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You need a solid base to bolt the engine to. On the Golant Gaffer this base, the engine beds, is made by sandwiching a section of the longitudinals with a chunk of Iroko on the outside… And plywood on the inside. The engine mounts will be bolted to the engine beds.

The process of bending the deck shelf around the bulkheads exerts high forces which would distort the boat’s alignment without good bracing. You can see in the pictures below the struts I have added. It will be interesting to find if this is enough.

With the bulkheads all in place, the longitudinals can be slotted into place The fore – aft position is obviously fixed by matching up to the bulkheads. The height is adjusted until the marked water line matches the marking on the bulkheads. My laser level made the whole process relatively straightforward. Then out comes the… Continue reading Longitudinals and Transom

The support struts, although fixed fore to aft, allow bulkheads to be adjusted vertically and side to side. Below, all the bulkheads are on their support struts. Time to bring out the laser level (how were boats built before laser levels?). The bulkheads all have the centreline and waterline. These are used to for lining… Continue reading Bulkheads on support struts

The building frame provides a solid base for the assembly of the bulkheads and longitudinals. The first level is anchored into the concrete floor. The crossmembers must be positioned carefully at right angles to the centre line and the correct distance apart because they set the position of the bulkheads. The building frame below is… Continue reading The building frame

The transom is first made up of 2 layers of 12mm plywood, shown below being glued. Then an Iroko capping piece is glued on top. This part will be visible. You can see the cutout for the tiller. And below, ready for fixing to the longitudinals at the stern. At a later stage, the outer… Continue reading Building the transom

Having completed making the bulkheads, it is time to cut out the Longitudinals which form 2 internal “walls” bow to stern and will hold the bulkheads in place while planking the hull. Unlike the bulkheads, the plans do not include a full size drawing to provide the shape. Instead there are a set of dimensions… Continue reading The Longitudinals

Yesterday, I invested in a visit to the boat show. Not to check out the plastic fantastics. Not even to review all the rigging and fittings I will ultimately need for the gaffer. No. Satellite, the Golant Gaffer built by David that I had visited a few years ago was on show as part of… Continue reading A visit to Southampton Boat Show

I found a contradiction in the plans. One of my next actions was to cut out the plywood to make up the transom. According to the plans the transom is made up of 2 layers or laminations of plywood with an Iroko capping at the top all faced by an Iroko layer to the exterior.… Continue reading Contradiction Resolved

Time to glue the floors and more doublers onto the bulkheads. I have 5 of the bulkheads all laid out with the floors glued and clamped. The picture below is bulkhead #3, which supports the mast and hence has the most extensive hardwood doubler to give it strength. The thicker side pieces give a stronger… Continue reading Bulkheads and Floors