Bob's Brother and Strange Critters

Way back in February, I went to the Hobart Wooden Boat Festival. There were square-rigged ships, dinghy kits, and lots of home-made boats on display. I had heard that a certain boat and its builder were going to be at the festival so mostly I made the journey to find them. Peter Deck lives a bit north of Hobart and brought in his own home-build, 14-foot, lug-rigged Houdini! It was a complete example of Ugly Bob! Alex met Peter last year after looking for Australian builders of the John Welsford boad designs. They met and Alex connected Peter and me. At the festival, the small boats were scattered throughout a large parking lot. I recognized the Houdini from half a block away and went right over to Peter. We talked boaty stuff for a while and he let me climb into Dexterity and look in hatches, under floorboards, and wiggle everything that moved. There were one or two details of the design that neither of us understood and we were relieved that we had come to the same conclusion and made similar modifications. Peter has taken the time to make a beautiful Houdini, where Ugly Bob is more of a rough cutout. Bob will sail just fine and will likely have to put up with rougher waters and greener sailors. The only modification I made that no one else seems to have done (Peter or builders from online forums) is widening the forward hatch. I found that by making the hatch two inches (5cm) wider, I could fit my shoulders through and work on the inside. One of the few advantages to being a (relatively) small builder is having one or two more sizing options on boat hatches, window cutouts, and water tanks. (John, owner of the BAB/Excentrique was very excited that I fit head-first into the water tank to make repairs rather than needing cut a larger hole in the lid.) I left Ugly Bob unfinished in Alaska and I am constantly annoyed by the thought of an unfinished project. Now that I have met Dexterity, Bob has some craftsmanship to look forward to.

Peter, me, and Dexterity

On a completely unrelated note: I met my first echidna. (ek-id-na) It's like a giant hedgehog.