cut two holes on the side of the wood to
allow him to thread a pair of nuts to the
end of the bolts – just like a piece of Ikea
furniture. He cut a short length of
aluminium U-section (left over from
making his dining room table) which he
attached to the middle of the piece of oak
and offered it up to the keel. He then
drilled a pair of holes through the keel and
both sides of the aluminium, and popped
a pair of drop-nosed pins through them to
lock the wheels in place. Job done!Wheely good idea
The original Barrow Boats have holes cut
on either side of the transom, which the
oars poke out of to create a pair of
handles. Jeremy was understandably
reluctant to drill such large holes through
the hull of his brand new boat, so decided
to simply lift the stern by the quarter knees
while he devised a pair of handles that
could be bolted through the transom.
The fi nal job before launching was to fi t
the rowlock plates, which happily turned
into a father-and-son bonding session.
“I wanted the main rowlocks to have
three positions, because I’m planning to
make it possible to move the thwart
forward or backwards for trimming
purposes. So I bought a brass strip which
my dad cut to length, radiused the
corners, drilled the holes for the three
rowlock positions, drilled and countersunk
the screw holes, and then polished the
whole thing up. It was really nice to do this
with him, and he obviously really enjoyed
it. My plan had been to router a rebate in
the gunwale and drop them in like most
people do, but when I put them on top of
the gunwale, I really liked the way they sat
proud. So I left them like that, because it
celebrates the bit my dad did and it’s a
nice way to remember it.”
Finally, exactly fi ve months and a day
after the kit was delivered, Jeremy
launched the boat into the River Dart, and
he and his father-in-law David took turns
rowing it around the creek, with Jeremy’s
wife Emma and their children Thea andLouis on board. A few days later, Jeremy
and I rowed our respective skiffs – mine
built 22 years ago and his brand new – up
the estuary to the Maltsters Arms at
nearby Tuckenhay (a popular gastro pub
once owned by the ‘original celebrity chef’
Keith Floyd). It was an idyllic early
summer’s evening, and the two boats
glided over the glassy calm water in
almost perfect unison.
“Rowing the boat on my own up to
Tuckenhay that evening was amazing,”
says Jeremy. “The evening light on the
timber was beautiful, and to actually row
something of your own that you’ve built
yourself is really satisfying.”
Jeremy is planning to fi t a rig in due
course, as well as outriggers for the oars
and an electric outboard. First though, he
might just need a rest.Sense of achievement
“Looking back, my estimate of the time I
could spend working on the boat was
roughly right, but it took longer than I
thought, partly because I was doing it in
lots of little bits after the kids had gone to
bed. It’s hard to get home from work, put
the kids to bed, then go out to the garage
and think right, now I’m building a boat.
You’re not in the right head space, so you
don’t do things as effi ciently, you don’t do
things as well, and you make mistakes,
which you then have to rectify.”
And the high point of the project?
Anyone who knows Jeremy won’t be
surprised to learn that it involves one of
his children.
“The best moment of all was on launch
day, when I was putting the buoyancy
compartment covers in, just before going
down the hill. Thea came bounding up,
stopped dead and said, ‘Wow daddy,
that’s really beautiful!’ She must have
seen me working on the boat for the past
few months, but hadn’t taken an interest in
the process because it moves so slowly.
But that came straight from the heart, and
it just fl oored me.”B
U
ILD
ING^
A
LA
U
N
CHD
AY
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TE
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SKI
FF
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5COST OF BUILD
TIME TO BUILD (hours)
Previous months £1,525.27
This month
Brass rowlocks £42.42
Brass for plates £22.50
Wheels £17.95
Drop nosed pins £8.62
Total this month £91.49
Total £1,616.76Previous months 119¼
This month
Gunwales & plug holes 4½
Sanding & painting outside 14
Sanding & painting inside 8
Rowlocks 2
Total this month 28½
Total 147¾Step by step
1
The fi rst job this month was to cut a
quantity of wooden plugs from an
offcut of Douglas fi r to fi ll the screw holes
in the gunwales.9
Jeremy made an ingenious wheel
attachment by bolting a pair of
wheels on either end of a lump of oak.
Recessed nuts lock wheel bolts in place.5
The paint in question was Hempel
Brilliant Gloss Cobalt Blue which
Jeremy applied with a small gloss roller.
Easily applied, it gave excellent coverage.13
The rowlock plates were made by
Jeremy’s father, and offer three
rowing positions. Thwarts will also be
made movable to adjust the boat’s trim.Jeremy takes his children for a row