CRAFTSMANSHIP Dinghy Notes


From a kit... ......to afloat


My three-day boat


Unskilled, Guy Venables found himself building a Fyne Boat Kits skiff, and even deciding its final specification on day one


“I can’t build a boat. Boatbuilders build boats,” I thought as I stood in front of an ominous looking pile of wood and ply, “and I’m a cartoonist. Why couldn’t we just buy one?” I already have a boat on Hove seafront. It is a twin-skin fibreglass converted rowing boat that weighs as much as a church and has a tramp living underneath it. I call it “Der Schweinhund” and it’s a leaky cumbersome lump that, when upside down, looks as though it has beached itself and is bloating in the sun. I longed for something which was light enough that I could carry or roll down the beach into the sea by myself, row or motor out to fishing


88 CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2011


spots and throw in a line. It would also be useful to be able to pop it on the roof of a car and drive it, possibly to a classic boat event, like Beale Park. So I needed something light, strong and ‘worky’. CB contacted Fyne Boat Kits, explained what we wanted and they suggested the ‘Jimmy Skiff’. A 13ft (4m) tough, simple rowing or sailing boat with an engine mount and lots of room.


DEMYSTIFYING


Phil and Paul are Fyne Boat Kits, which they started off in 1998 in the Lake District with an ethos of demystifying boat building and a mantra of: ‘My project, my boat,


“They supply constant mentor


support by telephone”


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my dream’. At the centre of their business are their computer-guided pre-cut pre-drilled and pre-machined wooden boat kits.


They send these totally complete kits from their workshop to enthusiasts all over the world. Alongside the kits they supply constant mentor support by telephone, seeing customers through every stage of the build – sometimes only to assure them that they are doing things right.


Their designs range widely from canoes and kayaks to a small cabin cruiser and cater for the entire spectrum of practical ability. Their range is growing steadily by four or


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Left, above: My project. Three pieces of ply are the start of what three (and a bit) days later, left below, will become my dream; this Jimmy skiff


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PHOTOGRAPHS BY GUBGUB AN TING


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