Goat Island Skiff Launching 4 – Christophe in New Hampshire
Christophe has launched his Goat Island Skiff in New Hampshire. A very nice looking boat.
Perttu in Finland takes his cheap plywood Quick Canoe on a river trip – Videos
Perttu took his recently built “Quick Canoe” on a trip down a river in Finland.
We don’t have rivers like this in Australia! To see them is quite exciting.
The Quick Canoe is designed to be very cheap and easy to build, but still work OK.
First PDGoose (now Oz Goose) DIY sailboat Pics from Jim Post
Jim Post has built the hull of his PD Goose – a 12ft version of the OZ PDRacer.
He has done a nice job with a couple of nice additions. A seat in the middle and a stylishly angular splashboard on the foredeck. I am dying to hear how it sails!
Minimal repairs to keep an old Mirror plywood sailing dinghy going
Melanie in the UK wrote to me. She has just bought an old Mirror dinghy and started sailing for the first time.
Problem is that the boat leaks and she doesn’t want to stop using the boat until the end of the season.
I have a philosophy of keeping older boats on the water and not pulling them off for months on end until you have the time to do the job.
So the article here is useful to see what can be done with an old leaky plywood sailing dinghy to keep it going.
It is perfect sailing weather at the moment in the UK and it is better she is out there learning but with the worst of the leaks gone.
With a disciplined approach she should be able to get all of this done in a week or so. The general leaks fixed permanently and the rotted area reinforced so that the boat won’t break.
Drop in Outriggers – photo and comments from the Philippines
Finally after many years of selling the plan I have a photo of a boat with the outriggers from the drop-in outrigger plan.
Every part of the outrigger is very light. The first one we built had each component under 10lbs.
It can make a canoe or kayak into a killer sailing boat. Or can convert a canoe, kayak or suitable dinghy into a stable fishing or diving platform for paddle or outboard.
Clinton Chase (Maine) making a batch of oars – revisions to the free oar plans down the line
Clint Chase in Maine is about to make a batch of oars that are suitable for Storerboats. They are nicely balanced with the right amount of spring.
He needs to do a batch to make it cost effective, so if you are interested in some handcrafted oars contact him to see which sizes he will be making first.
Perttu Builds a Plywood Quick Canoe in Finnish Snow
Perttu is building his Quick Canoe in almost impossible conditions.
The middle of the Finnish Winter.
But the boat is going together well. He is building it very cheaply out of ply and polyester resin.
First Goat Island Skiff Kit sold in the USA
Clinton Chase in Portland Maine has just delivered a precut kit for the Goat Island Skiff to John in Texas who is building the boat.
The kit arrived in a big box.
This little article tells how his kids are involved in the boatbuilding starting with attaching the framing to the accurately cut plywood. He knows the rule that it is more important what the kids learn and experience than it is to minimise the use of wood!
Storer Boats FORUM
This is a list of the latest posts on the Storerboats Forum.
It has information about building, discussions about design, photos of buildings and launchings and much more.
A main interest is tweaking the best possible performance out of traditional looking boats.
Sail Boat Tobogganing in the Snow
Winter has been really harsh in North America.
It has even been snowing in Texas – and not just a little bit.
Kenny and family (more north than Texas) are really active on the PDRacer front but like many others are getting cabin fever from being icebound inside their houses.
So during one of the better days … there was boating to be done – but not boating as we know it, Jim.
Quick Canoe assembly – Woodworker builds in 4.5 hours (I took 2 weekends)
Fast building was part of the aim of this plan! Also to keep the expense down. Rick surprised me – I was thinking it would take a couple of weekends. The Quick canoe is very simple to build and comes out of three plywood sheets. A very simple plywood canoe It has been designed to be as easy to build as possible while keeping some of the qualities of a good paddling canoe – in particular the ability to track.
MSD Rowboat in Brisbane. Built by Tom
Tom has built his MSD Rowboat in Brisbane.
I met up with him recently and we drove down to the coast towing the rowboat to the river at Nudgee. A bit of wind and a lot of current because of all the rain.
Tom has trimmed down the skeg to get the boat to balance nicely in all directions. Before the modification the bow used to blow around – now it behaves nicely.
I took quite a few pictures.
Is the OzRacer or Oz Goose a good looking boat? Part 2
The discussion on this topic went on.
Dave asked if people would laugh if they saw a PDR sailing in company with something more conventionally shaped.
Luckily I had a video clip to hand.
Aesthetics and Convention is the Oz Goose or OzRacer a good looking boat? Part 1
A little bit of writing how form in boat design seldom follows function in terms of what “looks good”. It was prompted by a discussion about whether the PDR is good looking or not.
My Podcasts on design also cover this idea to a greater depth – they are in the menu at the top of each page.
First Goat Island Skiff Plywood Sailboat in Chile
Juan Carlos has been building his Goat Island Skiff for about a year.
He has just put up a photo series of his boat launching.
The rest of the words and pictures are from Juan Carlos.
Launching after the build – Handy Punt – Stable for Fishing
Fiona Harbison and friends have just launched their new Handy Punt for fishing and family outings.
Fiona is the sister of Helen (hope I have that right) who built a Nutshell pram in a number of the Duck Flat spring or autumn boatbuilding schools.
It is called Farnark, which will strike a chord with Australians and New Zealanders through the work of John Clarke. There is a picture of the boat and a clip of John Clarke reprising his farnarkling spiel.
New article out on PDRacers on Duckworks.
A nice little article by Jackie Monies who is turning into the writer in residence for the PDRacers.
It posits the idea that because of its cheapness, ease of building and the creativity in the group that it qualifies as the “All American Boat”.
Actually I think it is the perfect boat for places that are water rich and cash poor. Anyone can afford to go sailing in these cool little sailing boats. The options of material and design solutions allow the boats to be built of local material just about anywhere. Very cheaply.
“Disposable” Canoeing – building a canoe in a few hours.
I don’t have a car so how can I go canoe touring? Its something I fell in love with in the USA on Lake Powell.
This is an idea for a simple, cheap, almost throwaway (or give away) canoe. I can get the materials shipped to somewhere on a river, build the boat over a couple of days then go for a paddle.
At the end I can give the boat away or store it for the next part of the trip.
iPhone, iPod Touch wallpaper for the PDRacer
Peter Hyndman has made some PDRacer wallpapers that you can download for your iPhone and some other devices.