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Mid April 2017 I took a very intriguing phone call from Robert Morris-Nunn...."I may have dropped you in it. Could you come to a meeting with Rob Pennicott? He wants a whale boat......".

So I thought about that for a while. Further information was to the effect that he wanted something to drop into the void of a spiral staircase in the new visitor centre of Pennicott Wilderness Tours on Bruny Island....and it was thought that a whale boat would be ideal....so I thought some more about that. And made a model. I was thinking at the time that (A) I certainly wasn't going to build a whale boat, but (B) if I could build what I wanted and incorporate some whale boat attributes, ie; dimensions, oars, sweep oar, barrels, rope etc then maybe I could create something recognisable as a whale boat. So I made a model....

...which I presented at our first meeting. I think it had the desired effect as later that night I got the go-ahead to build "something like that....." So from the very first I was committed to something that was a half skinned, half open, half Huon Pine, half reclaimed King Billy, half looking pristine, bright and new and half looking damaged, old and dark....

Smile52 sees the light of day for the first time.....a real delight being able to use some of that gnarly, stained King Billy Pine from the demolished Margaret River Hydro pipeline...on the inside of the inwale the rust marks from the strengthening bands can be seen.....and admirably offset by the Huon....(yes, that is a billy cart in the background...all work and no play makes Peter a dull lad.....)

OK, the backbone story....I had first thought that having a driftwood whale backbone interwoven with the keel, and ribs forming some of the boat ribs would be neat.....BUT, it wouldn't work. Every time I got to visualising it, the whale was lying on its back!! No matter how hard I tried it wouldn't work...so the idea morphed into a supported backbone....the whale becoming one with the boat that was sent to destroy it.....thereby destroying the boat. So this was the first mock-up....and even though there were some discenting voices (you know who you are), the image was firmly in place in my mind....and then of course I had to come up with some vertebrae...........

......what can I say......a very steep learning curve....result - CopperArt...

...washed up on a beach somewhere....

Two happy people...

...and that's just what I had in mind, a WhaleBoat...

So I said good-bye to Smile52, now named WhaleBoat 5.0, hanging in her new home to be admired by many. Thanks to Robert Morris-Nunn who had the confidence in my abilities to point me at Rob Pennicott. And Rob Pennicott, a gentleman and a pleasure to serve.....

I'll finish with his words sent the day after the installation..."...if I'm allowed to swear, bloody fantastic and once again, well done. Very thrilled to have your masterpiece with us...."

A start ..look closely and you'll see the blown up photo which along with a side on view was my "plan"...

Basic half and half frame completed... and this is when the adding in of a "whale backbone" first popped up....

more about the backbone later...floorboards..

...lots more thinking on backbone, a side trip to Bruny Island to collect driftwood...

Decks...nice bit of Blackwood detail...

...first attempt at copper sheathing whale vertebrae...

Vertebrae worked out and under construction...

Whalebone construction site...

...getting good at this...

Party time...all done!!

and a whaletail to really set it off..

..organic looking weight reduction..

Skinned....well, half skinned...

another of those "Smile" moments...

Backbone set....

..and first vertebrae set....

well under way...

...and done!!...

suspended on trailer, ready to go....

Shadow play...

Check out the reflections...

.....lookin' good...

...a glimpse of what's to come...

..just hangin'...

...down the rabbit hole...

..a big thumbs up..

..spectacular...

..spectacular 2...

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