(To cut to the chase, click on the "Progress" tab - otherwise, please read on...)
Hi there,
Welcome to a backyard enthusiast's attempt to re-create one of the most elegant boats ever to be seen on the Thames. The one seen in the header - Temple Maiden - was snapped outside the George in Wargrave-on Thames c. summer 2005. She is probably the epitome of the marque for me, and I don't even know if she's an original Andrews or not!
It's just that everything I like about these craft seems to come together in this one in particular; the long elegance of the foredecks, the angle of the screen and the contrasting woods used on the decking.
After a few years dreaming, I realised that I can neither afford nor justify the £20 grand plus required to buy one of these boats for the mere 10-12 weekends that constitute the British summer. Hence the current project.
As you may have guessed from the site name, I'm attempting to build as economically as possible without skimping on the necessities which for me are aesthetics, safety, and materials in that order.
Originally, I hoped to reclaim materials from older furniture - I figured 60's teak sideboards etc might be relatively easy to come by, but that doesn't seem to be the case. My revised route will be to source FSC, renewable timbers from the most aggressively priced timber merchants I can find in the UK. Materials decisions will be detailed later on, and will probably change as I progress, but I’m making the assumption that this boat will spend a maximum of 40 days per annum in the water, with the remainder being on a trailer ready for launch at a moment’s hint of that elusive British sunshine.
There are two other builders' sites - Greg's Ariadne and Mark's Slipper- from which I have drawn inspiration, as well as both aesthetic and technical insights,. Thinking that I would be limited to 17-18ft overall length, I was inclined to agree with Mark in that the Selway Fisher designs don't quite "do it" for me. So, with the ideal of Temple Maiden in mind, I set out to find suitable plans but in their absence, ended up using Carlson Design's software with Mark’s design as a starting point.
I then checked out loads of pictures & actual boats (where I could) for overall Length:Beam ratio, coming up with >4:1 being the most pleasing ones to me. Tailoring Mark's basic design in Carlson and allowing for an all up weight of 1800 - 2000lbs to suit 10-11” draft ex keel, I ended up with something that I found suitable, but which I could also build within the constraints of my 8 foot wide garage.
Perhaps the biggest "fault" in the Selway designs for me is the extended cockpit at the expense of foredeck, so my passengers are likely to be a bit cramped, but they'll be stylishly cramped!
Another important consideration will be the power plant. Here, as nearly everyone states, the cheapest approach is to use an outboard, but can I find an outboard with a low enough air draft to fit under the rear decking of a slipper launch??! Hence, after much thinking and brainstorming, I came up with the idea of a front mounted outboard in a forward well with suitable air flow. See the History page for further explanation.
I also bought a few books on the subject, as recommended on various forums and such, but found that in the end, it comes down to just two:
Devlin's "How to Build Any Boat the Stitch-and-Glue Way"(my bible for some time), and the recently discovered "Canoecraft" by Ted Moores. The latter only came to my attention in May 09 when I met someone planning to build a canoe. The insights into fibreglass cloth application given here are far more detailed than Devlin. It also has some excellent general working (and woodworking) recommendations for the novice from correct clamping to steam bending times & tricks.
Greg and Mark have included sufficient links to sites of interest for me not have to include all of them here, but here are a couple of appetizers:
You are visitor number
to this site to date,
along with people from these other locations:
Thanks for looking.
If you're building, I hope you find it informative.
