Catterline Coastal Rowing Club is making great progress on the Weymss skiff building project that Arch Henderson sponsored. They shared a report and photographs with us. The boat is expected to be ready for launching this spring.
The boating building project started in September and has progressed rapidly despite the restrictions due to the pandemic. There have been over 70 boat building sessions, with 22 volunteers taking turns to participate in the build.
The first part of the project involved building a frame and then planking the boat upside down. There are six planks on easch side, all held in place with super strong epoxy glue, and with absolutely no screws. The absence of screws is an essential design feature of skiffs, where no metal is permitted in the construction.
The completion of the planking was marked by the turning over of the boat, and with cake to celebrate this milestone. The boat is actually light enough to be lifted by just two people, which is another feature of the design. It has the potential to be launched and rowed by just one or two people, so it has to be lightweight, and yet sturdy enough to cope with coastal waters.
With the hull the right way up, it was time to finish some of the more fiddly woodwork, such as the seats and bouyancy tanks. The top of the hull also has to be strengthened with the gunwales, and work has also begun on making the four oars. The construction phase is almost complete and the next stage will be painting the boat, with a view to launching it in the spring.
Arch Henderson is delighted to have contributed to this project and is looking forward to seeing the boat on the water. For more information on this project see our earlier news item. https://www.arch-henderson.co.uk/news/a-new-wemyss-skiff-for-caterline-coastal-rowing-club
