Looking good Fergal,think you might need to put in a parachute braking system

Fabulous photos and a ferocious beast, by the look of that 'lump', Fergal. I suppose you've done all the calculations for vectorised thrust from those twin exhaust pipes . Had you thought about installing an in-flight refuelling pod?
A set of astronaut-type G-suits might also come in handy. Their floatation characteristics wouldn't be an issue at altitude, of course.

While I was based in North Germany a friend-of-a-friend once gave me a spin in his bird-pulling 'Flitzer' on the mouth of the Weser near Bremerhaven. The thing had a 6.9 liter Merc. V8 petrol burner somewhere ahead of the transom and you needed pretty flat water if you wanted to hang on to your lumbar vertebrae! That's where the G-suits would come in handy.

Tom K.

I started doing some of the deck beams in oak as I came across a few planks cheep



Still a bit of thinking to do on the hatch and how it's going to open and close.



The end of the beams will slot half way into the dash so thats the next job, now to find the dash in this plank.



I place the clocks on it to find where to cut and show up the grain.




And this is the shape I went for.




All sanded and drilled ready for the first of 6 coats of varnish.




After the first coat I just had to have a look I will leave out the switches till I can sit in the boat and get a feel of where to put them.



The grain will be a lot clear after the rest of the coats are sanded down and compounded but for now thats it.

Old Wooden Boats

I steered my boat to the pier at Dingle
There I met an old man long home from the sea.
He caught my rope and with eyes sun-crinkled
he looked first at my boat and then at me.

And he told me “Son, I’ve fished these waters
for 80-years or more both man and boy.
And I was brave , but you’re much bolder
to dare to go to sea in that rich man’s toy.
Because that boat you stake your life on
it’s fibreglass and plastic stem to stern.
It bears the beaten soul of its’ factory builder
for it’s never known the love of a craftsman’s hand.

chorus
But old wooden boats scold like old mothers
when you drive them through a west of Ireland sea.
Old wooden boats are like no other
for they fight for the lives of fools like you and me.

He said oaken planks will groan and whimper
and will warn you when its time to feel afraid.
While a plastic hull will crack and splinter
and with no warning sweep you to an early grave.

And when the Northern Star leans on your shoulder
and it’s icy anger builds a troubled sea.
Then put your faith in God Almighty
and in the secrets that the winds once told the trees”.

I caught the tide in early morning
In the dawn I watched the Blaskets fall astern
and the wind recalled the old man’s warning
and it asked me “had I listened, had I learned”?
(chorus)
Mickey MacConnell Here's the vid [www.youtube.com] one for DE BAND



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 15/06/2012 19:54 by fergal butler.

As everyone is out boating I have to make the most of been stuck on dry land

I have been doing a bit on the engine hatch trying to work out the best way to cover up the manifolds and carb, "not fun"





This is the shape I have come up with, I used my jumper doused in hot water to help bend the ply "very handy tools those jumpers"



To cover in the sides I got an old block of 3"x 8" hardwood not the easiest thing to cut with hand tools.




I set the jigsaw at as much an angle as I can to cut off the edge and then sand the rest.







I will leave the final sanding till after I put down the mahogany planks so I can get it the right level I will also be cutting out an air vent in the front of it.



It looks a bit tall but hopefully when it's planked it will blend in a bit and the vent will add to the look. "hopefully"

Just a little update but not much to show, I fitted the dash clocks and steering.



I had to get a longer shaft for the rudder to make up for the 1"1/2" of the keel and the 1/2" of ply, when it was on the donor boat it only had to go through 10mm of fiberglass and then into the stuffing box.



I also temporarily connected up the water intake "there is something not right about making holes in a boat" and I have the exhausts roughly in place ready for more holes

Lovely work, Fergal, with great attention to detail and ingenious solutions to various problems. I'm bemused by your very trad. instrument panel, however. I would have thought that with the ballistic speeds reachable with all that power on board that you would have at least invested in a state-of-the-art head-up display, so you can read everything off the windscreen!

T.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 17/10/2012 11:59 by Thomas Kirby.

Thanks Thomas, No modern fancy stuff here, if it can't be fixed with a hammer or screwdriver it's not going in the boat

Made up some tray's for the fuel tank and battery they will then be strapped down to keep them in place, I also wired up the power cutoff switch.



Here I Just roughly cut out the sub deck and temporally fixed it in place next I will cut in about 10mm around all the edges so I can put a strip of mahogany in that way when I put on the top layer of mahogany I can round the edges a bit without the plywood showing.




The dampness is starting to get to the ply, I'd better get a move on.





Fuel thank and electrics behind me V8 engine in front and a hot exhaust under my ass sure what could possibly go wrong

First test run of the engine in the boat to make sure there are no leaks before I do the planking. She still needs to be tuned in and the timing set but I'm happy enough to carry on with closing her up, the alternator belt could also do with a bit of a tighten

[www.youtube.com]


The start of the kingplank, I tried my best to match up the wood grain to form into a V on the bow. I'm in two minds on weather to stain this a bit darker than the rest hmmmm.




Rounded off the kingplank to 6" back as far as the cockpit then it's tapers down to 2". I was going to cut up plywood squares to use as washers to hold down the planks but then I saw a bag of these corner blocks in B&Q for €3 handy little things and the epoxy won't stick to them



One half down and one to go.

Planking all done and caulked.




After going through about 50 sanding discs I also took the fiberglass and epoxy off the hull as I was not happy with the finnish there were some cloudy spots where dampness got in while curing so next time I'm going to go with west systems 207 hardener and peel ply as I don't want to do this again



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Lovely woodwork, Fergal. You've got a great pair of hands.

Now I wonder what those two round holes near the bottom of the transom are for??

Tom K.

Quote:

Thomas Kirby
Lovely woodwork, Fergal. You've got a great pair of hands.
Now I wonder what those two round holes near the bottom of the transom are for??

Tom K.

The masts are a bit long to fit in the boat so I had to make some apparitions

Fascinating build Fergal. Thanks for sharing

Regards

Peter

Quote:

fergal butler

Quote:

Thomas Kirby
Lovely woodwork, Fergal. You've got a great pair of hands.
Now I wonder what those two round holes near the bottom of the transom are for??

Tom K.

The masts are a bit long to fit in the boat so I had to make some apparitions

Horizontal masts??

Congrats on the boat..

John

Quote:

John.Kinsella1

Quote:

fergal butler

Quote:

Thomas Kirby
Lovely woodwork, Fergal. You've got a great pair of hands.
Now I wonder what those two round holes near the bottom of the transom are for??

Tom K.

The masts are a bit long to fit in the boat so I had to make some apparitions

Horizontal masts??

Congrats on the boat..

John

Of Course - They have to go somewhere going under the bridges

Well done Fergal !

Dermot,
"Cheetah" 304.