Casting the keel

Whilst the timber was being milled, Tim Start nipped off and purchased 2.25 tons of scrap lead which was then delivered. The following day we loaded this into a fabricated steel mould and lit a fire underneath. Slowly we melted just over 2 tons into the shape of the boats ballast keel. Hot and heavy work, but a satisfying result!

Cubbage wood - timber milling

What an exciting day! Martyn Jones came down from Oswestry with his brand new Serra Bavaria sawmill. A totally amazing piece of kit and Martyn and his wife are very much a 'can do' team. We managed to mill all the timber we had felled in one long day. Our hopes that the trees we picked would be good were born out with some of the nicest oak I've ever seen.

Cubbage transom

I got the transom for our 25' ocean cruiser cut out from nice air dried oak. The rest of the timber will be milled soon.

Cubbage Wood - harvesting timber

One of the most exciting aspects of this project has been selecting and felling all the boats timbers from a woodland recently aquired by her owner, We selected some superb oaks and larch, soon to be milled on site. Follow this link for a you tube clip of felling a large oak keel timber.

Cubbage Wood lofting

We've taken the lines from our simple half model and faired them up full size on the loft floor. Templates and moulds are stacked awaiting timber....

New boats - from tree to sea

We've got a nice crop of new boats to start this autumn. First up is a unique junk rigged ocean cruiser. At 25' LOA and 5 tons displacement, she's a robust little boat from the 'Old school', but with significantly more beam than was normal pre. 1960's. For now we'll call her Cubbage Wood after the beautiful Shropshire woodland from which her owner will supply all her timbers.

Dormouse complete


Dormouse's fittout is now complete and David, her owner will take over before she takes to the water in April. I can't wait to see how she sails!

Yuloh or Ro


What on earth is this object? Well, it's a Japanese sculling oar called a Ro (or yuloh in China). Reputedly highly efficient, this one will be auxilliary propulsion for a 30' yacht. With the high price of diesel we all should have one....

Dormouse timbered out



With the planking complete, it's time for the bent oak timbers. They are nailed up hot after steaming in batches of four - warm work in this chilly weather.

Dormouse planking begins



The firs planks (garboards) have now been fitted and the building moulds set up on the keel. Here the second run of planking is being rivetted in place. Although the aft section of this dinghy is an easy shape, the full bow is very chalenging to plank!