Stada Shipyard

The rudder can be hung on the transom now. With the drill-fill-drill method I made the holes for the bolts. So it is impossible that water comes into the wood. The whole rudder system is actually rather heavy, it could fit on a boat of 8 meters or more. I am glad that the russer itself can be moved up in cases of shallow water and the helm can be put upwards. For that reason the rudder head has that strange pointed top. It gives the helm some 'body'. It all needs another last layer of varnish though.

It was finally time to launch the boat. Some things on the to-do list but it should float now. The boat is ready to be used as a rowing craft. We bought a bottle of champagne and invited neighbours, friends and family members for a little party. My wife baptized the boat with the name 'Peanuts', my favourite snack. After the launch we rowed a bit, even with three adults onboard. In the afternoon I rowed for one and a half hours without any problem.

The  buttons of the oar's collar are strips of leather of 12 mm width. With two pieces each I could make them about 13 mm high. They are rolled on the end of the collar and glued with epoxy. To get it together when drying, I made an iron wire around it. The leather was absorbing the epoxy, so I had to use much of it. As a result, it was hard to get everything clean. I should have protected the collar leather better. It got some stains of it. But after using the oars for some time, you pobably won't see it anymore. I am quite satisfied with the whole result. Professionally looking oars to me!

To protect the wood of the oars while rowing, you need so-called oar collars. I bought a piece of leather for it. The boat had to be put in the garden and I had to take place on the seat and put the oars in the right position. With that I found out the exact place for the 'buttons' on the oar collar. The button prevents the oar from sliding. It is made of small leather on the collar. I expected the leather stretchable and made the collars 1 cm smaller than the circumference of the oar. While sewing the oar collar together, I found out that there is some space between the two sides. Probably no problem, but with the second one I will try to wet is with water. The button will be made of some small pieces of leather, glued with epoxy on the collar. The holes are punched and drilled. The end of the waxed yarn is made stiff with help of a match flame in order to be able to get it through the holes.

Done with both inside and outside, two times a layer of DD. Between them some sanding, especially on the spots that come in sight. The center part of the inside bottom has got some anti slip powder in the paint. Nice rough result, not glossy though. All banks have two layers now and are like a mirror. Left over are the rudder and the spars. The rudder has to have the pintles. For the gudgeons I have to make the holes in the transom. I want to drill wider holes, fill it with epoxt and drill again, for a waterproff result. Then I have to fasten the center seat tot the trunk. It will probably be installed for good. For the oars I bought some leather for the collars. It will prevent wear on the spots where the oars touch the oare locks. With was-oated nylon the collars will be stitched. The 'buttons' (that will keep the oars from sliding outboard through the oarlock) will be made of leather as well. A spiral 12 mm strip of leather around the oar. To determine the exact position,

After some extra hours of sanding, the varnishing could be started. I use transarent DD-paint. Two components 1:2. And some thinner. Epoxy is sensitive for sunlight and DD is a sort of filter against UV. All parts should be painted at least two times. I used a foamroller for the easy parts and a little brush for the small parts. For the rail I used a stick with a part of foam. Very handy and neat. Something I realised a day after: for making the paint more fluent, I added some extra hardener instead of thinner. Same bottles... Nevertheless all got hardened and looks very shiny and glossy. One little problem with the oars: the red paint liquefied again. The brush got red and it was very hard to get the non red surface to paint transparent. One of the grips has some faint red on it now. Two days later I put a second layer on the outside. A little extra rolling with the foam roller after 10 minutes was not a good idea: because the paint was thicker already, it became a bit like orange s