Judging their own work so harshly; one reason is that we all get used to looking at the boat construction from a few inches away so we over value both mistakes and an idea of perfectionism.
There are at least two Viola 14 sailing canoes on the way, here are some update photos before the decks go on of the boat being built by Steve Schleicher – he will be going for the balance lug rig.
I was looking for a suitable canoe rack to store 2 or 3 canoes above each other to make the most of the available space. But then I decided – make one!
What is the best way to tow a tender behind a larger yacht or motorboat? And how does the Goat Island Skiff go as a towed tender?
Centrecase Padding reduces centreboard maintenance by protecting the sliding surfaces of rudderbox or Leeboard case on sailing dinghies. We look at low cost ways for padding the centrecase to reduce foil wear and tear.
Assembly of the beautiful BETH Sailing Canoe. Photos of all the major stages.
The goat island Skiff calendar 2018 is out now for christmas
How do I get nice looking intervals for the inwale spacers on my boat? Photos. How many expensive clamps do I need for the job?
More photos of Fenwick Williams Catboat built in Strip Plank by David Wilson at Duckflat, Adelaide
Peter McKenzie and his sons from Queensland Sunshine Coast built a standard Eureka paddling canoe.
Weight was the standard 44lbs. Peter’s email gives some nice tips.
They are very happy campers.
A 12lb canoe. The idea was to build a Rushton Wee Lassie in balsa strip with very light glass. The boat ended up being fairly durable despite not being interested in durability. As far as I was concerned I was going to be happy if it lasted a couple of years before being chucked into a dumpster somewhere. But five years later it was still beautiful despite good use.
A Fenwick Williams catboat carefully reinterpreted in Cedar Strip. Includes cleaner structure, optimised foils and a tabernacle rig that allows raising of the mast by one person. Built by David Wilson at Duck Flat Wooden Boats in Adelaide.
How do you rig your Goat Island Skiff or other balance lug rigged boat? This page will be useful for everyone, but specifically assist Goat owners in selection of rope, rope lengths and show all the rigging details. We have also found a number of cheaper ways of doing things from our experience in the Philippines. Halyard, downhaul, outhaul, lashings, rope fittings, rudders, centreboard.
Buying plans in Australia has changed. Duck Flat Wooden Boats in Adelaide are no longer my plans agents. We have alternative arrangements for buying plans as books and plans as PDFs. Duck Flat are growing the Boat Restoration and Repair side of their business.
A whole bunch of strategies for lightweighting a plywood stitch and glue canoe. In this case a Storer Boat Plans Eureka Canoe. Standard build is around 44lbs. Ten lbs were saved to bring the weight down to 34 or 15k
A discussion about basic pros and cons for swinging centreboards. And dagger centreboards. Centre Board means the board is in the centre. Which is different from a Lee board which is too the side.
The Oz Racer led to the Oz Goose. There was discussion about whether the OzRacer would plane and just how light it would be possible to build. Extrapolating from the Moth Scows in Australia I made a guess.
Racing shows that what you know is what you know. It doesn’t matter if the boat is less than perfect. So where is it best to put in the effort to improve results. Boat setup, knowing how to adjust for different wind conditions, practicing skills until they become automatic, sailing as much as possible … and teaching others.
How sailing and paddling canoe shapes differ.
How traditional canoe designs work really well and a lot of modern ones don’t.
Building a canoe – is ply or cedar strip better?
How to build a lightweight canoe – selection of materials – ply vs strip plank and timber species
Books for canoebuilding.
IMPACT! How hard is your boat going to hit something. For most of us it won’t be very hard at all. So it is better to save weight. For expeditioners they may require a lot more from their boats. What are the strategies one can think about?