It was autumn and the he first job build a shed, using the cold months of winter to get the mould frames set up so that I could start using epoxy resin and fibreglass to build the boat when the seasons were warm enough to cure the resin. I planned the project around the seasons, so that I always had something that could be done. Progress could not be prevented in my plan.
We moved to Roxburgh, about 1-1/2” hours from Queenstown in the South Island of New Zealand during the summer December 1989. A lovely little town on the side of a river between two large ranges.
It was a country town, with 3000 people on the side of the Clutha River, and a 320 megawatt power station where I worked as an area operator in 1990.
During the summer the temperature can get into the high 30 degree Celsius. The following winter was the coldest on record since the second world war at a low of minus 28 degrees and never got above minus 5 for approximately 7 seven weeks.
So I definitely required a shed!!
I begged and borrowed from some locals for corrugated roofing iron, and only had to buy some 100mm x 100mm x 6M posts and battens for the roof. Begging is something you become good at as a home yacht builder.
While the locals spent their winter days inside next to the roaring fires, I was seen outside building my boat shed. My ears, nose and hands were constantly cold. I reckon they must have thought I was madly insane, they were correct. Everything was constantly white because of the cold, including the coal pile.
Once the shed was built, I had to build a strong back, to support the mould.
This is a solid frame or platform on which the temporary frames and the male mould for the main hull was to be built. The timber for this frame was 200mm x 50mm non treated pine. I concreted stumps into the ground, to provide a solid base that would not move, and built the strong back onto the stumps. This can be seen in the photo of the shed.
The most important thing I learnt from very good tradesmen when serving my time as an apprentice Fitter turner Machinist is that if you start off rough, the job will finish rough. No matter what you try and do later with a rough job it will always finish as a compromise, so always start off with as perfect a job as you can and your boat will look like the panels on a brand new car. No humps or hollows, and minimal filler.
I developed excellent skills as an apprentice and take pride in whatever I do.
I set up the strong back dead level in every direction. This was to be the birth of my Trimaran project.
We moved to Roxburgh, about 1-1/2” hours from Queenstown in the South Island of New Zealand during the summer December 1989. A lovely little town on the side of a river between two large ranges.
It was a country town, with 3000 people on the side of the Clutha River, and a 320 megawatt power station where I worked as an area operator in 1990.
During the summer the temperature can get into the high 30 degree Celsius. The following winter was the coldest on record since the second world war at a low of minus 28 degrees and never got above minus 5 for approximately 7 seven weeks.
So I definitely required a shed!!
I begged and borrowed from some locals for corrugated roofing iron, and only had to buy some 100mm x 100mm x 6M posts and battens for the roof. Begging is something you become good at as a home yacht builder.
While the locals spent their winter days inside next to the roaring fires, I was seen outside building my boat shed. My ears, nose and hands were constantly cold. I reckon they must have thought I was madly insane, they were correct. Everything was constantly white because of the cold, including the coal pile.
Once the shed was built, I had to build a strong back, to support the mould.
This is a solid frame or platform on which the temporary frames and the male mould for the main hull was to be built. The timber for this frame was 200mm x 50mm non treated pine. I concreted stumps into the ground, to provide a solid base that would not move, and built the strong back onto the stumps. This can be seen in the photo of the shed.
The most important thing I learnt from very good tradesmen when serving my time as an apprentice Fitter turner Machinist is that if you start off rough, the job will finish rough. No matter what you try and do later with a rough job it will always finish as a compromise, so always start off with as perfect a job as you can and your boat will look like the panels on a brand new car. No humps or hollows, and minimal filler.
I developed excellent skills as an apprentice and take pride in whatever I do.
I set up the strong back dead level in every direction. This was to be the birth of my Trimaran project.
