Gotta love a woody....

Well, I think so anyway and you ain't never gonna persuade me otherwise.  Yes, we made them in Britain to some extent, but it's America and to an extent that few realise, Canada, where they were so much a part of the marine scene.  In fact I would go further and suggest that Canada actually gave us much finer craft.  They came from the Muskoka Lakes and Thousand Island areas of Ontario.  Ditchburn, Minett-Shields, Peterborough, Duke, Shepherd and, of course, my favourites, Greavette.
A company that so nearly didn't make it, Greavette made some of the most elegant boats in the region.  The Streamliner with its rolled edges to the decks and adaptable interior and the Gentlemens' Racer are two that grabbed me straight away.  Greavette also made the famous oddity, the Dispro or Dippy.  The Disappearing Propeller Boat.  I received a plan, amongst many, from my old boaty chum, Rich, which was merely (mis)named "Excaliber", but had no make name, but I reckoned it looked Greavettish, so I resolved to make a Gents' Racer from it.

This is where we are currently.  I finally, despite a broken bandsaw blade, got the Steamed Pear covering boards and king planks fitted and the engine 'ole in place.

That's a good place to hang it up for a while as we are soon moving to a new place (we hope!)

So I had a crack at making the brass bits that will be plated and fitted at the end of the build.

With that in mind I did the steering bracket this afternoon. It took maybe an hour.  It'll take a lot longer to polish prior to plating!

Eventually it'll be mounted on the transom and cavitation plate.  I intend the steering to actually work via this piece,flimsy though it looks, I couldn't bear beefing it up, "just in case".

This is what I'm trying to make, eventually.

I tested my new Bassett-Lowke motor, 70 years old and newly cleaned up.  Intended for the Greavette, on 13Volts it ran superbly and so noisy that I hope it'll sound like a real boat.  I hate that pathetic little whirring noise most electrics do.  I could not slow it with my finger, so I think a nice big pitch prop is called for here.