Twelve inch to the foot dinghy

Bedford · July 30, 2018

I have been working on a little project lately, something I've wanted to do for years, making my own boat.

It's an Iain Oughtred design, Tammie Norrie, a 4.5mtr (15 foot) clinker sailing dinghy.

I'm really enjoying using full sized hand tools, especially the planes but the lessons learned in ship modelling have been a huge help.

Edited July 30, 2018 by Bedford

ccoyle · July 30, 2018

That is a thing of beauty!

jbelwood · July 30, 2018

I love the looks and beautiful lines of your boat. Is she scratch built from plans?

John Allen · July 30, 2018

Beautiful lines, couldn't tell if it was laid up in a boatyard, pure perfection.

Bedford · July 31, 2018

12 hours ago, jbelwood said:

I love the looks and beautiful lines of your boat. Is she scratch built from plans?

Thanks guys, I'm well pleased with it.

She is built from a kit but that's not even the same as a model kit. The profile stations (molds) were cnc routed in mdf and the planks were cnc routed in ply but they had to be aligned and joined to make the length. The rest was just a bunch of hoop pine and I bought mahogany for the thwart knees and floor boards just to add some variety.

I thought about just buying the plan but it would have been much more labour intensive to source the timbers required and probably cost more in the long run as well as the planks follow different curves which would have taken extra weeks to work out one plank at a time as you build.

ccoyle · July 31, 2018

This is similar to what Chesapeake Light Craft (one of our sponsors) does. They do offer models of a couple of their full-size boat kits, built in the same manner as the originals. Something for our members to think about if they don't have the space, resources, or moolah to build a full-size boat. I look forward to seeing pics of yours on the water!

michael mott · July 31, 2018

Ah Steve what a beautiful boat, that bow shot with the brass fittings really shows the craftsmanship you have brought to this project.

Michael

Bedford · August 2, 2018

Thanks Michael, I've just finished oiling the interior and will be able to refit the stern and bow sheets tomorrow once the oil has properly cured. Currently fitting her out with rowlocks, stem head etc.

I'll post more pics when she's done

Bedford · August 4, 2018

She's finished (to row boat status), some will notice the chain plates aft of the forward thwart.

The bow pic suggests the stem head is out of plumb, that's what you get for doing that kind of work at night with uneven lighting in the workshop. Mind you it's nowhere near as bad as it looks, there's an optical illusion going on because of the bright multi curved profile. I think I'll have no problem doweling the screw holes and re-drilling them.

Jim Lad · August 4, 2018

How on earth did I miss this? What a beautiful dinghy, mate!! Congratulations on her completion.

John

MEDDO · August 4, 2018

This is really wonderful. It is a great feeling the first time you get out on the water in something you built. I was so nervous the first time I took out my Murrelet (build summary in my sig) that I almost fell in the water trying not to scratch it up. Got over that pretty quick.

Bedford · August 4, 2018

1 hour ago, MEDDO said:

This is really wonderful. It is a great feeling the first time you get out on the water in something you built. I was so nervous the first time I took out my Murrelet (build summary in my sig) that I almost fell in the water trying not to scratch it up. Got over that pretty quick.

That's a thing of beauty you built too!

Mine is yet to be launched due to curing time of the interior finish but it will be soon, mind you it's winter here!

I saw a similar but smaller boat at the wooden boat festival in Sydney earlier this year and it was finished better than any furniture piece you'd buy today, it kind of left me deflated thinking mine will never look that good but as I walked away I realised that if mine did look that good I'd want to lock it inside the house and never let any water, or worse, SAND get near it. mine is a nicely finished usable boat

MEDDO · August 4, 2018

I agree many are really nicely finished, true works of art. I used WR-LPU (the water reducible linear polyurethane) as the regular spar varnish would of taken much longer as each coat has to dry for 24 hrs then you sand in between. The LPU dries in about an hour and then you can just coat it up.

I have a friend who has built a few kayaks,canoes, and dingys and his solution the the "I don't want to mess up that nice finish" problem is.....

"Get a glass of your favorite Scotch. Drink it it while admiring all your glorious work and contemplating how long this took and how much you learned during your journey. When finished with the drink put the glass down, take a deep breath....and push the boat off the sawhorses and let it crash to the ground.... Now it has a few scratches and you will not feel bad about using it as intended"

BETAQDAVE · August 4, 2018

32 minutes ago, MEDDO said:

"I don't want to mess up that nice finish" problem

Like getting a new car and just obsessing over when it will get its first scratch or dent. Once you get it, you don't worry nearly as much.

Bedford · August 17, 2018

Today she quietly slipped down the ramp and into the water, she drew a few onlookers and thankfully didn't let me down. She's light and easy to handle although the centre board was handy when the wind picked up. She looks right in the water and more importantly she didn't leak even so much as a drop!

Jim Lad · August 17, 2018

She looks very nice in her natural element.

John

druxey · August 17, 2018

Congratulations on a successful launch!

alde · August 17, 2018

Absolutely beautiful.

Bedford · August 18, 2018

Thanks guys

Jim Rogers · August 18, 2018

Great work. A real beauty.

lmagna · August 18, 2018

Impressively beautiful looking boat. It will be interesting to see how she sails.

MEDDO · August 19, 2018

Wonderful!

Mark Pearse · August 31, 2018

Hi Bedford, I had noticed in your Maine schooner build that you were taking on a 12":1' dinghy build....golly that happened fast. Mate that is absolutely beautiful, seriously envious. The finishing details are lovely & fittings well considered. Regarding wear & tear, I think some always adds to a boat - it's not possible to really use a boat & not cause some.

She looks to have a good load carrying capacity & good stability....? Are you planning to do the sailing rig?

you must be very happy, what waterways are you thinking of visiting soon?

Mark

michael mott · August 31, 2018

Hi Bedford, now that is truly a vessel of refined beauty congratulations on the launch she looks in her element just parked by the bank ready for a sunny afternoon trip across river, lake or inlet. I am also seriously envious.

Michael

Bedford · August 31, 2018

6 hours ago, Mark Pearse said:

Hi Bedford, I had noticed in your Maine schooner build that you were taking on a 12":1' dinghy build....golly that happened fast. Mate that is absolutely beautiful, seriously envious. The finishing details are lovely & fittings well considered. Regarding wear & tear, I think some always adds to a boat - it's not possible to really use a boat & not cause some.

She looks to have a good load carrying capacity & good stability....? Are you planning to do the sailing rig?

you must be very happy, what waterways are you thinking of visiting soon?

Mark

Hey Mark, if I'm honest I got her pretty much done before posting it, I started late last year just working nights and weekends but I quit work early March and have worked on the boat full time until completion which means about 6 months. You are right about wear and tear in fact when I launched her she bounced on the painter and came forward into the dock on the port bow. I couldn't get to it to prevent the hit but I didn't worry, it's a boat after all. I also chose to finish the interior in mat oil so it's easy to touch up and stress free.

She'll carry 4 adults under oars but two under sail and yes I do plan to fit her with a gunter sloop rig.

Not sure where I'll be taking her but I like the Burnum Burnum area near Woranora while I'm learning more about her and I'm only rowing for now so no big outings on the harbour planned yet.

Bedford · September 18, 2018

Little bit of an update on the boat. Last time I took it out I tried rowing from the aft position and found that the oars were hitting the gunwhales as I lowered them into the water causing them to lift in the rowlocks and almost out the top at times. I had mounted the rowlocks flush on the whales because I like the uninterrupted sheer and they were high enough above the thwarts according to the designer (for rowing purposes) I made riser blocks which lifted them 19mm and today I took her out for another row. The height is really good now and sitting in the aft position she is rowing easily and faster, I went 3.3K's before I realised it!

The trip back to the boat ramp was much harder because I had a head wind and the boat is all over the place due to the freeboard catching the wind so I have to move to the forward position to row into the wind so the bow stays down further into the water, much easier to control but slower. It was a good day.

Before

After

A little more rope work, just because I enjoy it

Some pics from today

I realised that the previous pics of the boat show a temporary centre board case cover, I wanted to see where the centre board would sit when deployed before making the proper one, the pic is a bit ordinary but it's mahogany with a hoop pine centre strip.

Mark Pearse · September 19, 2018

Hi Bedford

nice just got nicer. Very pretty lines, but capacity too.

The beach picture reminded me of an aching technique I used with a small sailing boat on beach picnics: the usual anchor with 5m of chain plus separately the smallest size sand anchor on light 3-strand. Approaching the beach I'd drop the anchor with chain 30m from shore, row in & get out in the shallows; bury the small anchor above the tide in the beach sand. The chain pulls the boat away from shore but you can pull the boat back towards you.

Bedford · September 19, 2018

AH! the weight of the chain drags her off.

Interesting.

She has quite good capacity, they say four adults while rowing but 2 while sailing. Even with that there would be plenty of room for camping gear etc.

I am more confident with her now and when I had her out on Tuesday I tried standing up as well as getting in and out with all my weight outside the centre and she will rock put only to a point, I think I'd have to try really hard to tip her over. I even had a few tinnies go past me at various speeds, especially in the opposite direction but parallel so their wake hit me on the beam at an angle and to my surprise she didn't rock very much at all, most of the movement was fore and aft as if she was head on to the waves.

One bloke in a tinny came up along side to compliment me on her and I got a few calls out from ashore to the same effect.

Bedford · October 11, 2018

I have finished the rudder and tiller, the tiller has been given a brass rubbing strip in case buoyancy lifts it causing it to rub in the transom slot and the haul up/down lines have been replaced with a single closed loop system which will mean there are no hard to manage loose ends getting in the way.