Mermaid is an Itchen Ferry. These small gaff-rigged cutters were originally used for fishing in the Solent, and often raced in town regattas. Mermaid’s final resting place is Boathouse 4, where she is used for planking practice by the IBTC students. Each student puts on a plank, and the practice planks are then removed, to be duly replaced by successive cohorts of students.

The preparing and fitting of my practice shutter plank went remarkably smoothly. Just a tiny gap towards the bow, which would ‘take up’ if she were ever to go back in the water.

With wood, the force of expansion with increasing moisture content exceeds that required to compress the wood. So, when ‘taking up’ occurs, the expanding planks compress the caulking seam (and the caulking material) sufficiently to dent the adjoining edges of the plank and make a better seal. That’s why traditional wooden boats open up when dried out, and are really best left in the water, with only brief periods out for repairs and antifouling.

Practice plank fitted, it’s time to do my City and Guilds ‘test plank.’ Normally, C&G planks are not shutter planks, because they’re more difficult. Happy to do another shutter plank? I was asked. “Yes, of course,” I said, my fingers firmly crossed.

So, it’s back to Lilian:

I cut the plank to size, put the bevels on the edges and …

… she was nearly there when I tried my ‘first fit.’

After much to and fro-ing between boat and bench, to take off just a few shavings at a time, I got her ‘home.’ The gaps disappeared as I got the plank seated right in – what a relief … I was really pleased!

I am now making a scarf joint for the joint with the plank that is to continue forward to the stem (bow). I will then add a small bevel for caulking before priming the plank and fixing it in place with screws and roved copper nails.

And planes?

Well, the inner aspect of the plank has to be bollowed or ‘backed out.’ This is get the plank to fit to the inner curve of the hull and to lie nicely against the timbers (ribs). Templates are made for each timber and the plank is shaped to fit using a bollow plane.

I had an old wooden plane with a rocker, but no transverse curvature, so I fettled this by adding a transverse curve to the sole, and grinding the blade to shape. This worked well, getting the plank to fit at each station, but I needed a different plane to even out the inner curve long the length of the plank.

In my worksop (Doc’s Den), I found a wooden plane with a flat sole. Ideal, I thought – I just need to put a transverse curve on the sole and it will work a treat.

I shaped the sole, and then the iron; rubbed in boiled Linseed oil; and re-glued the handles. The next day, at the Boathouse, I noticed the maker’s stamp on the plane:

Curious, I went to Google, and found that this plane was made in New South Wales, Australia, by Berg Tools. They made wooden Planes in the 1940s and 1950s. And there was picture of a plane, just like ‘my’ plane!

Anyway, it worked a treat: the ‘swish, swish’ sound, as it smoothed and bollowed out the inner surface of my plank, was wonderful.

I have altered a plane that I now know to be my Dad’s, but I have made it useful and fit for the task at hand. I’d like to think that he wouldn’t mind my adjustments, and would be happy that I had found a good use for it, pleased that I had found pleasure in its efficient and effective shaping of my test plank.