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Of course,
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News and Site
Updates for Storer Boat Plans
Quick
Canoe Electric - designed specifically for trolling motors.
5 or 6mph with a 34lb thrust electric trolling motor (Jarvis
Walker, Minn Kota etc). A roofrackable boat for fishing or
day
tripping. The boat keeps the Quick Canoe concept of very simple
building and cheap materials, but turns it into a minimal motor boat.
It could take a very small outboard, but I strongly recommend
reading the article.
It
is another collaboration, this time with Dana Stovall in the USA coming
up with the concept and doing the mods. When it worked so
well we
put together this slightly optimised version based on his experiences
with the original boat.
Micro - I mean Nano Cruising boat
- Perttu Korhonen came up with this concept using all the OzRacer
running gear to make a very cute and innovative sleep aboard dinghy.
It is a case of really nice industrial design. He
has
called it the Ocean Explorer. And it works! He's
been on some two and three day cruises in Finland.
It is part crazy, part brilliant
and he has used it for cold weather cruising in his home country of
Finland.
It
was an excellent colloboration across the globe to make this great
little boat. Perttu's plan drawings are a wonder.
93 pages
for $40.
12 foot super simple
and cheap sailboat - Launch and sailing report for the the PDGoose
and a free yawl version for plan purchasers - 12ft version of the
OzRacer (originally inspired by the Bolger Brick and PDRacer) - it uses
all the same runnng gear from the OzRacer (OZ PDRacer) so you just need
to build the hull if you have the sail, spars, rudder and centreboard
from the smaller boat.
Plywood
Canoe Plan comparison
- I have put together this page that contrasts my two main canoe design
families. The Eureka Canoe is a premium plywood canoe that is
designed to behave like a classic working canoe from 100 years ago -
great for touring - light and beautiful. The Quick Canoe that
is
designed to be the easiest and cheapest plywood canoe to build but
still work OK on open water or a river - for people who just want a
simple boat that is not too precious to use.
John
Goodman and his son Mark sail the first yawl rigged Goat Island Skiff
up the Texas coast for 200 miles. They were in the famous
Texas200 event originally thought up by Duckworks.
The boat looks great! David thought it was pretty
fast! This boat
- Goat Island Skiff - was built from a precut plywood kit made by
Clinton Chase in Portland, Maine.
Robert
Hoffman in Poland has a nice bunch of photos
of sailing his BETH sailing canoe on a river in Poland.
He has made a very nice job of this boat after buying the boat
plans 6 months ago.
Perttu
takes some videos of paddling his quick canoe down a river in Finland.
Last we saw he was building the canoe in the middle of the
snow.
Now the snow has been feeding the little river he and his
friend
are paddling down. They are not always heading in the right
direction as they get used to canoes and canoeing, but you can tell
they are having FUN!
Two
Quick Canoes built in Record Time from my wooden
boat plans. Cliff and PJ build one in five
days to take to the Tinaroo Wooden Boat Festival in Far North
Queensland. Clinton1 builds his plywood quick canoe in
sydney - Cost $250 and only 5.5 hours to build.
The Quick Canoes are not designed to be the best canoes in
the
world, but they are the least bad of the most simple of canoes..
Three
Goat Island Skiffs have been launched and one has been used more
extensively, Christophe's
Goat in New Hampshire, then BobWes
in Sacramento, then Woodeneye in
the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia.
Pictures
of the PD Goose - a 12ft version of the PDRacer.
Built by Jim Post in the USA
New
Plan - Quick
Canoe 155 - First
one took the builder 4 1/2 hours to get on the water. It has
been
designed to be as easy to build as possible while keeping some of the
qualities of a good paddling canoe - in particular the ability to
track. Very good stabilty for fishing.
Very detailed Plans $30
Repairing
an old mirror dinghy. What do you do if you buy an older boat
and find it leaks.
The big trick is not to take it too much apart ... that way
you
can be sailing again real soon. Conversation with Melanie
from
the UK. List of repair resources.
Pictures
of drop in outriggers from my boat plans in use in the Philippines to
make a tender dinghy a bit more stable.
An
MSD Rowboat put together by TomTre in Queensland - plywood and epoxy.
I get to see it and take photos on the water during my (more
or less) yearly visit to Queensland.
Recordings
of talks
- I recorded a number of interviews with interesting people on my trip
to the USA. Some are boat users or from other areas.
The
others are interviews with people or in places that are well known like
Chuck Leinweber of Duckworks,
A tour of the back storage area at the
Columbia River Maritime Museum with the head curator and exec-Director,
with Clint Chase boat builder and more.
USA
Tour - September to November 2009 - I was in the USA
doing some
talks and workshops on the East and West Coasts. You can see my
itinerary here.
The trip was supported by the worldwide PDRacer community and
Duckworks. I am doing more or less the same talk each time
about
how most boats can be hugely improved without a great deal of cost.
There is a page of supporting
links for the talks here. Eventually the talk will
go up on the net.
Pictures
from the USA tour - Mystic Seaport, Museum of Modern Art, Woodenboat
Magazine, Lake Timothy Messabout, Lake Conroe Messabout, Columbia River
Maritime Museum (the storage shed)
New - Plan Supplement to extend the
OZ PDR to just under 12ft long - Bob
Alston contacted me a couple of years ago asking about this
possibility. He liked it so much he built a second one as a
pure
motor boat. The PDGoose is an ideal second boat for the Oz
PDRacer builder. The wooden
boat plans use all the components of the PDR except
for
the hull. So two boats for very little extra trouble!
Links to pics of a finished hull above.
GIS third in Caledonia RAID
- Joost and Viola bring their Goat Island
Skiff
from Holland and sail and row into a second place in their division and
third place overall. The designer knew nothing of it ... so
exciting for that jaded soul.
New
Website
for the design under development - the RAID41 Racing/Cruising
Dinghy.
The boat will leverage the construction methods I
use to
create a relatively simply built distance cruising sailboat for one
person with the ability to carry an extra person for more casual
sailing.
FAQ section on gluing endgrain
- it can be so simple to make a good strong joint in plywood or
endgrain timber following this method. Takes no time either
to
make a scarf join or ply butt join structurally sound.
RAID41 Expedition Sailing Dinghy
- After the success of the three little 8ft PDRacers in the 200
mile long TEXAS200 there was discussion on the Oz Woodwork Forum
about a singlehanded boat for
long distance events, but be a fair bit faster than the
smaller boats.
Narrow
enough to fit in a 4ft wide box trailer or maybe just light enough and
narrow enough to get on a roofrack. Self draining after
capsize.
Plan is being put together now. UK build of prototype underway.
The
design that is emerging is the 15.5ft RAID41. Not designed to
be
an out and out racer (but still quick), but scaled to make it
easy
for one person to handle on the water or on land. It uses
some of
the standard OZ PDRacer bits so is a potential upgrade. There
have been some problems with this project.
Namely the boat is too hard to get back into after capsize
because of the self draining floor shedding water. So the
plan
for the moment is discontinued.
Working
on Computer Precut Plywood Kits in Australia
- I have been working
with DuckFlat to produce accurate precut kits for both the Goat Island
Skiff. To say it has been a learning curve is an
understatement!!!. See the story. We are interested
in
talking to established CNC cutting businesses in other countries to
promote sales of boat
plans and boat kits.
How
to REPAIR AND
RESTORE WOOD AND PLYWOOD BOATS
- Everything from repairing a small hole through to replacing major
parts of the boat. Includes nice methods for painting and
non-skid for best appearance and minimum work.
DUCKFLAT Spring School from 30
Sept to 10 October
- is taking bookings. You can build any
project within
reason.
You pay for the materials, but the school fee is $600 approx
plus
$45 for each additional person. It is also possible to just
pay
to come and work on several boats - a great chance to get
hands on
experience of several boatbuilding methods. Includes space,
use
of tools and tuition.
June 13 - I have just put a little bio of my designing background -
still working on it - here
- maybe it will be interesting or useful for some!
May 1 - PDRacer speed
comparison with a (modified) Nutshell Pram - the PDRacer
EATS
Nutshells for breakfast (it is light wind but not all 8ft boats
are equal - meant to be a little humourous). See the bottom
of the video page. Broadband best.
April 27 -
Another Duck Flat Boatbuildling School Photosets
- We just had 10 days - I was one of the instructors with
students coming from all over Australia. 12 projects
including
Oughtred, Storer, Lillistone and Barret designs.
Here is
the general pic set - and here is the Eureka canoe with some new ideas on how to
fit the decks so it looks like a master joiner has
made them.
March 31 - Sunfish
Sailors use OZPDRs for Frostbiting in the USA
- David Parker wanted to use a Sunfish sail on an
OZ
PDR. Already the PDR is one of the cheapest boats, but if you
have a Sunfish this is a way of sailing in the colder months
and
keeping your feet dry. The average cost of building a PDRacer
is
only a couple of hundred dollars - won't be as fast as a sunfish but
sails properly in all directions is lightweight and plans are $20.
March 25 - Two internet interview podcasts
with designer Michael Storer
- Podcast Interview on Furledsails.com. Noel and Christy
interviewed me Michael Storer and have put the interviews up on this
wonderful resource. So many great interviews. The
conversation
ranges around why storerboats are different (it is because OZ boats are
different) and where I got my ideas about comprehensive plans.
Also discussion of different rig types.
February
20 - 2 New
Websites GOAT ISLAND SKIFF and EUREKA CANOE
- Two very beautiful websites created by the remarkable Peter Hyndman.
They detail the current state of information about building
and
using the two different boats, some articles, lots of pictures showing
step by step details and links to my wooden
boat plans. The now (slightly) famous videos
showing
the boats in use are also linked to.
February 7 - NEW FORUM for STORER BOATS
- There is now a Storer Boats Forum on the net. It is at the
popular OZ Woodwork Forum run by UBeaut. They also run the
very
popular "Working with Wood" shows that are around Australia.
Because it is new it is still small, but it will grow and
grow.
So if you have any general questions about my boats you are
welcome to contribute. Joining up takes a few minutes and
they
won't send you any annoying emails.
January
29 - VIDEOS - of Goat
Island Skiff, PDRacer, Eureka Canoe
- while in Mooloolaba Peter and I worked on a set of videos for the
boats we had on hand. We actually had a BBQ and invited some
of
the local storerboat builders to come along. We had 7three
PDRs,
two Eurekas and "Gruff" the Goat.
The food and
weather was
pretty kind - but the wind was a bit puffy at times. But
no-one
got into any serious problems ... I got stuck on the bottom at low tide
a few times and PhilW flipped one of the PDRacers - but had it upright
and sailing again about 30 seconds later.

January
21 - Chuck and Sandra Leinweber of Duckworks USA
in OZ
- We were privileged to be visited by the proprieters of Duckworks last
week. They run one of the biggest websites about wooden boats
and selling boat
plans
on
the web and also are my USA agents. Chuck and Sandra are on a
"Once In A Lifetime" trip to Australia and New Zealand.
They
arrived a little jet lagged on the Friday but on Saturday we rigged up
the two PDRacers, the Goat Island Skiff and also arranged for Steve
Wagstaff to bring his unlaunched OZ PDR along to be put in the water
for the first time. In this case the Mooloola River.
Photo series is here.
December
-
Article in Small Boat Advisor
- Article about the Goat Island Skiff and how the need to "compromise
in Boat Design will give you exactly what you ask for. A
compromise. However that sorrowful condition can be avoided
by
thinking clearly about what you want the boat to acheive.
It
should always be better than the sum of its parts! Also a
discussion on how OZ and NZ wooden boat design is different from most
of the rest of the world.
December 1 - BIG DISCOUNT
for
some plans - up
to 66%
- I decided that some of the plans that sell more slowly will be
discounted heavily when they are bought as PDF plans Delivered by
email. The plans included are for the three sizes of riverboats
- 35, 27, 23ft all outboard motor powered and also the canoe
accessories - the drop
in sailing rig
and drop in outriggers.
November
8 - Pictures of buildng a Goat Island Skiff
hull and hollow mast
- These pictures were taken at the Duck Flat Wooden Boats Spring School
(book here) where Paul and Chris - who had never built a boat - put
together a GIS.
And they ended up taking the fantastic result
back to Sydney. The full story and links to the photos are on
my
Blog.
October
22 - New
Lug rig option for OZ PDR
- it has a shorter mast, a little bit more sail (89 square feet) and
can be reefed easily - This is available free with proof of purchase of
the OZ plans. Of course you know we have the best pages on
the
net or maybe anywhere about making lug and sprit rigs perform
well!?
October
19 - 11
year old Dakota builds her OZ PDRacer - Story and Pictures.
Over three lots of school holidays Dakota and her Dad Larry
built an OZ PDRacer. They launched it two weekends ago.
September
21 - OZ PD Racers
being registered around the
world - Romania, Senegal, West Africa - even
Ontario!
Not to mention Australia and Switzerland - OZ PD
Racers are getting close to being launched. See the blog
August 29 - Downloadable
rigging list for OZ PDR - in PDF format.
Has some pics taken from the more comprehensive pictorial
rigging guide on Flickr
September
29 -
Price Drop for 27ft Venezia
Riverboat / Canal Boat.
Nice boat for holidays and weekends afloat - good speed under
a 15hp outboard motor. Plans price has
been reduced from $270 to $180
July 26 - Adelaide
Working with wood show
Storerboatplans and Duck Flat Wooden Boats will be sharing a stand at
the Adelaide Working with Wood Show. 27-29 July from 10am to
5pm
at Wayville showgrounds.
We have a 16' Goat Island
Skiff, two 8'
puddle ducks (PDRacers) , a 31' Bolger Tennessee Riverboat (it's is
being refurbished after 12 years of use), one part built CLC kayak.
Boat books, plans, slideshows and stuff. Epoxy and
polyurethane
glues.

July
14 - Quick and simple hull
repairs - Major and minor.
Repairs
are simplified because fasteners were almost all eliminated from the
boat structure - no nails, screws or bolts except to attach hull
fittings. I replace the bottom of the PDRacer in one day and
go
sailing it the next.
May
25 - Setting up
lugsail and spritsail rigs for excellent performance.
Many
sailors and designers don't realise how much performance you can get
out of tradional sailing rigs.
"EVERYBODY"
knows that lug and sprit rigs are cheap - but few realise their
performance potential. Here I give some resources how to tune
and
set up lug and sprit rigs. It also applies to lateen rigs.
May 24 - Historic 5.5
metre yacht Kirribilli (KA3) is being restored.
Duckflat
have started work on Kirribilli, the third 5.5 Metre class yacht built
in Australia, for a consortium of owners.
Keel
is off - boat is upside down - hull is half stripped and half splined
with fresh wood -
starboard side. I'm assisting with the technical side. We are
looking at resolving some structural problems while controlling the
weight of the boat and revising the keel section - the leading edge is
way too sharp.
We
had a
talk today with the new owners today - she's built of beautiful WR
Cedar planking and glued with
resorcinol glue. Tween planks is splined with almost like a
veneer of
cedar - no more than 1.5mm wide at the hull surface.and no variation in
width. Not surprising of a Bill Barnett built boat!
May 20 - Eureka
Plywood
Canoe News
May 16 - New GIS Goat Island Skiff hits the water -
another happy customer from our boat plans
April 17th
- I will be at the Brisbane
Timber and Working with Wood Show
at the Showgrounds at Fortitude Valley.
I will have two of
the
wood OZ PDRacers that come out of three sheets of plywood on display
but I'll be happy to discuss any of my designs.
The show is from 20 April to 22 April 2007. The
link above
has more information.
April 16 - BREAKING
sailing speed record in the PDRacer Class.
The
OZ PDR proves controllable and quick
(for a tiny boat) in
stronger winds and a
big chop at the South Australian Wooden Boat Festival at Goolwa, South
Australia.
April
10th - Taiwan boats
I
went to Taiwan a couple of years ago and got some great photos
showing how traditional boatbuilding methods have been adapted to
industrial age materials.
March
20 - A NEW DESIGN
Venezia
a
canal/river boat for a client in Venice.
Venice, Italy that is! You can see details of this
8.2m
(27') easy to build plywood boat that is powered by an economical 4
stroke
outboard motor. 15hp gives her an easy cruising speed of 6 to
7
knots.
Sleeps two and has a separate toilet compartment and galley.
Boat
plans available now.
March 15 - Rebuilding
a
Murray River Cruiser. NEW PAGE. Chris
bought an old wood hull that had seen better days.
It had great
space
inside. This page goes through some of the design process
showing
some of the steps and also showing pics of how the boat is now.
Duck Flat in South Australia are doing the work.
February
12 - Rigging details for OZ PDRacer sprit rig. Also gives
many
tips on cheap but effective rigging for any sprit rigged dinghy.
Pictorial on Flickr
February
9th - My
brochure for the Tasmanian Wooden Boat Show and the Goolwa
Wooden boat festival.
My
agents will be in Tassie on the Boatcraft Pacific Stand but I will be
at the Goolwa wooden boat show with a whole heap of boats (all
wood) on
the
Duckflat stand and on the water with the PDRacers - come and try one!
February
8th
Madly
busy getting the two original PDRacers ready for the Goolwa Wooden Boat
(South Australia) show early March - it has given me the chance to take
some photos to
make the rigging
guide
January
29
Some
nice pics of the 16' Goat Island Skiff at speed. The point is
that plywood boats can look really pretty. Look on the right side of
this page link if
you want
a traditional looking sailing boat that goes ...
January
27
Twice yearly Boatbuilding
Classes in
conjunction with Duck Flat Wooden Boats, Adelaide Australia
January
15
Big update to
FAQ - lightweight paulownia
timber, canoe design, repairing decks,
tortureboards, restoring a racing dinghy
January
5
Update to FAQ with
some basic fiberglassing methods - fibreglass taping plywood boats, and
glassing larger areas
- small areas, large areas
and complex
shapes.
December
28
Can three basic PDR Sailboat Hull shells be
put
together in four days? The answer is YES!
September
26
Page
Added to Eureka
Plywood Canoe
Section - Extra light version 15'6" x 34lbs
Two
keen canoeists from Melbourne worked hard to pull some more weight out
of the already light Eureka 155 Canoe. Shows once again how
light and pretty plywood canoes and other plywood boats can be.
PDRacer
- Simplest Cheapest sailboat Site Launched
INTRO PRICE - $20 Plans - BUY ONLINE
The
Goat
Island Skiff - Updated August 25
The
most popular of my designs - a fast 16ft sailing boat - beachcruiser.
Sailing performance is up with modern boats but traditional
good
looks and wood of course. Will take a small outboard and rows
nicely. A lot of thinking is drawn from our Australian
tradition
of lightweight wooden boats. It is still very strong!!!
Online
Shopping - Updated
August 22
You
can order plans with direct
online payment on the Duck Flat
Wooden Boats Site. See links on the wooden
boat plans pages for each boat.
The
PD Racer- Updated
May 7
The cheapest simplest most basic
sailing boat
that you can imagine. We built 2 for a total of $700.
Our
design job was to make them sail really well - see the videos.
FANTASTIC
little boats for adults and kids. Three sheets of plywood and
some bits and pieces
The
Fenwick Williams
Catboat page- Updated May 7
A
Gorgeous Catboat designed by Fenwick Williams has been launched - cedar
strip - gorgeous wood work. Trusty inboard motor.
The PD
Racer Project page - Updated April 26th
A
lot of my time in the past few weeks has been involved with the PD
Racer Project - simply the cheapest, simplest most basic sailing boat
that you can imagine. We built 2 for a total of $700.
The PD
Racer
Project page
is up and going with cool VIDEOS showing just how well the boats work.
(I also enjoyed a week or so sailing them around on the
Mooloola
River - not bad work if you can get it!).
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