As you can see from the above photo I was beyond delighted to receive the Classic Boat award 2023 for best restoration under 40′. It surely made up the the many days spend in a hill top cow shed with the wind, rain and snow blowing in on me.

Since then the boat has gone on to race up and down the Cork coast and we continue to improve her every year.

I should have posted this when it happened but as usual the excitement of the win and generally being too busy knocked it off the priority list. So I’m putting it out as a throw back Thursday on this cold and snowy Thursday.

If you would like to have your own award winning boat restored, repaired or built don’t hesitate to contact me, Tiernan Roe, you can call me at +353 86 1586937 or by email or use  the contact page.

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

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

Things were really starting to move along on Lady Min. The photo above is from the end of February 2020. Talk had started of a Summer launch. Alas it was not to be.

I was working on getting the last of the cockpit details finished before the boat would be moved to the boatyard for the adding of the keel and final finishing. The windows in the cabin are a nod to the Herreshoff New York 30s. As for a long time the Lady Min was incorrectly touted as a Herreshoff design. The forward openings will be fitted with fielded Sapele panels.

The cockpit was increased in size to accommodate day-sailing parties and the structure was kept as comfortable and light as possible.

The piece above is the deck collar for the mast coat.

This was pretty much how I left Lady Min in March 2020. I didn’t get to check on her for a few months and wasn’t able to re-commence work for a full year. I did however get to build the mast between projects at home in the workshop which was a bit of a squeeze building a 32′ mast in a 22′ long workshop.

If you would like to have your own boat restored, repaired or built don’t hesitate to contact me, Tiernan Roe, you can call me at +353 86 1586937 or by email or use  the contact page.

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

With most of the major elements of the boat built it is now time to move on to the internal fit out of the cockpit. Unfortunately due to Covid restrictions at the time of building, the client wasn’t able to attend the workshop to have a fitting to make sure it was totally comfortable. Luckily I had anticipated this and we were able to get everything perfect after a few months of use.

Above you can see the consoles for the helm and co-pilot and below the seats for the cockpit. I made these in the form of a plywood box for light weight and high strength. There’s still quite a bit of work to be done, fitting the engine, deck hardware etc. etc. and of course many many hours of sanding and coats of paint and varnish.

If you would like to discuss having your own boat built, restored or repaired don’t hesitate to contact me, either through the contact page, by email or by phone +353 86 1586937.

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

Here I’m making up the cabin sides after the deck has been laid and the interior of the boat painted. As usual the workshop is over full as evidenced by the pile of stuff in the foreground.

Yhis in the cabin interior layout. There is access to all areas under the seat and the opening aft of the clamps in the picture is where the chemical toilet will. I was still waiting on delivery of the toilet at this time, (COVID delay) so had to get on with as much as possible in its absence.

Final installation of the cockpit sole and margin piece to keep things from rolling into the bilge.

If you would like to discuss having your own boat built, restored or repaired don’t hesitate to contact me, either through the contact page, by email or by phone +353 86 1586937.

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

Once the boat was back in the workshop the work of making and fitting the deck structure could begin, before the building spalls ( athwartship temporary crossbeams) could be removed. The deck was jointed together in the traditional manner with sliding dovetails that were backed up by epoxy glue. They took a bit of marking out but were pretty quick to cut out and produced a strong and long lasting structure. All of the deck beams etc. are western red cedar which is light, strong and very rot resistant.

The cockpit sole is removable in the middle so that every part of the hull can been seen and got at if needs be. Each winter the area under the sole can be well ventilated also. The inside of the hull has already received three coats of epoxy resin in the photos.

Above is the initial stages of making the berths for the cuddy cabin. As always once everything is made and fitting well they are coated in three coats of epoxy resin and also painted if necessary.

If you would like to discuss having your own boat built, restored or repaired don’t hesitate to contact me, either through the contact page, by email or by phone +353 86 1586937.

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

With the planking finished it was time to sand down the plywood in preparation for the application of epoxy and fibreglass cloth on the under water areas of the hull. I left the top edge, sheer , of the planking uncut so that I can fine tune once it’s the right side up. It’s very hard to do this standing upside down.

I’m just about to pour on the epoxy in the photo above. The easy lines of the hull make this a relatively straightforward job. The fibreglass will extend down to the top of the bottom plank. It’ll be cut off after the epoxy has cure to a “green” state which is when it is just starting to get stiff.

The entire hull has now recieved three coats of epoxy resin. This was allowed to cure and then wet sanded in preparation for painting. The waterline will be marked and the under water sections of the hull will be primed ready for the anti-fouling.

Normally the roll over is quite a social affair as I gather up a few friends and we roll the boats over. They’re not that heavy just bulky. I realised I couldn’t do it on my own so I got my neighbour to come over with his forklift to do the job.

If you would like to discuss having your own boat built, restored or repaired don’t hesitate to contact me, either through the contact page, by email or by phone +353 86 1586937.

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

The planking of the hull is fairly straight forward once the forefoot panel is in place. There was a lot of scarfing and screwing and glueing the plywood to the framework.

Once the bottom planking is done the edges are trimmed back and the corner between the keel and the planking was filleted with a generous radius fillet to take the fibreglass sheathing. You can also see in the photo above that I’ve lined out for the planking with the temporary battens.

I had kept the plank templates from the first boat, even though I hadn’t been totally happy with the lining out of that boat. Not that anyone else noticed, I even had to point it out to a fellow boatbuilder.

I’m halfway through the side planking in the photo above. Happily the bottom of the boat is flat enough to hold tools and other stuff. Which is very handy but does lead to a build up of clutter.

If you would like to discuss having your own boat built, restored or repaired don’t hesitate to contact me, either through the contact page, by email or by phone +353 86 1586937.

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