Building Again - a new Junk is being born.

Well I thought we were heading south to go on Holiday! We seem to have been too late in the season for getting much further south than the Uk - sure we could have but it would have been a rush down the European Atlantic coast and the weather systems were never looking great for the Biscay area so a few battering's were going to be inevitable , no thanks Mr gale.
While we were hanging around Falmouth various fishing lines were dropped in front of us with some very tasty bate that we could not resist. We took the bate and were hauled directly into Bristol docks.

I am working for Tim Loftus (www.timloftusboatbuilding.co.ok).  I arrived just as Tim was popping out over two tons of lead from a steel mold for the ballast on a new 25foot sailing boat.

Tim has designed the boat himself for Tim Start. Tim carved a half-model then lofted this full size on 8x4's which now form the side of the temporary shed we are building in. The rig ... wait for it ..............yes it's goiing to be a Junk Rig . perfect.
The construction is very traditional - oak backbone and frames with Larch planking (Carvel). not a drop of epoxy anywhere  . err.. maybe on ply deck.

 It gets more interesting as Tim Start has a woodland in Shropshire where all the timber has been taken from and he is very involved with the building of his boat too. So,  at the end of the day he will have basically grown and built his own boat . This is living the dream.  The new boat will be called Cubbage  Wood,
We have now finished the backbone and are hoping to get all the frames steamed in by Christmas. The pictures should show more about the construction than i can explain. Pictured on the left is the stern post fastened through the wood and lead ballast keel.

Here is a nice picture of Tim Start admiring his lovely new boat 'Cubbage Wood'. To the right you can see some of the larch stacked up ready for planking and the temporary molds are in position showing the outlines of a fine ship.
To add to the good work we are still afloat - living on a narrow boat in the docks. Charlotte has a great studio in the city center - see http://starboardlocker.wordpress.com
Hestur is patiently waiting for our return in April/May2013 in Falmouth Harbour.