Quote:

joeseph
the garden shed is looking like it might need a bit of love.

Have you been talking to the wife it's on my to do list along with the sawdust covered windows

First coat of epoxy on the inside I will give it two more and sand it down and a few coats of varnish.





And yes I painted the shed and decking

A bit more on boatbuilding in Ireland I came across this on ebay [www.ebay.co.uk]




It's from Glenmarine who were based in Cork harbour and were run by George Hegarty and his daughter Karen they were the dealers for Glen-l before the days of internet. This is them with Gayle from glen-l in the middle.

Jees Fergal, brings back memories. I built my first boat from a Glen Marine design in the back garden nearly 40 years ago. Had it for 4 years before trading up. A 23ft Shangri La. I glassed the hull to protect it and it worked fine, but the finish left a bit to be desired.

Learnt all about boats from that project.

Les 41M

that shed sure is lookin' well.


ah! no seriously,lovely job.

Quote:

paul
that shed sure is lookin' well.

ah! no seriously,lovely job.

Thanks Paul, excellent first post welcome to the forum.

Mermaids still been built in Co. Dublin these little yachts have a big following on the east coast and it's great to see them still been built the old school way. [www.youtube.com] [www.youtube.com] [www.youtube.com]

My builds.

[s753.photobucket.com]
[s753.photobucket.com]

Quote:

fergal butler
Mermaids still been built in Co. Dublin these little yachts have a big following on the east coast and it's great to see them still been built the old school way. [www.youtube.com] [www.youtube.com] [www.youtube.com]

good post fergal,


clinker construction.........been there, done that.......back in 68....

Skerries used to have a good Mermaid fleet in the 80s and 90s, as well as a large catamaran fleet. Some great sailing and "Apres Sail" memories

Dermot
Cheetah 304.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2012 23:54 by Dermot Mangan.

Fergal,

just re-read the complete thread and from small beginnings it is a wealth of boatbuilding history and advice. The Mermaids in Skerries were always something to drool over- Clontarf had some too I think. Had the pleasure of a sail in a ply fireball once, a real mean machine.
Well just to show there can be woodie roots in a metal head, this is a "Hartley" I built from plans in 1975 and got me hooked inland . I had built a Percy Blandford " Pete" as a teenager but the Hartley was a big step-up.

Turned over ( neighbours !!) and decks and cabin went on but as the garage was so narrow I had to drag out on drive to complete.

Joe,
Your pics. of the 'Hartley' were all taken in a very confined space. How the devil did you walk round her to do the necessary? Did you wheel her out in the open so you could get at the sides, for instance?

Great record of the build, though.

Tom K.

P.S. I've just seen your colour pics, which explain everything. T.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2012 22:34 by Thomas Kirby.

The final touches. A second hand 40hp Evinrude and the Ford Cortina, and an early boat rally in Tullamore , great times.






Fergal, thanks for starting this thread , I am determined to scan much more old snaps. BTW the "Terrapin" gained a lovely 30hp Merc last week and is heading for a wetting in a few weeks.

Joe.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2012 22:38 by joe treacy.

The big thing coming out of this thread is the way so many of us, from totally different places, all began pretty much the same way. Get onto the water at a low(ish) cost!

In my teens, I started with a 16 foot canoe, skinned with canvas and tarred. It did a lot of English and Welsh rivers before being sold on. The canvas skin made you respect rocks!!!!

I then went big, and made a 22 foot (yes, 22 foot) eskimo kayak. It had an oak frame and was quite avant guard, being skinned with pvc material. This was some step up from canvas, but to look down and see the indent of a rock on the hull was quite scary. She was some sea boat! Through surf, she had no equals. My best voyage was down Southampton Water and across to the Isle of Wight. That included being turned over by the wash from The Queen Mary! She was so far away, I only saw the tops of the funnels, but half an hour later came the six foot wave!

Later on I got the Glen Marine plans for an 8 foot dinghy to use as a tender to my sloop on the Conway.
We lived in a first floor flat, and it had a spare room, so I built the construction frames by screwing them to the floorboards. Assembly consisted of cutting ply shapes, drilling dozens of holes along the edges and using copper wire, fix pieces together over the assembly frame. It had to be done from inside the hull, which slowly tightened onto the frame. It was at this point that I realised that although you could squeeze inside before things were assembled, you sure as hell couldn't get out after!!!!! About two hours later (it seemed like 20!) I was rescued by my wife who passed me a screwdriver to release the 'prison' off the floor! I found after finishing it that there were just one too many turns and twists to get out of the spare room, through the lounge, across the hall and down a flight of stairs! Escape was by taking the sash window out!This dinghy after a dodgy start was great. She was light enough to carry over the shingle to launch and gave many years of service.

In recent years I made a grp Canadian canoe which is still in use on the Barrow, but now antics in spare rooms are a no no, so I have invested in my Broom, which I suppose is where I wanted to be all the time!

Mac Brandrick
"Marion of Wimborne"

Great photos Joe thanks for posting There was a lovely shape to that hull. I thought I was tight for space but you got me there
It's amazing the feeling you get when your on the water in a boat that you built yourself and like T15 the memories that are held in the wood are like photographs in the mind like it was yesterday. I would love to see the younger generation have a go at building there own boat and learning a bit of a skill at the same time .

Anyone else built their own boat.

Yep Fergal, looking at Joe's photos reminds me in detail how I built the 23 ft Shangri La from Glen Marine. Upside down in the back garden..had to get a crane to lift it out as it wouldn't fit down the side of the house. Also learned you can't glue in low temperatures, amongst many other things. Bought an old A40 Farina car for 40 quid, got the engine, the wheel, the prop shaft, the lights, tank, the battery, even the window winders were used as control levers like trottle, and so on. Sold the shell to the army for 50 quid, they took it away to use as target practice. Tried a jet unit that didn't work, and ended up with an sonic outdrive. Total cost 600 quid including the dearest part, the outdrive. Got 4 years of crack before moving on to a James Silver 32 foot motor sailor, and then on to the 41M after a further 4 years of that. Hard to believe coming up on 40 years river cruising...what a brilliant investment. I think our kids and grandkids will never get to do this sort of thing, the culture is just so different today, real pity.

Thanks for the memories Joe...

Les 41M (Fredina and Calisto as well)

thanks all for the great old pics........really enjoying them


heres a boat my dad built in either the late 30's or early 40's, I still have the original The Motor Boat Manual 11th Edition book from1936 that he used to get info etc & within it is his calculation for prop size & engine size/hp etc writen in pencil

and if I remember collectly, this photo was taken at Groomsport in the late 40's or early 50's & I think I am correct to say he built the boat when living in Portaferry & sailed it around the coast to Groomsport when mum & dad moved back to Bangor..........all before my time...

dad & mum on the roof.... an Aunt sitting at stern. ( not too sure which Aunt, could be Aunt Jean )







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2012 11:08 by Pas Vite / T 15.

Lovely old pic. PasVite. You've obviously had boating genes from birth. Halcyon privileged days for your Mum & Dad. Bet there weren't many smart private motorboats about then.

Tom K.

Quote:

Les Saunders
Yep Fergal, looking at Joe's photos reminds me in detail how I built the 23 ft Shangri La from Glen Marine. Upside down in the back garden..had to get a crane to lift it out as it wouldn't fit down the side of the house. Also learned you can't glue in low temperatures, amongst many other things. Bought an old A40 Farina car for 40 quid, got the engine, the wheel, the prop shaft, the lights, tank, the battery, even the window winders were used as control levers like trottle, and so on. Sold the shell to the army for 50 quid, they took it away to use as target practice. Tried a jet unit that didn't work, and ended up with an sonic outdrive. Total cost 600 quid including the dearest part, the outdrive. Got 4 years of crack before moving on to a James Silver 32 foot motor sailor, and then on to the 41M after a further 4 years of that. Hard to believe coming up on 40 years river cruising...what a brilliant investment. I think our kids and grandkids will never get to do this sort of thing, the culture is just so different today, real pity.
Thanks for the memories Joe...

Les 41M (Fredina and Calisto as well)

She was a fine big boat alright I can't imagine her fitting down the side of any house

I'm just doing a dry fit to make sure everything lines up.

Don't drop please don't drop



Went in fine and spot on with the shaft, boy it looks big when your sitting behind it The risers are a bit higher than the deck beams that were in the plans so I will have to make up new ones with a bigger curve, I did price some nice low risers but they are silly money.




Brummmm Brummmmm