17 December 2009

Serious daydreaming: winter boat house

Finding a winter store is such a hassle and having Daisy G. in a cold barn about 12 miles from home is not ideal. I have been doodling ideas for a perfect boathouse at home. We have the land, but it is a funny shape at the end of twisty narrow lanes. I have been experimenting with a remarkable free drawing program from Google called Sketchup. I hadn't been all that impressed when I tried it some months ago, but now I am really looking into it I am very impressed. It really came into its own when I discovered that you can download endless things other people have drawn. No one has done a BayCruiser (yet), but I found a Whitehall pulling boat and a trailer. With some judicious strecthing they are now the sizes of mine. I can pull them in and out, and test whether they fit in or not. This is the result of just a few hours practice. Fuly 3D, dimensioned and the roof cut away to show the interior. Need to check the detail sizes of the real boat and then see if I can fit it in my garden.

10 December 2009

Winter jobs: chart store

Finally getting a few winter jobs done. Daisy G. is now being stored under an old straw barn roof on a farm "somewhere in Gloucestershire". Out of the rain and well ventilated.
One thing is finished at last. There was nowhere to keep charts close to hand and I had nowhere to keep my Portland Plotter or dividers (not that I use them, but I like to pretend). I have made a shallow box out of plywood with a timber edging on three sizes. This is glued to the inside of the main bulkhead. This gives a space which will take folded leisure charts or a book of tough charts just by the companion way. They can be reached there from the cockpit or from inside the cabin. The wooden slot on the front holds the plotter and dividers decoratively on view. The area above might be used for a clock or a picture. The wooden bracket above is where I store the GPS/compass panel which slots into the companionway under way.