Josca Bicycle Repairs

Category: Boatbuilding

  • MANAWA (my canoe has name).. build update

    MANAWA (my canoe has name).. build update

      I have settled on Manawa. She will be called this in honour of the mangrove rich estuaries in which I feel most at home sailing. Pictured is a new 18mm thick triple layered ply web that the mast will go through- slightly different from some earlier mockups. After some time and consideration this seemed…

  • May boat progress

    May boat progress

    Rowlock blocks taking shape:     Centreboard fibreglassed: Took the boat for another sneaky test- row the other night, took my buddy who has loaned the use of his garage- one of his first rowing experiences! Boat handled beautifully and gave me a bit of thought about improving the forrard rowlock position and a design…

  • march 2015 progress on the canoe yawl

    march 2015 progress on the canoe yawl

      The forward mast step has been epoxied into the forefoot, ready to have a mast tube socket connected; the foredeck mast bracing is glued in, ready for said tube, the mizzen mast blocking is also glued in, laminated in two layers of ex Auckland villa Kauri, as are the two centre case bracing struts, and…

  • Jan/Feb 2015 Sailing Canoe update

    Jan/Feb 2015 Sailing Canoe update

    I’ve been making tentative steps into the world of filling and fairing. This was some of the first coat of dark brown underwater epoxy filler to the starboard side.Since then I’ve actually switched to a different compound (410 microlight) that’s easier to use and fine on a boat kept on dry land most of the…

  • Coracle building at the NZ Gaidhealtachd festival

    Coracle building at the NZ Gaidhealtachd festival

      In the first week of January 2015 I held a coracle- making workshop at the Gaidhealtachd (pronounced erm.. Gailtackd), a small community festival based on culture and music of the various Celtic nations, held annually in NZ. Me and my friend Caleb supervised the construction start to finish and we had dozens of helpers…

  • Canoe yawl updates- Fitting the deadwood and outer stems

    So progress on the boat is slow at the moment, as I’m busy job hunting.. Here are some blurry pictures of the last few weeks(!) cutting out the ski- shaped hardwood plank for the keel deadwood ‘shoe” and the outer front and rear stems from some recycled timber. I have lost some of my pictures…

  • Waikare Regatta, Bay Of Islands, April 2014- My canoe yawl is unfinished but row-able

    I worked hard to get the boat to last month’s regatta, a really informal lovely occasion held on Motukura, just off my family’s headland, in the Waikare Inlet. Came 3rd in the rowing race- see pictures for start of  the race.   

  • January toMarch: progress on The Boat

    I’ve been slacking with my updates, so I just picked what I feel is the the most informative pictures from hundreds and hundreds of photos. I have the inside all smoothed out; centrecase finished (finally!) and glued in, though not totally braced up; the last patches of exposed timber outside fibreglassed; the inside of the…

  • Progress report on the canoe yawl- now housed in an Onehunga garage

    The boat building nightclasses are gone.. the boat school is gone.. over the past few weeks, I’ve been setting up my friend’s garage as a workspace. at first I was worried it would be too small and dark, and not having Bandsaws and Thicknessers immediately on hand definitely makes you approach problems differently. However, I…

  • Canoe hull turned over- Finally!

    The shell of the boat is now strong enough to stand alone, so we chopped it off it’s foundations and turned it over then removed the temporary moulds and ribbands or “skeleton” with a hammer.