This is a photo of ‘Bird Song’ my second boat. My son and I built Bird song, in around the year 2000 from a plan in Chapelle’s book ’Wooden Boat Building’. Initially the plan was for a 45’ work boat. I reduced the length to 18’ and added gaff rig and high aspect ratio centre board and rudder. She has been a great little boat to explore the mainland creeks and islands of the Family and Bernard Islands which are nearby our home near Innisfail F.N.Q. Aust. The 5.80 will be my third boat build and I’m thinking that this is my perfect dream boat. My first boat build [1978] after a series of dingies ,surfboards and toy boats, back to childhood was “Raga”. A 28” steel hull sloop which my, now wife and I built in almost every aspect from welding, stitching sails. Splicing rigging, designing, building and fitting v-drive, wing vane self steering and so on. We cruised the Queensland coast for several years and met some beaut people and anchored at some very beautiful places. I started on the 5.80 after seeing the B&B 3D modelling of the kit in early 2021 but it took the best part of a year to get things in order so I could get building. The kit arrived in late March 2021 and within a few days it was broken down and stored inside the house plus with a dehumidifier in the room. The best tool for this I found was a Japanese pruning draw-saw it did a great job but is very sharp and I received a couple of unpleasant cuts. North Queensland was expecting a heavy wet season but I went ahead with build a shed for construction and to get and set up a shipping container as a workshop. That all came to pass. The crane driver did the apparently impossible and got the container in position . A surprise flood in May toppled a large stand of bamboo and drowned the tractor . The bamboo is a large building kind ,ideal for a building and after reconditioning the tractor, I got on with the shed. The rain held off.
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