Author: Oarlock and Sail Wooden Boat Club

Yesterday we celebrated the relaunch of Venus, the cold-molded Davidson dinghy we’ve refurbished.  The boat came to us a little worse for wear, with a lot of delamination, and  a temporarily patched hole in her bottom.  We’ve learned a lot over the course of the project, building up the layers for a much better patch!

Suitable drinks and food were procured and laid out on the workbench in the shed, and a proper painter was spliced on.

Short and enjoyable speeches were given by Rob, our club president, and Joost, owner of the boat and Director of the Maritime Museum, after which Venus received a splash of champagne, and was put in the water.  Joost claims this was his first crack at rowing (which none of us believed), and he had a short and easy row, past his bigger boat, Milo, for which Venus will be a tender.

Festivities carried on in the shed for a while – it was a great time!

Other activities were also going on – Button Swan received her cover, thanks to Tom for all your work on that!!  It looks excellent, and will be great protection from the otters and the rain!

A bit over a week ago, the call went out from Sheila & Bruce, challenging Heritage Harbour residents to decorate their boats for the holidays.  A flurry of emails went around in Oarlock & Sail, and before long, a plan was set in motion to make a display using the Fancy Pram.  Last Saturday we cut it out, and it was painted during the week, with the final touches yesterday, and it got assembled on the dock.  Turned out wonderfully, and we expect it will be a hit with the public!  Button Swan got a string of lights, as well as a string around the shed roof.

In the shed, the plans for our next project were put up on the wall, ready for next week – we plan to get a start on the strongback and molds, before we turn to our holiday celebrations (starting at 1:00).  Hope to see you there!

Two dates to keep in mind:

• November 30th, relaunch of our current project
• December 7th, start of our next project, and a party to celebrate

Last Saturday we came in to see a beautiful set of floorboards for the Davidson dinghy, ready to oil and fasten in place – it’s always fun to see what the boat-shed elves get up to during the week!

We then worked on the cleats and toggles to hold them in place, even when the boat is stored upside down on the deck of its mothership.  We got them shaped and epoxied in place.

This past Saturday we got the final coat of paint on the interior, and fastened the name-board.  We look forward to launching Venus this coming Saturday, November 30th – come down to take a look at our work and help us send her off!

The next weekend, December 7th, we’ll be starting our next build, an Ian Oughtred designed ‘Auk’, a dinghy for Brent’s Kettenburg sloop.  We’ll get started on the strongback and molds, and then have a bit of an early Christmas celebration as well.  We invite you to the shed to join in and learn more about the project!  We’ll supply the snacks, and ask you to BYOB.  Festivities start around 1pm.

Last Saturday was also a ‘tool improvement’ day, with new planer blades, the start of a dust collection hood for the planer, a new cordless driver, an adapter for dust collection for the tablesaw, and a new bandsaw blade.  The bandsaw is a whole new tool, cutting so nicely!!  We look forward to enjoying all the improvements!

Hope to see you at the dock!