Caledonia Yawl Week Four

We have had great weather down in Lyme Regis this week which has given us a good excuse to pop our head out of the workshop and soak up the rays at break times. I had a swim on Tuesday along Monmouth Beach and the water wasn't even cold! Happy Days.

So, on the weekend when we weren't watching the Red Arrows or drinking beers in the sun David and I with hthe help of John got the Garboards glued on with epoxy resin and so now we can work on planking the rest of the boat. On Monday I was on Gripe duty. Agrip is a wooden clamp that we will use to clamp on plank to the next wilst the epoxy resin goes off. We needs a clamp every 3 inches which means approximately 42 gripes holding every plank in place. We had about 7 gripes so I spent monday and most of Tuesday making these out of square sectioned pieces of oak about 18 inches long. Laborious but it had to be done. After that I was able to give David a hand bevelling the upper edges of the Garboards which will provide a 1 inch wide 'landing' for the next plank. The angle of this bevel changes all the way along the boat so we had to make sure the transitions were smooth and undetectable toherwise there would be gaps when fitting the next plank.

In the evenings I was working on a table I have been making for my mate Nick. He asked for a 'rustic' coffee table for his lounge so I think I have come up with something he will like. Its top is makde of reclaimed pine, the legs are oak and there is a small piece of magogany forming one of the throught tenons. It should do the job!

After work on Tuesday and again on the way to work on Wednesday I stopped off at the big car park abouve the beach to try out my skateboard. The deck was left behind at the BBA so I bought some new trucks and wheel and voila, I have a new toy to play with. I hope to make my own deck in the next couple of weeks using a vacuum resin infusion method we have learnt in out GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) lessons.

Now that I amm aquiring llots of new skills and know-how I find that my mind conjours up all kinds of side projects I could be working on and there just isnt enough time in the day to start them, let alone get them finished. I will have a go at a few of them for sure.