Updated : June 2010
NEWS UPDATE
A quiet winter was followed by a frantic spring, and busy early summer with the launch of the St Ayles skiff. Soon after we took her to the first regatta in Anstruther where she was admired for her build quality (not that I had much to do with the building being busy on two tradtional clinker projects: a 15ft double ender for Loch Torridon and an Iain Oughtred Guillemot, of which more later).
The most poignant moment was the departure of the 18ft sjekte Felicity John for the East Coast in early June. Built nine years ago by myself as a spec project at the late-lamented Ullapool Boat Builders, where I worked before setting up Viking Boats, she has been a permanent fixture in my workshop with very few outings to justify keeping her.
She has gone to the right owner, I am glad to say, who came into my workshop one day and said "yes, that's the one." He plans to use her on the West Coast for camping/cruising, a role for which she was designed in the 1930s by Norwegian Karsten Ausland.
The Guillemot Project has been most satisfying. Iain sent me a sheaf of his immaculate plans, from which I extracted the vital dimensions and three sections, enough to stretch his 11ft 6in dinghy to just over 12ft.
Building a transom-sterned dinghy was a welcome change to my fetish for double ended boats, and was in some ways easier with only one set of laminations, for the stem, whereas the transom came from two pieces of near flawless old larch with a lovely grain and figure, capped by a precious piece of Honduras mahogany, saved from the Thames gig restoration last year.
The Guillemot goes to the Firth of Forth, where she'll be kept on a mooring in North Berwick and used for rowing only by her experienced owner. She replaces a similar clinker dinghy that has seen better days, but then she is over 40 years old and well used.
The 15ft sjekte meanwhile was rigged (Steve Hall of North Sea Sails made her a beautifully cut standing lugsail) and is off to Torridon where she will look the part and hopefully give her owner and family many happy days afloat.
And one of these days I might get round to al the work needed on Sally II, my Giles 25-footer which lies patiently at her mooring opposite
Adrian
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All the articles below are all available in pdf format. You will need a PDF reader installed on your computer to read them. Please click on the icons to view. Adrian Morgan's monthly column .. (pdf) |
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Jan06 (Size 313kb) |
May06 (Size 617kb) Jun06 (Size 279kb) July06 (Size 748kb) Aug06 (Size 756kb) |
Sept06 (Size 754kb) Oct06 (Size 2374kb) Nov06 (Size 4124kb) Dec06 (Size 2792kb) |
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"A hundred pairs of eyes were waiting (let's face it) for the crunch of glass fibre on granite."
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"At the Hardanger Fortoyuernster, Kathy Mansfield discovered tomorrow's boatbuilders learn the old skills as well as the new ones."
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"A perfectionist with an incredible eye for detail, Iain Oughtred produces boat plans for Everyman. Adrian Morgan had the privilege of building Iain's 100th design."
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"Coral sand beaches, limestone caves, mangrove swamps and crocodiles - Adrian Morgan discovers it all while exploring the islands and tropical rivers fringing the West coast of Thailand's Malay Peninsula."
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"One of the most enduring of Jack Laurent Giles's designs, the Vertue has been praised since the 1930's for her performance when the going gets tough. Adrian Morgan owner of Vertue No2, Sally II talks about the design - and the legends."
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"The story of Jan .. a traditional Norwegian Sjekte. The story of Jan is the story of city island. New York, in its heyday; norwegian shipbuilding emigrants at the
Henry B Nevin's shipyard; and the effects of the great depression.."
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"‘SO,’ SAID THE TAXI DRIVER over his shoulder as we
turned into London’s St James’s Place, home of
the Royal Ocean Racing Club. ‘What’s a good
boat then?’ Before he could say ‘I had that Ellen
MacArthur (round-the-world British yachtswoman)
in my cab the other day’ I asked him
what he wanted to do with it. ‘Just pottering.
With the kids. Nothing fancy. Mostly on the
reservoir. Mother-in-law. Got to be safe.’.."
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"After many years as a yachting journalist,
Adrian Morgan decided to repay his debt to
society by becoming a traditional boat builder.
Kathy Mansfield tells his uplifting story.
With photographs by the author."
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