Hi,

Welcome to our monthly Newsletter. This month you will find :

1.  OFFICE NEWS.

2.  ADDITIONS TO THE WEB PAGES

3.  CARTOON SECTION.
4.  CURRENT SPECIALS.
5.  QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

 

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1.   OFFICE NEWS

Visitors and activities over the past month have made the month fly by. First we were honoured to have a visit Rolf and Deborah off 'Northern Lights', well know to cruisers in Rolfs home area of Scandinavia, and recipricants of the Blue Water Cruising Medal in 1984 for their cruise from 80 deg north to 75 deg south. Their book 'Northern Lights' has some of the most spectacular cruising photography ever. Although not a Roberts design, their boat was built by META in France in 1972 and is the perfect example of how a steel boat will last with a caring owner. It is still in perfect condition. Another visitor was one of the principles of Edensaw, the speciality timber suppliers in the North West, USA. Charlie is cruising with his family along the East Coast of Australia. At the end of the month we took part in a one day Spray regatta on Morton Bay. Starting at 7.30 am and finishing a 11.00 pm it was a hugely successful day. We have posted some shots of the boats and the sailing. Once again I was criticised by my other half for only taking pictures of boats and not the participants.

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2.    ADDITIONS TO THE WEB PAGES

 

This month we have added pictures of a steel Coastworker 30 full displacement vessel which was launched in May. This is a truly great looking job and a credit to the builder. We also added a page of pictures of the Spray Regatta as mentioned above. I am sorry but you will all have to wait a little longer to see shots of the WR 40 and the WR 44 on sea trials as our video capture card has collapsed which is the equipment that takes digital still shots off of analogue video's. Also, photo's of the pram dinghy, full size patterns of which come with every set of plans sold, have been added to the top of the sailing section.

 

                                                                       

4.    MONTHLY SPECIALS
 
Specials this month are the study plans and/or full plans and patterns for the Waverunner 44. Detailed plans come for this design to be built in either steel, fibreglass or wood epoxy. 

Our book special this month is 'Seaworthiness. The Forgotten Factor' =. This is an important subject for all those contemplating building a sailing vessel. More information on both these specials is available on our Specials page.

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5.   QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

 Following are a few answers to questions that have been asked throughout the month that may be of interest. These also show the type and scope of the questions we are asked each month and this is what we are here for. Not only to answer questions directly but to encourage and help in any way we can.

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The following email was kindly sent by Jim who is building a radius chine R 345 in Australia. The prices quoted are in Australian dollars.

 

Dear Phil;

Just a quick run down on costs of materials to date  for Roberts 345 for anybody interested:

1st steel order
(includes frame,solid webs, strongback, bracing, longitudinals)           $ 800

Forming (5 frame circles @ $30 each. For radius section framing)     $ 150
2nd steel order
(includes 3mm plate, 6mm plate)                                                            $2000
Forming(8 3mm x 1200 x 2400 @ $30. For radius section plating)     $ 320
Sandblasting/priming (plate/longitudinals @ $11.50/m                       $1900
Primer/thinner(altex 504 @13.00/ltr)                                                        $ 550

Total                                                                                                            $5770

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Advising on timber varieties and grades is one of the hardest things that we do and often we cannot give a categorical answer. Jarrah is a timber that occurs in one particular spots in the world, the extreme South West corner of Western Australia. The problem is that there are hundreds of such areas growing a particular species through out this world that it is nearly imposable to know them all. The best advise is that when building a vessel with a local timber look at other vessels in the area, ask local boatbuilders and timber merchants and check where they have used the timber. We do help where we can and do have some knowledge of many timbers outside the normal, common, worldwide boatbuilding timber species but not  by any means all of them.