“For Eric [Jones], I developed what I call the ‘egg box principle,’, making a backbone out of plywood and timber framing to the exact shape of the keel, stem and stern profile of the hull and slotting bulkheads on to this. It removed the heavy building base structure out of the cycle; the fixed backbone and bulkhead structure could be stood up on any type of floor and squared up with a string through the centreline. The bulkheads would be leveled with wedges to the floor. It was a simple but radical step in design for self-building. It looks a simple idea but at the time, as far as I know, it was unique.” - James Wharram,People of the Sea(2020).
Hot Tip: If you’re building with friends or family like we are, make sure everyone is clear on their core roles and responsibilities. For our build, Remy is the ‘lead’ builder. This doesn’t give him the right to be authoritarian (not that he would be—it’s not in his nature), but it does mean we can rely on him for leadership and quality control.
Case in point: While I was juggling multiple tasks—measuring bulkheads, putting the baby to sleep, filming, and coming back to measure again—I made a small error. My bulkhead calculation was off by 1mm. Remy spotted the mistake during our next session. If you remember, we’d worked on the same set of bulkhead line drawings during ourfirst build session. That evening, Remy cut out his bulkhead and later placed it over my uncut template, immediately catching the discrepancy.
Phase 3: Cutting out the Bulkheads and Backbone
Eager to continue on with the momentum from ourprevious session, Remy stayed up late to cut out the bulkheads and begin working on the backbone. Unfortunately, we have not been able to purchase a rubber cutting mat (sorry Hanneke!) and have been forced to compromise by using my old pregnancy stable table with a solid wooden base to cut on. I don’t reccommend this at all, for obvious reasons, but it’s better than cutting on our kitchen table (which is not ours - we rent a furnished house!).
#2 Model Narai Mk IV Boat Building Log - backbone and bulkheads
by Angie Richard
Jan 25
Hot Tip: If you’re building with friends or family like we are, make sure everyone is clear on their core roles and responsibilities. For our build, Remy is the ‘lead’ builder. This doesn’t give him the right to be authoritarian (not that he would be—it’s not in his nature), but it does mean we can rely on him for leadership and quality control.
Case in point: While I was juggling multiple tasks—measuring bulkheads, putting the baby to sleep, filming, and coming back to measure again—I made a small error. My bulkhead calculation was off by 1mm. Remy spotted the mistake during our next session. If you remember, we’d worked on the same set of bulkhead line drawings during our first build session. That evening, Remy cut out his bulkhead and later placed it over my uncut template, immediately catching the discrepancy.
Phase 3: Cutting out the Bulkheads and Backbone
Eager to continue on with the momentum from our previous session, Remy stayed up late to cut out the bulkheads and begin working on the backbone. Unfortunately, we have not been able to purchase a rubber cutting mat (sorry Hanneke!) and have been forced to compromise by using my old pregnancy stable table with a solid wooden base to cut on. I don’t reccommend this at all, for obvious reasons, but it’s better than cutting on our kitchen table (which is not ours - we rent a furnished house!).
Read the full log on Substack HERE.