Hi Geoff,
That's a fair bit to be going inside, but I think you will need something on the keel to counteract it's natural wish to float. That's a good price for a sail servo, would you like to tell me where, please.

Cheers, Nerys

'Naiad' is an interesting concept of a very traditional design. I like her lines and it's good to see a good old gaff rigged boat being built today.
Likewise 'Emma', lovely old Bristol Pilot cutter, sailing well. You have some good boats at Buxton.

Nerys

That's the way Garth, a bit of contact, a polite enquiry and the battle's won. Happy sailing.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Griss,
I take it you agree with what has been said.
Nerys

If you want to build something like the Dumas Victory, how about building a fishing vessel with a good flaring head, then putting a traditional tug like superstructure on her.

Nerys

Hi Geoff,
What a delightful little boat you have built, I think she is absolutely lovely. Your mock up photo is great and shows her in all the glory she will have when finished. I love the mahogany planking, it will look wonderful when varnished. Seeing the picture of her hull, I think she is a lovely shape, but I hope you are going to put some ballast on her keel Nice to know that you have found pictures of all the myriad of Dutch craft and the wonderful decoration on them. Some of them have the most beautiful carving on them in places like the head of the rudder and all round the cabin doors.
You are making good progress and I really look forward to seeing the end result and pictures of her sailing.

All the best,
Nerys

I don't think the dragonforce bulb and keel would be heavy enough for a 42" Veronica. The DF65 is only about 26" long and has a much smaller sail area.

Nerys

Jerry, I am told that P J Sails make a lead bulb. It is intended for a Marblehead and weighs 3.6 Kg so could be suitable for your Veronica.

Cheers, Nerys












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I should have said, Jerry, that the keels from Mastman are the least trouble. They just bolt on through the barge's bottom, with two bolts. The bulb and fin, I built a box inside the barge, cutting a slot in the barge's bottom, had about three inches of the fin inside the box and a couple of bolts going through box and fin to hold it in. On a recent Dutch barge, I built a weighted fin keel. It was really a narrow box, about three inches by 3/4 filled with lead shot. a solid piece of wood at the top and bottom. Through the top one, I put two bolts then drilled two holes in the barge's bottom to take the bolts in the keel. Hope you can understand what I mean.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Will, Your father's Soling looks really nice, that cabin top is, in my opinion, an improvement, particularly if he isn't engaged in serious class racing.

Cheers, Nerys

She's looking great Jerry. Think you are making a really nice job of her. As far as a keel for her is concerned, Mastman make two different fibreglass keels that you fill with lead shot specifically for 42" Thames Barges. One is a straightforward shortish fin with a bulb and the other is described as a duck's foot. I used the duck's foot on my 42" barge. Alternately for a 30" barge I bought a fin and keel for a RTR yacht and that was alright despite being a little light, but I added a bit of internal ballast. Joysway, for instance do various ballast keels for their RTR yachts and are available as spares. A lot of people cast their own lead bulbs of course, That's probably quite easy once you've done it!

Cheers, Nerys

Just seen your download of HMS Hood. One word, MAGNIFICENT.

Nerys

Hi Rick, I've been thinking size for some time and haven't built anything over 30" recently, but it's not the length that's the trouble so much as the height and as most of my boats are sailing craft mast height begins to matter. The last two have fully lowering masts and it does make life much easier. As much of my sailing is done from our camper van now we have to consider where to put boats when are moored up somewhere. In the cab is our answer, but getting around with a vulnerable mast and rigging isn't easy , so lowering sailing gear is the in thing from now on. I'm even considering altering some of my older boats.

Cheers, Nerys

And some people don't believe in global warming!

Nerys

I'm not sure but something in the back of my mind tells me these pieces of wood were called girdling.

Nerys

I have been building the barge with maximum ease of transport in mind. The topmast comes down and the whole rig lowers to the deck, just like on a real sailing barge. I have realised the advantage of this to the full in the last few hours. We are away in the camper and have brought my 'Bella' yacht. The mast is nearly five feet from the ground and it is not easy to find somewhere safe to put her in the confines of a smallish camper. We are safely moored at the moment and she is in the cab, but one has to be so careful moving her from a safe travelling position to a safe overnight place.

Cheers, Nerys

Well at least some people took advantage with their jet skis!

Nerys

Good to have you back Mark,I have been wondering how you have been getting on with that nasty C thing hanging over you. Even more so when I drove past a certain hotel in Berkeley a little while ago and found that it is all closed down, looking very bedraggled, car park barriered off. Obviously a victim of the other C. Glad you enjoyed your trip to your sons and new granddaughter, must have given you a welcome lift. Stay safe, and please keep in touch with us all.

Best wishes, Nerys

At last, a little progress to report. Today, I really felt up to doing a bit of work on my boat projects. I set up all the remaining standing rigging on the auxiliary barge and pretty well finished the running rigging. All that's left in the rigging to do is to fit the vangs and the main sheet and install the servo for them. They will both be running off the same servo. Apart from that, there are two holes to drill to attach the fin keel, hang the rudder and connect it to the servo and bolt the leeboards on. If I could have a couple of days next week feeling as I do now, she'd be finished.
Progress on LST 368 too, Alice gave her a final coat of paint. All I want to do now is give her rust and gunsmoke marks to show she's been in the wars and landed on other beaches than Brighton.

Cheers, Nerys.

Hi Ron,

Just looking on E bayUK and listed under model catamarans is a Dumas kit for a Hobi Cat Catamaran 14" kit , price £49.99.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Will, nice to know your uncle owned a Dragon, I have always liked them, the club on the Medway where I sailed in the '50's had a big fleet of them and I sometimes sailed on one, 'Hai Lung' her sail number was 19 and was a pre war import to the UK. Some years later, I found her lying derelict in a mud berth in Faversham, bought her and restored her, but I'm sure the purists wouldn't like this, raised her topsides a foot, put a cabin top on her and re-rigged her as a gaff cutter so that I could enter Old Gaffer races.
The Swallows never became as popular as they should have done. I don't think I ever saw one outside the Solent and even there they had so much competition from other small keel boats like, the Seaview Mermaids, the 'XOD's'. the Victorys, the Solent Sunbeams and of course the Bembridge Redwings which had a very similar hull to the Swallow but a variable sail plan, any rig as long as it was 200sq.ft. I have often thought that the advent of the Flying Fifteen didn't help the Swallow, and then she was followed by the 5.5 metre and the Soling, which of course became an Olympic Class for a while.
However, I must say I very much regret the passing of many of the keel boat classes, but it was good to see that the Dragons and some of the local classes still had a start at the 2019 Cowes Regatta

Cheers, Nerys

Just look and admire all that lovely varnished mahogany.

Nerys

I have now done a bit of searching for the Joysway Catamaran. I've looked at a lot of stockists and the usual price is £70 or a pound or two over and nobody has one in stock. One says they are expecting stock at the end of August. I can find only one stockist with it in stock and their price is £108.99.. Think there's a moral there.

Nerys

In the days when ply was the normal product to build dinghies, it was quite common to paint the whole of the interior with an adhesive called Cascamite. This was a powder that was mixed with water to become a waterproof adhesive. Like resin, it dried clear. I built several small boats with it even using it in the main construction. I see no reason why it should not be used to coat the interior of a model boat in fact it could be easier than resin as it does not go off quickly. I've seen it on sale in Axminster Tools, so I'm sure it is still readily available.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Ron,
There doesn't seem to be any interest in building model cats, and like you I cannot understand why. I would have thought somebody with an experimental sort of mind would have had a go.
Of course, Joysway make an RTR cat and complete with radio, they are only £70, if you could get one at the moment. I've never even seen one of those. I looked at Cornwall's website and they are saying 'unavailable' as they are to many of their imported products.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi JB,
I'm talking from memory here going back a very long way, so I may have some of it wrong. James Wharram was British. He set out to sail around the world but was wrecked a long way from home. He decided to build a simple to build boat to continue his voyage and came up with his Vee sectioned hulls catamaran. The one he built had all the accommodation in these rather narrow hulls. I think there was only a platform joining them and providing a mast step etc. He successfully returned to the UK and the vessel lay on the mud at Deganwy on the Conwy in North Wales for years. He then went on to design a range of these cats from the little 16footer up to quite large vessels with deckhouses between the hulls, motors etc. I think quite a few were built because the simplicity of build appealed to the amateur and also there was a belief that these vessels were well suited to ocean meanderings. I think he gave the NZ names to some of them because of the Maori connections to catamarans as you say.

Cheers, Nerys

About 50 years ago, I was given one hull and the plans for a 16ft Wharram catamaran. I built the second hull, made the canvas platform that served as a deck, all duly lashed together and to the hulls as per plans. Rigged a mast and the sails from a sixteen foot dinghy. Made a hefty fulcrum for a large steering oar and that was about it. Val, a non sailing friend elected to join me. We launched her in the Swale near Faversham. There was a bit of a breeze and as soon as I pulled in the mainsheet, she was off like a dose of salts, not really under command. I was having difficulty steering and began to wonder if I would be able to turn her around. Val's comment was, if you can't turn her round, will we sail off the edge of the world? Eventually, I got her round and we broad reached back into the beach. I never sailed her again as somebody asked if she was for sale. She was!!!!!!

Cheers, Nerys

Lakeside Model Boat Club meet every Sunday morning, 10am - 2pm, near the Lakeside Cafe at the lake in the centre of Llandrindod Wells, LD1 5HU signposted from the main road. A very attractive improved natural lake. Parking nearby. Boats are launched from concrete areas in the vicinity of the cafe. Launching aids are recommended as in some places the concrete is a little high above the water. Kevin Parsons, the vice chairman, is the person to see and he is usually around on a Sunday.

Seems as if you had two good buys from that estate sale. Bit of work and as you don't need telling, will have two decent boats that should give you a lot of enjoyment.

Cheers, Nerys

Your oldest boat looks very interesting, presumably she had a bridge and a funnel at one time. Think you must have a most unusual collection spanning the years if this is an example.

Cheers, Nerys