Author: The Slow Boat Builder

The lead keel, as you might expect, sits midway between bow and stern. I need to fill the gaps fore and aft with the “false” keel. I made a pretty rough template to select appropriate planks, And then got going with the planer / thicknesser to achieve the dimensions I needed. Producing lots of sawdust… Continue reading False Keel Aft

My next task is to complete the keel by adding “false” keel pieces for and aft of the lead keel. To do that I need to process my remaining supply of planks. My planer, thicknesser and even my table saw are really too small to deal with this size of plank, so first job is… Continue reading Playing with Planks

It has been a busy week. On Monday we collected the mast and sails. Today, with more than a little help from my friends, we fitted the keel into place. The photograph below shows the plank “runway” ready for the keel to be rolled along. Rather than many hands make light work, with 750Kg of… Continue reading Keel in place

A couple of months ago I was contacted by a Golant Gaffer owner and asked if I would be interested in a set of spars and sails for a GG that he no longer needed. Given how few Golant Gaffers there are, the chance of receiving such an offer is about the same as being… Continue reading Surprise Gift

Drilling a few holes for the keel bolts should just be another job, shouldn’t it. BUT, if you have a phobia about drilling any holes in your hull; And if the holes need to match those already drilled in the lead keel; And the auger bit has to go through 18-28 cm of Iroko. Then… Continue reading Drilling holes for Keel Bolts

The nice people from Irons Brothers dropped off a package for me this week. When I say dropped, I really mean it was lifted off the truck by forklift and moved to the front of my boat shed. The keel for a Golant Gaffer is 750Kg of lead. I will not be moving that around… Continue reading 750Kg Delivery

Before any further building takes place, it is time to apply two coats of resin to every surface. That ensures all the wood is sealed and can’t be reached by damp. I am working section by section because adding a second coat while the first is still tacky avoids having to sand between coats. Just… Continue reading Sealing the wood

It has been a while since my last post, but then there has been a lot of sanding and unfortunately sanding does not provide interesting pictures. However, I have also rounded off the transom and the insides of beams. Below, the transoms is ready for a coat of resin. The inspectors are in…. And below,… Continue reading I’m still Sanding

Having removed the surplus bulkhead pieces and “filleted” the joints, the next stage is to finish the inside surface of the hull. This is done now because it would be difficult, if not impossible, once the various compartments have been created by fitting berth and seat tops. The start of this stage is sanding to… Continue reading Sanding – First Pass

Removing the lifting frame was definitely a three man job. Happily I managed to get some help today and hey presto – no lifting frame. I have lots of room around the boat to prepare wood and, even better, fewer beams to hit my head on while working on the inside. The main objective of… Continue reading Lifting Frame Removed