A doorstop keyboard, Texas blowback, and in the "plastic, plastic everywhere" department...
Over the years I've heard rumors of the wonderfulness of dinghies designed by Julian Godwin in New Zealand. The problem is that as much as I've kept an eye out for a up close and personal sighting or getting my hands on a set of plans I've never quite been able to be in the right place at the right time...
"There was a Kiwi boat here the other day with a really cool dinghy you'd have loved"
...was as close as I've come.
So, imagine my surprise to see a post from Roy McBride of CKD Boats that they are now selling kits for Godwin boats and that they were also selling plans!
In the sort of odd coincidence that no longer surprises me anymore the very next day a reader dropped me an email saying I should really write something about Godwin boats and included a link to Julian Godwin's website. A site and designs that are well worth checking out.
One design, the Crackerjack, really caught my eye as I've always been in quest of a dinghy design that would only require a single sheet of plywood to build.
Sure, there are countless single sheet plywood designs but all of them are more suited for kids and not large enough to fulfill the requirements of a proper dinghy. To be honest, I've pretty much given up the quest and had filed it away with the search for an honest politician and other impossible dreams of my long departed youth.
So, yeah, the Crackerjack...
Obviously it's a small dinghy but it only uses one sheet of plywood and is very close in terms of size and usability as these dinghies which all require at least two sheets of plywood to construct them. Not only would the two sheet ply dinghies cost more but they would also weigh more as well.
I'm really looking forward to getting the plans, building one and putting it through its paces. In the meantime I'd really love to hear from any readers who have either built or used one of the Godwin dinghies as it will be awhile until I get the Crackerjack into the building queue.
Listening to Rufus Wainwrite
So it goes...
