Tuesday 26 July The day started fine and bright and in the shed we had a quorum of boat builders including a couple who hadn’t been in for some time. Adrian had a bad bout of Covid which kept him away for weeks and he was still not at 100% but he took to my…
Monday 25 July I’m back to the fun of being in the shed building St Ayles Skiffs. Sadly, JP, who was planning on being here, tested positive this morning and will have to miss this week. I was nearly able to go a day without thinking about boatbuilding when I was on holiday in Sydney…
Thursday 21 Julia Dr John reports that after a couple of days off due to colds etc, the team was back in the shed today. Dr John and Paul W planed the excess plank timber that covers the stems and keelson where the outer keel will sit. Veronica sanded the gunwales on boat 1. John…
Thursday 14 July Dr John reports that he was joined by Paul W and John I today. Paul planed the plank lands on plank 6. John I started on the port plank lands and then moved to planing scarf joints in the outer gunwale strakes while Dr John finished the port plank lands. Morning tea…
Tuesday 12 July Dr John informs me that he was the only one to turn up today with Archie for company no doubt and Harry of course He completed the planing of the plank land for the starboard side of boat 2. There is still the port side to do on Thursday and the ends…
Monday 11 July I was in early and sanding away at the gunwales of boat 1 to warm up. JP and I had been in for another covert operation on Saturday fitting and glueing jarrah blocks into those missed rowlock sections where Dr John had been working with Meranti. It had gone well and it…
Thursday 7 July Another cold morning in Denmark. Mist and wood fire smoke hung over the town as I drove in. JP was there to greet me and we started by taking the clamps of our scarf jobs and enthusiastically using the heat gun to soften the epoxy and chisel it away while warming our…
Tuesday 5 July It was wet and cold this morning so I thought we needed a fruit cake to cheer up whoever turned up and picked one up on the way to the shed. JP was at the shed when I arrived but it looked as if we are going to be on our own…
Monday 4th July Very cold and crisp this morning but sunny. Peter K and I found JP already in the shed ready to go. We decided that even though it was cold we had to do some glueing today. JP found a piece of black plastic to put over the epoxy resin container so that…
Thursday 30th June I followed Peter Kovesi into the shed today and JP was there waiting for us. Peter is visiting to look after our dogs this weekend and give a presentation on his adventurous sail down the WA coast to Cape Naturaliste at the Denmark Rowers AGM on Monday evening (7pm at the Riverside…
Tuesday 28th June Another quiet day on the boat building front, but a good day for concentrating on the gunwale blocks. Lesley was in and keen to get started as she was going to have to leave early. She picked up a plane and started planing the plank lands on plank 3 and was later…
Monday 27th June A windy morning that was turning wet must have put a dampner on even our hardy regulars today. I had another go at getting those angles right for the gunwale blocks to fit into the stern stem. At one frustrating point it seemed as if I was going further away from getting…
Thursday 23 June Despite arriving early the shed was already open for business and the Tesla parked outside gave it away as Paul W who was keen to get going. We had a final look at the plank lands on the stems and both did a little trimming before Adrian and JP arrived followed by…
Tuesday 21 June Winter solstice is a time when a lot of Denmark’s residents have headed off north to warmer regions leaving behind the hardy few. The hardy few turned up to work on the boats today, myself, JP and Adrian. We removed the clamps on plank 2 and we were pleased with the result….
Monday 20 June Mark was wondering if anybody was going to turn up this morning and sent me a text as I arrived. We were joined by Geoff and we all needed some woodworking to keep us warm on this dank day in Denmark, WA. Geoff and I worked on fitting the long blocks that…