Swallow Yachts Forum > Home Builders' Area

And what went wrong?

(1/2) > >>

Steve Joyce:
Just in case the non builders out there think that home builds proceed without a hitch, I thought some of these recollections may amuse you. 

After assembling the outboard well, err shouldn't those reinforcing rings be on the other side? 

I made a great job of glueing the centreboard case in, and also gluing the boat to the garage floor! I now have a little hole in the concrete, strong stuff that epoxy.

Getting ready for bed after an evening glueing, I found my sock stuck to my foot.

I can't be the only one?

Michael Rogers:
Well done, Steve. We needed a 'confessional' thread, and you've started one.

Actually I'm going to disappoint. I can't recall any serious howlers. Had a scare while building 'Cadenza' (my Storm Petrel - a double-ender) when bending one of the strakes round to the sternpost - quite a heave, lots of tension (in the strake and me), and a loud resonant 'craaack' from the hull (not me) as something gave. I can't now remember what had cracked, but that, believe it or not, was in the days before emails-for-everyone, and instant digital photos (phew, how much the world has changed in the last ten years!!!), and I had to do sketches and then post (remember that?) them to Nick Newland, to be re-assured - by phone, that had actually been invented by then - and told what to do next. A tower of strength was Nick-on-the-phone.

What did happen during both my builds, however, was frequent ruination of perfectly good sweatshirts, fleeces and trousers by smearing them with wet epoxy. It was a matter of 'bother, I should have put my overalls on'; 'i'll just do this bit and then put my overalls on - drat, how did that happen?'; 'this job doesn't need overalls ' (it did);'now I can take my overalls off, and I can just check that if I lean carefully over - blast, now look what I've done'; etc.

Michael Rogers:
It's no good, Steve, neither of us have been able to get a single admission from anyone else that things didn't go entirely to plan. I don't believe it, but I was out-bid on eBay for that pair of thumb-screws, so there's nothing else we can do. Pity - there MUST be some good stories out there - ? Come on, folks, let your hair down!

Michael

Simon Holden:
Having today launched 'Olivia Eva', my home-built Storm 17 I think I can now begin to re-live some of the brief, and in retrospect, amusing 'glitches' which I've experienced during the build....

Hull finished, now thinking about (and dreading) building the spars....builders working on converting nearby barn......I get home from work finding several short off-cuts of Douglas fir lying around. "Andy, where have my pieces of wood for making the mast gone?" - "Oh, I thought they were scrap and cut them up to pack out the windows in the barn".

Deep, deep depression (and change of carpenter!)

Simon

Michael Rogers:
She looks beautiful, Simon. Congratulations, it's a great feeling, isn't it! Wish you many happy years of sailing her.

Michael

PS 'Scrap"!! Long lengths of Douglas fir!!! I'm speechless.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page