Do it, do it now !!!!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover"

Mark Twain

Studying the study

After alot of thought we have decided to incorperate the study into the engine room. and we have now made a decision to turn Derwent6's engine room into the traditional colours, and make it a bit of a den, which will hold the washing machine and tumble drier and also the folding bikes. This will have a drop down table which we will be able to use as a study, with a roses and castle theme. This we feel will be a better use of the 13 feet we have available.We have been back up to see Fernwood and sorted out the port hole pitches for Jim (at Alexander Boats) and also been speaking to Andrew at Beta reference the engine and stern door sizes. It appears that the door sizes will remain standard to ensure Derwent6 fits through those quaint tunnels on the cut.

We have been working on the exterior colours and font sizes for Derwent6, and with the help from Chris on Belle, have used these drawings and played with them on the computer, to get a feel of how the bow will look when finished.

We have not been up to see the hull this week so have no further pictures yet, but Jim is still fighting with the camara we loaned him and taking shots of the build in progress, so we should have some next week.





As for the house, we are still clearing out bits and pieces and have now built the sign to go out when the time comes. If you know anyone interested give us a call.

Well we can't beleive we're nearly into August already.. We will be looking at tiles and carpet for the saloon this month, and Astro turf for the cratch area. The full drawings will follow shortly.

The only way is up !!!!

As you can see Jim and Craig have done well to get the stern sides on up to the gunwale, so Derwent6 is starting to look like a home...(all be it, a small home)

The bow top plate has been fitted and Derwent6 is starting to look a bit neat at the front end now.

As you can see Al is very keen to get at the helm.

and also polishing the outside. lol

Here you get a feel of the 65 foot length with the shot taken from the bow with Del at the stern.

This is a picture taken of the base plate at the end of the swim which will hold the engine and drive train.

Lucky Seven's 07/07/07

God we are so lucky having Jim And Craig putting Derwent6 together..... she is just starting to look so wonderful.

We could both tell that Jim was really proud of how Derwent6 was looking and we were just getting emotional knowing this will be our home.

So far he has fitted the side panels at the bow and the ribs to the side and floor. The sides go up to the gunwales and when looking down the side look as straight as a die.

Del knows a bit about welding, as he is in the car body repair business and he has not seen cutting and welding like this. Just take a look at the welding from the floor to port side panel (there's no way that's going to leak)

We have left Jim a camera so he can take shots at random, but Craig will probably take them as he is the techno wizard. As you can see Derwent6 is only at half it's length at the moment, because we are waiting for the rest of the steel to turn up which should be with Alexander boats on Tuesday.

We will be back up to Jim in two weeks time to see progress (keep up the good work mate!)

Meanwhile, Jim has given us a few tasks to do, like what type of Houdini hatches do we want (as he needs to make up the frames), where we stand with the cratch locker doors and the regulations, and rechecking the porthole pitches.

Derwent6 is Born

What a weekend we have had....

Yahoooooooooooooooo !!! the base plate is laid

We went to see Jim Sparks at Alexander boats, as we were told the steel had arrived for Derwent6. When we got up to him, the workshop looked empty, we asked him when was Derwent6 going to be started and he said " that's her over there"and the base plate had been laid. Wow !!! We both looked at each other and could have cried......

Here you can see the 10mm bow base plate with the two front bow sides over the top. Jim was at the ready with the coffee, but we felt we needed something stronger. We run through all the changes to the hull with Jim, and he felt none of these would be a problem.

We also went to Beta marine to see the engine build process and was met by Andrew Growcoot who took us round the factory showing us the assembly line for the engine going into Derwent6, and all the guys involved.

We saw the painting of the engine being carried out and also the testing where a technician had a engine running on the test bed. What a great bunch of lads... they can build our engine anyday.

Andrew then checked our engine build slot which is in thier books for September !!

All systems go !!!!!!!