The Dinghy - GITAN

The dinghy, tender to Gypsy Sophia when she is built, is now complete. She decided to call herself 'GITAN', which as you know is French for 'Gypsy'. She weighs in a bit heavier than I would have liked at 60lbs, mainly due to the extra bulkhead and watertight compartments, and the fact that I glass/epoxy sheathed the outside. However, I think I should still be able to get her onto the roof rack single-handed as she is only a few pounds heavier than my kayak.

Paint job & Oars taking shape

I managed to paint much of the dinghy whilst it was in the shed, but the top-coat needed the comfort of a warm lounge to help it flow, so with a bit of grovelling, Lynn agreed. The oars are now ready to be shaped also.

Sheathing Hull with glass/epoxy

Time had come to sheath the hull with glass (87kg mat) and epoxy. Unfortunately the weather had become decidedly wintry, with a cold, damp wind making conditions outside unsuitable for this operation. So only one thing for it: bring it indoors onto the dining room table. What a wonderful wife have I!

Foredeck fitted

The foredeck is now fitted and the rowlocks are fixed on, so just a epoxy/glass mat on the outside and a paint needed then we'll be afloat!

Forward Bulkhead fitted

Just when you think you are nearly done then is always more little jobs to do. With the forward bulkhead fitted, I realised that we needed another strip on the bulkhead to take the foredeck.

Seats complete

Seat are complete, and the fore deck is about to be fitted. It is all taking shape - between showers!

Seats taking shape

A let up in the recent rain has brought the dinghy out of the shed to make it easier for me to fit the vertical sections of the centre thwart. The rear seat is already in place.

Proper stitching

I managed to stitch the dinghy up properly today and pull it into shape ready for filleting the joints with epoxy resin. It looks like a dinghy now!

Stitching the Tender

A fiddly time was had when I roughly stitched the bottom, sides, bow and stern sections of the tender together. Hopefully it will all come together with more ties and a bit of gentle persuasion!

The TENDER

Every yacht needs a tender (dinghy) to get ashore in, so rather than get a dreadful inflatable, I thought I'd make one. The plans were courtesy of Richard Woods, free in his design book. I was going to make this indoors, but decided I might not be able to get it out of the house once built, so it will be a shed job. The bottom, sides, bow and stern are all cut out of 4mm ply. If feels very thin, but I know from experience of building canoes that once joined together, it will become very strong. Next stage - stitching it all together with cable ties.

Cuddy roof

At long last the cuddy is complete - as a shell at least. The roof is on - a fiddly operation, but it is now ready to take whatever a winter can throw at it. There is more to do inside it - but this will not be weather dependent. Just one more job if I get a few days of fine weather in October is to sheath the cuddy with glass cloth and epoxy. Next step - the hulls!

Roof sides

The roof panels are a bit more fiddly than the rest of the cuddy, but the roof sides are now in place. Just the roof raisers and the central roof section to go and the cuddy should be watertight for the winter. The weather has broken, so I need to be patient and wait for a slot of good weather to complete this construction. It would be a bonus if I could also get the cuddy sheathed in glass and epoxy before the winter, but this will need a few days of fine weather.

Front side panels

The front side panels, after constructing the window surrounds have now been fixed in place. At last it is beginning to look like a boat! Next stage is to fit side roof panels.

Side Decks

Photos are a bit out of focus, but the side decks are now in place, with lockers on the starboard side. These are now ready to take the front side panels - the next task.