Louise is a Silhouette Mark 1 which means she is sixteen feet overall, is of hard-chine plywood construction and has a small cabin. She also has bilge-keels and is gunter-rigged, both of these being optional features. The advantage of bilge keels is, of course, the unimpeded floor-space in the small cabin, and the ability of the boat to sit upright when she takes the wind. Moreover there is no centre-plate requiring attention when one is single-handed.

My decision to build was taken after seeing several boats which were up for sale, none of which pleased me very much although one — a Thames Estuary One Design — was in excellent condition and reasonably priced. It was probably the height of the mast which frightened me — I can erect Louise’s mast almost with one arm.

The first job was to build the eight moulds and to furnish material for these two large packing cases were purchased from a local wood yard. The outlines were drawn accurately full scale on a large sheet of brown paper, and the results of spending an hour with the two packing cases were then easily cut to the correct size, and screwed together while held firmly in position on the brown paper plan. The moulds had now to be mounted in line on the stocks, which were of rough timber 6 inches by 2 inches and 20 feet long. They were placed parallel, 3 feet apart and were carefully levelled. They encroached on two flower beds and a corner of the lawn. Domestic relations remained undisturbed. Having got the moulds standing in a very impressive row the hog was fitted. This is of mahogany, 4 x ¾ inches and follows the contour of the boat from the transom to the stem, where it forms the outer of three glued laminations. The glue used was “Cascophen”, which, it is claimed, will stand years of immersion in sea water, which is more than can be said for brass screws. The stem was planed down to the correct angle so that the chines and gunwales could be joined thereto, after which they were placed in their niches in the moulds. Considerable force is needed to bend 2” x 1” mahogany and so the longitudinal members were fitted in corresponding pairs so as not to introduce undue strain on one side of the structure and force it out of true.

The plane now came into its own in shaping the framework to take the plywood skin, which is of ⅜” plywood to B.S.S. 1088. ¼” plywood is lighter and cheaper but has not the resistance against the odd jab with the anchor or the sharp end of a row-boat. As the ply comes in sheets 8 feet by 4 feet and Louise is 16½ feet long, two joints were required along her length. I used 2” scarf joints which seem quite satisfactory. The sides were fitted and the chines were again planed and smoothed. This smoothing, incidentally, is made easy if one uses a straight piece of wood about 4 feet long by 1” x 3” and backed with garnet paper. This is placed between hog and chine and used as a long sandpaper block thus ensuring that the ply will make a flush fit on both. The bottom at the turn of the stem is rather a tight bend for ⅜” ply, which is best cut out by first marking the shape on a more pliable material such as ¼” ply and transferring it to the thicker stuff. The skin was completed with the exception of about a foot at the stern, and then work was begun on the transom. This has a gentle vertical convex curve and in order to accommodate this and the deck camber, the common beam must be of 3” square pine. When the transom frame was made a single sheet of ¼” ply was fitted and planed flush all round. The bottom and sides were finished in ⅜” ply and planed down after which a further sheet was added to the transom making a total of ½” and, we hope, watertight joints all round.

It was now possible to crawl underneath the boat and begin work on the interior. Bulkheads were fitted near moulds 2 and 7 which were afterwards removed. About this time the bilge keels were constructed. The fins, of ¼” mild steel were sawn and filed to the curve of the bilge, the flanges, ³∕16” m.s., given the necessary amount of twist to fit the hull, then the two were riveted together by means of small brackets, right-angled at the centre and with the right amount of tilt fore and aft. Then they were bundled off to the welders with instructions for the brackets to be removed as the work proceeded. They came back a week later well and truly welded and received a good rub with a wire brush and a coat of zinc paint. They were fixed by means of high tensile steel bolts passing through plates which straddle the mouldings to which the bulkheads and floors are fitted.

After a great deal of straining the boat was inverted. The keels added about a hundredweight to the weight but they provided excellent hand-holds on the otherwise smooth shell. Moreover, when the operation was complete the boat sat upright. The deck beams are of British Columbia pine, the camber being obtained by means of an arc drawn on the largest beam with a pencil attached to a length of string equal to the required radius. The beam beneath the mast, which is stepped on deck, is six inches deep at the centre. The weight of the mast is also supported by the front of the cabin below deck which is of 9” x ¾” mahogany. In order to retain the shape of the boat the moulds were left in position until some rigid fixing such as a bulkhead, floor or deck beam had been provided to take their place after which they were discarded. When the time came to fit the decks and cabin roof, these were built of ¼” ply in order to keep down weight and expense, but it is rather thin for the job and gives occasional creaks of protest when subjected to too much strain.

The boat was now beginning to take shape. It soon became necessary to consider such finishing touches as rigging. The mast and spars had already been constructed indoors during the dark winter evenings. The skeg was fitted and the inboard rudder with its associated steel tubes — another example of the welder’s art. There was the paint to order and apply and the concrete ballast to be cast. The tiller was made in a hurry, it is an eyesore and needs modification. Boat fittings, incidentally, are a shocking price.

There was now a narrow sideway and gate to negotiate in order to get the boat from the back to the front garden. This was accomplished by removing the cabin and turning the boat on its side and securing it to a solid wooden platform 4 feet square. Thus fixed it supported itself and was rolled along on broom handles. When darkness fell it was firmly wedged halfway through the gate and as, in this position, it was unlikely to come to any harm, it was left there until morning. With the dawn came the solution to the problem and Louise was soon sitting sedately in the front garden leaving just enough room for the milkman to get past on his morning mission. She was here only long enough to fit the cabin and administer a few more coats of paint after which she was transported by lorry to Maldon. Incidentally I would advise anyone launching a new boat here first to prepare good moorings away from the depredations of the summer visitors. In failing to do this I let myself in for a good deal of unnecessary worry.

I will not mention all the misgivings that crossed my mind before letting go the mooring for the first sail. Would she have chronic lee-helm? Was the rudder strong enough? Would she prove uncontrollable and make a bee-line for the nearest lee-shore? I got the anchor ready. In fact she behaved very well indeed, getting me to Osea pier and back before high tide. The new rigging gave somewhat and the luff of the jib took on a pronounced concave curve; the boom grazed the cabin top as she went about. But as for me a feeling of elation set in after my former morbid broodings, and I considered it appropriate to render the first two verses of “Rule Britannia” to the waves.

In conclusion I can say that I am very satisfied with Louise. Her chief disadvantage from the social point of view is lack of space in the cockpit, a crew of two is the limit for it would be unwise to coop anyone up in the cabin while underway. As for performance she makes heavy weather of windward work against the tide and the nasty little short waves associated with this sort of thing, and she definitely draws the line when asked to follow a Dragon into the Crouch under these conditions. On the credit side she is an ideal single handed cruising boat, the cabin is cosy and (touch wood) dry. In clear water soundings can be taken simply by peering over the side, and if she runs aground one simply jumps overboard and helps her off. The work was begun at Easter 1954 and completed in July this year (1955) a total of about 18 months using all available week-ends and evenings. The effort was well worthwhile, for I have already had several interesting sails and hope to make many more interesting voyages in the future.

(Written in September 1955 and first appeared in “Ahoy” — the magazine of the Y.H.A.S.G.)