Well here I am starting to set up the strongback and bulkheads on which the boat hull will built. As you can see I had to open the wrkshop doors and extend out a little to give enough room to walk around the boat. The planking lines are already determined in the plans for this boat so there was no need to get a good all round view of the hull to check that everything looked right. It’s a little hard for a boatbuilder to relinquish the control of the plank lines but in this case I was pretty confident that it would work out.

I stared with the two midship bulkheads to get an idea of how close I could get the boat to the floor. I’m not that tall and every inch lower made the job that much easier. I was still able to get in under the hull to clean up the epoxy fillet joints as each plank went on.

The forward end of  the boat is now in place with the stem and forefoot dry fitted into the frames.

Now we’re rocking, next step planking the bottom now that the backbone and centreboard are glued in. Check back soon to see further progress.

In the meantime why not give Tiernan a ring +353 28 8973 to discuss building or restoring your own boat. The phone line is back working after quite literally blowing away during the bad weather here.

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