Take a number

As usual, the past month has had a large variety of events and excuses designed to delay progress on my boat. One of these is the arrival of winter, which required a visit to the Ferrymead Historical Park. During winter, they are open at night with food vans and displays of life in Christchurch from times gone by. There is even a tram! Highlight was the post office which had a working mechanical phone switchboard. You could use a rotary phone and watch the cogs move. Pretty cool.

I also spent some time in Auckland, NZ’s largest city, but not its capital. Like most large cities, it does not do a lot for me and I have little to say except the homeless problem is apparently quite severe at the moment.

In between all that, I added a floor to the boat. This was done with a slightly thicker sheet of plywood (8mm). I started with nails in the middle and worked down each side making sure it was straight and true (the sheet is exactly the width of the hull, so there is little room for error if the alignment is wrong). As with everything else, the screws are only necessary during the glue cure stage. In theory, they can be removed later and the holes filled with sawdust and glue.

After the floor had dried, I trimmed and sanded the excess edges. At one point, I was not attending to my situation, and the belt sander started chewing on the power cord! Not a great outcome, but easily fixed.

3D!

Now the hull has become, what they call, 3D. Sheets of 2D plywood, through the prodigious application of sweat and polyurethane glue has become 3D! At this stage, I am eligible to officially apply for my sail number from the Puddle Duck Racer Association

An end in sight!

Feeling proud of myself, I have started construction on the next hull. This time I used tie down straps to assist when bending the bottom chine. A big help! Once I have two 3D hulls, painting and fit-out can commence! With luck, minimal distractions and more glue, I hope to have them both ready by Spring.

Starting on sides for hull two

Using a ratchet strap to help bend the bottom chine

Not a boat