and method of application to use. 

Almost ready to turn right side up

Transom ready for the outer skin of 5mm ply.

Sketch shows side tank flotation chambers but this feature will be omitted in favour of a false floor cockpit which should be self draining

Lightweight seating to be steam bent, laced frames, mounted  on cussion pads.

Doodle sketches

1/8th scale model shows outboard moter well, in front of the transom.

Underside shows chine, but the mould stations have been erased at this point.

Cockpit space open to variation but intention is to add two thwarts for mounting the seats onto. False floor not shown here.