News

This past year has simply been about completing and equipping the boat. It is not yet complete but, other than a few more coats of paint and some fittings we are nearly there. Without the dedication of a few key members, and some external help, we would not be at this position.  We are very grateful for all the help.

2024 must be about raising our profile, launching the boat and increasing our profile. We have secured a berth at Burntisland Sailing Club and we owe a significant debt of gratitude to their members for supporting us in many ways and we hope they will continue to do so.

I hope we can now look to increase the membership and that is something we can all do.  I also hope we can get new people involved in the running of the club and perhaps take on some of the office bearing roles;  I think we need a new skill set to move the club on from the fund raising and build phase to establishing a club with strong member support.

It’s been a productive summer for our team of enthusiastic boatbuilders, and our St Ayles Skiff build has been progressing at a steady pace. Following the turnover of the hull back in April, work has focused on ‘fitting out’ the inside of the boat.

Once the build moulds were removed, a substantial amount of cleanup was required to remove the excess glue that had run down the inside of the boat during the planking. This involved a lot of laborious work with heat guns, scrapers, and good old sandpaper! In the meantime, the gunwales and breasthooks that reinforce the top edge of the uppermost plank were fabricated under the skilled auspices of out boatbuilder-in-chief, Jim. Next, the seats for the four rowers (known as ‘thwarts’ or, in the Shetlandish tradition from which this boat design descends, ‘tafts’) were installed.  At this stage, the inside of the boat really looks to be nearing completion, and it won’t be long before we begin reaching for our paintbrushes!

We’re well overdue for an update on our St Ayles Skiff build. The more perceptive observers will have noted that the hull of our skiff has been being built upside-down, which means that – at some point – it would need to be turned over. With the exterior of the hull now complete, we celebrated this milestone on the 18th March. We were joined by a number of friends and helpers from Burntisland Sailing Club and a number of local rowing clubs and, after releasing the boat from its build frame, succeeded in turning it over without damage. Whilst these boats are not especially heavy – a little over 150kg when complete – they are rather awkward to manoeuvre in the confined space of a workshop!

It’s been rather a long time since we last posted a build update, but the workshop elves have been toiling away and making rapid progress with the planking which is now complete. Anyone visiting the build shed will be left in no doubt as to what we’re building – rather than a build frame and a pile of wood, Black Rocks is now most definitely in possession of the hull of a boat!

The last plank is sometimes called the ‘whisky plank’ in reference to the tradition of drinking a celebratory dram when it’s installed. And as evidenced by the accompanying picture – who are we to fly against centuries of tradition?!

The final steps required to complete the exterior of the hull involve fitting the outer stems (currently in the process of being whittled to shape) and the keel – after which we’ll be able to apply a coat of protective primer before turning the boat over to begin work on the insides.

We owe a significant debt of gratitude to Jim Day – a local boatbuilder who has been a great friend to the club and has been instrumental in guiding our build over the past few months. The increase in the pace of the build has largely been down to his ministrations!