Boatbuilding Tips and Tricks
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2009
Construction begun on 34' St. Pierre Dory
I'm nearly finished with the plans for two new Grand Banks style (St. Pierre) dories. One is a 32' x 10' and the other, it's bigger brother at 34'x12' The person I originally did the plans for was eager to get started on the larger of the two, the 34 footer, so I've been sending him drawings as they are completed. One week and he has many of the ribs finished, so he's not wasting any time at all. He's also blogging about the construction. Here's a link with pictures: http://www.shugarbear.blogspot.com/ Check it out!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009
Spira Boats Now on Facebook
I just set up a new Facebook page for Spira International Easy-to-build boat designs called Spira Boats. Stop by, check it out and sign up as a friend.
I uploaded a whole slew of pictures, too, many of which have never been published before on my site or blog
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009
New Oysterman Carolina Dory Launched
Jeff Frankel from up the the San Francisco Bay era of California just launched his Spira International Oysterman Carolina dory. He did a great job on it too. Here's an excerpt from the email he just sent me:
It’s done! I put an old 25HP merc outboard on it and that way enough power. It’s hot flat and glassy on San Francisco Bay this week. I’m going to try water skiing behind it if I can find a ski tomorrow. Thanks for all of your help along the way.
I'm sure Jeff's in for hours of fun in his new boat. Nice paint scheme too!
SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2009
New Article: Home Built Boat Seaworthiness
I just finished and uploaded a new article about homebuilt boat seaworthiness. I seem to get a lot of questions about whether this or that boat is seaworthy enough to handle the conditions at this or that locale, so I thought I'd address the real issues that people should consider before building a boat. It can be found here: http://spirainternational.com/a_seaworthy.html.
SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2009
19' Alaskan Grand Banks Dory Now Available in Metric
I've added an optional 5.8 Meter Metric dimensioned plans for my very popular 19' Alaskan Grand Banks style dory. These new plans aren't only converted to metric dimensions, but have also been redesigned to use standard metric sized lumber (timber for those of you down under.)
Here's one almost complete in the Gulf Coast of the US:
FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2009
Follow Me on Twitter
OK gang, I've now put myself on Twitter so you can follow my musings. Keeping up with the latest technology and trends is a necessary part of running an information business these days. It's working too. If you type How To Build a Boat in Google, my YouTube video of the same name comes up #1 now. It's impressive and has resulted in quite a number of new visitors who I've been able to learn about the joys of modern home boat building.
Anyway my new Twitter address is http://www.twitter.com/SpiraBoats.
Jeff