Having set up and marked the frames moulds and keelson the whole structure was taken apart so that the the stem, stern and keelson could be bevelled. We also made sure that the frames were as clean as possible and routed the hard edges.
The whole structure was then reassembled using the marks that we had made and double checked for accuracy before being finally glued together.
After all the laminating of frames and ends was completed we set about setting the boat up.
All the moulds were fastened to the building frame and the stem and stern to iron brackets dyna-bolted to the floor. With the aid of Steve Ward’s laser and a level we were able to get all the components square to the keel and in a straight line.
This took a lot of messing about but we finally got there.
After sorting out the kit components and setting up the building frame the first job was to laminate the frames, the stem and stern.
Here you can see the team working on the stern laminations.
I was was swanning down the Rhine on a paddle steamer built in 1913 when I came across a rowing boat, that although was not a St Ayles skiff, I think caught the spirit of what we are launching at RFBYC.
Last week week I visited the Viking Museum in Oslo. The two big ships just blew me away. They were truly magnificent.
However, tucked away in the corner were two small boats, the smaller of the two being about the size of a St Ayles skiff, i.e. about 6 to 7 metres long, four oars and a cox.
The shape has some similarity to the St Ayles and as we know Iain Oughtred was influenced by the Scottish coastal rowing boats that in turn have roots back to Scandinavia.
I was fascinated by their rowlocks which were extremely elegant, more so than most of the arrangements I have seen on many of the St Ayles skiffs I have witnessed.
It it seems to me that these blokes new a lot about rowing. I think we should give their design serious consideration.
The following report was received from Paul Raiffer today.
“A good start to the project. Monday’s group unpacked the materials, sorted the tools, built the platform on which to mount the skiffs and commenced the cut-out of the templates. Tuesdays’s group continued the cutting out of the remaining templates, trimmed and sorted the pieces, built six of the frame moulds and then loosely put them together with the spacers to produce the following to give us an idea of it’s spatial layout.”
So so we are off and running which is great news.
