Wooden Boat Association of Cairns

06/06/2026

It was about time the cover photo was changed, after all it's been there for several years.

What to replace it with? Well, of course the central theme has to be wooden boats, but the major thing we have is fun! And I thought this photo encompassed both in spades!

Three mates jawing on about how to flip a small but unusual wooden boat end for end and having a ball laughing about it all.

And that's what we do!

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05/06/2026

SCOOP has now flipped!

In the small workspace she occupies a bunch of wooden boat connosseurs came together to roll her over, but being the weird mob that we are we didn't do it the traditional way by rolling her port to starboard. No, we flipped her end-for-end!

Being well prepared, we still had a certain amount of frantic activity; lots of helpful hints and suggestions, and still had the whole exercise done in 15 minutes! ;)

Now the real work begins to complete her in time for the 2026 Great Tinaroo Raid in late August.

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Bill's Boat - is still moving apace with SCOOP and looks prettier by the day.

Bill has spent interminable hours on the inner hull varnishing, sanding, varnishing, and, well, you get the drift. I think he's up to coat 8 using Spar varnish! But, when you have a boat of this quality how could you do any less?

The floors & thwarts have received the same attenion of course, but I'll let the photos do the talking.

Currently the gunwale capping pieces are being cut, fitted, scarphed, fitted and glued in position, and then the forward and aft decking will be installed.

Also, a different style of oars will be hand-made soon, but more on those when the time comes...... :)

30/05/2026

SCOOP has had her alloy keel protector strips screwed into place! We are now ready to roll her over to commence work on her topsides......once we work out how to do it, of course. ;) Should be interesting. Photos attached.

CHINA BOUND's mast & boom continue to be diligently worked on, with Luis providing the diligence and the rest of us providing the advice, encouragement and the identification of flaws, mistakes and gaps in paintwork, all for free of course. We don't annoy him too much though - he's got the only fully-operational back in our work group!

The rest of the crew is fully engrossed in preparing all the materials acquired to build the all-weather canopy ove the front steps and the weather side of the clubhouse. We're very proud of the volume of work we produce, even though we're all moving a tad slower at the end of each day. And even happier that nobody has carked it (fallen off the perch) along the way.

More soon! 😁

27/05/2026

Finally! SCOOP now has her final coat of Poly U-400 and she looks a treat! Keel protectors being fitted this Saturday and she'll be rolled over ASAP.

Our building beautification crew has finished the rain & spray protective screen on the shed and have now turned their attention to building the framework for the weatherproof sails around the weather side of the clubhouse.

And Luis continues on finishing off his mast & boom.

It's all go here!!

24/05/2026

SCOOP has had her second coat of white poly U-400 applied and it's coming up well. One more sanding session and then for the final coat.

Then the two aluminium keel saver strips will bee fixed to the keels and she gets rolled over for the final stretch! Pics below.

The installation of the shade cloth/rain protection is now complete thanks to Keven, Roger and a host of others. Ironically, the rain has now stopped.......! Pics below.

Roger's Kiribati tri now resides up on the tablelands and gets a run every few weeks to gain experience and also to perfect her fitout in preparation for planned outings off the coast. No pics as yet.

Bill's whitehall moves along at pace with a few finicky fitting jobs that are taking a while longer, but slowly slowly catchee monkey. No pics yet.

CHINA BOUND's mast is being well shaped by Luis after the completion of the clothes-peg scarph, with GRP binding to follow. A couple of pics attached.

And finally Richard's NINJANI has had her strake repair completed, and has now departed also up to her tablelands home.

Busy times at the moment which tend to interfere with our coffee breaks way too much, but we manage to find a way to solve the world's problems and have a good laugh.

And last week we had a surprise with a visit from Yen- a travelling student from Taiwan who just wandered in off the street. He was interested in sailing and boats so he got to spend several hours with us learning a great deal about both. We all enjoyed his visit.

That's all folks!

17/05/2026

Another week goes past and our dedicated core of volunteers continue to toil away at our numerous projects, athough the strong winds and continuing rain continue to dampen the enthusiasm ( ;) ) a bit. The latest roundup is:
SCOOP now has her derriere undercoating complete and - weather permitting - she'll have her first coat of gloss white polyurethane applied this coming Tuesday. Some photos attached.

Ninjani has had her strake seam split repaired by Richard & Chris with minor touch-ups yet to be done, more photos attached.

CHINA BOUND is awaiting more work to be done on the mast, boom and bowsprit, and hopefully that will also happen on Tuesday. No pics available.

Our workshop fine tuning continues, and the vertical shade sail is being prepped for installation. As the southern side of the shed faces the prevailing weather the sail is there to provide a modicum of cover against rain - which hasn't let up all year to date. There's a couple of pics of a few of our members sewing rope into the top & bottom seam of rhe sail prior to securing in position.

AND .... seeing as the post about Bill's Boat (which still remains nameless) had so much interest last posting, there's another pic.

13/05/2026

The latest photo of Bill's whitehall. This beautifully put together boat promises to be an absolute stunner when she is launched. The craftsmanship in her construction has to be seen to be believed.

Not sure of her initial launch date, but it's not too far off given that her floors are in and thwarts are being crafted at this time. I can see some very excited grandkids having lots of fun in the near future, not to mention Granddad. ;)

10/05/2026

Gee, almost a month since my last post. I was going to say it was because of my adventures into deepest, darkest Africa in search of almost impossible to acquire exotic timber, but I've never been to Africa. Truth is I'm just a bog-lazy, layabout, retired Shipwright.

We've continued to beaver on in progressing our ever-expanding number of projects despite the rain, the rain, the wind, and finally the rain and wind.

Firstly, SCOOP has finished getting her derriere filled, sanded & sculpted and then had 2 coats of 2-pack preserver, then 2 coats of 2 pack epoxy undercoat (sounds a bit like a list of services from a plastic surgeon's clinic doesn't it).

Like all boats, now the construction is complete and the painting is under way she look quite different and you can gauge her size, profile, etc. We're pleased as to how she's turning out and how she'll fulfil her design parameters.

Which are:- A stable, usable platform with as much flat deck space as possible to contain a Grandad and a number of grandchildren to travel around Lake Tinaroo (or similar body of water), with the intent of having fun! 😁😁😁

So far, we're on track! Now, she'll have a bit more sanding then the 2 coats of 2-pack white polyurethane will be applied. Then it's rollover time in about a week!!! 😁😁😁😁

Second, and for the same owner, NINJANI is in for a minor repair one her derriere.......hmmmmmmm......... I see a pattern forming here. Anyway, she opened up a seam near her bilge keel, so it's been opened up, the old adhesive raked & sanded out, and new 2-pack epoxy injected before the seam screwed closed again.

Then, a bit of sanding & recoating and ready for sailing again. Easy peasy.

Finally, CHINA BOUND has had her topsides brought back to the high standard she deserves, and is wrapped in plastic to keep her clean.

Her mast has now been extended via a clothes-peg scarph and will soon be shaped from square to round to fit into the tabernacle. This will require use of a draw-knife and only one of us is skilled/experienced in using one (me), so we'll use the opportunity to train a number of our members in it's use.

Might get some butchers' stainless mesh gloves methinks.

Also, CB's spar is being sanded back to remove old varnish and also to make it more round than what it was. Then the decision will be made for either a clearcoat or a paint scheme.

That's it for now, and ........................hang on, there was one other item!

Another decoration has been made for the clubhouse! A large club sign has been made by one of our members (me) and now installed. The large slab of Queensland Cedar was donated by Mark W., one of our members at our 2025 Xmas Party and auctioned. Bought by Bill M., then donated to me, and subsequently made into the sign containing the club's initials and a 3D club logo.

Pics don't do it justice.

More soon!

13/04/2026

We finally got there! Scoop's underwater bits are complete!

Bottom ply & inner sides are finished; transom extensions are finished with the exception of the outer skin; and both false keels & all four chine fins are complete. A little trimming & edge routing yet to be done then fairing, sanding & painting.

Then we work out how to flip her right side up - sensitively of course!