Marc'sBoats

Van living and working for Butler & Co.

2010-12-24T17:48:00.000Z

I have completed, well almost completed converting our LDV Convoy van, Charlotte, into our new home. We have been living full-time in Charlotte since the beginning of November and we are now based near Kingsbridge in Devon. It is so good to be living back in the West Country!

Van living is great. To live simply and to be in close touch with nature is wonderful. We have experienced gales, torrential rain, still sunny days, a thunderstorm accompanied by lots of hail, then sleet then rain, and of course lots of snow. We love this kind of living and the other day laughed at the fact we have started van living in the coldest winter probably recorded! Still our van is cosy and warm, even on the coldest of nights thanks to our Windy Smithy stove.

I am working full-time for Butler & Co at Old Mill Creek Boat yard which is in Dartmouth. Ash is great to work for and I am enjoying the work immensely. I am learning so much and feel very lucky to be working with such highly skilled and talented shipwrights.

Arctic adventure to 78º 12' N

2010-08-28T22:35:00.000Z

Sailing on the 101 year old Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Dolphin from Ornes to Svalbard was pretty amazing. It was a bit of a fast-paced mission though as Capps had a schedule to keep. This meant that the overall pace of the journey was relentless and exhausting and there were times I just wished we could have spent longer in one place. We sailed approximately 900 nautical miles in total.

Perhaps the strangest thing that I really never got used to was the 24 hour day light. This is a strange phenomenon that confused me more than once and I had to ask Rae, John or Capps if it was very early morning or mid afternoon. This confusion about whether it was day or night added to the overall other worldliness of the glacial, desolate and pristine wilderness that is Svalbard.

It has been an absolute privilege to sail with Capps on Dolphin in the Arctic and I have met some truly remarkable people. The Arctic takes no prisoners and I have to be honest and say I am relieved that Rae and I returned in one piece.

We worked pretty hard for the first 48 hours getting Dolphin ready for her adventure.

Midnight sun.

Torsvag, the last stop before crossing the Barents Sea.

When on land it is sensible to carry a gun in case the polar bear scarers fail to scare the bear. Happily we did not encounter a polar bear although we met a French couple who did. They, thankfully, were unhurt but their sea kayak is no longer sea worthy!

Whilst walking on this glacier we heard it boom twice in half an hour as the millions of tons of ice slowly moved seaward.

Gone Sailing (Ornes to Svalbard). Will be back middle of July.

2010-06-23T15:38:00.000Z

Pilot Cutters in Barry Harbour

2010-05-27T09:41:00.000Z

I had an interesting email from a boat building buddy of mine, Seb Evans. Seb works the Pilot boat out of Barry in Wales and he emailed me these photos taken last week of pilot cutters in Barry Harbour. The pilot cutters are: Pet; Mascotte; Cornubia; Maguerite and Cariad the punts belong to Mascotte and Cornubia.

The Building of Defiant of Lyme Regis Podcast

2010-05-17T17:59:00.000Z

When we installed Defiant in the National Maritime Museum Dan Matthews interviewed me and this was recorded and is now available to listen to along with their other wonderful podcasts. Here is the link if you would like to have a listen. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/podcasts/ontheline/.

Cheers
Marc

Would you like to sail in the Arctic this summer?

2010-05-16T06:54:00.001Z

Yesterday I spoke with Roger Capp's who owns the 100 year old Pilot Cutter Dolphin. During our chat Roger told me that someone has dropped out of the second part of this summer's Arctic voyage due to illness. If you would like to be a crew member for this part of the trip please will you email your sailing CV to Emma Metcalf, emmametcalf@btinternet.com

The crew member must be able to sail and the cost of the voyage including flights will be about £1,000.00. The proposed itinerary is listed below.

July 17^th – July 26^th: Sail to Sjuoyane, Nordaustlandet, via Prins Karls Forland, Ny Alesund, Fairhaven and Moffen.

July 26^th – August 4^th: Exploring Nordaustlandet. with the aim of exploring further East, and South to go walking in the area of Rijpfjorden and Prins Oscars land, should ice conditions allow.

August 4^th – August 12^th: Hinlopen Straits via Freemansundet to Storfiorden.

August 12^th – August 18^th: Storfjorden to Tromso

August 18^th – August 22^nd: Tromso to Ornes

August 22 – August 26/27^th: Pack up.

Dolphin is 38ft and does not have much room. Cockpit leads to companionway steps , galley to starboard. Navigation table to port, pilot berth behind. Saloon with two berths and the stove. Beyond the cabin with a double berth to starboard and a single to port, always full of sails. Heads in the bows. She is a good sea boat, gaff rigged with a yard and square sail. Lots of ropes, no winches.

Expect to be cold, and cramped and amazed by the trip.

Our boat goes to the National Maritime Museum

2010-05-05T08:42:00.001Z

Yesterday we towed Defiant of Lyme Regis to the National Maritime Museum where she was installed as the central exhibit in the Boats that Built Britain Exhibition. Dan Matthews the exhibition organiser met us at the gate and the installation team were on hand to safely and efficiently get Defiant through the staggered entrance and into the micro gallery. Before we new it, Defiant was proudly sitting on her cradle.

Hannah Cunliffe was also there and both she and Dan really made Rae and I feel welcome. After a cup of coffee with Dan and Hannah. Rae and I went for a wander around the museum and the Royal Observatory. The last time I had visited the museum I was about 10. This visit as a child was a seminal experience for me and probably went some way to fueling my obsession with all things boats.

The museum is really well designed and is expanding with a new wing being built. We are going to be frequent visitors to the museum this year and we are really looking forward to hearing Tom Cunliffe's talk on the Boats that Built Britain which is being held at the museum on 20th May.

The Boats that Built Britain Exhibition opens on 8th May and runs until November. Tom's TV series began last night and is on twice weekly for the next three weeks. The second episode is on this evening at 20.30 on BBC 4 and of course there is catch-up on BBC iplayer.

Press Release from the National Maritime Museum: Boats that Built Britain

2010-05-02T10:57:00.000Z

Rae and I have been working very hard for the last couple of weeks getting 'Defiant of Lyme Regis' ready for display in the Boats that Built Britain exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. We are taking the boat to the museum on Tuesday and I am very nervous about having her on public display. Its such a privilege to have been asked to exhibit my boat and I just hope she lives up to the museum's expectations.

Please follow this link for the press release: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/about/press/boats-that-built-britain-at-nmm

Sailing to Svalbard

2010-05-02T10:29:00.002Z

It is now confirmed that Rae and I are going to be sailing onboard Dolphin, an original Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter. This beautiful vessel is owned by Roger Capps and we are very pleased to be part of his crew. We have booked our flights and are very excited by this new adventure. Dolphin is moored in Ornes, Norway and we will be joining the vessel in mid June.

Svalbard is an archipelago that is located in the Arctic Ocean, halfway between Norway and the North Pole, for more information see the official Norway tourism website:

http://www.visitnorway.com/en/Stories/Norway/North/Svalbard/

Oar Making

2010-04-12T06:41:00.002Z

Here are some photos of the two pairs of 9 foot spoon oars I have recently made. If you would like a bespoke set of oars then please ring or email me so we can discuss your requirements.

The boats that Built Britain Exhibition National Maritime Museum

2010-04-12T06:26:00.001Z

There has been an exciting development since being back in the UK and National Historic Ships have recently confirmed that they would like to borrow Defiant of Lyme Regis for the the next five to six months in order to display her at the National Maritime Museum (NMM), Greenwhich, London. The Museum are running an exhibition in support of Tom Cunliffe's new BBC 4 TV series entitled "the Boats that Built Britain." This exhibition is due to begin in early May and we are taking Defiant to Greenwhich on 4 May. I think the exhibition opens to visitors on 8 May.

Here are some links explaining about the TV series and also advertising the series of lectures being held at the NMM.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/03_march/25/british_culture.shtml
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/visit/events/the-boats-that-built-britain/*/changeNav/false/from/2856
http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/news/449974/new-tv-series-on-historic-ships

Last blog post until we return from India!

2010-01-14T16:48:00.003Z

On Monday I received an email from a boatbuilding friend (Mike Lowson) who lives and works in Aberdeenshire. The photos kinda are self explanatory and these along with Mike's email made me feel wimpish for moaning about the fact that getting to my workshop was impossible because of the snow and that moving out of our rented house in preparation to going to India was proving very challenging.

Here is an excerpt of Mike's email:

"The pictures attached show that boatbuilding in Aberdeenshire in January can be tricky, if not impossible. The current record is -13C inside the workshop. The picture of my greenhouse suggests that my early crop of lettuces might be delayed this year!"

Mike Lowson of Northboats

So, this is my last blog post until I am back in the UK in March. The weather has eased thankfully today which has meant that moving stuff in the van has been easy. The last two days we have dug our way out of our road and into the roads we needed to get to, still its good to exercise those muscles!

If you would like to know what we are upto whilst in India please look at our other blog Our Adventures

Happy Boatbuilding and see you in the Spring.

Cheers

Marc

Oar making

2010-01-04T18:12:00.000Z

Its been ages since I have been able to get to the workshop! The need to scrape some cash together, Christmas and packing-up the house to go to India for five weeks have just got in the way! Yep, I have no paying boat building work at the moment so I am earning pennies doing some bank Nursing, yep, I am a qualified nurse also, this is handy as I enjoy the practical nursing and you know helping people is a great thing to do.

So, at the weekend I went to the workshop and started making the oars I have been wanting to make since October! It was freezing, but working keeps you warm and it was great working the Sitka Spruce. Unfortunately progress will stop now as I need to mothball the workshop until we get back from India in March. Can't wait to experience Southern India, we are off to Auroville which is near Pondicherry.

The Oars will just have to wait until we get back, but hey, there is no hurry!

Happy New Year to you and your family!

2010-01-04T17:50:00.000Z

The day dawned bright and cold. "Lets go for a New Year's Day row" I suggested. We had not seen Defiant for at least six weeks and we were missing her. So off we drove to Conyer. We took a flask of coffee and chocolate in various forms. We got out of the nice warm car and wow, it was cold. Actually it was absolutely freezing cold, the wind chill was awesome.

We dutifully walked along the pontoon to say hello to Defiant, we had already made up our minds not to go for a row, the NE that was blowing was just too cold! Still she looked very pretty with snow and ice on her cover. I had a peek under the cover, I always feel anxious about finding her with water inside, happily she was bone dry and as usual looked great!

We went for a brief walk along the creek. The tide was a very high Spring. Loads of water! On our return to the car the fresh coffee from the thermos tasted great and went a long way to warming our cockles.

Umm, don't look very boat like to me.

2009-11-18T18:23:00.002Z

Well, where to begin. I now have the wood for the oars and I would have begun to make them by now had I not been a bit distracted by our new acquisition and project which is a van. A very big white van, an LDV 2.5L, long wheel base crew cab Convoy. Until recently it used to belong to the M.O.D who cared for it well and so it has a good service history.

A van is incredibly useful for a boat builder and this one even has a tow hitch, fantastic! The van itself is not sophisticated and is pretty agricultural to drive, which I really like. Now, the van thing is soon to be a camper van thing. Rae and I are planning on converting it so we can spend next year wondering around the UK and maybe even venture into Europe.

Next year is our year of exploration. This is all beginning with a five week trip to India at the end of January. We are off to a place called Auroville which describes itself as a Universal City in the Making in Southern India www.auroville.org/index.htm when we come back we plan to convert the van and basically travel for a while, do as much sailing as possible, an ocean passage would be good, anybody need a couple of crew around about next June? As well as this we will be available to assist you with any boat building, maintenance and repair work etc.... just let us know as we have a van and so can bring our tools to you!

Oh yep, and I will be beginning to make the oars this week, life is good!

Autumn Project

2009-10-21T08:40:00.013Z

Rae and Malcolm rowing in Salcombe harbour in May this year.

The oars I made for Defiant of Lyme Regis last year.

Defiant on her mooring

Rae and I had a lovely row on Monday in Defiant of Lyme Regis at Conyer. The sky was overcast the water was calm and the tide was very high, 6m. We were both very pleased to see that our rowing boat is still looking in very good condition, her bottom remains free from weed and barnacles, the topsides are still shiny as is the interior.

At this point I feel I must sing the praises of Varnol Danish oil, forget varnishing, it is a real pain and takes ages to get a really good finish, see my previous posts. In contrast Varnol is very easy to use. It is easily possible to apply eight-ten coats in one day. What is more it is a natural product and works out cheaper than any varnish equivalent. Being a natural product Varnol also smells wonderful, I have not met anyone who does not like the smell, it is similar to the effect that stock holm tar has on people, another of my favourite smells. I should mention here that I have no business connection with the manufacturer or vendors of this product, I just simply love it. Oh, yep, and another thing, when it comes to the maintenance of Varnol it is extremely easy and yes you guessed it, quick.

As an aside, I will admit that properly applied varnish is a wonder to behold and yes, if you own a classic yacht then varnish will probably be necessary and it has to be said that traditional varnish also smells great and there is a huge satisfaction in doing a skilled top quality varnishing job.

So back to rowing, it was great, we took turns and then we rowed together, Rae with one oar in the forward rowing position and me with the other amid ships. We trimmed the boat by shoving the box containing the anchor, chain and warp aft. It was great being on the water on an autumnal day.

That day brought back memories of my childhood, I grew-up in Leigh-on Sea, Essex. I was a land scout and did a seamanship badge which meant that I spent a very happy winter gaining the skills to get this badge with the sea scouts who were based in Leigh old town just along from the Smack Inn. It was great, I learnt to row in a wooden whaler. It was a very cold winter and we rowed in the snow, fantastic! I also learned to scull, a skill I have forgotten which I am attempting to learn again.

The oars I made last year are flat bladed, 9' long and are very heavy being made of pine. During the Spring when we rowed with Malcolm Darch, he thought I should make two pairs of spooned oars out of Sitka Spruce, very god strength to weight ratio. During our row on Monday Rae and I discussed this and agreed this is a good project for the Autumn.

So yesterday I went about tracking down a supplier of Sitka Spruce. Umh, not as easy as I thought. In the end I managed to track some down at the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis which is great as I get to see the guys down there who I have not seen since I left the Academy last Christmas and importantly I get to have one of Wendy's bacon sarnies!

So, all being well I get to start making my oars by the middle of November. Can't wait!

painting the pretty 11 footer

2009-10-12T16:54:00.006Z

Well, the time arrived to turn the boat over and paint her hull. Once turned over my first job was to plane flats on to the bilge runners ready to take the brass rubbing strips. The hull was then given a thorough rub down using first 180 grit and then 240 grit sandpaper.

The hull was painted with two coats of primer, two coats of undercoat, two coats of top coat. The brass bilge runners were cut to size, shaped, drilled and then fastened using silicon bronze screws. The sole boards were throughly sanded and then given several coats of luscious varnol. We then opened up the tent and wheeled the boat out into the sun and turned her over on the trailer. The warm October sun made the varnish sparkle and the paint gleam and all was well in the world of boats.

Needless to say the client is very happy and the boat, well, she is pretty drop dead gorgeous, but then I am biased of course.

Varnishing

2009-09-22T16:10:00.009Z

Well, building the tent was fun! I have to say it was very satisfying making a room within a room which was relatively dust free enabling me to varnish without layers of dust forming on my meticulously prepared surface. I think the results kinda speak for themselves.

I must thank Rae, my uncomplaining and incredibly supportive partner, she is always there to help with erecting finishing tents, turning boats over, varnishing, painting, planking and roving etc....

Yep, you guessed it, now the varnishing is completed Rae kindly helped me turn the boat over this afternoon, thank you hun.

The sailing adventure that never was

2009-09-11T17:46:00.010Z

The plan was a good one, to leave at 05.00 Friday morning, sail to Brightlingsea, rest-up and then race in the Colne smack and sailing barge match on Saturday. I joined the rest of the crew on board The Essex Smack Gracie on Thursday evening.

When I pulled up in the car park at the Shipwright Arms at Hollowshore I was surprised to see large black clouds in the sky which were moving pretty fast. This I found surprising as there was a big area of high pressure over the UK. Surely High pressure equals good weather and light winds? So, out the car I get. I meet Ron in the boatyard, he takes me over to where Gracie is rafted-up alongside the Alberta, a very fine and fast Essex Smack. I stow my gear on board Gracie and we head for the pub for a pint of shipwrecked. The skipper, Tony and the other crew member Arthur join us and we have a pleasant evening talking boats.

The alarm on my phone wakes us all at 04.30 Friday morning. Tony the skipper says "sorry lads its too windy we are not going." It is the right decision, Friday mornings shipping forecast confirmed we were right not to go. The wind does not let-up and the trip from Hollowshore to Brightlingsea would have been a very wet affair with the wind coming from the NE it would be a beat all the way there. So back to bed we go. On waking we talk, about boats of course, drink tea and coffee and Ron makes a splendid cooked breakfast. All in all a very pleasant time.

I have included some photos from Friday morning. The top photo is the newly restored smack, Emma, below this is Arthur's project, a Maurice Griffiths Lone Gull, beneath this is Ron's project, the Smack Valkyrie II and finally a view from the main hatch looking aft on Gracie.

Repairing Oars

2009-09-09T16:16:00.012Z

I am currently varnishing the interior of the pretty 11 footer. This is a satisfying job and I enjoy watching the deepening shine develop on the application of each subsequent coat.

In between rubbing down and varnishing I have been repairing the boats oars. As you can see these were in a poor state of repair. The blades were literally falling apart and the varnish was flaking badly.

The blade sections have been carefully removed, cleaned and glued back together, the varnish has been stripped and the oars have been sanded and are now ready for varnishing.

Crewing on the 100 year old Essex Smack Gracie

2009-08-16T08:54:00.003Z

Yesterday I was fortunate to be able to crew on Tony Ryan's Smack Gracie which took part in the Swale match race. Gracie is a wonderful and powerful Smack. This was the first gaff rigged vessel I have sailed on and I was bemused by the number of ropes there are to hoist and set the sails.

At the start the wind was a force 4 and soon freshened to a force 6. The course was 23 nautical miles. Unfortunately due to gear failure and an injured crew member the decision was made to drop sail off Whitstable and motor back to Harty Ferry where we dropped anchor for three hours whilst we waited for the tide to return in order to return to the Gracie's mooring at Hollow Shore. We were not the only small ship to suffer gear failure. Several barges and smacks had lost their top masts during the race and one smack's gaff jaws had broken.

I have to say I have been smitten by Smack sailing and look forward to future adventures on this and other traditional working boats.

Repairing the pretty 11 footer

2009-07-14T16:20:00.005Z

The work on the boat is all but complete. The frames are now epoxied in place and these have been given a coat of epoxy to seal the wood. All that remains is to glue end grain plugs into the screw holes on top of the centre board capping piece and that will be job done.

Repairing the pretty 11 footer

2009-06-24T20:40:00.004Z

Well, after a break of a few days I have begun to make and fit the new sapele floors. I was hoping that I could use the old floors as templates for the new ones. Unfortunately the old floors just are not up to template standard and so I have scribed these from scratch. It is an immensely satisfying feeling, taking a rough sawn piece of timber, planing it square and then cutting, scribing, fitting, shaping and gluing it into place. Yep, its a mighty fine thing to do.

Repairing a pretty 11ft rowing/sailing dinghy

2009-06-14T17:02:00.006Z

I am currently repairing a dinghy for a client. The boat has five floors (or floor timbers) in it, these are structural members that run athwartships across the keel. The function of the floors is to tie the two halves of the boat together.

The construction of this boat is glued clinker plywood. At the ends of

three of the floors the plywood has delaminated, possibly due to being stood on whilst sailing, the plywood giving way when stress loaded to the none flexible floor. This problem has occurred to the ends of two of the floors on the starboard side, the floor amidships under the thwart and the next floor aft. On the port side the delamination has occurred to the floor immediately forward of the one running amidships.

So, that is the problem, so how is it being fixed? Well the solution is this:

1. remove the offending floors;

2. epoxy the delaminated ply back together;

3. make some nice new floors out of sapele, these will extend elegantly up the side of the hull to just below the thwart riser, thus spreading the load and stiffening the hull too.

This weekend I have removed the floors and epoxy glued the delaminated plywood back together. I am just waiting on the wood to arrive and then I can make and fix the new floors.

I am really enjoying repairing this boat. The best bit tod

ay was figuring out the best way to clamp the glued plywood together. The one under the thwart was easy, the one aft of this a bit more tricky, but its amazing what you can do with a few scraps of wood and a couple of bricks!

Rowing Defiant of Lyme Regis in Devon

2009-05-31T19:00:00.000Z

We spent two very enjoyable days last week rowing Defiant of Lyme Regis. On Thursday, my partner, Rae and my two children, Tom and Matt spent the day rowing from Dittisham to the mouth of the River Dart and back. This was the first proper row we have enjoyed. Defiant is a beautiful boat to row and we all enjoyed every minute. On reaching Dartmouth we moored to a pontoon and went and walked into town to buy ice cream. We then rowed to Dartmouth Castle where we picked-up a mooring and waited for the tide to turn. A tourist boat circled us and the skipper shouted out beautiful boat! This obviously was a fantastic compliment to be paid and it kinda made me, Rae and my children feel pretty proud.

On Friday we went and met the man responsible for producing Defiant's lines, Malcolm Darch, Shipwright and renowned model shipwright in Salcombe. Malcolm suggested we rowed Defiant with two sets of oars. I was amazed at how fast she went with little effort. Malcolm put this fact down to her deep wine glass shape in the transom and her weight, she is pretty heavy which means she carries her way well and once she is going she tracks beautifully in a straight line. I was surprised at how much room there is in this 13 footer. There was plenty of room for three adults and two children, plus picnic, wet weather gear, fenders, anchor, chain and warp. The day was spent cruising around Salcombe Estuary. We put ashore a couple of times and anchored in a beautiful bay for lunch. The water was crystal clear and the Children loved looking out for crabs and fish. They were a bit disappointed not to have seen any basking sharks.

After Defiant was safely back ashore Malcolm took us to his workshop and showed us the amazing models he makes. These models are exact replicas of the real thing and are exquisite objects. The workshop is an archive treasure trove of boat building and nautical history. This workshop is a gem and must be a fantastic place to work with its views over Salcombe harbour.