Sand, Paper and Wood

Quite a good mix.

Granite

Thanks to my friends at TNC Granite we are able chose from a various different finishes of stone for the galley (kitchen to anyone who doesn't speak boat).

I don't know how common it is to use a solid stone worktop for marine use but for me it really compliments the exclusive use of natural, traditional materials such as wood, brass, bronze, copper, stainless steel and glass.

Granted it may seem a little premature fitting a kitchen sink to a boat that doesn't have a steering wheel yet, but it is important to know the fit and finish we're going for and the various options available right from the beginning.

Watercolour

Here we have a simple water colour depicting the proposed colour scheme for the boat. Any thoughts or ideas are welcome.

The finished article will have a propellor.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

This is the tag line from HounPine.com and if it's online it must be true, right? Well with a growth rate of 1mm per year it could be said that the wood for this boat has been 12,000 years in the making. So yes waiting has certainly taken place, mostly by prehistoric man, Ancient Egyptians, Dodo's (bad luck) and many other cliche historic lifeforms.

The age becomes very apparent when you try and count the rings. Go on. Try it.

Ironic then that a wood which can tell the story of life on Earth over the past few millennia within it's beautifully concise rings can near extinction within a few decades of modern man finding out they can make lovely boats and occasional tables out of it.

A great place to keep your biscuit crumbs.

Luckily for Lagarostrobos Franklinii (or Huon Pine for those of us who can't speak tree), the Australian Forestry Commission declared it a protected species in 1981 and logging became severely restricted to mostly salvage from forest floor and river beds.

If you can't see the wood it's because you are looking at the trees.

Okay so you have to wait for it, we get it, now tell me what's good about it. Alright I will. Beginning with an interesting fact. The unique oil (methyl eugenol) that permeates the wood making it virtually rot proof has also been used for dressing wounds, treating toothache, as a paint preservative and insecticide. Sounds like an interesting day out. But it's the combination of being a lightweight, easy to carve, stable wood that isn't prone to shrinking that makes it really good.

This man found it easy to carve.

If all that doesn't excite you maybe another interesting fact will, namely that all trees are genetically identical males that reproduce vegetatively. So basically the tree we see now, let's call it Adam, is just a clone of itself.

Have you ever seen a more masculine looking tree. I haven't.  

Now personally I never knew trees had a gender, it's not something I think about all that often to be fair, but being the producer of the finest construction wood known to man and one of the most perfectly formed organisms on the planet it seems clear to me this is one tree that wasn't distracted by the apple.

Progress

A few pictures of progress that has been made so far in December.

Mostly stripping back layers of muck and paint to see what lies underneath, so far I've been pleasantly surprised.

The quality of the workmanship really is something special.

Out go the windows.

Despite the stupendous construction in which every piece of wood has been glued, tacked and screwed to every other panel with bronze or stainless steel screws, the design wasn't going to work with my propsed re-design of this boat so it's all on it's way out, including the kitchen sink.

Sinkless boat.

I didn't really like how the gray paint on the hull made the bedroom and front cabin feel cold and uninviting.

And so the natural beauty of huon pine and oak ribs held together with copper rivets is revealed giving a much softer and cosy environment.

Work in progress, Lots of it.

The big picture.

More pictures and stories to be added as they happen, and the impending festive break will allow me more time to work on the boat, as my boss kindly allows us all to take most of our holidays during the christmas period as he quite likes shutting up the workshops and riding dirt bikes around the Mojave Desert this time of year. Not to be outdone tho, I will in-fact be spending New Year's Eve in Moscow, Russia.

Photos are courtesy of Mike Pritchard Photography

www.mikepritchardphotography.co.uk

Shifting in he Right Direction

On the sunny morning of Friday the 2nd of the November 2012 the boat was moved.

Where it was.

In between wood, rope and slings is where you'll find Roger in his element.

Where it is now. The workshop.

Photos are courtesy of Mike Pritchard Photography

www.mikepritchardphotography.co.uk

Who is John 'Jumbo' Goddard?

When contemplating the name Jumbo what comes to mind? A Jumbo Jet maybe, Jumbo the massive elephant, Jumbo sausages? Either which way you look at it the word subtle does not spring to mind. We can construed this to be a something of an appropriate nick name then awarded to a certain Mr Goddard at an early age for his uncanny resemblance to a pantomime elephant from behind. This comment made in the late 1920's by fellow Brooklands racing driver, wealthy railway entrepreneur and from then on in, life long friend Captain J.E.P. Howey not only gave rise to nick name Jumbo John but allowed him to dabble in train driving amongst other things to fuel an insatiable passion for all things grand and mechanical. 

An elephant driving a Land Rover. (near enough)

Son of a successful English barrister Jumbo shunned the legal career in favour of a Marine Apprenticeship at Thornycrofts, Southampton. A move which would see him working aboard the 334 foot Herzogin Cecilie as part of the grain trade in the 30's.

1902 Herzogin Cecilie

All this floating around not only allowed Goddard's mind to wonder a little but gave him the money required to fulfil his minds wonderings. Namely his next move, which would be to buy a Ford V8 pickup and go prospecting for minerals in Australia and New Guinea. But as the 30's past the arrival of World War Two saw the ever English Goddard return to England to work with the Royal Navy on engine and propellor development for multi prop V12 powered Motor Torpedo Boats.

Vospa 70 ft Motor Torpedo Boat

The success of the war mixed with some more successful prospecting for minerals (basically mining) in Oz proved evident in Jumbo's ever increasing car collection in both the UK and Australia. I would call these classic and vintage cars but given this was the 40's and 50's these were, at the time known as just cars. But that's not strictly true given this was a man who bought the famous Le-mans winning Jaguar OKV1 screwed a windscreen to it, chopped the fuel tank in half to make space for his sandwiches and proceeded to use it as a run around for his Newport Beach pad.

'Jumbo' Goddard and OKV1 at his Newport Beach residence

The 50's saw Goddard spending his years in Sierra Leone and Ghana as part of the Consolidated African Selection Trust. This is where he is famed for spending evenings playing poker with uncut diamonds where the normal man would use match sticks. But despite this obvious wealth, all these land based eccentric activities did not a happy Jumbo make, and in 1957 the now 50 year old Goddard signed on as an Ordinary Seaman for the voyage of the Mayflower II on a 56 day voyage from Plymouth Devon to Plymouth Massachusetts.

Mayflower II proudly displaying both front and rear flags were made in England.

One of his most famous achievements comes in the 60's as something of a culmination of his past so far, when he fitted an 8 litre Bentley engine he'd found in an ambulance during the war to another Bentley he'd bought in 1928 and with his personal touch of twin turbo chargers succeeded in creating what was for some time, the fastest Bentley in the world.

550 bhp Record Breaking Bentley driven with something of a poker face.

What does this have to do with boats I hear you ask, again. Well bear with me, you've read this much so you may as well keep reading. In what can only be described as a coincidence, having married in 1973 and with the all too familiar phrase "if you drive that thing again I'm going to divorce you" ringing in his ear Goddard chose to hang up the racing helmet in favour of the retired life in his New South Wales resisdence overlooking Pittwater. This is where he had raced is yacht over the years with the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, and if this biography has taught us anything it's with sailing, comes ideas. This time the slightly more serene idea of creating his own steam launch to pottery around Sydney in. And so to answer the question, who is John 'Jumbo' Goddard? On this occasion, he is the designer and creator of the much aforementioned, Gollywog.

Much of the information for this piece was acquired from the very useful and highly recomended New Zealand Rolls-Royce & Bentley Club article to be found here. 

http://www.rrbew.co.uk/Pdfs/NZ-issue2012-3.pdf

And all copyright infringements come with an apology and a smile.

Australian Waters

Thanks to previous owner Janet Mills we were able to uncover these original photo's of the boat being launched, presumably at Halvorsen and Gowland in Sydney.

Launching of 'Gollywog' August 18th, 1975.

Unlike his friend John Goddard takes no time to pose for a photograph. 

Present History

To continue from the last post, the boat was purchased in 2002 by yet another enthusastic collector of all things steam, Roger Lees. Having homed the boat at Northwich marina in a dry dock he eagerly set to work fitting out the somewhat unloved by now boat with a suitabley impressive steam engine and boiler to his own design.

US Navy 'M' Type 5 3/4 & 12 x 8 Steam Engine

New additions were also added to work started by Alan Ritchie such as twin front bunks located behind a tongue and grove bulkhead.

It was deemed necessary for scale purposes that Roger made use of the bed

Other nice examples of work carried out by Mr Ritchie included a double glazed skylight to match the double glazed wheelhouse all in beautifully finished solid teak.

Front Cabin Roof

And so with steam boiler designer extraordinaire Roger armed with a fantastic boat just a few screws away from being sea worthy the scene was set for this vessel to finally become the boat the late great Jumbo Goddard had dreamed of all those years ago, right? Well sadly not. Due to a number of factors progress on the boat fizzeled out over the years and the project seemed to be too much even for the living. The steam engine was removed and sold and plans were put in place to sell the increasingly unloved looking boat.

Engineless

However this wasn't to be the back of it because in the spring of 2012 news came through that Northwich marina was to be renovated into some kind of useful thing like houses or something, the result of which being the boat had to be moved. The how and the where proved slightly panicky for a while but a location just outside of Macclesfield coupled with a massive crane, a big lorry and no doubt some swearing culmonated in the boat finding itself a much more eco friendly 5 minutes drive from Rogers door, opposed to the 45 minutes to Northwich.

The Back Of It

But why are you telling me all this? Well I'll tell you why. Because this is where I come in and this is when the present history becomes the present. Still working full time for Petersen Engineering I have decided with the help of parents, boat builders, friends, strangers and google to taken on the completion of this boat. Naturally with my own interpritation of how I think it should look and function mixed with what I believe will be most appealing to a prospective 'massive wooden boat' owner.

The Story So Far - Boat

In Dry Dock Featuring Current Proud Owner Roger

The boat, where did it come from and how did it get here? While some history is unknown, some history is, so let's start with that. It was designed and commisioned by marine engineer, diamond miner, Bentley enthusiast and general eccentric John 'Jumbo' Goddard and built by Halvorsen Gowland in Sydney, Australia. The hull is made from 42 feet of huon pine, no mean feat considering this is a rare and protected species only found in western Tasmania. Famed for it's natural resistance to rot and shrinkage most of this wonder wood was sucked up for boat building in the 1820's and with a growth rate that's measured in thousands of years there isn't going to be any more any time soon.

Huon Pine

The design is the result of Jumbo Goddard's want for a Naval steam pinnace, and based on 1908 Simpson Strickland design.

1908 Simpson Stickland Gentleman's Day Cruiser

It is currently unknown to me whether the boat ever made it into Australian waters but in 1978 it was transported to Britain to settle a debt with British business man Tom Wheatcroft.  Subsequent owner Alan Ritchie added the raised center wheelhouse but sadly passed away following a ballooning-parachute accident before completing his proposed installation of twin high pressure boilers and steam engine. And so the boat originally named Gollywog by Jumbo was briefly owned by steam enthusiast Derrick Mills before being purchased by current owner Roger Lees (my step father) in 2002.

Rear Cabin

The Story So Far - Me

Working for my parents manufacturing buissness from a young age I quickly gained knowledge of 'how to build stuff'. These skills mixed with some childish imagination gave birth to creations over the years such as the super swing, the super chair, a motor bike powered go kart, an earth shattering home cinema and numerous tree houses, most of which were successful and didn't catch fire.

Would you like to buy some wheels..

Once I had politely declined any further education from the state at the age of 16 I found myself in full time work and education completing an apprenticeship in engineering while working for my previously mentioned parents company making wire wheels for vintage cars. This period saw the scale of car based tomfoolery increase to include the building of my own sports car, restoration and sale of a 1917 Simplex, the racing, crashing and repairing of numerous single seater race cars throughout the UK and Europe, as well as the 'how many miles can you put on a US hire car in two weeks' challenge I set myself.

Self Built Sports Car

All good fun, but come 2009 the business was sold to man more enthusiastic about owning his own wire wheel manufacturing company than I was. Subsequently I have found myself working for a man who answers only to the name Bob Petersen. So proud of this name he is he's spent the past 30 years building rather expensive vintage Bentley specials with his name discreetly engraved on the cars build plate and dashboard, and door sills, as well as number plates and if fitted, supercharger.

A Petersen Special

What does this have to do with boats I hear you ask, well this is an issue which coincides with the conclusion of the 'The Story So Far - Me' bit and gives birth to 'The Story So Far - Boat'. Or to be more concise, I'm not really sure. All I know is I really like the idea of building a massive wooden boat. I think it happens to most people at some point in their life, probably, and I'm also enthusiastic about a project which will (hopefully) yield some money for some travel based tomfoolery for me and my inspiration, Sasha.

My first time piloting a battleship