Sean's Tammie Norrie

Launch Day

2011-10-23T17:39:00.003+11:00

Ahoy there, a good launch day was had by all...

Well a marvellous day was had by all today as we gathered to launch the Maria-Jean. Launched with a little a tradition with the words "we christen thee the Maria Jean and may god bless all who voyage upon her" then we toasted our Champagne and drank to the new boat (pouring some on her for good measure); then we "bid King Neptune give us always fair winds and following seas" by giving him a little of the plonk as well. After that it was into the boat and away on our maiden voyage (out to and around the channel marker). The WX was fine, the company lovely and the boat performed flawlessly and, kept dry! We finished the day with a sausage sizzle cooked by the best looking first-mate around, check out more...

All photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/62155905@N04/sets/72157627831637945/ Some photos below...

Previously we had to call in help from mates to get the project finished on time and therefore you see photos of Stevie C as we glue on the outer gunwales and tidy up the interior. I reckon we turned several kilograms of timber into saw dust in the process, I'm glad that's over with.

Because we have had to expedite the launching I elected to apply Deks Olje #1 (matte) onto the hull inised and out because it protects the timber and can be painted over. Painting the boat, my first and still my strongest inclination, will have to wait until we return from OS in several years. The varnished seats and thwarts are all Erica's work using the second part of the wonder-product Deks Olje #2. It goes on like a thin oil but dries like a varnish with no sanding in between except with 600-grit prior to the last. It's tempting to seal the whole boat in this stuff because it looks great and protects well but I don't know what properties it displays when painted over.

Next move is to make the mast and yards, I hope to finish these and take the Maria-Jean out for a sail when I return to Australia for Christmas and a mate's wedding.

The name of the boat is honour of two great women in our Lives, Maria (Erica's maternal grandmother) and Jean (my maternal grandmother, sadly no longer with us). The most lovely ladies.

Rob's Triton Workcentre, a real versatile tool that's helped greatly... and fun to use

Stevie C lending a hand

The damn Dust!!!

Looks ok with a wet look but the DO#1 dries to be matte

Erica checking the rowing positions and the 8ft oars

Even Erica had to lend a hand

Road trials

Fitting the floorboards and seats

It will never look this clean and new again

Ready to launch

Trailer maybe a bit deep

Greenery added as is tradition

"I Christen thee, Maria-Jean"...with an Offering of fine Champagne

The maiden voyage... the moment of truth

no problems... and even better a dry wife

Friends enjoying Maria-Jean

Erica took control of Sausage Sizzle

Launch Day (#1) imminent

2011-10-21T22:18:00.000+11:00

We have been asked by my work to move to the UK in the next few weeks therefore I've had to pull out all stops and call in some favours to get the boat on the water. Luckily Stevie C was in the area to help out gluing the bump railon and Erica has been a great help with the oil/varnish of the seats. Still, I've had to cut a corner and launch the boat in rowing configuration until I can get it into sailing config and give it the proper launch. Nonetheless we'll have a good time this Sunday and all are welcome...

Details of launch are Sunday 1000ish at Ballast ground park, Stockton NSW

•Where: Ballast ground park (cnr Punt Rd and Hunter st)

•When: 10am Sunday 23 Oct

•What: Boat launching (approx 1030) and sausage sizzle

•Who: all the family (playground nearby)

Sternsheets and sidebenches

2011-05-11T18:10:00.000+10:00

The Easter long weekend and ANZAC Day holiday were an ideal time to immerse myself in some boatbuilding. The weather was warm and I needed a break from work so I took the rest of the week off after the march on ANZAC Day. Erica has been helping me lately which has also inspired me to get a move on.

I borrowed Crookesy's plunge router and by fixing it to an old piece of MDF (the transom brace from the CNC planking kit) with a cable tie around the trigger I managed to create a router table. I have never done any routing before so I practised on a few offcuts and was impressed with the results. I then purchased a kit of bits and applied the 1/4" rounding bit to the timber panels for the sternsheets and sidebenches. The result is quite professional looking I think.

When I purchased my planking kit I also took the opportunity to purchase some of the timbers I would need later in the project - mostly to save time sourcing timber from around the now three different houses I have built the boat at. It was also an opportunity to get good quality timber matched to the project such as the Syrian cedar sourced from New Guinea I'm using for the thwarts and benches. So everything came bundled and labelled and I saw no need to question the sizes supplied or the quality. Unfortunately when it came to the sidebench sheets the supplier has miscalculated the minimum sized stock to cut each bench slat from so I had to use some fudging to overcome the fact that my slats are almost parrallel whilst the plans call for the slats to progressively increase in width over their length (3/4" difference). I'm pretty happy with the results. All fixings are with temporary screws and no epoxy because I'm waiting for Bronze screws to arrive from Sydney and I want to keep my epoxying sessions to a minimum. I think the results are ok.

Next is the bow seat (a miniature version of the sternsheets), the thwart knees and then it's probably time to glue. Then I'll look at the inner gunwale followed by the rub-rail.

Thwarts and Centreboard

2011-04-26T12:04:00.001+10:00

Tammie Norrie build, a set on Flickr.

Still some progress. I have given the centreboard two coats of epoxy and got the centreboard case in place. The thwarts cleats are in place and the thwarts are being sized up. Now onto the rear seats (called stern sheets)

Summer work

2011-04-12T19:46:00.005+10:00

You know I can't resist a photo of good food well here's our Christmas lunch and the swim at the beach that afternoon - great day!

Christmas and Summer were idealiic for working on a boat. In the photo below you can Erica and me both working outdoors and a friendly owl visiting.

four months later and now I've completed the centreboard case, the centreboard itself, the floors, the seat cleats and cut the thwarts.

Now I'm turning my attention to the sternsheets and side seats and the inner gunwales which I will use spacers on.

My next update will not take as long... I promise.

Turnover and more

2011-04-12T18:40:00.019+10:00

I've been slack updating my blog, sorry. here goes an update of the last 10 months...

After Crookesy helping with a close-to-final sanding down of the hull exterior I decided it was time to turn the boat over. As you can see from the photo (below) it was the start of Spring and still quite cool and damp . My dear Wife was none too impressed about being dragged from her warm cosy office into the cold to 'play' with my boat.

With a heave and a jolt the boat popped off the moulds and we laid it on the grass. Now timeto put it onto the trailer right-way-up, the moment of truth regarding the design of the trailer...

No worries!

Then it was time to put the boat back into the garage and crack on. First job was the affixing of the outer gunwales which went on like a dream - although I did learn to thicken the epoxy for the Port side to avoid the mess .

Time to move onto fitting out the internal

Almost ready for turnover

2010-07-19T21:18:00.004+10:00

A while since I posted last...

Had a visit from Crookesy that helped focus me back to the boat. After finishing the planking it was time to add the stem and sand the bottom, plugging holes as we went. I elected to as much of the final sanding now while the boat was upside down and held firmly in place by the moulds. Photos provide proof that despite nasty rumours, Crookesy can work... :-)

Planking complete, finally

2010-04-28T22:05:00.004+10:00

After 12 months, two house moves and lots of faffing I have finally completed the planking. It appears I did make several errors along the way but they can't be too bad because the Sheer strake was almost the best fit and easiest to attach. I should have been taking more off the Stem the whole way down, oh well, it just means a fatter outer stem is required. And, I ended up about 5mm too high at the transom landings. Photos are from within the boat's new home, a single car garage with no room for a car for a while.

Favourite tools

2009-10-05T18:43:00.006+11:00

Still raining in here in 'sunny' Newcastle (Australia - not the really wet one) so I thought I could show off my favourite tools. In no particular order they are:

Lap gauge - Of course I use it on laps but I've found it helpful to get accurate scarph lines
Hand drill - easy and not as aggressive as the battery version, from Father in law
Awl - old but sharp, very useful when marking planks
Japanese Saw - sharp and makes quick work of planking
Sanding block - nice and comfortable rubber version that holds the paper in place
Veritas honing jig - I could not sharpen accuratley without it, I tried. It gives me the same angle everytime
Block Plane - kept sharp always. Makes quick work when lapping
Respirator (with nose peg) - a pity is doesn't fit without the nose peg but when the peg is fitted I can't smell the fumes from applying or sanding epoxy
Hand Saw - new and very very sharp - I got the hardwood version and used it to cut the angles into the Skeg
Ratcheting screwdriver - probablly my favourite tool, it's the top Stanley and well worth the $30 - never binds, swivels freely, comfortable
4.5 Stanley plane - kept sharp - a real workhorse for scarhping and lately for laps
Wife and dog - easy going and enjoyable, I got the extended warranty :-)
Bench Grinder - Another boon from Father in law, used for hollow grinding my chisels (also from Father in law)
Grinding stand - used to keep a consistent angle from one chisel grind to another.

Halfway there

2009-10-05T18:21:00.004+11:00

After much faffing I got under way with a good burst of activity. I've now managed to reach the halfway mark for the planking. I've changed my method as well, now I concentrate tasks in order to take advantage of the little lessons and hints I notice as I go. For example, I scarph and glue four planks at once, then I move them to the boat and plank the boat with four planks, one at a time but still it allows me to avoid the little gotchas I seemed to repeat when I interrupted the planking for the scarphing.
You might notice the outbone (skeg and keel) is attached. This job took longer than I imagined. I ventured into it early in the project to ease the gymnastics required when working on the centrecase with the full beam's planking attached... afterall, I'm only a small bloke. I still have the outer stem to go but I'm waiting until the planking is finished to see what changes I need to make to the inner curve (I already know of at least one flat spot created by over zealous planing). As you can see from the bow shot, I have managed to skew the path of the plank lands on the inner stem, the portside #4 plank is skewing too much to starboard, I'll try and neatly correct this worrying deveation.
I have found the shaping of the curve goes easier when I screw the top (bottom) edge of the plank to the mould ie through the mould-alignment holes. This tends to let the glue dry in place and keep the planks firm against the mould landings. I'm still not sure why this is necessary, it seems to me there is about 10mm too much plank at stations 4 and 5 causing the planks to lift off the moulds. I've either made an error in the layout or the moulds are in the wrong position (interestingly the mould alignment holes aft of Station 5 are 10mm forward of the mould but my moulds are in the correct position). No matter, it seems to be all coming together and certanly the glued-lapstrake is a strong method of boat building.

Fitting the outbone

2009-10-05T17:51:00.003+11:00

Well, it's a while since I last posted. We've moved from Canberra to Newcastle and settled into our new routines. Unfortunatley given the nature of my new job there isn't as much time or energy as before. The move went as well as could be expected and the boat-trailer towed very well, my big Falcon didn't even notice. I had all of the loose timber and planking strapped to the bottom of the trailer inside the frame of the boat. Here are some pics of the trailer and the arrival (note garage is a little shorter than before)...

2nd plank complete

2009-04-02T17:57:00.005+11:00

Both second planks went on ok. The portside (ie the first of the 2nd planks to go on) is a bit wonky but I think I might be able to straighten it out later. Now that's done it is time to start prepping the boat to be towed up to Newcastle, at least I know it fits on the trailer as is. I'll post more pictures when I've completed loading the trailer with all the spare wood and some of my tools for the trip up to Newcastle. Next, I have to cut a hole in the boat for the keel...

Not far off the 2nd plank...

2009-03-23T21:39:00.003+11:00

The first planks (called the garboards) turned out surprisingly well, now its time to get a smooth and constantly flat overlap (or lap) between the grboards and the 2nd planks. This involves planing about 5/8" of the lower edge of each garboard so that it meets the angle of the second plank. I then needed to ensure that at the bow there was a smooth transition between the garboard and the second plank ie moving from the bow aft you should see and feel no difference between the two planks and then leading to the pronounced difference you would expect of one plank overlapping another. To achieve this effect at the bow I must blend the two planks together by cutting a Gain (also called a rebate/ gerald/ rabbit depending on your heritage) in the Garboard so that only one layer of the very thin ply remains. This was a test of my woodworkin 'skill' but I managed a passable job. Next is to do the same to the other side then clean up the second planks and glue them on. We move to a different city in 13 days, so I must have the second plank fastened by then. stay tuned.

To the Glue pot!!!

2009-03-09T20:13:00.004+11:00

First off, we're moving interstate so I had to buy a trailer, my intention is to move the boat on its frame as is on the back of the trailer.
Erica has been on my back to get on with the gluing and stop faffing. So, after discovering a misalignment and running one of the planks through the bandsaw to remove a 1/4" of one edge I got down to the task of gluing. As you can see I glued both planks at the same time but only one end at a time, the idea was not to upset the plank alignment that I had worked hard to obtain (actually I must confess that the alignment is all Erica's work). Good use of a day off.
The next step is to bevel the garboards then glue on more planks, hopefully they won't all take as long as these garboards.

Cutting the first plank

2009-03-03T20:54:00.005+11:00

Not much to show for a month but I've been purposefully taking things slowly. The photos are of Crookesy and me cutting out the first plank (x2) followed by the scarphing process to get the joins as flat and even as possible. Following the scraphing came the first glueing of the planks together and lastly the dry-fit of the glued-up plank. Currently I'm working on the fairing of the Keelson to get the plank to lay flat on the keelson where it contacts the keelson. Erica has been a great help with this difficult step....

Holiday's work

2009-01-18T17:57:00.006+11:00

...keep the plane Iron sharp!
Stern shot showing transom to Keelson join with a bit of glue ooze
Bow shot showing the 'ooze' of glue as the keelson is epoxied to the Stem
Crooksey earning his beers...

Well, time to go back to work. I've put in about 100 hours thus far and have managed to get the backbone glued on and mostly faired into the moulds. There has been a few 'noodle stretchers' as my mate Croookesy calls them but between the two of us and Erica we have been able to figure out most issues. But some issues could not be resolved by us because there were some flaws in the plans (not Ian Oughtred's plans). Here are some photos of were I'm up to at the moment. Next is to finish fairing the keelson into the moulds so there is one continuous curve along the length of the keelson upon which the planking can sit... so plenty more wood shavings to come.

The building frame

2009-01-05T11:23:00.000+11:00

A bit of a surpirise was that the strongback or building frame were not included so I set about building the frame from the plans. This required me to purchase straight timbers from my local hardware store and get them as perfectly aligned as I could before the moulds went on top. In the end I got to a difference of 1mm on the diagonals (4000mm in length) so I'm pretty happy. Ian Oughtreds plans are very detailed and whilst there is no idiots-guide written on the plans there is plenty of information on them to solve p roblems.

The kit arrives

2009-01-05T11:06:00.000+11:00

I changed my mind again and went with the full 'hull cutout kit' plus enough timber to get the boat to the 'turnover' stage. All up the invoice was about $3800 which is a lot of money for not very much wood. The hull cut out kit design comes from Jordan Boats in the UK manufactured by someone here in Aus (NIS boats?) and then I purchased it through Duckflat Wooden Boats. There has thus far been a few problems but nothing to be concerned by and Jordan Boats have been quick to respond. Crookesy has been staying with us lately and has pitched in and helped and believe me I needed all the brains I could get when the mould numbering was not correct on the kit layout...

The decision is finally made

2008-12-07T09:52:00.000+11:00

Well months after the original post I have finally made a decision on which boat I intend to build. I will build the Ian Oughtred designed Tammie Norrie (name of a seagull in Scoatland). Here are some pictures of Tammie Norries...
After much faffing I have elected to get a pre-cut hull kit which has just the plywood parts pre-cut. I went this way to lower the overall risk to the whole project by having the hull professionally cut and shaped. I still have to put it all together and cut the keelson and stem and transom however now the planking will be cut out and ready to glue onto the boat much earlier than before. This also helps becasue I will only have three weeks available to me in the Christmas break in which to hopefully get the first three planks on. The cost will be $4200 delivered for all timbers and planking up to the 'turnover' stage. I have splashed out a bit and purchased red-cedar for the thwarts, transom, knees and gunwall spacers. I intend to either finish the boat in Decks Olje #2 or, paint the hull cream with a bright-finished sheerstrake. The interior will most likely be painted cream except for the red-cedar portions but once again I may end up using Decks Olje #2. I will update you when the wood arrives next week.

Get the blog then the boat...right?

2008-08-11T22:22:00.000+10:00

Instead of purchasing a boat I have elected to build a boat out of wood just a small boat that I can handle on my own but one in which Erica can join me when the idea ceases her. The boat I was originally thinking of is a PassageMaker designed by CLC in America and sold here in Australia by Capeboatworks in Canberra as a pre-cut kit. Here is a picture of one from the CLC website. I'm not overly impressed with the Pram bow but I'm sure it will grow on me, my favourite selection for a boat was a Ian Oughtred 'Tammie Norrie' made in the Clinker style and assembled as a pre-cut kit by Duckflat boats in Adelaide but at almost twice the price (approx $5.5k) and with a more complex method of construction I think it prudent to start out cheap and safe. I have bought some good books that might help me in the process of building as I'm not very confident in my woodworking skills (unlike my brothers who are courageous and bold with wood). I can't imagine I'll have the time or inclination to record each step but hopefully I will record milestones for my own memories. Estimated costs for the PassageMaker are:

Pre-cut kit (inclu sails and all glues)--$3100
Trailer-------------------------------$800
Paints--------------------------------$300
Tools---------------------------------$300
----------------------------Total: $4500