Daunting tasks I can no longer put off . . . .

Having made the rudder, the next job was the tiller - but this would have to be shaped to clear the motor which I hadn't, at that point, bought. So what size and make of motor???
The most general rule of thumb seems to be 1 hp per 500 lbs of boat weight. My best estimate of weight with 2 adults and assorted kit on board is around 600 kg - say 1200 lbs - so that a 2½ hp motor should be ok. However, most motors this size don't have a reverse - you have to swing them around 180 to go in reverse so that the tell tale them sprays into the boat. For a reverse gear you seem to need at least a 4 hp motor, so this is what I opted for. Any more would seem superfluous since this length of hull is never going plane or go beyond about 5 knots; if I find myself facing a 5 knot current, no amount of hp will take me forward. 
As for make of motor, I compared all the technical stats. until my head hurt and I concluded that it actually doesn't matter all that much - so I bought a black one!
Now I was in a position to construct the outboard well.

The first thing to do was to make an accurate mockup of the outboard well in chipboard and then to mount the motor in it so as to gauge the minimum size of cutout in the hull. The plans allow for the motor to tilt up into the boat so that the cutout needs to be long enough to permit this. It would be possible to cut out a small circular hole to clear the prop. and then lift the motor straight upwards but it weighs 26 kg and then there's nowhere to stow it, so an elongated cutout seemed a beeter option. It looked like this:

a template is bonded in place which will serve as a base for hull inserts; lots of small holes can be seen here to guide the cutting out. The result is this showing the cutout and the resultant hull section that is to be used as a plug-in when the motor is removed:

The plug-in gets a lip bonded to it with seals on the underside which then fits back into the cutout and is held in place by button catches.

 An identical insert is then shaped but with a cutout and gasket fitted to go around the otboard leg. The gasket is 2 mm neoprene. On the underside of the hull, a 2nd gasket is fitted forward of and overlapping the 1st.

Then I could at last fit the motor and then I could shape the tiller.

Incidental stuff that I didn't think would take long!

I'd left the rudder assembly until now due to lack of space in my workshop/polytunnel. However, the time came to construct a sort of slipway from the polytunnel into the outside world (or my back garden as it's sometimes called) so that work could proceed.

The rudder plans show two cheeks spaced apart by the thickness of the rudder but of course, if you do this you end up with a rudder firmly clamped between the cheeks which really need a couple of mm extra space to allow the rudder to swivel. I also inset some 1 mm tunfnol washers in both the cheeks and the blade to help smooth the swivelling.

I find these drop rudders a bit of a pain in use, so routed out a recess in the blade to hold about 2 kg of lead (this being enough to counter the buoyancy of the blade). Hopefully then, I'll only need a single line to raise the blade - really no telling until it's in the water. (Voice from the future: 2 kg wasn't enough; 3 kg probably)

The decoration shown is of course quite unnecessary and matches some equally pointless art nouveau on the bow - but I like it!

Next came the spars - nice lengths of Douglas Fir - which, after simply hours of planing and rasp work, came to resemble mast, boom and yard - finished with about 10 coats of oil. I'm presently working on the fittings and rigging - but more of that in a future post.

Also, today I started to plan the outboard well detail - something I've been putting off for as long as possible. I really, really don't want to cut an opening in the hull and I don't yet have an motor - huge expense - pact with the devil possibly called for!

Doldrums

For what seems like months (largely because it has been months!) there has been little progress - due almost entirely to low temperatures. Too cold to varnish, paint or use epoxy. Also, the polytunnel has been dripping constantly which really mucks up fresh epoxy. Now at last work is under way again but I confess I'm not one of the world's great varnishers. Nevertheless, I'm out there day after day rubbing down and applying coat after coat and hoping that I don't die before it's all completed. The base coats are of gloss but the finishing 2 coats will be Hempel's Dura Satin which seems far more in keeping with a trad. boat.

To distract myself, I've bought the sails - gorgeous dark tan from Sail Register - and am scouring the web for motors and trailers - neither of which I can currently afford. Surprisingly (or perhaps not) there's little information as to a suitable size of motor - just have to be guided by the size of the outboard well - probably a 4 - 6 hp with low pitch prop. Also, none of the advertised trailers seem to suit this style of hull so may end up visiting the local blacksmith again. Odd that there are no trailer manufacturers in Scotland. At least the low temps. haven't preventing progress with fitting 15 m of brass keelband (which involved a lot of lying underneath 300 kg of boat!) and the result looks quite smart. 

The locker lids and catches have also been completed and a couple of really cool bronze fairleads from Classic Marine have been fitted; almost looking ship shape now!