Great ideas,
Both of which are new to me but i could see them working. Im a
boilermaker by trade, so the idea ot making up a frame seems pretty
feasible. On the downside im thinking it would have to be pretty heavy
to work.

How does careening work, you tie off to a wharf? i imagine it would
have to be done in very sheltered water so the boat is steady?

On the T-bird, not sure. I imagine they were probably built here or
shipped here as kits and built as most other T-Birds were built.
There's quite a few though... we have a fleet of them racing in perth,
another in Victoria and theres a few scattered around sydney and
queensland too. I dont have exact numbers, but i'd think at least 50
off the top of my head.


Thanks for the ideas
Shaun

Imagine making a cradle that you could lash in place under
the hull with the boat afloat, then sail to a place where
the bottom is relatively level and the tide range is enough
to let you work on the bottom. At high tide, put the cradle
overside & in place, pull up to the beach, secure the boat
in place... it would be good foresight to have a couple of
extra anchors...

Another option is to careen it afloat. Put a block on the
main halyard, hoist it up (with a heavy rope thru first),
then heave the boat down so it's laying on it's side. There
you go, work on the exposed side of the bottom to your
heart's content! No rushing to finish before the tide
catches you. Then do the other side.

BTW how did a Thunderbird get to Australia? You mean one of
these, right?
http://www.thunderbirdsailing.org/photos.htm

Fresh Breezes- Doug King