Gimme shelter.

I was racking my brains for a suitable enclosure or canopy that would close in the Centaur without too much visual impact. But to be honest trying to hide anything 26 feet long and 10 foot high is going to be a tall order.

Still i spoke to my neighbours along the street who it would impact the most and assured them it would only be up for 6 - 8 weeks while i carry out repairs, to which all were positive and quite interested seeing as the boat become a local point of interest.

I then set about the internet to see if i could get something 'off the shelf ' all i turned up was this but spluttered at the price, not to mention it would still need some form of foundation to bolt the whole thing to. Undeterred i set about working out a specification and design to be built from wood.

I based the frame of the canopy along the lines of a stud wall , but using 2x2 instead of 4x2 to make it practical to move around.

The weather was decent in April, so seeing as i had sod all work on i set about making the frames that would build up into the four sides in the back garden.

The foundations needed digging next and being an ebay addict (and abit lazy) i swore after digging the pilings (by hand) for my summerhouse i would never dig a hole by hand again. For £200 i got what can only be described as a chainsaw motor with a comedy size drill bit on the end but was told it would be perfect for drilling holes quickly.

I set my plots out with string remembering my basic 3 4 5 triangle theory from school & made a giant string rectangle around the Centaur, being english about these things i thought i'd use the boat for cover to drill the first few holes incase of some embarassing accident with the drill.

To my surprise it drilled a perfect 8" diameter hole three feet deep, i drilled six more either side and two fore and aft to bolt a 4x2 sill plate to.