It's finished!

(first published 24th August 2005)

The past four weeks have seen a stream of visitors staying at our house (they all remembered Norfolk this summer), and it's been great to see everyone. But it hasn't helped Lugg's progress. Nor has the very changeable weather - no danger of a hosepipe ban here. But at last, by fitting in the work between visitors and rain, it is done.

The first thing was to get the hull finished completely (note the rowlocks - they were a fiddle):



Then I made the new rudder - a higher aspect ratio than the original, and with some attempt at a chord section (don't laugh when you see it, James):



The rudder was made from 12mm ply and the Optimist rudder fittings used. The hard part was the lump at the top for the tiller (I reused the original tiller as it looks nicely of an age with the boat. The original rudder just looked tatty.) Next I refurbished the centreplate, cutting out the soft part, filling and reshaping (another pseudo-chord section):



I think the colours clash nicely here. I might think about a bare wood handle for the centreplate at some point. Edmund will be pleased to hear that I took his advice and used a matt poly varnish on the rowing thwart - it now looks like the other oak in the boat; much better.

Finally I wheeled it out and stepped the mast and hoisted the sail:



The halyard is a foot too short and very old and ropey (Ha!), the sheet is an old bit of blue polyprop and also has to go, and I need a mooring cleat, so it's off to Wroxham this afternoon. Maiden voyage at the end of the week, weather permitting?