Lofting with David

There are eighteen people on the boat building course but only 9 boats are being built due to the space restrictions in the BBA and because if all of us worked on our own boats without any help thy wouldn't be finished this side of 2013. So 9 people will project manage and work on the building of their own boat from materials they have purchased and the other 9 people (me included) will work on these boats and get to move around from boat to boat. The advantage of being transient is that I can experience as many different types of building techniques as possible and walk away with a more rounded experience and potentially a better chance of getting a job. I will miss out on owning a boat and will have not put the hours in to project manage a build but its all swings and roundabouts.

Lofting is when full scale drawings of the boat are produced on huge pieces of hard board. I worked with David to loft his 19'6" Caledonian Yawl which took the best part of a week and a bit. We lofted three different views of the boat on the same piece of hardboard- Profile (side on), Half Breadth (Birds eye view) and Body Plan (viewed from the bow/stern), after which the lines resembled spaghetti thrown at a wall, as Mike our instructor would say.

Pencils, rubbers, rulers of all sizes, lofting batons, wooden batons and quick clamps became very familiar to us as we used them to manipulate the table of offsets provided by the boat's designer. We plotted these points on our huge grid and drew lines that connected into what we thought were fair and would produce a good looking and functional boat.

We then used the lofting to take full scale measurements used to produce the plywood moulds around which the boat will be constructed. There were seven moulds in all and it was important that all of our lofting and mould measurements were exact. A quick way to transfer the shape of the moulds onto the plywood was to tap small nails on their sides into the lofted lines. The plywood is then laid on top and a after a few whacks with a mallet the imprints of the nail heads are left on the plywood. These imprints are then connected with a lofting baton and a pencil and the shape of the moulds can be cut out.

Doing this for over a week produced many furrowed browns and gasping yawns as we tried to soak up the information and work load. David and I worked well as a team with my drive and his considered thoughts and calculations. I cant wait to start building the boat for real and to see these lines become a tangible 3D form.

Week 5: Clinker Section and Tool Box

We seem to be spending longer and longer in the workshop as each day goes by. Less time has been taken for lunch and I have stayed behind until 8pm on a few occasions as there is so much to do! I also started two new jobs- working in one of the pubs called The Vounteer and working as a handyman for a local lady which should help keep the wolves from the door.

For the past week we have been building a Clinker Section- a scaled down model of a cross section of a wooden boat built by overlapping wooden planks which are nailed into place using copper nails and roves. There are numerous techniques and tools used in its construction which kept everyone focused and the workshop had a definite industrious feeling to it as the chatter died down and furrowed brows hovered over workbenches strewn with pine shavings, copper nails and tools.

Next on the list was a tool box. This is a piece of work we have all been looking forward to making. Its a typical thing for an apprentice to produce and use as a tangible CV when visiting prospective employees- the quality of one's dovetail joints could be scrutinised and hopefully a job would follow. We have chosen to use mahogany which is a very nice wood to chisel accurately.

















As of next week we will begin the Lofting stage of our course which involves making full scale drawings of different parts of the boat and in preparation for that we took the lines off an existing boat which one of the lads will use to make his own boat. It is becoming clear just how quickly we are moving through the course and time is tight as no sooner than one thing is finished than another set of technical drawings are presented to us. The lofting means we will be taken away from our workbenches in the day so anything unfinished will be tackled in the evenings or on the weekends.

The weather has continued to draw us all outside on our breaks to listen to waves swash up the beach and on one such occasion we noticed a large section of the cliff above Monmouth Beach had collapsed into the sea. We eventually worked out it had happened between 9 and 10am one morning and before long there were people walking down to inspect eh pile of charcoal coloured earth and boulders strewn down to the low water mark.

I have taken myself off for a swim in the sea at around 5pm a couple of times this week. At that stage in the day I am fairly tired and my concentration levels are waining so to allow me to continue to work in the evening a quick dip is just the ticket. To say the water was bracing would be and understatement and after 5 minutes of swimming around my face was aching from the cold and my hands refused to close but I emerged from the water a new man.

A sunny start to the weekend

Friday arrived and baked us as we settled into our usual lunchtime spot on the deck of the Powerboat Club which sits right on Monouth Beach. A couple of sandwiches consumed, eagerly watched by our numerous canine friends in case morsels were dropped and then a snooze in the sun before heading back inside to pick up where we had left off.

In the evening we were back on the beach having beers when Jackson & Chris decided to settle the 'Last one out of the sea wins a beer' challenge and in true Reginald Perrin style they tackled the beach in bare feet whilst shedding their clothes and entered the frigid water. Jackson was indeed the last to leave and the beer was won although I think has yet to be delivered to the victor on account that both contestants were freezing and headed off to find some dry clothes.

Chris and James appeared with a bag of off cuts from the Academy and some firelighters and headed down the beach to find a suitable spot to set up for the evening and so we joined them as the fire roared, sausages were cooked in an old chip pan basket held over the flames and Liz & Sean entertained us all with a display of fire baton twirling.

Saturday was a lazy day and I awoke to find a large portion of the beach in my bed as I had returned home and collapsed after climbing back up into Uplyme on Anneka. I lazed around home most of the day and later a cycle down to the BBA resulted in some afternoon beers on the seafront amongst the tourists who leaped out of the way as I gave Jackson a croggy along the promenade on Anneka. Due to budgetary restraints we ended up back at the Powerboat club who's bar charges a bit less for a pint and settled in for the sunset.

Week Four: Fine Dining and a tired Carpenter

This week turned out to be quite a test both mentally and physically as the complexity of our woodworking projects increased and residual tiredness caught up with me. On Tuesday I struggled to keep my eyes open in the morning lecture and I could make no sense of the technical drawings laid out in front of me that would help me. Before I had some sort of accident I took myself of for 40 winks on the BBA sofa, but woke up 2 hours later feeling even worse. Phil, on of my peers, kindly gave me a lift home where I slept almost uninterrupted until 8 am the next morning.

I decided that a combination of things had brought this fatigue on, one factor was some looming paperwork deadlines due back in London so I decided to get those dealt with on Wednesday morning accompanied with a hearty breakfast. I cycled down to the BBA feeling mentally and physically rested and got on with my work.







The frame I had been struggling with still looked like a lost cause and in my dispair I fished for helpful instructions from the tutors but to their credit they did not divulge the 'secrets' but merely listened to my whining and subtly kept me on track. I started to see the wood and the trees and after one careful pass with the chisel, and then another it appeared that my mortise and tenon joints would indeed fit.

I left with BBA with Mike (one of the instructors who I cycle with) and we headed up Cobb Hill, a viciously steep climb up into the heights of Lyme that wrenches the air out of your lungs but slaps stunning views to your eyeballs if you have the presence of mind to glance back over the harbour and out to sea. My legs and lungs did not burn so much as I was still on a high from my success at the workbench (have faith in yourself Rob!), and said goodbye to Mike before climbing further still through Lyme, Uplyme and into the clouds where my cabin awaited.






I had an hour to potter around before heading down to the BBA once more where Ken had picked up the 'Wednesday Night meal' mantle and was cooking up a storm with a huge Paella. A very tasty meal and another chance to bond further with everyone and a few wives and girlfriends who joined us. I knew it was time to leave when Jackson & Frank produced a bottle of Jameson's Whisky and I was glad I did because those two suffered in Thursdays morning lecture, much to the amusement of everyone else.













As more techniques are introduced to us we get to experience new tools and a mental shopping list has now formed in my head of the tools I would like to own- a pairing chisel, spoke shaves, a dovetail saw, a Japanese saw and so the list builds. There is a tool for almost every job but rather than getting weighed down with 100's of kgs of kit, there are core tools that we all have our eyes on. Time to find a job so I can afford to buy a few items to fill my new tool box which I will begin making the week after next.

Lyme Regis is basking in the glorious sun this week as are the many tourist that now visit. The carpark next to the beach is full even on week days and 1000's amble to the beach, eateries and the many shops advertising their wares. You can tell people are in holiday mode as they seem to loose all sense of how to use pavements thinking that the roads are pedestrianised for their pleasure and so they get a rude awakening with a toot from a passing car as they make a sloth- like bee line for a shop or ice cream stand that has caught their eye.








The front of the workshop in the BBA is open so people can look in to see what is going on and we have people stopping at least every half hour so by the time summer really hits I think we could talk solidly to people if we wished but I am sure the pressure of boat launch day will keep our noses hovering over our planes rather than chatting away.

The beach remains a great distraction and I can see how the local reef breaks since a small swell arrived so time to get my board down here in case I can sneak out for a lunchtime surf, or at least a paddle

Man's Best Friend

I was still up at 2am faffing and revising for Monday's test so I didn't get much sleep and I awoke with a jolt knowing that I was late. 8:01am- not good. That gave me enough time to stuff some toast and jam in my mouth, grab Anneka and head out the door whilst fending of my landlords cats who want to reclaim my cabin as theirs. Not likely Kitty's!

I had 9 minutes before Mike would be handing out the test papers so I didn't hang around and with the taste of jam on my lips and crumbs around my mouth I descended into Uplyme in a fashion usually seen on Ski Sunday but sadly with a distinct lack of catchy title music. As the local school kids stepped out onto the road without noticing a panting boatbuilder bearing down on them I noticed a cyclist up ahead and decided to chase him down. Poor chap- he was on a full tri- bike with tri bars, deep section rims and the full lycra kit and he got passed by yours truly, smelling of breakfast and wearing an eclectic mix of paint splattered clothing. The fact I was on a 16 year old mountain bike was the final straw so he gave chase but I was on a roll- literally as I crested the rise and headed down into Lyme Regis leaving him in my wake. The last hill is about as steep as you would want to ride a bike down and I hit about 45mph before bottoming out next to the harbour to find my mate Chris wandering in so I slowed, knowing that I was no longer last to arrive.

The test went ok and I scored 78%, better tan last weeks 50% but none of the stuff I had revised came up! Typical. Our first break was around 10:30am and I wondered into the kitchen to be met by the housekeeper, Wendy. I wasn't keeping up my end of the bargain as out usual up beat banter was absent. Apparently I looked a bit pensive and when Wendy asked if I was a worrier, I agreed I was. You see, most of the guys on the course have come with clear ideas about what boats to build and what directions their careers will take after the course has finished. I was not one of those- it was all about the carpentry for me which I see as a very transferable skill. Wendy had seen all of this before and after a quick chat I was feeling mildly better. My mood improved after reading an article about a man who sailed a 5ft long boat across the Atlantic taking 139 days. Now he had some things to worry about so I cheered up after that.

By lunch I was flagging. I didn't bring enough food, I was aching after running yesterday and I wasn't producing the goods at the work bench so I sat in the sun next to a dog belonging to one of the instructors. I realised we had quite similar hair do's and we both craved attention, so dog therapy began. After 10 mins of patting, tummy rubbing and a few friendly licks I was feeling better. Its the simple things in life that mean the most. By the way, the dog did the licking, not me!

My New Home

You may have read that the long term accommodation I had arranged fell through the day I arrived in Lyme Regis and so I had to seek some temporary digs whilst I renewed my search for a place I would feel comfortable for the next 9 months.

Gemma, Kaylee and Eyvonne from the B.B.A. set about making lots of phone calls to try and find me somewhere and an advert was put up on the Lyme Regis Sailing Club website. The calls started to come in and Steve & Sue Jones in Uplyme suggested I come to see the property they were thinking of renting
After finishing my first week at the B.B.A I set out on Anneka up the steep hills leading to the village of Uplyme which nestles next to Lyme Regis. Steve & Sue live on top of a hill fed by a winding driveway and next to their house is a cabin which started out life as stables. They had converted it to live in whilst they built their own house next door and I immediately liked the place. Its basic but warm, dry and comfortable so we agreed a price and I have just spent my first night here. I will be adding a few more things to make it feel more like my home when I get the chance.









The cycle to the B.B.A take ten minutes (although the cycle back takes about double that) and despite that I have been late four times in the last week which is not like me. Hopefully now that I am settled and my bags are un-packed (the first time since before I went cycling in N. America) I will be more organised.

Week Two: Dove Tail Joints & confidence

With the first week having already flown by week two kicked off with a test, which I was late for! I quickly jotted down what I thought were the answers and then saw one of my peers work through my paper with a red pen. Being a teacher, its been a while since I was on the receiving end and was not impressed to have scored 50%! A lot of work to be done Rob!

Our group of 18 were walking about the workshop with an air of confidence as our knowledge continued to grow on a daily basis. A constant stream of wood shavings feel to the floor from our planes and bench clamps wound open and shut as we secured our pieces in more convenient angles to work with our chisels. The chisels need to be 'honed' after a certain amount of work to ensure they continue to pare of wafer thin shavings of wood.



A chisel will not be sharp unless its back is completely flat. Once that is achieved then a cutting edge can be added.


For every piece we produce we have to identify the 'Face' and 'Edge' on the piece of wood which we deem to to be the flattest and squarest in relation to each other. If there are any imperfections they are made flat and square with the use of a No 4 smoothing plane, an engineers square and lots of squinting. Once this is done the dove tail joints can be carefully marked out and cut using a Tenon saw before being fine tuned with chisels. When mastered, dove tails can be cut accurately enough with just a saw requiring no work with chisels but it will take a few more attempts to get to that level.

Working with hand tools allows us to get accustomed to how the wood behaves so we can feel what is happening at the end of a chisel or plane. This feeling can be lost if you use tools an electric router to tear through the fibres of a piece of pine regardless of the run of the grain or obstacles in the wood such as knots.








To avoid any silly mistakes and covering my work in blood I keep all digits behind the cutting edge.



















There is something hugely satisfying when the blade you have honed sits is a tool you have learned to set up that then peels off deep yellow shavings that curl around your hands as you push it away from you. I can't wait to learn more of these empowering skills.