Well some of you with a good memory will remember that I did a posting about a model boat that my father started in the mid 1950s and which had remained idle until I restarted the project last year. Not a lot has happened over the year but here’s some photos of recent progress. I’ve been spurred on to restart work as my father had some health issues lately and it brought home the fact that he won’t be around for another fifty years.

As you can see the hull shape is pretty much there and I’ve started priming it in preparation of final fairing. If you look closely at the photos you’ll see a few humps and hollows.

I haven’t as yet decided what to do with the aft end of the keel as yet. I’ve no plans so I’m literally making it up as I go along. I’m planning to make it a free sailing boat with a simple tether for retrieval. So I might hold off on a rudder arrangement until I have the rig designed.

The keel is removable at the moment and will be used for casting the seven pounds of lead that my father can remember was needed. Most likely I’ll give her a yawl rig, they fashionable during the fifties and it’ll make her much easier to balance for free sailing. Of course the real moral of this story is don’t leave your dreams on a shelf for fifty years. Mark Twains call to all men is “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.” And of course you’ll be sailing your new custom built Roeboat. Give me a ring +353 (0)28 38973 and I’ll set you up with your dream boat.

Roeboats, Ballydehob, Co. Cork, t:+353 (0)28 38973 m: +353 (0)86 158 69 37 e:roeboats@ymail.com

Finally I have time to post photos of the Catbird 16′ that I built in 2010. The owner launched the boat earlier this year and was very pleased with the results. He was kind enough to forward on these photos.

As you can see she rides quite high when empty but the owner says she settles right down when the crew are aboard.

Since her launch she’s been sailing around Galway Bay, the Lake District in England and now calls Scotland home. There’s even talk of her entering the Great Glen Raid next year.

She has drawn many admiring glances from other boaters wherever she goes and with her matching tender she really is as functional as she is pretty. The tender fits neatly upside down in the cockpit for trailering.

For information on pricing and to discuss having your own custom boat built why not give Tiernan a call at +353 (0)28 38973 or +353 (0)86 158 69 37 or contact me via email.

Roeboats, Ballydehob, Co. Cork, t:+353 (0)28 38973 m: +353 (0)86 158 69 37 e:roeboats@ymail.com