John’s Blogspot Archive
WEBSITE INTENTIONS
Now I have learned how to access and add to the site, I'll be posting here on a regular basis, the intention is to put build blogs, some tips and...
SCAMP Camp Michigan
Its a long way from New Zealand to Michigan, several flights, eleven hours for the first one, and that after I've made it the 300 km or so from home...
Roger Barnes interviews John Welsford about his boat designs
Roger Barnes, President of the English Dinghy Cruising Association interviews John Welsford about himself and his wooden boat designs that are "fit...
Roger Barnes, President of the English Dinghy Cruising Association visited New Zealand
Roger Barnes, President of the English Dinghy Cruising Association visited New Zealand to check out the New Zealand Dhingy Cruising scene. Watch...
Development of Spooks Gaff Rig
I’ve been playing with the rig, the sails, and the settings on Spook, each little change has seen a slight improvement in her windward performance,...
The month of the pumps
This was supposed to be the “summer of the paintbrush”, and yes, I have got quite a bit of that done but for a while there it was the “month of the...
The heat was on there for a while. Too much of it in the wrong place.
Its been far too long since the last time I had Kairos out of the water for a scrub and antifouling, so she had quite the oyster and barnacle farm...
Small comforts
Comfort, and I think I’ve said this before, can be a whole lot of small things that add up to an elimination of all the annoying things that just...
Preparing to go cruising.
Planning to go cruising is one thing, getting ready to go is another. The electrical system in this old ship of mine is now 47 years old and pretty...
Repair work
I’ve a boat in for repair. Not my usual thing, but in this case the customer wants his boat ready to go for the nearly upon us summer holiday...
We went sailing last weekend.
Its springtime here, the temperatures at night are still a bit chilly, especially up on the mountain lakes but the daytimes are lovely. We had...
I get questions about making a hollow mast, so here’s how I go about it.
Mast making. Reinforcing an aluminium tube spar with a birdmouth inner plus solid blocking. I’ve been given a mast blank, a 5m long x 75, od, 5mm...