17 Months later.....

The hull of Bobtail is now complete and the builders plate has been re fixed. I know I have relied upon epoxy resin and it's gap filling properties and I couldn't have built a boat using 1940s materials. The screws could use some minor adjustment but i am very proud of my twelve foot national.

The completed hull ready for fitting out. I can't remember how many coats of varnish are on the decks.

I didn't want to use modern black plastic fittings where the shrouds pass through the decks to the chain plates. I can't remember what the arrangement was when I bought her so some new fittings were made from recycled tufnol lined with 12mm diameter stainless tube. I think they look the part despite loosing one tufnol washer on the garage floor and taking one and a half hours to find it.

The tufnol jib sheet fairleads and cleats were originally mounted on the side decks where they look awful and uncomfortable to sit on. They probably work best here but could be mounted on the the thwart. However the sheets will rub on the side deck when reaching or running. Any good ideas on other boats? No holes have been drilled yet....

The mast step is back on the deck. the front corners were cut away to suit the the original decking and washboards.

The stem fitting has been re fixed despite a small crisis when one of the bronze screws snapped. a small matter of digging it out and filling the cavity with epoxy has it sorted with visible damage.

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The centreboard has been sand blasted and primed with something very hard. It is now painted white and will be flattened back at the weekend. the rudder from 3434 is nearly as deep as the centreboard but considerably lighter.

Finally I have cleared up the garage and the old decking, washboards and other pieces of scrap burnt. The old varnish caught fire very easily. How close was bobtail to a proper bonfire?

Bobtail is in the the garage, sitting on a nice new trolley which shares the same road trailer as her younger sister. If the weather is right I will tackle the mast at the weekend.

Rudders.

It's still too cold to do much in the garage so after cleaning up the aluminium rudder blade I painted it in the kitchen. I have never seen an aluminium rudder on a twelve before and I can see why. This one weighs in at whooping 5lb 6 oz! It is the original so it will be used.

I need to get the centreboard sand blasted before I can repaint it.

The floor boards are now all glued together ready for varnishing. The boom is cleaned up and has had a thinned coat of varnish applied this afternoon.

With regard to weight I decided to compare it the rudder from N3434. I am pleased to note that the whole rudder assembly (which is need of a small repair and a coat of paint) is less than the aluminium blade on it's own.

Hopefully the weather will soon warm up so I can finish the decks. I then need to get on with N3434 as it will soon be time to go sailing this year.

Spring is on the way....

Suffolk is starting to thaw out and the garage is becoming suitable for boat building again.

Colin and Martin at Purely Metal have made a new launching trolley that fits my road base. I have bolted my fibreglass cradles in place (after some minor adjustments....) and it can now be dismantled and galvanised. Colin owns a late 1970s National 12. "Scooter" will be back on the water this year after many years stored at the brick dock. They also make lovely polished custom stainless steel yacht fitings as well as anything else out of metal.

This afternoon we turned Bobtail over and sat her on her new wheels.

It all appears to fit as expected.

And rolled back indoors with no trouble.

The list of jobs is getting shorter. The main ones include, more varnish on the decks, finish and fit floor boards, repair rotten top of mast and finally fit her out.

I have ordered new sails from Jeckells in Wroxham. They made the original and only set of sails she has had in 1949, so perhaps these ones will last another 60 years? This will be Jeckell's 3rd set of vintage sails in recent years and are a very competitive price.

SNOW!

Too much snow on the East Coast for boatbuilding at the moment. The cradles for the launching trolley were laminated before christmas and a second hand trolley found that can be modified to suit. Just waiting for the weather to warm up so I can get on with some work. N3434 is waiting to be painted and the lugger cleaned in preperation to sell in the spring!

Raced 3434 on new years day, single handed as Tom decided it was too cold.... Boat went very well, I would have won apart from rounding the leeward mark the wrong way! If only the crew had written the course down.....

Pictures of the snow as nothing else to post...

No Progress......

Too busy at work this week to progress matters. I have had two days in the north looking at sites for new pubs so it could be worse. The Squeaky Chicken stowed away for the journey! Hopefully I will obtain some chopped strand mat and polyester resin later in the week.

The picture is of a rowing skiff bought for the Crown Hotel in Woodbridge for a daft amount of money. The interior designer insisted that it should hang over the bar from the glass roof. Thanks to the yard for the loan of a swaging machine and help from Purely Metal, the rotting hulk was suspended in place and actually looks quite good. I'm still worried about customers climbing aboard and the removal of any rubbish will be difficult.

Shiney thing

Why does anything to do with old boats take so much time? I have spent the past 2 weeks varnishing and sanding the bottom of Bobtail, with the final coat applied last night. All the following pctures were taken this morning now the varnish is touch dry.
The keel has been refixed with lots of epoxy run into the joint between the hog and the keel. The garboards were originaly screwed to the hog so I decided to reinforce the area further by carfully raking out the old filler between next to the keel and refilling with an epoxy fillet.

The seams are caulked with Saba "sealtack 751", this will stay flexible and alow the planks to expand and contract. It also very sticky and comes in mahogany. It hardly shows even with the boat upside down. 2 litres of Ravilakk yacht varnish and I think she looks quite good for 60 years old. Not perfect but good enough. I was quite worried that the planking was too far gone to varnish. There is still some staining around the fastenings, but what can you expect?

It is now time to buy some fibreglass and start making cradles for a new launching trolley.

If......

We have sold "Rising Damp" (N3232) to a good home and replaced her with N3434. A few adjustments to the rig were required so we accepted an invitation to race on "If", Peter wilson's splendid 1930s 8metre. A long race on a damp autumn day. Despite a premature start, line honours went to "If" with the Championship of the Alde. Tom learnt lots of new words, how to mix a martini and help sheet a spinnaker. He was relieved that cigar smoking was reserved for consenting adults. A great day out but looking forward to racing 3434 on Sunday.

Work on Bobtail going well . All the varnish is stripped and the planking cleaned up. Just the small matter of rexing the keel and filling all the screw and nail holes. She should be ready to varnish early next week.

Lots of mahogany dust to clear up before then....

Health and safety being taken seriously. I hadn't realised how good the hi-vis overalls are! No chance of being run over in the garage.