A John Welsford design
I spent months searching the net for plans on a small dinghy that could be used for sailing, have a motor or be rowed so my eldest son could one day learn to sail. All I could find was the American sites, then during a visit to the Auckland boat show there on the book shelf was a book by John Welsford called ‘The New Zealand Backyard Boatbuilder’ This book should be a must for all first time boat builders, I have worn my copy out!.
I decided to go for one of John’s boats for a few reasons, one being to support a NZ business, the great designs and the help which was only an email away.
After settling on a design I ordered the plans for the ‘Goldenbay’ and received them within a few days. After referring back to Johns book on the section relating to plywood I was off and running.
Once I had the marine ply and some of the sections cut, there was no turning back. The boat took shape nicely, I found that even though I had never attempted anything like this before it all came together nicely, although there were a couple of emails to John Welsford to confirm a point or two.
I did ponder how I was going to bend 3 layers of 6mm ply and cut to a shape for the stem, and after a lot of very hot water, clamps, screws and some rather bad language (making sure my boys were in bed when this was done) I managed to do it. Although I had to recut 2 layers as I cracked the first attempt, (even more bad language).
I started the epoxy resin work which took a bit of time due to getting used to knowing how much to make at once
Finally the plywood was looking like a boat. The bottom, sides, stem, transom were all stitched, screwed and glued.
THEN I decided to clean up the garage, during which a large gust of wind blew the resin power around and into my face. I spent the next 2 weeks with itchy arms and swollen red eyes, hence an executive decision was made to take a break from boat building. I decided to leave cleaning the garage until the impending masterpeice was finished. Which had to be fairly quickly as the wife’s car was evicted from the garage and this was not proving popular. Once I recovered from the attack of the resin I got back to finishing off the dinghy. The bottom was glued then sanded, seats were added and the day of the launch grew ever so much closer. I was a bit concerned about cutting the hole for the mast in the king plank, so delayed this for as long as possible and once I finally did do it I found that it was in the correct place. The boat would look strange with the mast sticking out to the side?.
I spent a long time sanding until the sander gave up,( it’s a hard job by hand). The under coat went on and it started looking good, a few minor mistakes were covered up with resin and paint. The top coat was done and it looked great. The inside was a bit too white so the seats were repainted a light blue.
Then came the name, the family decided on “Capt’n Ply” and that was it, I was out voted. The big day came, then I found that the boat was slightly wider than the trailer I borrowed was, which saw the first scratch added to one side (more bad language!). After making a frame for the dinghy to sit in, we were off to the local beach. We took the boat down to Tamaki River to try it out. Since then most of the trips have been from Howick beach.
The verdict was that the boat went wonderfully. It rows well, even better with the family in it. The boat can carry 3 boys (aged 10,7,3) plus the wife with no problems. I have a borrowed 5Hp motor which powers the boat along like a dream. I did have to modify the transom slightly so I could turn the motor!. We have been out in some rough weather and the boat cuts through most waves and now I can’t wait to try it out with a sail.
One son found out that sitting and holding the centercase is not the best when going over waves, it is surprising how much water will come through it!. I made a small table which is 30cm square with two pieces of wood angled the same as the centercase and these hold the table in place. It is also used for a small bait table.
So far the only fish caught are 12 undersize Snapper by two of my boys.
Regards
Colin Tyler
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