6. Electric or petrol power … the debate of the week

Ok the work has started and nearly all the framing timbers are cut and will be glued this week. Time has been a bit tight with rather too many social engagements.  The main frame has been built and the engine stringers are parallel, straight and all is attached to the floor.

I have rather enjoyed cutting all the curved bits and they are working out well and the spindle sander is excellent aas long as you don’t put too much pressure on it.

I have also bought the brad gun and some brads to test. These are the Raptor composite ones that can be cut and sanded. The few tests I have tried have been terrific, they fire straight into oak through 6mm ply! I think they will be real time savers.  I am told they can be coloured as well so I shall test that in a few weeks. Very helpful and very knowlegeable lady at Raptor in Texas USA (I think).

The frames are all in Douglas fir which I had forgotten splits very easily so all connections will have to be pre drilled.

The big debate of the week has been the engine system. I was really impressed with the electric powered Barrelback on the Glen-L site. The boat looks beautifully made, but two 180 HP motors!! Apart from being hugely expensive (mainly because of the batteries) it looks a tad overpowered, but I shall try contacting the folks that built it and ask them. So far all my research has left me in the same quandry as I am getting so many mixed reports about what size of motors and what size of batteries, not to mention the price, which is currently look way outside of my budget.  I had a loose quote from a company in Holland which was €30,000 that’s about £27,000. Ouch!  So this week I shall look again at a V6 or V8 petrol engine.

I went to a boat show on the Thames today and saw what must rate as the most tasteless Chris Craft boat ever built! (see below) But someone must love it as it is in excellent condition. Laughed all the way home.