The Tardis Project

October 13, 2022 The new transom is roughed in, tabbed and watertight enough to get it through the next couple weeks until the winter cover goes on. The pictures look pretty rough, since the two-part undercoat and topside paint I used were just miserable to grind off, so I only took it down to glass

September 22, 2022 Tardis was due to come back to Connecticut early for the rebuild of the transom, but I did get in one last cruise up Damariscotta River and John’s Bay just to the west, with a stop across the Sheepscot at Indiantown Island to start getting the boat ready to travel. Coming out

August 20, 2022 A great summer of Tardis cruising regardless of continued control problems threatening to sink it! When Molly and I got back from land cruising up to the incredibly scenic Rangely Lakes, it seemed that the basic problem was that the throttle cable was completely frozen due to salt water occasionally getting in

June 14, 2022 At least the dock is in Maine. Tardis went in the water last week after a winter in storage at Derecktor Robinhood. Inside storage cost a small fortune, but it meant the boat came out in great shape. I was all provisioned and ready to take off for a short cruise, when

March 7, 2022 The email version of the last post isn’t loading the pictures correctly, so here is the most important one: the Master Builder Sytse Douna.

March 6, 2022 On our way to Florida for a month out of the cold, Molly and I stopped off to check the progress on Arnhem, Sytse Douna’s superb Olga 28. And we got a wonderful lunch from Rosemary, Syste’s wife, and great electrical tips from his building partner and electrical systems designer Ton Schoenmakers.

January 11, 2022 Work on Sytse’s Olga 28 “Arnhem” to convert to a transom mount for his 115 hp Mercury is proceeding well. He was able continued the “V” part of the hull all the way aft. Starting with a boat that’s already done, I think I may go with a flat piece between the

December 13, 2021 It turns out Mark had already been thinking about both transom or “pod” mount for an Olga “stretched” to 31 feet, but just hadn’t produced plans yet. It looks fantastic. Here’s the link: http://smaaldersyachtdesigns.blogspot.com/2021/12/ If I still had the shop and was five years younger, I’d build a 31 with the pod

December 10, 2021 I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and being up in Maine all summer surrounded by classic motorboats and new “Downeast” styles solidified my thinking. One of the fun things about Tardis is having so many dockwalkers and folks calling up on the radio with, “Great-looking boat, when was she

September 2, 2021 This blog is supposed to be largely about building and improving the Tardis, so here you go: I did two actual pieces of work all summer long: a new smooth-walled bilge pump hose to use as a sink drain instead of the old mess of water hose and hose connections, and a