A relaxed sail from Altona in Pitthirrit, our B&B Yacht Designs Lapwing 16, with other members of the Wooden Boat Association on Wednesday 23 April 2025. we spent lots of time just drifting around but the wind did eventually pick up, and we had a great sail back to the launching ramp.

Another great day out on the water with WBA members and friends on Tuesday 11 March 2025. We got to watch Campbell capsize his Navigator (on purpose), and see Chris test the latest version of his re-boarding straps. Very light winds to begin with, and a fantastic sail back to Altona at the end of the day.

In January and February 2025 I was in Tasmania with my boat, Pitthirrit, along with several other Wooden Boat Association members and boats, taking part in the Living Boat Trust 10 day Tawe Nunnugah raid to Hobart, the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, and then the return raid to Franklin. Most of the video was shot using an Insta360 camera, not so that I could export 360 degree videos (although there are a couple in the playlist), but so that I could set the camera running, and then decide which way to look when editing the videos later. I've set up a playlist of 5 videos covering my time in Tasmania, and a couple of 360 degree videos where you can change the viewpoint by dragging around on the screen. Note that the 360 videos only work on desktop browsers, or in YouTube apps on phones.

Check out the playlist here.

Thursday 19 December 2024. A great day out on the water, from Werribee South to Point Cook and return, in four Wooden Boat Association boats: "Anjevi" (Scamp), "Blue Violet" (Shimmy), "Phittirrit" (Lapwing 16), and "Snug" (Scamp).

The forecast was for relatively light South Easterlies, but fortunately it piped up a bit as the day progressed, making for an easy run along the coast to the sea plane jetty and back for lunch in the Werribee River.

Sailing Pitthirrit, my B & B Yacht Designs Lapwing 16 on Port Phillip, Saturday 14 December 2024. The Easterly winds made it an easy trip down towards Patterson River, and once the wind turned I had a good run back up the bay, to Sandringham and Black Rock.

Getting ready for TN25. Snug, Anjevi, Lugger, and Pitthirrit out for a sail from Warmies. Wednesday 4 December. First sail for Snug, Stephen Parker's fantastic, newly completed Scamp. First time using my Insta360 X4 camera. Steep learning curve in the editing, but I'm getting there 🙂

Will and I, in "Pitthirrit", and Chris Stockman, in "Ysolde", sailed from Altona to Point Cook and back on Monday, 30 September 2024. The winds were forecast to be West to South Westerlies, under 10 knots, but as soon as we left the harbour we had to reef, as the wind was gusting well past 15 knots, according to my wind gauge. 30 minutes later the wind had dropped to perhaps 5 knots. It settled down a bit after that, and we had a great run up to Pt Cook, anchored there for lunch, and then had the wind behind us all the way back to Altona.

Another great day on the bay!

Gary Hardy , Gavan Black, Ozzie the Ship's Dog, and I had a great sail on Friday 13 September 2024 from Half Moon Bay to Beaumaris Bay and back. The forecast wind was for a reasonably steady 10 knots Westerly, but when we arrived it was touching 15, and the ramp had an amazing amount of seaweed piled up on it. Gary moved some of the weed that had piled up, doing a great impression of King Canute (who tried to hold back the tide), but the weed kept piling up. Fortunately, Gary has an all-wheel drive car, and mine is front wheel drive, so the slippery ramp didn't deter us. Of course, once we had launched our boats, and set off with reefed sails, the wind dropped drastically, and the incoming waves made for slow progress for a while. Fortunately, after we shook out our reefs the wind did pick up again, and we had a splendid run down to Beaumaris Bay and back again, dodging the occasional fishing boat, and a wedding party in a Hummer once we had arrived back at Half Moon Bay.

A great day out, sailing from Altona to Point Cook and back with members of the Wooden Boat Association and friends on Tuesday 3 September 2024, with dolphins swimming past while we were anchored for lunch.

Great wind for a sail from Half Moon Bay to St Kilda Marina. The wind dropped on the way home though...

Great wind for a sail in Pitthirrit, our B&B Yacht Designs Lapwing 16, from Half Moon Bay to St Kilda Marina. The wind dropped on the way back home though...

It is difficult to draw a line under the work on a boat build, and say that it is finished. As you use the boat you discover that there are perhaps better ways to do things, or that there are extra features and changes that would make the boat easier to use, or more fit for purpose. So is the case with Pitthirrit. I've made a few changes, and have a couple more in mind. I've taken my time, and used Pitthirrit for a while now, and while I am still very happy with the way she turned out, there have been some changes to make.

A lazy afternoon on the water in Pitthirrit. Not much wind, and a low tide to come out on, but a great time to be on the water.

A lovely day out on the water in Pitthirrit, with other WBA members, and a few unexpected visitors...

The Wooden Boat Association confers the Alan Chinn Award every two years, for excellence in boatbuilding. It was established in 2018 in honour of founding member, long term committee member and highly skilled boatbuilder, Alan Chinn. The aim of the award is to promote the skills of boat building and restoration and to recognize the work of WBA members in their boat building activities.  This year, I was nominated for the award, and esd fortunate enough to win, for the build of Pitthirrit, our Lapwing 16. Having had a long association with Alan, I was honoured to be the 2023 recipient.

Kirsty and I, in Pitthirrit, joined Gary and Jim in Kirsty Ann, our old Core Sound 17, Andrew in Mars, and Gerard, in his Hartley TS14, on a sail from Altona to Williamsrtown and back in winds that varied from 8 to perhaps 15 kts..

It was an easy run down to Williamstown, and then a run back out to the channel markers and then across to the Altona ramp. Perfect weather for a Summer sail...

 The video and stills of Pitthirrit is by Gary Hardy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnXskZr4XTREstNrmiw6P1g

Another short video, by Sandra Nielsen, is at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q4csUONWwgY

Good wind, perfect temperature! Another great day out in Pitthirrit!

 The wind picked up during the day, so it was a great opportunity to try sailing Pirtthirrit reefed, which involves partially furling the sails around the masts. She remained well balanced, and still performed well, pointing upwind almost as well as when not reefed. I could have moved the downhaul to the reefed downhaul point, but I think that perhaps I should have a second download line and hook, as leaving the first downhaul in place meant that the sail didn't keep sliding around the mast when I was furling the sail.

At present, to reef a sail I have to:

• detach the snotter from the boom,
• remove it from the mast,
• roll the sail around the mast,
• thread the snotter strap through the reefing cringle on the sail and feed the line through the loop at the end of the snotter strap,
• run the snotter line through the two blocks on the boom and the snotter strap that has been wrapped around the mast, and then back to the tensioning cleat,
• add a loop of line to extend from the clew back to the hook at the end of the boom,
• pull the snotter in to tighten the sail within the wishbone boom.

This has to be done for both sails, and is much easier to do when tied up.

I'm thinking that I will make a couple of extra snotters, and set up some type of quick-release mechanism for the point where the snotter runs through the block on the boom. This way, I could unclip the snotter from the boom, leave the existing snotter in place on the mast, roll the sail around the mast, thread the new snotter through the reefing cringle, and then clip it to the boom. The other steps in reefing would remain the same, but it would certainly speed up  the process, both for reefing and removing the reef when the wind drops.

Gary Hardy, the current owner of Kirsty Anne, came on board and filmed us while reefed, and he has graciously provided the video seen here.

Sunday, 25th of May 2021 was our second sail in Pitthirrit, at Albert Park Lake. There still wasn't lots of wind for most of the day, but it was a lovely day to be out on the water!

 After we sold our B&B Yacht Designs Core Sound 17 we were without a boat for a year. That when was I decided that it was time to start on the next build. Initially, I had wanted to build a CS17 Mk3, which has a cabin, but when the plans arrived I discovered that the plans had been updated, and was now a few inches wider than had been detailed on the B&B website. It doesn't sound like much of a change, but it was enough to make the boat unable to fit down our driveway. So, back to the drawing board...

I could have built another CS17 Mk1, or a CS15, but I was taken by the B&B Yeach Designs Lapwing 16, a glued lapstrake cat rigged ketch. Slightly smaller than the CS17, it appeared to have everyting I liked about the CS17, but with a more traditional feel.

Empty weight of the boat, including masts, sails and sheets, is around 210kg (approximately 463 lb). When the saftety gear and odds and ends are added, the boat weighs around 250kg (roughly 550 lb). Adding our Honda 2HP air-cooled outboard and 5 litres of fuel takes the weight up to 268Kg (just under 591 lb).

This is a slightly modified version of the design, as, after consulting B&B Yacht Designs, I didn't add the decking, and opted instead to keep the boat completely open.

The name? I called our Lapwing Pitthirrit, the name for a Masked Lapwing in the Dhauwurd Wurrung language of the people of Gunditjmara country (the area around Warrnambool, Victoria). Given the changes I've made to the deck layout I thought that it was an appropriate name. Pitthirrit is pronounced Pitirit.

The photos below are from our first sailing day in Pitthirrit, in April 2021. One of the other boats on Albert Park Lake that day was Kirsty Ann, the CS17 I built back in 2005. The wind varied from none to a touch over 5 kts, but it was enough to get us to the end of the lake and back in the company of other members of the Wooden Boat Association.

So far, the only changes I've had to make is to add small wooden blocks to the aft side of each mast, to prevent the boom straps from sliding down the mast when the snotters are tensioned. In these photos you can see that the booms are sitting at the very bottom of the opening, and the snotters are actually pulling on the sleeves. Hopefully these blocks will prevent this in future.

These pages detail the build of our Lapwing over the course of 2020, and into 2021. Perversely, I was able to get lots of work done in January and February 2020, but as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded I had less time to work on the boat, and progress slowed down somewhat.

March was a very busy month on the boat.

With some help from Kirsty, I reinstalled the rubrails, adding a seam of caulking to stop them squeaking against the hull if flexed.

Most of the hardware has been installed: sheet blocks, fairleads, centreboard uphaul and downhaul, and sheets and other lines cut to size.

The pintles and gudgeons for the rudder have been installed and final coats of epoxy applied to the rudder. Whilst this was being done I also shaped and glued the pieces for the tiller, and temporarily installed the hardware for the rudder uphaul and downhaul and the tiller extension. These were then removed, the tiller and extension given a final sand, and then coated with Deks Olje.

The finish line is in sight, but I seem to be slowing down...

The rudder has been shaped and coated in epoxy. The rudder cheeks have been glued, and now that the rudder blade is finished I can cut the timber inserts and finish off the rudder stock. The plans call for a copper tube through this insert, used for the rudder downhall. A piece of old copper water pipe was found under the house, and will be fitted shortly.

Rather than using a thwart to mount the main mast partners, I decided to combine the mast partner with an enlarged breasthook, which also gives me a larger surface to stand on when stepping off the boat. I haven’t decided what to do with regards to holding the mast in the partner. That’s for later this month.

I’m starting to feel like the kid in the back of the car, asking “are we there yet?”

I am getting closer, but there’s still a long way to go.

In December and January I was able to take advantage of my down time, and devote quite a bit of time to the boat.

The outside of the hull was spray painted, sanded, spray painted, sanded, and so on over several days. Eventually, after a final cut and polish, I was happy to leave it alone.

During November I didn’t get as much done on the boat as I would have liked. Work keeps on getting in the way, and as I rather like the idea of a bank account that is going up rather than down, I find it hard to say no to my clients...

I did manage to start work on the wishbone booms, and ordered my sails, so there has been some progress.

This month I continued working on the masts for my Lapwing. I decided to sand the first mast before planing the second, and made some handles that could be clamped onto a length of sandpaper. It was then just a matter of working my way along the mast, pulling the sandpaper back and forth until an area was sufficiently rounded, and then rotating the mast to work on the next length.

It was slow, dusty work, but very satisfying to see the masts take shape and the colour of the timber reveal itself.

It’s been a slow month in the garage, as work has kept me at my desk for far too long each day, as well as at weekends.

I have managed to glue the masts, and start on planing one of them from 8 sides down to 16, and then to 32 sides, ready for sanding.

The mast staves were dry-fitted and the edges cleaned up with a rabbet plane, and then with help from Kirsty, the mast staves were laid up beside each other, coated with epoxy, and then placed into the half-circle station moulds that had been set to the correct height to take into account the taper of the masts, keeping the masts as straight as possible.

Well, the paint’s arrived, but I’ve still not started painting…

I am making good progress though. I’ve put together five self-draining hatch assemblies, although they are yet to be sanded and epoxy coated. Two hatches will be fitted to the longitudinal seats on each side the boat, and the other will be fitted into the stern seat.

These assemblies have a channel running each side of the hatch opening, providing both something for the hatch lid to seal against and also drain water off the seat tops.

Once the boat is the right way up again I will install these, before fitting the seat tops.

Whilst procrastinating over what colour to paint the hull, I spent some time building a jig for cutting the birdsmouth profile in the strakes of Oregon that will be used to make my masts. The back of the fence on my Triton workbench is set at 45 degrees, with a lip at the base to support timber before and after it touches the saw blade. Reversing the fence, so that the diagonal side comes up against the blade gave me an easy way to make the 45 degree cuts needed in one edge of the strake.

The weather’s been colder, and it’s getting harder to pump epoxy from the containers. I’ve made a hot box to keep the containers in, and I’ve been using a low-powered light bulb to maintain a reasonable temperature in the box during the week, and then for the weekend I use an incandescent bulb given to me by Chris, to bump up the temperature a bit, to get the epoxy up to a better temperature for pumping, but also trying to not let it get so warm that during the curing I see any amine blush caused by the falling temperatures.

I’ve managed a couple of good weekends working on the lapwing in the last month, plus the Queen’s Birthday holiday, so definite progress has been made!

I removed the gunwales, glued the laminates together, taped the planks, and reinstalled the gunwales, to let the epoxy set whilst holding the timbers to the correct shape. In a seek or two I’ll remove them once again and sand them again, and apply the Deks Olje that will be used to finish them.

This month seems to have slipped away, with only minimal progress on my boat, but looking back, there has still been quite a bit achieved.

I’ve extended the buoyancy chambers further forward, to meet the hull, cleaned up some of the inside of the hull, and I’ve also installed the inwales and dry fitted the gunwales.

Firstly, the spacer blocks were cut and glued in place using spring clamps made from a couple of pieces of PVC tubing I had tucked away against the day when it would come in handy.

Work continues on the boat, and I am happy with the progress I have made over the last month. The keel has been fitted, and there’s been sanding – lots of sanding, and it is all being done with a sanding block! I’ve spent a fair part of my time on the boat this month sanding the hull (music in the garage is a great help), and once I was happy with that, I applied three coats of epoxy. I was fortunate to have a warm weekend to do this. The first coat was rolled and brushed on the first day, and the second and third coats were applied on the second day. By not delaying more than 24 hours between coats I didn’t need to sand before adding more epoxy. Using a roller, and tipping out with a brush, resulted in a good finish. Less pleasing was variation in colour of the ply where I had sanded through one layer to another at the scarfed joints, around the lands at the bow, and where screws had been used to pull planks together. This wasn’t so noticeable when it was sanded, but coating the ply with epoxy has highlighted these flaws.

Templates for the first two pairs of planks were included in the plans, along with a note that these should be carefully checked, as every boat would be slightly different, and it was unlikely that they would fit perfectly. No, they didn’t, and the first plank of the second pair had to be recut. The remaining planks had to be measured, from the previous plank, and the appropriate point on each bulkhead, using a batten to fair a line between the bulkheads – a process called spiling.

I am currently in the early stages of building a Lapwing, a 4.77m glued lapstrake cat ketch design from B&B Yacht Designs. My last boat was a Core Sound 17, another cat ketch from B&B, which I sold a year ago. I’ve not built a glued lapstrake boat before, so I’m picking up a new set of skills and enjoying myself immensely.

This glued-lapstrake design uses a number of bulkheads that are part of the boat, instead of a strongback, plus a couple of temporary frames, all propped up on a pair of home made saw horses. In building this boat I’m remembering the joy of using well-sharpened planes and chisels, and the effectiveness of a nicely curved filleting stick!