Two on the Go Now

Today saw real progress on the new build, a Francois Vivier Ilur. The planks were scarphed last week and since then it has been a case of cutting out the MDF moulds and plywood bits and pieces, all of which slot together to form a rigid, box-like structure.

If this is the future of boat building, then it looks nothing like the past. I can't say that it gives quite the same level of satisfaction but it is a welcome change from the traditional, and once everything is cut out it certainly makes for a quicker build. Enjoyable too, especially with Alan and Gordon lending an expert hand.

I take my hat off to the ingenious Frenchman who designed the boat. Salut Francois! The way it all slots together. Hats off also to Alec Jordan who programmed his router to cut the kit. 

Work on the Caledonia Yawl will stop for a few days while we get a handle on the Ilur. The keelson needs shaping, the centreboard box made and fitted, then the transom and by next week we may be in a position to start planking. That will be 14 or so days work to date.

I did manage to knock up a forehatch for the yawl, using some recycled iroko decking from the aft deck of a superyacht, refitting in the Netherlands. Who knows who might have trod those boards. Maybe Kate Moss sunbathed on that very spot. I think you can still see the marks of the suntan oil...