Bob Brown’s Belle

[Aussie]

Looking good Bob!

Exciting times when you get to see the fruits of your labour

[BobBrown55]

Time for an update; I’ve made some progress.

Getting to ‘done’ has taken longer than I expected, and I need to move on to other projects (especially getting our house ready to sell and us ready to move), so I put the Belle back on the trailer a few weeks ago and put together a Gantt chart of tasks to complete so I could get her on the water. My thinking is that it’ll be better to get some time on the water this season, and it’ll be easier to work on remaining tasks without the boat filling the garage / shop.

The dashboard turned out to be the critical path, applying six coats of varnish. I like the way it turned out, and really enjoyed installing the gauges, wheel, and Simrad.

[Roberta]

Wow! Looking good!

Roberta

[BobBrown55]

Took her to Woahink Lake, south of Florence on the Oregon coast, for her first run with the deck on. It turned out to be a good choice as there was no one else on the ramp and only one other boat on the lake. Worked on the launch and load out process, and the boat performed great! She handles great, the ride is really nice, and she has PLENTY of power.

Running the bilge blowers with the hatches open, preparing for launch. Before launch, we decided to remove the starboard pole guide as the dock was on that side and the fenders won’t go past the pole.

The trailer does a great job getting her online for loading.

Back on the trailer at the top of the ramp, ready to head home.

[BobBrown55]

Here she is at the dock, ready to head out.

[BobBrown55]

Here’s the proud builder, ready to head down the ramp …

… and holding her line on the dock.

[BobBrown55]

A couple of other photos of recent progress. Installing hardware on the deck was really fun!

Here’s the deck in the stern, over the fuel tank and rudder.

Here’s the deck and hatches over the engine. Didn’t have the right screws at the time, so will replace these and put in the rest.

[hoodman]

Congratulations on the launch!

[TomB]

Looks great Bob. Congratulations. Tom

[mrintense]

Congratulations Bob, very nice indeed. It's so cool to see beautiful boats being launched. All the hard work and then the great rewards at the end. Love it!!

[neel thompson]

Bob... Way to go... Great workmanship and attention to detail has paid off for you. Beautiful Belle. I am wondering where you got the low profile cowl vents. They are just what I have been looking for. Congratulations on a superior build... Neel

[kens]

Beautiful Stunning

[Thomas H]

Looks magnificent Bob!

[BobBrown55]

Bob... Way to go... Great workmanship and attention to detail has paid off for you. Beautiful Belle. I am wondering where you got the low profile cowl vents. They are just what I have been looking for. Congratulations on a superior build... Neel

Hi Neel,

Thank you!

I found the vents in Australia, Classic Boat Supplies. Here’s a link to those vents on their website: https://shop.classic-boat-supplies.com. ... rass-vent/. They offer both 6-1’2” and 9” sizes, and chrome or polished brass finished. Mine are all 6-1/2” chrome.

Let me know if you have questions about them. I like them, and couldn’t find anything like them in the US. Also got my windshield brackets and some other parts from them. They had some Covid related delays in shipping, but communicated well about status.

Take care,

Bob

[neel thompson]

Thanks for the link Bob. I'm on it !!