I must admit I am not much good at painting. Goodness knows why as I have done more than my allotted painting tasks. The first brushed on finishing coat was full of runs and the second coat with a roller was full of lint and fluff from the fast disintegrating roller - sigh. In the end I have managed to save the day with a light sanding, a cut and polish and a buff up with turtle wax. The result is a satisfactory smooth, muted, matte finish which you don't have to wear sun glasses to look at.
Leaning on the wall by the stern of the dinghy are a couple of lengths of Tasmanian Oak. I will use this timber to make a mast, boom and gaff for the dinghy. I will be looking at a sail area of around 65 - 70 square feet which should be enough to push the little packet along nicely.
The dinghy is sitting on a new beach trailer that I purchased from Reid Trailers in Auckland. It took a few days to make and fit the cross pieces to the boats shape and glue on the cushioning foam but this job is now complete. The wheel span of the beach trolley is exactly the same as my Zephyr yachts beach trolley, so the whole outfit fits snugly on the road trailer without having to make any complicated alterations. The last big job on the dinghy was to fit the rubbing strake; its stark white colour contrasts boldly with the newly painted black hull.
Yesterday I thought about a name, and instantly the word
'Scout' popped into my mind - I like that name and I have made a nice little wooden name plate to carve this name onto. I can see in my minds eye
'Scout' and I working our way up little channels and scouting out where to sail to next.
So with only spars, sail, rudder, tiller and dagger board to be constructed - we shall soon be sailing.
4 comments:
Cooo... pretty.... I look forward to the reports...
I am looking forward to doing the reporting! Not long to go now, only a few things to get sorted.
Working dinghies do best with a "ten foot" paint job (looks good if you're 10 feet away). Otherwise you'll agonize over every knock and ding the poor dear receives during the course of earning her living.
Good advice George and I agree. The 'Workboat' look and finish is a more realistic option than the 'Gold plated Yachtee' look and a lot less grief all round - boats that are used often are never going to look like Steinway pianos for very long!
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