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Wooden Boat Association of Cairns

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25/10/2026

Hello again, Here’s a bit of an update On SCOOP, MEKONG and the WBAC Clubhouse, and thanks for waiting for the latest post & pics.

SCOOP has moved along significantly in the past couple of weeks with her sides completed - faired, scrwed & glued. And don’t they look damn good!! On Tuesday 27 October 26 her internal side bulkheads will be glued & screwed into place seeing as they’ve already been templated & cut and epoxy sealed.

That means in all purposes she has now become a boat with buoyancy compartments with a fully-complete hull! Next we’ll start on her internal fitout which will take us past the Christmas period, and that will take us near the projected launch month of February (but don’t hold me to that because we’ve had so much pleasure building this little beauty we may find lots more innovations to build into/onto her).

The design for the rear ladders evaded me for weeks until I had a sudden rush of **** to the brain and it all fell into place. No display as yet but they will be built from Kwila/Merbau or even Jarrah, and incorporate another designed innovation.

MEKONG sits forlorn but not forgotten in my workshop awaiting her lift-out floors. Made from NQ Kauri and Burmese Teak I can reveal that one has been made (after some 8 weeks of design, redesign, and re-redesign), just another 3 to make. Pic attached.

THE CLUBHOUSE is finally getting it’s shade-sail/waterproof canopies installed, after a huge amount of work put in by Keven, Tom, Sheila, Roger and whoever they grabbed to assist. They’re currently being installed and will be a great help during our upcoming wet season. Of course one blockhead had to stand out the front and imitate the bloke in charge (me), when in fact Keven and Tom were running the show….

10/10/2026

Major milestone reached today, with SCOOP finally becoming a boat!!

Yep, her hull is now complete after a marathon effort today where our gallant crew did the final fit of the remaining ply side sections, then glued and screwed them into place. We're very pleased with the result, and rightly so, given that this is our first in-house designed and built boat.

Next we'll cut & fit the internal longitudinal side bulkheads that will make up the inner sides of the two hulls. Then it will be cutting & fitting of the side and bow handrails and the fitting out of the storage & buoyancy compartments within the hulls.

We're almost on the home run.....😁😁 The photos show the hulls now complete, along with the transom step extensions.

The design for the two folding ladders that attach to the transoms is also in progress!

CHINA BOUND

Painting continues internally, the mast is virtually complete, some touch-ups on the hull are in progress, and a new bespoke tabernacle is now being designed & made to replace the old lightweight version.

Photos attached.

We await the fitting of the new shade sails to our frames, hopefully very soon as summer is closing on us quickly.

Wilson - my Border Collie has now taken up residence at the clubhouse on our workdays and just loves all the attention he gets, along with the treats of course!

NEW PROJECT!

Martin's Hartley TS 16 will arrive as soon as we erect some temporary shade / weather protection structures. It seems she needs a new transom due to wet rot.

More soon! Cheers!

27/09/2026

Another productive week has passed, none of us has fallen off the perch, and we're all still taking the rinse out of each other without resorting to a good old bar-room brawl. 😁

SCOOP now has the forward starboard topside section fitted, glued and screwed in place ver successfully. The port side has been cut from the same template with just a couple of minor additions and is now clamped in place to give the ply a little bias prior to prepping it for installation. All very good steps towards completion.

I've added a few pics of how she currently stands, and you'll see the effort we had to go to when clamping the bow section into place. Let's just say necessity breeds innovation and it's amazing what you can achieve with clamps, timber offcuts, and a couple of ratchet straps! ;)

Let's just say if it works, it ain't stoopid!

CHINA BOUND is still being painted, but inside the cabin to improve light and cleaning. The mast has been sanded, filled, faired and now undercoated. Soon the Poly U400 will be applied and that will signal the 'almost there' milestone!

Our clubhouse awnings/sails have been measured and ordered, and hopefully not too far off. They'll transform the whole outlook of the clubhouse and keep the rain out of the side doors as well. It's all go go go here, and the ibuprofen use is still at a minimum. 😁

More soon!

15/09/2026

Another successful day for Scoop. Both port gun'ls had a bit of a whoop-de-do in them so we had to ease a few joints and re-align them, but all spot on now.

Richard and Glen got the really important job and had to go solo on the ply sheeting on the starboard side. The template was tested a couple of times (and possibly a third that I didn't see), and then it was down to the really nervous task of jigsawing the first section out of the full sheet of marine ply! Scary times...

But it fitted perfectly! It's now clamped in position so it'll take on a bit of a bias until this Saturday when it will have it's final fit. Then it'll be screwed & glued into position.

If we have enough time we'll cut the after section of ply and do a first fit of it into position.

😁😁😁

10/09/2026

Finally, we've reached one of the major checkpoints on SCOOP's build plan - if we had one, that is!! 😅😅

Her entire framework is complete! The last inboard gunwale is finished and we will soon sacrifice something to the boat gods for looking kindly upon us. Maybe a barbecued snag or two this weekend?

At the same time we were glueing the gun'l into place Richard and I also glued the Gadagi (spelling?) trim onto the top of the transom handrails. These handrails will extend right to the bow along the outboard gun'ls only, and willl also act as keeper rails for any upholstered seats that may be added.

Soon we'll do the final fairing of the port & starboard topsides (sides, really), and then we will get stuck into the last of the plywood works. Then the prettywork - two-tone handrails as above and across the lip of the bow; hatches for the hull storage compartments; fuel tank stowages; and so on.

Still much to do, but such an enjoyable project we're happy for it to go along as far as it needs to go! 😁

CHINA BOUND continues with her sanding of the uppers, and also her mast has now been double-wrapped with epoxy & glass tape to give that extra reinforcement.

The glass tape was spiral wound onto the epoxy-wetted mast while it was spun slowly on the rotisserie, and more epoxy applied with brushes to make sure it was fully saturated while keeping tension on the tape.

A bit of an awkward job to do, but as soon as the team got into a rythm it went like clockwork. Pun intended (you know, turning shaft, hands on, time sensitive, etc. 😉 ).

More frivolity soon!

29/08/2026

It's been a while since the last post, but much has happened at the Clubhouse and at Lake Tinaroo where we held our Annual Lake Tinaroo Raid.

As for the Raid, all the pics & notes are being sorted out and we'll post that soon, but it was one of the best, relaxed, and enjoyable meetings of wooden boats of all types and their owners.

But for now I'll report on our projects at the clubhouse.

SCOOP has progressed quite a bit with her completely framed starboard hull about to be sheeted in with good old Australian- made Hoop Pine Marine Ply, which we believe is the best in the world. In the meantime her port hull now has her topside stringers complete, and her outer gunwale forward section laminated into position. Shortly she'll have the after section laminated & scarphed into place - around 3 hour's work.

Then the inner port gunwale will be laminated & glued, trimmed and faired. This means we will shift from framing to sheeting of the hulls inside & out and SCOOP will finally take up her designed shape! Exciting times indeed. We're looking to launch her late November/early December in time for our Annual Christmas Lunch.

Ive added in a photo of Bill's Whitehall to show his progress. Here it shows off the brilliant white of the final sprayed coat of the Poly U-400. If you think it looks good in the photo you should see it up close!! A beautiful boat in all regards.

CHINA BOUND's owner Luis continues with her deck & cockpit painting, with weather continuing to interrupt, it's certainly been a wet 'dry' season. Still, she's coming along quite nicely.

The clubhouse is also progressing with the awning frame finished and the stairs & porch handrails being built. Painting of the exterior continues, and of course that depends on clear days...... 😕

My dog Wilson has visited the clubhouse, sniffed it from end to end, and has decided it's a great place to have a snooze or two. Or three, etc, etc.

And we now have and example of nature at it's finest. In amongst all the to-ing and fro-ing of our members and the noise of construction, and pair of Sunbirds have built a nest hanging from one of the oscillating fans in the workbay area. Beautiful little honeyeaters that bring a smile to the dial every time you see them, they are a species to be preserved. Therefore, we have inducted them as honorary members of WBAC, and the fan has been unplugged to stop any mishaps during their nesting period. If you check out the pic of Luis climing onto CB you'll see the nest hanging from the fan top left of the photo. We now await their parenthood and seeing the newbies depart into the area.

04/08/2026

A rather sad week for us at WBAC because we lost our unofficial mascot Sandy.

Sandy was a rescue dog who, after a bad start to life, was taken in to Sheila and Tom's home where she found her Shangri La. Lots of love, walks, adventures, good food and treats, but she never lost her trim figure. Not even during her twice-weekly visits to our clubhouse where she managed to sucker & guilt-stare our members out of biscuits, cake, savoury rolls and so forth.

Of course she knew all the soft-touches who she could follow around until they relented and gave her that dog biscuit she knew was in your pocket (me), and no matter how many she consumed she was always up for more. Wish I knew her secret to staying slim!

Sandy had many adventures, loved rolling in mud, but her most significant was being given a whoopie cookie by one of the itinerant campers that was overnighting in the boat ramp nearby. Her weird reaction caused a trip to the Vet....... but as always she took it in her stride. Not thunder storms however, they made her try to dig through mattresses to find safety... 😳😳😳😳.

Sandy was a loveable cross between an Irish Wolfhound and perhaps a couple of other bloodlines, and she made it to 14 years of age before she crossed the rainbow bridge a few days ago.

Loved by all she met, Sandy will be sorely missed, especially here at WBAC.

😢😢😢😢😢

02/08/2026

SCOOP has reached another milestone with both of her starboard gunwales fixed in position and fairing has commenced. Her two outboard stringers will also be completed within this coming week, and then we can duplicate everything on the port side.

Final plans for the fuel stowages have been started along with more plans for the buoyancy and storage compartments. And, as per usual, this will mean another few modifications to the plans. Still, better now than when she's finished, hm?

CHINA BOUND's small repairs have been done and the upper deck sanding for painting is complete. This has taken a while because - if you've ever done it - sanding off non-skid paint is a real pig of a job. (I'd use a lot of stronger words normally but big brother is always watching). No Pics this time as she doesn't look much different.

The Clubhouse Awning Frame has now been fitted to the clubhouse, lifted into position, and fixed. Keven and his helpers have done an absolutely brilliant job on all of this and it'll really dress up the clubhouse when the waterproof awning is fitted onto the framework. Exactly when that happens is in the lap of the gods at this time as we seek a grant to do so.

Cheers til the next time, and take care of yourselves. :)

24/07/2026

Another WBAC Thursday gathering at Lake Tinaroo has come and gone, and by all accounts it was another great day.

Great day for sailing, great number of boats, great company, and great stops for morning tea and lunches (for some). Just goes to show our club isn't just for building or fixing boats, our faithful go sailing and boating as well.

Of course if anyone happens to mistakenly land in the water nobody laughs at the poor unfortunate soul who did.................much! ;)

23/07/2026

Lots of things going on at the moment, and we had a full house of members and visitors last Tuesday, too.

SCOOP's starboard Gunwale is now complete, with just a small amount of cleanup and fairing to do. Next her starboard inner gunwale will be installed, and that will be completed next club day (easy job).).

Then it's on to the port side. We're getting excited now with the prospect of sheeting in the outer hulls very soon.

CHINA BOUND's upper deck benefited from the extra people with much work completed on the sanding & prepping required. Painting will start very soon.

Thanks to the actual dry season weather & cessation of the continual rain, the clubhouse has had it's weather sides fully painted. That has now opened the door to installation of the waterproof shade awning.

Finally, the clubhouse will be in it's finished aspect and won't stand out like a pimple on someone's derriere!

It's all go go go here at WBAC!

Address

6 MSquare Access Road Portsmith Next To Tingira St Boatramp
Cairns, QLD
4870

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 12pm
Saturday	8am - 12pm

Website

http://www.woodenboatscairns.com.au/

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