The beginning

Some things happened today that prompted what you are now reading. Firstly, it’s about time – I don’t keep anyone updated on what I’m doing, so this is hopefully a more convenient way to do that. Secondly, I just got a few new toys.

A couple of months ago, I bought a boat. It’s a James Wharram (www.wharram.com) design called a Tiki 21. It’s 21 foot long, and made from plywood coated with epoxy resin and fibreglass. Unfortunately the boat’s previous owners did not take such good care of her, and there was some deterioration. Plywood is great stuff to build a light strong boat from, but it must be maintained. There was a bit of rot on the boat which needed to be cut out and replaced with new wood and epoxy. The paint was also looking pretty sad in places. I stripped the decks bare, and re-applied paint – 4 coats in total. The original builder had chosen a blue color scheme, but a subsequent owner had changed that to red, and had done a pretty poor job of it. I am slowly going to bring the boat back to her original colour scheme. Perhaps when I haul her out sometime next year.

You can see how she originally looked when her first owner sold her – Incidentally, I used the same broker to buy this boat, so if you are looking for an interesting catamaran, you could do worse than contact Scott Brown. He was really helpful in making a selection for the boat, and made the process quite simple. I have no idea what the original name of this boat was, but we have decided to call her C# (sea sharpe – clever).

I finally decided to launch the C# last weekend 27 September. I have to tell you that this was a much bigger undertaking than I bargained for. I’ve put C# on and off her trailer several times during the renovations, and I really thought I’d cracked it. Unfortunately, I decided to get a bit clever, and rather than just do it the way I had done several times, I though I’d try a something new. Normally, I lash the two hulls together using a couple of 50x100mm timbers, and drag the two hulls on together. It’s hard work as together these hulls weigh I guess 280kg. I thought If I just put each hull on separately, then lashed them together on the trailer, then it should be much easier. WRONG. Anyway I must have rearranged the boats on the trailer 4 times, and eventually got them on securely and balanced. At then end of the day my hands were raw from lashing and re-lashing, and I was broken.

The trip to Burnham the following afternoon was uneventful, and the launch was far less dramatic thanks mainly to the excellent help at Burnham Sialing club. I’ve been asked to write an account of the launch for their newsletter, by way of thanks. I’ll link that here (if) when I get round to that. In the mean time, you can look at c# on her temporary berth or later on the same day when the tide had half come in. I feel such an affinity to the boat/sea/sailing – it just feels comfortable.

The third new toy is really a collection of toys all for the same purpose. Jewellery making. I’ve always had a fascination for metal smithing and in particular precious metals, and have read many books about the processes. I’ve always wanted some jewellers tools and so I bought myself a late birthday present and promptly set about making a ring. You can just see the solder join, but as that was the first thing I ever soldered with a naked flame, I think the results are acceptable. The piece is certainly wearable anyway. After that, I turned my hand to forging (hammering cold metal into shape) and made these earrings. I am really pleased with them.

I had a telephone interview for a contract doing Delphi Development for Delta Rail . They want me to come in for a face to face interview tomorrow, so I’ll be in London tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes.