the Elizabeth Jane

Well the new Elizabeth Jane has been out of the workshop for just under a week now. I'm really pleased with both the colour and the quality of the finished job.

» Read More

Well it's time for a new coat of paint. Rather than the green colour scheme which was badly oxidising, I decided to go for something a little more bold. I had a contemporary colour scheme in mind.

Wow, choosing a colour scheme is HARD!!! You end up looking at millions of other boats and once you have found something you like, you realise that they won't translate to your boat because the shape is different, or perhaps you didn't quite like the shade, and so on. Looking at colour swatches is OK, but what will the colour look like on a whole boat?

Initially I wanted to copy a colour scheme from another boat, but came to the conclusion that the colour scheme which worked well with a boat with portholes wouldn't translate onto our boat because of the deep windows not allowing sufficient border and a dark coloured centre panel highlighting the fact that the windows are not symetrically placed top and bottom.

I knew I wanted something different, so eventually I decided on Black with Salmon lines and roof.

» Read More

From 2006, William was able to come and stay after school. Here he is ready for action after breakfast.

In early 2006, I went to bed at about 3 in the morning after a long night at work. I woke up shortly before 9, and noticed a smokey smell that wasn't normally in my boat. It took about 20 minutes to fin the source - it turned out that the tiles behind my stove had been cemented straight to the ply, and that over the preceding 3 years the ply had slowly been burning away. Overnight, the hole had reached the edge of the front bulkhead and so it started to get more oxygen.

This picture shows the damage once the stove had been removed.

Fire damage behind stove

» Read More

After looking at some 40 second hand boats I decided to become Barry's 1st customer. He had already started to fit the boat out, and was prepared to make the changes I required.The inside is lined with oak ply. This view shows the saloon prior to the dinette being fiited. The half bulkhead marks the begining of the galley.

» Read More

The hull arrives from R and D

On 1 August 2001, Elizabeth Jane was delivered from R&D's workshop. Here she is being craned into the Grand Union canal at High House Wharf.

» Read More