2020 and All That

2020 and All That

Like everyone else I have had a bit of an odd year but I have been very lucky and the work has kept coming through the door . 2020 started with my first new build for a long time in the shape of a Selway Fisher Stornoway 14 hull to be build up from a Jordan Boats kit...
New Boat for Old

New Boat for Old

The local open boat race fleet is thriving and has reached the point where the doesn’t seem to be enough boats to go round. One new boat has been built recently but this is a huge commitment in time and money so people have been looking for easier ways.  As a...
Woozle’s new rig

Woozle’s new rig

Like many wooden boats Woozle’s history is a bit uncertain but in any case she is an elegant little 12ft clinker dinghy which has been restored by the International Boatbuilding Training College in Lowestoft at some stage and she is an established member of the...
Adventures in plywood

Adventures in plywood

Like many other technologies plywood production improved a huge amount during the second World War. As a result of this , the shortage of solid timber and rising labour costs, the 1950s and 1960s saw a boom in the design and building of plywood boats. As so often with...
A new plank for Leila

A new plank for Leila

Leila is probably the most elegant boat I have yet worked on. She is  a William Fife designed 6 metre racing yacht built in his family yard at Fairlie on the Clyde in 1912. Much of the backbone and the larch lower planking has been replaced and now we are selectively...