It's with a heavy heart I announce that my father, Glen Lewis Witt, passed away on June 13, 2017. He lived until age 98 and we are so grateful to have had him with us that long. He founded Glen-L Marine in 1953 and will be remembered for the lives he's touched all these years through the hobby of building boats.
I'm blessed to be able to continue his legacy here at Glen-L, but will miss his presence, support, encouragement and tremendous knowledge of all things boat building. We sincerely hope you'll help us keep his legacy alive by building his boats as we continue to serve you.
The family is making plans for a memorial and we will keep you informed. In the meantime, you can make a comment and post photos on the memorial site we are building.
After spending 6 years building a Dudley Dix designed sailboat in his driveway in Boulder, Bill Connor is ready to set sail. He and his son, Spencer, leave tomorrow for Connecticut. That's a long way to go for a splash test. Good luck!
Row it, surf it, or sail it; at $1500 for the base kit, the PT Spear by Port Townsend Watercraft is a great boat for the urban dweller who doesn't have a lot of space and would rather cartop a boat than use a trailer.It also comes in a nesting version (the PT 11), which would make a great tender for the ocean going sailor.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm wearing my sailing instructor's hat. The Dabchick is a sailboat (...board...scow) used in South Africa to train youths after outgrowing Optis (Oppis). I think it would make a great trainer and a wonderful way for the groms to learn some boat building skills. How cool is it to sail a boat that you've built.
From Go Sail: "The Dabchick dinghy designed by Jack Koper of Cape Town, was launched in 1956 as a double handed junior class. The idea was a simple flat decked, no cockpit, scow with a planing hull that could be home built from a few sheets of ply.
The Dabchick dinghy has found great popularity with some 4 000 boats having been built since then. Fairly quickly adept juniors found they could handle the two sail configuration single handed, and that has been its niche for most of the class existence. The sail plan is of a genoa, sheeted on a tracked fairlead, and mainsail. A dagger-board sits in an extended case allowing for it to be raked back in a breeze and on a reach.
The broad scow hull gives the boat enormous stability for the ab initio sailor whilst also being exceptionally quick onto the plane. In comparison to similar junior classes of the Mirror and Topper it well out performs both boats on all points of sailing. Like all scows is prefers a slight heel when working to weather. Not drawing much water it is snappy through the tack, and quick off the mark once the genoa is trimmed in. On the reach they are exciting but kind, due to that beam again. It is not unusual to see youngsters going out in conditions over twenty knots to enjoy some screaming reaches. Down wind placing the hull on a slight heel, as on a beat, reduces wetted surface and the Dabchick dinghy scuttles effortlessly along like the wildfowl it is named after.
The restricted class allows for different masts and fitting of control systems that feed onto either side of the deck, which is a great entry point for future performance dinghy sailors. The class has also recently allowed the introduction of Mylar sails as well as the adoption of a loose footed mainsail."
I hope that Wooden Whale doesn't try to mate with her!
Ah, she heard me.
Will cocktails be served?
Permission to come aboard the Egg, Sir!
Reclaimed red cedar strip planking was used on the exterior shell.
Sleeping on a hammock like a real sailor!
Now that's something you don't see everyday: A giant floating egg!Yes, Virginia. The British are a little different from you and me. Not only are they super competive, they're very eccentric. Thank God! We need a little more levity in this seemingly sour world.
"Created by Stephen Turner, the Exbury Egg will be a temporary, energy efficient self-sustaining work space for artist Stephen Turner in the estuary of the River Beaulieu. It is a place to stay and a laboratory for studying the life of a tidal creek, a collecting and collating centre with integral storage & display areas. It will take on the patina of 730 daily tides below the water line, and 365 days of weathering by wind, rain and bleaching by the sun above."
Wooden Whaler by David Kemp. A fisherman friend helped me join these two derelict cove-boats together to make the WOODEN WHALER. Clinker boats and cove fishing are from a way of live that’s fast disappearing in Cornwall.
Looking at David's art concurs up memories of the wooden sculputers that populated the Emeryville mud flats of my childhood. It's great to see whimsy alive and well in the world, and an artist who shares his work with the public.
I watched a fleet of Open 5.70s sail back into the marina last week and thought, those look like a lot of fun.So this got me thinking, "I wonder if I can build something similar?" Then I remembered seeing a video a few years back on Live Sail Die showing some guys sailing Tokyo Trash Baby. I present to you, the i550, a sportboat you can build at home.
It's not a Laser! The Eastport Nesting Pram by CLC (Chesapeake Light Craft), Is this a better option than an El Toro, especially for a city dweller who has boats and assortment of boards in his shop, garage and side yard? Who am I fooling, I still want a Toro.
Here's a great video that takes you on a boat building journey from start to finish in 7 minutes.
For the moment, I'm on a traditionalist..luddite..kick.Pictured above are images of the Nathanael Herreshoff designed Coquina.
LOA - 16' 8" BEAM - 61" DRAFT, 8" board up, 36" board down WEIGHT - with rig, 450 lb HULL TYPE - round bottom lapstrake CONSTRUCTION - glued lapstrake plywood or traditional cedar over oak
Do you want to build one? Doug Hylan has the plans for sale.
"The Dugout Canoe Project (.pdf) began as an experiment to use traditional Native American technologies. Archaeologists are reliant on just a few ethnohistoric sources that mention how Native Americans made dugout canoes using stone tools and fire. Numerous contemporary examples of dugouts exist, particularly Plimouth Plantation’s Wampanoag Indian Program, made by burning and scraping out logs. However, to the best of our knowledge, no one has attempted to fell a tree using only stone tools and fire. We wanted to see if we could cut down a live tree using these technologies, something that may not have been done in this area for several hundred years."
Hot Tub Boats is a concept born out of necessity. Ok, maybe it was a bit more of a “want” but sometimes the line between the two is a bit blurry. That’s what living on a boat through many, wet Seattle winters will drive one to create.
Hot Tub Boats is an independent business in the Seattle Metro area. Concept, design, build and execution have all been in-house by a small, devoted team of shipwrights. We are committed to preserving our community, job growth and protecting our valuable and abundant waterways.
Our free thinking environment allowed us to break the mold and create a Revolutionary design. By merging classic wooden boat design with radical concepts we created a truly one of a kind vessel.
Hot Tub Boats offers one of the most luxurious and magical experiences. More specifically, we provide comfort and relaxation, with a revolving scenery of a beautiful and extraordinary city or any remote location.
The building of a 29' sloop named Sheena, built in Martha's Vineyard at Gannon and Benjamin, builders of fine wooden sail boats. This 20 minute film documents a five month project from lofting through to her launch.
Il concorso Mille e una vela per l’Università, indetto da Roma Tre con l’intento di coin- volgere gli atenei italiani, nasce per “sotto- lineare il ruolo formativo dell’esercizio fisi- co non solo come aspetto complementare a quello intellettuale…, ma soprattutto come indispensabile catalizzatore di rapporti so- ciali, capaci di promuovere e sviluppare soli- darietà nella realtà internazionale e multiet- nica del mondo universitario”.
In fase di progetto si è cercato il giusto compromesso tra propensione alla planata, governabilità, stabilità e riduzione degli at- triti: uno skiff spiccatamente planante, che richiede un equipaggio esperto, con le linee d’acqua della carena studiate per staccare prima possibile lo scafo dall’acqua, carat- terizzate da una leggera V nell’estremità di prua, a forma quasi piatta e spigolo di separazione fra la carena e le fiancate dalla deriva a poppa, minima superficie bagnata, sezione massima piuttosto spostata verso poppa, specchio di poppa troncato in modo netto, coperta che non intralci i movimenti repentini dell’equipaggio in regata, terrazze sporgenti di quasi mezzo metro.
Le regate si sono svolte dal 21 al 23 settem- bre 2007. Il Politecnico di Milano si è ag- giudicato il trofeo con le due imbarcazioni al primo e secondo posto davanti a quelle degli Atenei di Bologna, Firenze, Roma e Venezia. L’evento sportivo è stato affiancato dalla mostra-concorso “Progettare una barca”.
Al progetto Polis & Techně sono stati at- tribuiti: “Premio per la migliore interpretazione del tema progettuale” “Premio per la migliore rappresentazione grafica del progetto”
Who was that masked man anyway? Oh yeah, you can build the little filly pictured above at home. It costs 200 € for the plans.
Made by Bridge City Tool Works, the Jointmaker Pro R2 uses custom Japanese saw blades and a little elbow grease to achieve what look to be ridiculously accurate (and easy) cuts. Unfortunately the thing was so darn successful that it's sold out, and Bridge City is "anticipating a second production run" but has no ship dates yet.
I wonder what other projects the Tillerman has up his sleeve? Maybe a time machine, so he can thwart Mr. O'Docker from knowing the answers before today. If you are reading this tomorrow, it will be today for you, but yesterday for me. More or less. I'm confused!
If it walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.I don't care how many hours you spent building her, Dog, that's one ugly looking boat.
Warning: The viewing of some home built boats can cause your brain to eject out of the mouth. Please drink to ease the pain. I'll have a double barkeep!
Dog, try doing this with a Finn or a Megabyte. No mammes wey!
P.S. The photo of the Force 5 sailing downwind is not one of me. The dude in that photo is an old guy, he must be as ancient as the Tillerman. :) sorry Tilly, I couldn't help myself.
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