Category Archives: West Cork

Inch by Inch, Row by row, launch time gets closer.

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I know it looks like I’m still a long way off form launching but I’m a lot closer than when I was doing this.

deckprimed

The cabin is now finished; so all I have to do is fit the windows and the toilet. As you can see I’ve started priming the decks. Motor well, seats and console are made and being painted. I picked up the motor at the weekend from Marine Motors in Cork and I have all the chandlery; which I was able to get in C H Marine in Skibbereen. (Here’s a tip you can get a 5% discount if you order online and select to pick it up at one of their shops. Discounts are always good.) I was able to get all of the two part epoxy and polyurethane paint for the boat in Skibbereen also, from West Cork Paint Supplies (028 23162). If you’re going to try being eco friendly it should start close to home.

Anyway I have a mountain of things to do before I’m finished; but I can see that each day I’m getting closer.

cockpitandconsole

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

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Deck on, Cabin trunk in and Roof under construction

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As you can see I’ve been busy for the last two weeks and have made quite a bit of progress. 70 hour weeks don’t leave much time for blogging. I put a couple of long days in last week and was able to complete most of the deck and the cabin trunk. It took a bit of figuring out how to support the roof but I’m hoping my solution will be strong enough. I’m going to use a T shaped deck beam and lodging knees ( that will double as hand holds) to stiffen the middle deck beam.

Deck on

I’m feeling so enthusiastic I’ve started designing the seating and all the other important details that go in to finishing a boat. The colours are almost nailed down and I’m awaiting the arrival of the engine before I finish the engine well and construct the helm station. Here’s a view of Ninigrets large cockpit. The cabin doors are made and hopefully all going well I should have the cabin completed by the end of the week, hopefully, as long as I don’t screw it up in my excitement.

Cockpit

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

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Progress continues on Ninigret 22′ power boat

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Well progress has been continuing apace on fitting out the hull of Ninigret and while a lot of work has been done I’m afraid there’s very little to show you. Most of the cabin fit out is complete and is currently being painted before installation. So that’s just a pile of wood and an empty space in the hull. The bilge has been painted and shouldn’t need to be redone for a very long time. The two part epoxy paint I used is rated for use in chemical tankers so it’s pretty tough stuff and boy is it hard to sand. The cockpit floor is in and all of the parts for the motor well are fabricated and being painted. This week I’ve started on the deck ( you can see the first of the deck beams in the right hand side of the photo ) and hopefully soon enough it will start to look like I’ve been doing something.

parts painted and awaiting installation

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

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West Cork Launch site No. 2 Baltimore

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Here are some photos of the pier and slips in Baltimore, Co. Cork. Baltimore has one of the best harbours in Ireland that has ample depth to accommodate large vessels and is sheltered enough for smaller vessels. There are two slips for launching in Baltimore and all the facilities associated with a busy port. Baltimore Pier

This is the refurbished pier, the end of which is used by the ferrys to Oilean Cléire ( Cape Clear ) and Sherkin Island one of which can be seen at the end of the pier. Smaller craft can moor alongside closer to the shore, where it is quite shallow at low water.

Baltimore harbour looking west

Looking west from the start of the pier you can see the slip in the right hand section of the photo. Actually there are three slips and a boat railway. Starting from the west is a public slip, the boat railway, the RNLI inshore lifeboat slip and the Baltimore Sailing club slip. With so many entities using the shore line you can appreciate that Baltimore can be a bustling place in the summer season. These photos were taken on a beautiful day in April. The pier in the picture is foul on its southern end and the western side is used by commercial boats. Charter and dive boats usually tie up at its eastern side.

Baltimore Harbour looking northThis is another slip and can be used for launching and tying up to by small craft for short periods there are rings along its outer edge. The large stone building in the background is Dún na Sead Castle which is open to the public during the summer. (The stairs in the castle were built by my friend and colleague Simon Hassett.) To the right you can see the main square where it all happens during the summer and if the weather is right is more akin to the french riveria than west cork. If you are launching a boat in Baltimore there is parking for trailers on the road side beside the old BIM boatyard and across the road from Glenans who are celebrating 40 years in Baltimore this year.

Roeboats featured in Marine Times

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I was delighted to see that Roeboats was featured in the May edition of the Marine Times. The Marine Times is Irelands leading marine newspaper and covers all aspects of maritime affairs from commercial to cultural and economic. You can access the April edition for free online here. Roeboats was featured in the May edition.

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

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Hull No. 1 Rollover at Roeboats

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Finally I and a few helpers rolled over the first Roeboat hull. It’s a John Atkin designed Ninigret 22′ outboard power boat. I thought that I would post a slide show of the rollover. Let me know what you think of it. Four people were able to lift the hull but there were seven of us to roll it over. It all went very smoothly really, we rolled the whole shebang out of the workshop. Took it off the strong back, lifted it up on to its side on some cushions and dropped it down on its bottom. Placed it back in line with the workshop door rolled it back inside and closed the whole thing back up again. So a big thank you to all those who helped, I quite obviously couldn’t have done it without you.

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

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Torturing plywood and myself as well

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Well finally got all of the chines, battens and inwales fitted; so it was time to start sheathing the bottom with the 3/8″ ply. I had expected the bow panels to be difficult to fit as the plywood has to twist through 90 degrees. Not an easy thing to get plywood to do. It wasn’t going too bad making the templates and indeed getting the ply to fit loosely seemed doable and I left them like that for 2 days, to take the shape and they did.

Planking so far

Planking so far

But when I started to clamp it down into position that’s when the fun started with slipping clamps and more than once I got a slap in the face as the ply sprang out from under a clamp and I broke a panel, it went off like a gun shot. After struggling like this for way too long I decided to go for it an glue and nail the panel into place. The first one was actually okay to do but when I was half way through the second one it decided to explode. You can take it for granted that at this stage I was trawling through some pretty rude sailor talk to come up with an expletive I hadn’t used in the previous two days. Anyway back to my fine mess of glue and broken ply. I just had to call it a day. I walked out the workshop door and I realised that more than once I looked at the solution. It was a plain as the nose on my face but not as ugly. Rotate the ply by ninety degrees so that there were more veneers with the grain parallel to the bend than against it. That simple. And it was that simple. I redid this on the broken panel and it went in no bothers. Well I suppose it was the third or fourth time I had done it. The rest of the bottom planking went on without much fuss at all. I’ve started planking the top sides today and have the motor well framed out. As bob the builder says Yes we can.

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

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Assembling Frames

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I have been very busy finishing this project and building the boat. Despite this I’ve been able to fabricate the frames and bevel them; now all that remains is to assemble them. I am about halfway through at this stage. The temporary cross beams have to be attached and the excess glue and fingerprints sanded off before they can be set up on the strongback. Here’s a photo.

frames

Behind the doors is my new extension.

And just to keep me organised a list of things to do before setting up the frames.

  1. Finish glueing up frames and bulkheads
  2. Decide location of and plane,cut and attach cross beams,
  3. Scarf up chines, battens, inwales and apron,
  4. Shape, joint, bevel and assemble keel
  5. Build and level strong back

Oh boy that’s a lot of stuff to get done so I’m off.

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

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RTE radio covers Roeboats

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Quick post to let you know that Roeboats was mentioned on Seascapes Irelands national adio programme covering all thing marine related. You can listen here it’s about 15 minutes into the programme. Hopefully there will be more to follow.

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

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Finished Lofting!

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Finally finished lofting Ninigret. I had to spend some time finishing up outstanding jobs that I had on as well. With the lofting complete, I now have all the frame and stem bevels, and transom projected so it will be full steam ahead making from now on hopefully. Here’s something of interest, I came across this at Woodenboat; it was their boat of the week. It really appealed to my conceptual sensibilities, I have always been a fan of people like composer John Cage and the Fluxus group. Anyway here’s a picture of an unmanned boat that can “sail” directly into the wind. Quite a technological feat really. I think it looks fantastic maybe we should all be building boats like this.

Windvinder

Windvinder

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

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