We Are Open For Business

I didn't realise that it is more than two months since my last post. Time flies when you are having fun, or busy. I am working on a 71ft aluminium cruiser, with the detailing taking a lot of time.

Our lives are being disrupted by the COVID-19 virus that is bringing the world to a standstill. Here in Virginia we are not yet in a lock-down situation but that is probably in our future before long. For now we are social distancing, chatting to neighbours at a distance and keeping contact with faraway family by Skype and WhatsApp.

I work from home, with my wife Dehlia as my only co-worker. We are able to work on as before despite the restrictions.

Many people are taking a break from their normal work, some enforced by authorities and others by choice, to ensure isolation from potential infection sources. We all hope that the situation will return to normal within a few weeks but that looks more and more unlikely.

When stuck at home, staying productive helps to fill the days and lift the spirits. A big enough project can involve most or all of the family, racking up quality time and keeping minds off wanting to be elsewhere. Making something worthwhile with our own hands is very satisfying and can provide the balance needed to keep us sane, reducing cabin fever.

If that something worthwhile that you build is a boat then you will have a new family toy when summer comes or when we can get to the water again. Some of my happiest times as a child were those spent sailing or fishing with my dad. As a teenager those prized memories were made on the water, rowing our family dinghies and, especially, sailing my own boat.

If you are already building one of our boats then nothing changes. Our personal backup, included in the price of our plans, continues as usual and we can advise when needed. If you are considering building, we will do all that we can to help you. We have offered study packs and dinghy plans for delivery as PDF files by email as an alternative to traditional paper prints. We will now expand this to include construction plans, under our normal terms of sale.

In the past most customers have been happy with paper plans sent by first class mail, transported by the airlines and delivered by the postal services in the destination country. There have been massive cutbacks in air travel, so most of the aircraft that would have carried the packages to faraway places are grounded. With so few planes, airmail services are under pressure and have slowed considerably, aggravated by slower delivery in the destination country due to restrictions in movement of people. The alternative of courier service speeds up delivery but is costly. Receiving the plans as PDF files may be a viable option for some builders.

PDF files do have drawbacks, related to the size of the drawings that you will be using. Most of them were drawn to A1 size of 491x841mm (23.4x33.1"). These are way too big to print on a standard A4 or letter size printer but you can view them on-screen and zoom in to see details. You may be able to print sections of a drawing or your printer may have a nesting feature to print in sections for taping together into a single sheet. The best option is to take the files to a print shop for printing on a large format inkjet printer.

Here are samples of drawings to show what you will receive for two different types of designs. Click on the links to see them online, which will have limited clarity. Download into your computer and view in a PDF Reader program. Zoom in to appreciate the greater clarity that is available.

Sample PDF file of a CAD drawing, applicable to most of our designs drawn since 1995.

Sample PDF file of a hand-drawn drawing, applicable to most of our designs before 1995.

Some of our designs include full-size patterns, which we normally print on 36" Mylar roll media. Some of them are as long as 16ft, totally impractical to print in small sections with an expectation of accuracy. These must be printed on a wide format printer. You can print on paper instead of Mylar if you store them in a sealed plastic sleeve and use them within a few weeks. Delaying their use risks dimensional change due to variations in humidity.

Whichever delivery method you choose, we can supply any design from our pricelist, except for the Trika 540. This was drawn by a colleague and is only supplied as paper prints, shipped from Germany.

We wish all of our supporters and families continued good health through this worldwide crisis.                                                                                                                  

Launching Didi 40cr2 Stargazer

I wrote last year about the Didi 38/40 projects being built by XS Marines in India. The posts are at Didi 26 and 40 Projects in India and Update on Wide Stern Versions of Didi 40 and Didi 40cr .

They built the new wide-stern version of the Didi 40cr, now named the Didi 40cr2, from plywood for a customer. (Sorry, we don't yet have a web page for the new version, that will come soon.) During the build, they took moulds off the hull so that they can build this series of designs in sandwich GRP. They will be able to build the Didi 38, Didi 40 and Didi 40cr from those moulds.

Last week they launched the first boat, named "Stargazer". She is the second Didi 40cr2 to be launched, after "Passion X" in Sydney, Australia.

"Stargazer" being built from wood and plywood.

"Stargazer" covered with the GRP mould.

Didi 40cr2 "Stargazer" about to get wet.

She was launched on Friday, sailed on Saturday and raced (not seriously though) on Sunday. She had no spinnaker, which was to be added to her wardrobe this week.

"Stargazer" under sail.

After their first sail, builder Sheri Bamboat reported on her sailing qualities. "We sailed Stargazer from the Moorings near my yard to Mumbai on 23 March .  It really was a great moment. I need to thank and congratulate you on one of the most well balanced boats that I have sailed."

We wish Sheri Bamboat and XS Marines every success with building these boats for the Asian market. We also wish the owner of "Stargazer" happy sailing and successful cruising and racing on her.

To see our full range of designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Aluminium Expedition Cruiser

I am working on an interesting commission, have been for a few months and it is nearing the end of the design work. The boat is being built in Gibsons on the gorgeous Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, Canada. This is the first metal design commission that I have had in a long time, with metal boatbuilding being in somewhat of an hiatus for a few years. That part of the world has a massive logging industry, with logs floated downstream in the rivers in huge rafts. Logs are like cattle being herded to market by cowboys; occasionally one or two get away from the herd.

In the case of wayward logs, they can drift around for a long time before going ashore on a beach, where they become handy seats on which to picnic with the family. Until they are washed ashore they are navigation hazards for boats, particularly when they become deadheads i.e. floating vertically. In that position they present very little above the water to be spotted from a boat but they have tremendous inertia, capable of doing substantial damage to a boat that collides with them. It is no surprise then, that aluminium boats are more popular in logging waters than elsewhere. They have more chance of bouncing off the log with no more than a dent that could fracture a fibreglass or wooden hull.

Owner Tom McPherson with his aluminium hull

This new boat was commissioned by Tom McPherson for adventure cruises in the protected waters between the mainland and Vancouver Island. Although these cruising waters are protected from Pacific Ocean swells by the 285 mile long island, the channels and fjords are well-known for strong currents and eddies. Thick fog is also very common, so careful navigation and attention to obstructions and depths is necessary to stay safe.

The intended customers for the adventure cruises will be teenagers, learning about the wilderness through which they will be moving, the creatures that inhabit it both on land and in the water, and the flora of the dense forests. Man is doing so much to mess up the beautiful blue marble on which we hurtle through space, so teaching the next generation about stewardship of the wilds and our fragile world is an important issue.

This is not just a holiday cruise for the young crew; they will learn the skills of boating and earn their way with aching limbs and calloused or blistered hands. With only a small outboard motor for propulsion into and out of harbour the crew will sail her some of the time and row her at other times. She has thwarts for 8 rowing positions. This is no luxury cruise, the crew will sleep in the large cockpit under the stars or a cockpit tent when needed. There is a small cabin in the bows, with a pair of V-berths, galley and enclosed heads.

For stability and windward ability, she has a ballasted swing keel. The cockpit has a long covered channel full-length, draining through the keel casing and outboard engine well.

This boat has to be able to carry a relatively large live load of 10 teenagers plus two adult crew, in addition to stores (which can be replenished as needed by occasional stops along the way). There is a benefit derived from the live load, of course, of considerable portable ballast that can be moved around the boat for best trim and stability.

With the intended use of gliding along with minimal disturbance among and past the wild animals of this wilderness, a boat of easy lines was needed, one that creates minimal waves and is very easily-driven under oar power. For sailing, she has a gaff schooner rig that can carry a reasonable spread of canvas with a low centre of effort, very versatile in a range of sail combinations to optimise area and helm balance to suit wind conditions. The spars are sealed carbon tubes in tabernacles, easy to raise and lower. The boat is legal towing width for transport on land, so the masts can be folded down horizontal and left in their tabernacles to simplify the process.

Gaff schooner rig, carbon tube masts folding down on tabernacles.

The hull is a big sister to my Cape series of designs that started with the Cape Cutter 19 and has spread over the years up to 32ft. But those are beamy boats and this one has been stretched out to give the slim and easily driven hull needed for her intended use. It results in a boat of very graceful lines and proportions, with fine, hollow bow at waterline and clean stern. She will slip through the water easily under sail or oars.

Slim, sleek, easily-driven hull with fine bow and clean stern.

Yes, the Cape designs all have lapstrake plywood hulls. This new boat (we really must give the design a name) has the lapstrake shape but done in aluminium. To get that right, I was pleased to be working with an experienced builder with whom to figure the best way to get the shape needed, without distorting the hull plating from excessive welding. John Dearden is that builder, having built the aluminium centre cockpit Dix 43 "Namo" as a custom build for her owners about a decade ago.

Owner Tom is working with John Dearden on the build. They turned the hull over a few days ago and report that it has turned out fair and is very pretty. Planned to be in service in the coming season, the launch is targeted for March.

Turning the hull happened a few days ago.

Tom McPherson shows the project and his cruising grounds on Instagram at Seaforth Expeditions. He has photos and time-lapse videos of the turn-over and videos of his cruising grounds.

New Agent & Kit Supplier in Australia

We have a new agent in Australia. In future we will be represented by Ron Jesche of Stainless Boatworks in Adelaide, South Australia. Ron is an accomplished boatbuilder, working to a high standard. He is currently building a Cape Henry 21 for his own use.

Ron's current boat "Lioness" was his own build, to a custom pilothouse design. He saw a similar boat at the Wooden Boat Festival in Tasmania, which put him on the path that ended with him building "Lioness" for himself and wife "Carole".

"Lioness" on the hard recently for maintenance.

Nicely finished pilothouse of "Lioness".

Stainless Boatworks is able to sell plans for any of our range of designs, which will be printed and shipped by our office here in USA. They can also supply CNC kits for our plywood designs.

Ron Jesche's Cape Henry 21 build, fairing and deck in progress.

Interior of Ron's Cape Henry 21, showing nice detailing.

Ron does nice work. He has built the Cape Henry 21 from scratch. That has given him good knowledge of how our designs work, as well as the experience of building one of our designs. That makes him well-suited to represent our designs in Australia. Whether you want to build from plans or a kit, Ron can supply.

Also, if you want one of these boats and don't have the time or inclination to build it, maybe Ron will build one for you if you speak to him very nicely.

We look forward to a long and mutually satisfying relationship with Ron Jesche.

To see more about our boat designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Up and Over with a Didi 40cr

David Edmiston in New South Wales, Australia, is building a Didi 40cr, in its newest form. This is with the hull flare increased aft to give more deck area and space for a T-shape cockpit. I haven't yet figured a decent name for this version, so for the moment it is the "Wide Stern Version of the Didi 40cr". David has made pretty good time building her, he is an amateur builder having bought his plans in May 2014.

Yesterday his boat made a major move, from his garden to a spot near to the water in Sydney Harbour. The start of that journey was unusual, in how the boat was removed from the building site. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Lifted off her building cradle, this view shows the beautiful finish that David has achieved on his hull.

Up she goes.

And up some more. Note the spreader bars on the slings to relieve the squeezing loads that would be applied to the hull if they weren't there.

And over the roof. Few boats get to have such a good view of their building site. Her building cradle is at extreme right.

And onto a transporter for a quick ride to the harbour.

And away she goes, out of the neighbourhood. Being a wooden boat, her build will not have disturbed the neighbours much. Some of them may even miss watching a big project like this, which often becomes a focal point for gatherings and building neighbourhood spirit.

Her keel is delivered to the harbour. This is a steel casing with lead ballast poured in.

Then her hull is lowered over the bolts for initial dry-fit, followed by permanent bonding.

This is a slightly bigger sister to "Black Cat", the Didi 38 prototype that I built in Cape Town 20 years ago. It has the same hull but extended with a 2ft longer stern overhang. It also has a longer cabin with a bit more accommodation length.

It won't be long before David's new boat is in the water and sailing. I will post new photos when I have.

To see more of this and our other designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Winter Project Time Again

That time is coming around again, for the northern hemisphere. Winter has a charm all of its own, with festive occasions, family gatherings, giving and receiving gifts, having fun in the snow and snuggling by a roaring log fire with eggnog. Then there are those times of being trapped inside, when nerves begin to be frayed by cabin fever after all of the Scrabble and other board games have worn out their appeal and you have run out of episodes of that TV series that you have binge-watched for 36 hours straight.

That is when it helps for Dad to have a project to work on in his man-cave that does double-duty as a workshop. A small boat is a great project for those times, creating something of value for the family to enjoy when warmer weather returns, while also giving opportunities for quality time working together and developing new skills that will be of value in the future.

We have a few boat designs that are ideally-sized to be built in a small space, some simple and quick to build and others more demanding of skills, time and financial resources. Here is brief info on all of them.

This 8ft Dixi Dinghy was built by Leslie Koen. It has a sailing rig option as well

This 9ft Oppikat was built by Frank Nagel for his children

This Argie 10 was built by schoolboy brothers while Dad was away on a business trip.

Challenger 13 built by Jonas Klimantavicius

Paper Jet built by Andre Siebert

Didi Sport 15 built by Jim Foot.

Argie 15 built by Tarquin Morkel

Lynnhaven 16 built by Mikhail Andrukov

Inlet Runner 16 built by Kevin Agee.

Time to sharpen your saws, chisels and planes, buy in some marine plywood, Douglas fir and epoxy, then get to work preparing for next summer. You will also need the plans, which can be ordered from our pricelist.

See more about these and our other designs on our main website or our mobile website.

Threefold 6 Project in Michigan

Bill Blaisden has been building a Threefold 6 in Michigan the past few years and it is nearly complete. These photos show from early in the build through to getting wet. Bill's boat has the high-volume amas that we introduced a few years ago to replace the lower volume amas of the original design. 

The Threefold 6 is multi-chine plywood with stitch-&-glue joints at the chines. Construction is quite robust, giving a strong little boat with good performance, that can be built by any reasonably competent amateur builder.



Hull framing on building stocks

Hull skin done, wing framing in progress.

Wings skinned.

Interior lockers.

Deck & cabin.

Amas on demountable box-beams.

Stern view with amas on beams.

Bill put his new boat into the water to test flotation level.
He will do the launch when he receives his sails and
trampolines.
 

I will post more about this boat when Bill has her sailing.