Centreboard

I've made a start at roughing out the centreboard using a profile guide and circular saw. This is one job I've been avoiding due to the time, noise, foil profile and sawdust. So far it seems to be going okay. I will use a small hand plane, straight spoke shave and sandpaper to get the final shape.

Profile guide, Bosch circular saw and all important box of tissues. I have the flu.

Roughing out the basic profile. I will clean up the shape later with hand tools.

Outboard choices.

I've decided not to have an outboard hanging off the transom, or seated in a well cut through my boat.
Instead I will use an electric pod fixed forward of the rudder.
As trolling motors are just not powerful enough that seemed to be a problem, until a German company developed these:  http://www.torqeedoaustralia.com/Torqeedo_Australia/Home.html

A Torqueedo travel. I may use the larger cruise model.

There are various models that range from those designed for kayaks, to their new 60hp model (which is massive).

While mounting the pod permanently beneath the boat will create some additional drag, I'm not interested in racing so don't care if I lose some speed. Gath Mor will be used to sail around the Harvey estuary and go fishing offshore in an area that is really very mild weather wise. I just need a motor that can assist in getting me out of the inlets, bring me back the 15 nautical miles from the best fishing spots and provide a little peace of mind.

The true beauty of the travel range is that they can be charged from a portable solar panel, even while running. The panel alone can provide enough charge to run the pod at super low speeds. More peace of mind and without pollution.

A new hope

It's been a very long time since I managed to get anything done on Gath Mor.
Family crises, serious illnesses and vehicle issues (not to mention work) have all conspired to keep me from the project.
Just when I was ready to start again our Subaru engine packed in for the third time. We ended up just buying another car, this time a German designed and built one (although rebadged for Australia).
The truck's batteries died and it needs a new set of rims in standard size, so the only vehicle we had for weeks was a 25 year old Yamaha FJ1200 that still starts first time every time!

Not much to report boat-wise, but I'm back to working on it. Did some minor gluing and fixed the transom to the base. I also made a start on gluing up the Jarrah leading edge for the centerboard.

The Lord willing, I will be able to get the stringers fitted by the end of the month.

Some of my Favourite Tools

Thought I'd upload a photo of the tools I find most awesome.

Some I've had for a while, others are brand new and one is yet to be used.

The Ryobi jigsaw has done a lot of work as has the Bosch drill.
I love the plane and Veritas spokeshave as well.
One great find was the multi-tool. Bought a cheap-as-chips model to see how it went.
I figured it may be useful for sanding in difficult to get at places.
One thing I didn't figure was how AWESOME it would be at cutting through ply. It's way better than a saw for cutting out notches, trimming and even sawing longer pieces.
It slices through even 18mm ply like a hot knife through warm butter. If I'd known how good it was going to be I'd have bought a decent quality model. Still, at $60 it was worth finding out.
The bird's mouth router bit will come in handy for making the masts and spars. I already have a table set up for it, but it will be a while before I'm ready to embark on that project.

Some progress at last!

It's been a long while since I updated the blog and in that interval life's been rather busy. A few more health issues and LOTS of thing to do at work, but all sorted now with any luck.

I've managed to get a few things done with the frames and should have everything glued in place by the time I start work again (Friday).

Stem and frame #1 in and the centre case hole cut.

A few photos to give you some idea of what's been happening:

Frame two in place and the centre case fitted. That was a big job!

Frame #2 dry fitted

Slowly marching along toward the transom. All the frames dry fitted at present.

Starting to look like a boat...sort of!
Lots of interpretation, grumbling and (as it's been about a trillion degrees C ) lots of sweat!

Quite a mess at the moment, but a long weekend to clean up will help. As I'm still on school holidays I'm not sure how that will be any different, but, ever the optimist!
One thing that is difficult is keeping the epoxy cool enough to work with. It's in the second fridge at present, the only way to stop the exothermic reaction before I've finished mixing it!
A couple of cooler days did help though.

I've been getting lots of really good ideas from others; such as "Chinook" and "Gardens of Fenwick" . I will enlarge the access in Frame #1 to incorporate a larger, rectangular hatch, and will transom mount the outboard. Having the motor on the transom will simplify the build, make fitting easier and give me a little more room for a slightly larger outboard.

France

Just got back from my honeymoon in the South of France. It was outstanding!
I have never met so many truly nice, friendly, happy and helpful people. My wife and I were so impressed. I'll add a section for photos elsewhere and try to keep the main page for Gath Mor.

Sitting on the sea wall between the old city and marina in Nice.

Back to work tomorrow! I'll get some work done on the boat as well once the jet lag from 26 hours flying has gone.

Base Cut

Rolfe and I scarfed the 12mm sheets yesterday so this morning my daughter Cassie and I moved the nearly 5m sheet to the unfinished building jig.
I spent the day marking out and cutting the bottom profile (which still needs final finishing to the line) and then set it up so that Bronwyn could see the final length of our boat.
Very exciting to get so far.
Between packing for France at the end of the week I will complete and level the building jig and get it braced to Rolfe's exacting standards.

Cutting out the profile 

I jury rigged a few pieces so that Bronwyn and the girls could see what I am up to.

I will finish the building frame this week and pack everything away until we return from France.
At least now I feel we are making progress!