Michael Leahy

We’ve finished the ribs — that is we’ve replaced all that we think is necessary. There is one original one left which looks OK so it will stay. Hope we don’t regret that later but meanwhile it will give us…

Arthur had been whittling away at the big banana-shaped piece of oak and this week arrived at the boat with the new stem ready for its first fitting. This was the first of several fittings and after each time the…

The old transom was shot so a suitable slab of new wood was purchased from our friendly woodyard in Trefnant. Using the old transom as a template Rod cut a new one to shape on the bandsaw. I think he’s…

We are now passed the halfway point with the re-ribbing of Gwalch with 24 done already. Following instructions from Arthur, Keith and I have cracked on with it. We have now drawn Neil Roobottom and Neil Appleton into the “ribbing…

COD ribs are made from North American Rock Elm. Your common or garden European Rock Elm wont do — its not flexible enough. It is also resistant to water and besides marine use its apparently used in the funereal business,…

The floorbeams that came out were mostly in two halves. By putting them together a template could be made to make new beams using 1.5ins. thick oak. This is were we missed having a bandsaw. Rod Yates sourced the timber…

Last June Llandrillo College officially opened its new MBEC Centre, for Marine, Building and Environment training and it is a first class facility. The Marine workshop provides training for NVQ levels in most aspects of boat construction and repair including…

The CODs are not lightweight dingies! They weigh a ton and with a fixed keel require substantial support and careful handling (or lots of strong and willing bodies!) As we were going to do a lot of work on the…

Gwalch had been donated to the CYC a couple of years ago after suffering a few years of neglect and abuse. It was stored in the stable in Sychnant with other COD’s. It seemed to us that it might be…