Australian Amateur Boat Builder — January 2018

O

ne of the things you will have considered is do

I have enough room to build a boat? In some

ways that’s only half of the question – because

the other half is do I have enough room to turn a

boat?

If your boat is small this can be an easy process. A

small dinghy can be carried out onto the lawn and just

rolled over. My adult son and I easily turned a Kernic

boat built for the naval cadets in Western Australia.

Kernic was about 100kg and 6m long – so relatively

light when we turned it.

We didn’t need any special gear, but

we did need to do some preparation

so the boat didn’t get damaged in the

turning process or in its new position.

We screwed a sacrificial piece of pine

to the sheer plank where the hull was

going to be resting against the floor. This

would ultimately be replaced by a rubbing

strake in a lot of cases the sheer strake

isn’t painted at this stage but all the other

planks have been, so if it does get damaged, this can

easily be repaired later and the sheer plank is easily

accessible for painting. We covered the floor with

old cushions and doonas where the boat would be

in contact with the floor as it rolls over. Because the

boat was light, one of us stood at each end and tilted

the boat up until it was on edge, until we felt it was at

the point of balance, and then then carefully walked

around to the underside and slowly allowed the hull to

roll down to its final position.

With a heavier boat, you need to plan things out a

little more. Rory and I also turned Jewell which was

The majority of boat designs for amateur builders nowadays

are built upside down. There are good reasons for this, gravity

is your friend, and long panels and planks can be laid on the

building frame for fitting, especially for shorthanded work as

there is no need for complicated sticks to shore up planks. Also

sanding fairing and painting an upturned hull is far easier.

by tony o’connor http://www.oconnorwoodenboats.com

as there were only two of

us i built a temporary frame

to straddle the hull to

allow Jewell to roll in a

more controlled manner

Easing the boat down. Jewell being turned in custom frame. Finished the job.