While working on the boat, yep the guys trust me now to fit the copper rivets to hold the planks together, quite a fiddly job tapping down the nails over the washer.

Any way  I got to thinking about what I would be doing if I hadn't had the luck to be on this course, the only qualifications I have are in construction, what would I be doing? The guys building the boat are obviously motivated they put in regular hours, work hard and well together, I think they are mostly in the building game and with the way the economy is going construction work is very limited. The shed offers  a social space as well as keeping a hand in the practical manual work. The attitude seems to be if the work is there they would drop the boat building,


The idea for the two Mirror dinghies built last year was that a few locals would be trained through the Family resource centre to teach sailing to the younger generation. A great idea, the continuation of traditional skills, some responsibility for the maintenance of the boats etc.  One of the problems here is the cost of training instructors, one of the guys is going ahead for this training which will start with water safety and first aid then power boat handling, navigation etc. all of which takes a good deal of commitment both from the individual and the financial backing.
The finance for the shed and the boat building materials I understand comes from several different government departments, some of who's budgets will no doubt be cut.



The family resource centre offers this group of men a chance not only to keep busy, a social space but it offers a position in the community with a chance to improve the opportunities not only for themselves but other groups, the youth of the area for one.


I cant help but wonder if there is the opportunity for a cottage industry here, could there be a demand for this type of hand built traditional wooden boat, how many people could this support, is there the interest in setting it up, where would the finance come from to so?

Ah the future.....

Things are flying along in the South End boat shed, the boat is really taking shape the bottom planks, the first to be fitted are the most complicated to fit. Each plank must twist in two directions at once and I suppose obviously be cut in a curve. Never having thought about this before I always assumed that the planking on a boat of this size were straight, the reality is they take a lot of careful marking out and offering up ( put into position temporarily) to mark out and then to sand down to fit as perfectly as possible. I am quite interested in the history of the design and other regional designs to fit local functions, the Wexford Sailing cot seems to be primarily to race and as a bonus fit the functions of hunting and fishing. Racing apparently used to be important to Wexford, not just in the yacht club but the people that earned a living from the boats. Just a quick Google brought up the 2006 Audit of Maritime collections by the Heritage Council very interesting When I have the time to study it more closely.The recommendations for more regional museums, the Wexford collections seem limited to private collections and the heritage park which is a shame since it is positioned at the mouth of the river.
Articles include;
6. Records of Boats and artifact collections.

 7. The actual Audit.