2010 building logs

August 2010 Starting on the bedrooms

Now that I am back enjoying some high visibility furniture construction I am going to get a start on the beds and steps to them. Once they are done (they should not take the entire month and during the same time I will alternate between finishing the galley and the bedrooms) I will need to start finishing a number of half finished jobs I have left around the boat. Hopefully work will also start on the fairing and the saloon windows this month. So we should start to see some profound changes in the appearance of the boat.

Aug 1 Port fwd island bunk.

Yesterday I finished glassing in the starboard steps and making the shelves and front of the curved cupboard that finishes that section of the boat, well almost, the only other furniture to make will be a wine bottle holder that will fit behind the starboard dagger board case, everything else to do in there is finishing work, wall linings, floor linings and cupboard doors. All cupboard doors (and room doors for that matter) throughout the boat are hung last, once all other construction work is complete and are part of the final finishing work. The reason is pretty obvious, being gloss doors you dont want to be passing them hundreds of times carrying material or sharp tools that can scratch them.

Along the front of the dagger case will also be a wall lining so the cupboard that adjoins it will protrude past the end of the case by the small width of the wall lining to go on, about 20mm. The shelves are just sitting in place at this stage, they will be glassed in once the front is made, but from the shape of the shelves the front will be molded. All of the shelves are curved to the exactly the same shape on the front and are only different sizes because the back moves out as the hull changes shape the higher you go (it gets wider so the shelves get deeper). I made mdf molds from the front shape of the bottom shelf. The front will be made from polycore but glassed and put in the mold wet to set to the mold. I cut the molds all one at a time, and the danger with this is that no 2 cuts are ever exactly the same even if are a master with a jigsaw, which I am not, so my method is to cut them a tiny bit (the width of your pencil line) oversize then screw them all to each other and grind them down all at one time so they all end up exactly the same shape and exactly matching the shelf they were originally traced from. Then whilst still screwed to each other saw the bottom edge off together, this again makes sure each mold when attached to a table will be (provided the table is flat) the same height, if one is prouder than the others or lower than the others you have fairing to do. You will need to do fairing anyway but the fairer it starts off the less bog and the less sanding later. Then once all of the molds are the same, screw them to the bench an equal distance apart, the more molds by the way the less chance of unfairness in the final set panel but I figure 200mm spacing's ought to be fine.

While the molds were all screwed to each other, mark 3 lines on them square to the face so you can use these to line the molds up. You want the molds all lined exactly, all the same height, all square to the table front edge so that you are sure that the finished panel will be the exact shape of the molds.

Then once set up on the table, I wet out the glass for each side and the polycore panel and laid the glass and put it into the mold wet, and still very flexible. It will set to shape in the mold. I put peel ply on the glass that will be the inside of the panel but tightly wiped bog on the outside glass to set wet on wet. The panel is held to the mold by about 8 screws and these will pull through the back glass (hopefully) when the panel is set and then a small fill to those holes should do it. The mold edges have clear tape to prevent the front from sticking to it. Once set the panel should hold its shape. I may fair it whilst it is still in the mold as it will be held in place to help me.

The keen eyed may have noticed that in the pic above where I am holding the panel down with cross beams of timber I have the panel in the mold the wrong way. I ran out of time to glass it so left it overnight in place, to retain some memory of the mold so that after glassing it would sit back in easily. I only noticed from the photo that night that something did not look right. Lucky I ran out of time! That would have been an annoying and embarrassing mistake when I went to fit the curved (and faired!) panel to the boat. Anyway by next morning I decided I would like to bog it at the same time so the cross member idea was jettisoned and I positioned the panel in the mold the correct way.

Other than finding a solution to the bed problem, the boat show did not have much interest for me this year. I also found some tramp webbing I really like. Jo really likes the Ferrari webbing because she gets nervous standing on things she can see through and you can hardly see through the Ferrari tramp webbing so that suits her fine. The problem for me is that the fine mesh blocks vision so it also impedes the fast draining of water, so I like open mesh, and I found a more fine open mesh that both Jo and I like. Compromise found.

The work on the port forward bed shape did my head in for a while. I could not get my head around the shape I needed and I had 3 competing interests, keeping the bed as close to full size as I could, having as wide and as safe steps up into the bed as I could, and having as much cupboard space as I could or more accurately not wasting the small amount of space is there in voids that could not be used for anything. The visit to the Sydney boat show re-focused my thinking and I believe I have it now. The issue that was troubling me was getting steps up onto the bunk on both sides but remembering that I will have the mast in the front corner that one of the sets of steps will need to get around. I toyed with the idea of moving the bunk off center so that it was up against the saloon bulkhead, this freed up the space for the steps to the front that will be compromised by the stub mast but presented new problems. First would be it would look odd, second Jo thought being directly up against the wall was claustrophobic and possible dangerous and finally the step on this end would be much smaller due to there being much less space so whatever I seemed to think off presented new and usually worse problems than I already had.

I also had it my head that I could just cut the last 250mm off the mattress corners for 250mm in (so a right angle triangle) but the problem that this posed was I could not get a wide enough top step on each side and a shallower angle from further back seemed to be the solution. I  experimented with a few mark outs and that I starting the angle from about a 2 thirds of the way along the bed (a queen bed is 203cm long) so about 130cm along and then an angle of about 25 degrees will give me a wide enough step at the end of the bed and the top step at the top of the chamfer panel on the bridgedeck. You are cutting mattress size away further up the bed but at a lesser angle so you dont miss it, and it is past the hips so it is leg room. It works and from the boats I saw at the show it is the accepted way to go as I saw 3 different boats that had roughly the same shape beds.

I am also extending my island out a bit further than the end of the bed, which is not the way most other islands seem to be, the others seem to value wider walkways than storage space, but I have maintained a 500mm walkway through the rest of the boat so I see no reason to not continue with that in the bedroom and the extra length in the island will provide a very good storage area under the bed. The extra cupboard extend another 300mm and then leaves the 500mm walkway space to the other cupboard on the outside of the hull.

So having returned from the boat show with a clearer idea I set it all out and started making templates and cutting panels. I have a 3mm mdf template that I have used 3 times now and each time it has worked well. It is slightly out each time I position it somewhere else because of the changes in the shape of the boat at different points, but by just marking the size of the gaps on the template then adjusting for them when I cut out my panel I have managed to use the same template with success each time now.

After marking out my new bed size and shape, the first template and panel I cut was the extension to the bed that overhangs the chamfer panel. This boat was originally designed to have fore and aft bunks on the brigdedeck in each hull. I have 2 issues with this. First a fore and aft bunk on the bridgedeck means that the person on the inside must climb over the person on the outside to get in and out of bed so if they want to go to the toilet or get up for whatever reason they have to climb over a person asleep in bed, I dont think you can do that without waking the other person, so a bed across the boat means you can have steps and access either side, the second issue is that if I followed the original plans, then all the bunks on board would be running fore and aft (the rear bunk is also for and aft but it has the ability to get in and out without climbing over the other person because the opening is at the foot of the bed) and if you are in a particular anchorage which means the swell is causing a particular motion that sleeping is uncomfortable fore and aft then there ought to be at least one permanent bunk not fore and aft (the saloon lounge will also convert to a double bed and is across the boat). So a panel is needed to extend the bed over the chamfer panel. Easy enough.

After making the bed extension I cut some mdf temporary webs to hold the overhang up in place while I set out and made the rest of the bed parts, when all glued and glassed in the mdf webs can come out. The chamfer to bridgedeck join is curved here so some shaping of the panel was needed, again easy enough, I made it slightly oversize, put it in place over the join so that all other faces (front and sides and a centerline) all lined up then traced the curved join shape from underneath onto the panel and cut it out. A bit of minor grinding and shaping later and it fit beautifully and by grinding the edge to the angle of the chamfer I minimize the fill of glue needed to glass this panel on. With the extension temporarily screwed to the temporary stays it was time to make the sides.

Then an end to the bed was cut and then a top of the bed end cupboard which gave final overall dimensions to both the bed and the cupboard. A bottom kickboard shelf and a middle shelf will be cut next, in the bottom half, because it is against the chamfer I will again make a bottom hinged drawer below the middle shelf. I may also put a half depth shelf above the middle shelf to try to make some use of the angled back of the cupboard but as this will be shallow (because of the chamfer I may not, I am not sure yet. I also still have to cut the bed sides that run at the proper width for a queen mattress (203cm). I have made the mattress depth 150mm of which 50mm will be taken in the bamboo slat supports. I have chosen this method because it provides ventilation under the mattress which is to prevent the build up of mold which can be a problem in the tropics if the mattress cannot breathe properly, and to provide some springing. We will probably have an inner spring mattress made to shape that are usually 200mm high, so 100mm will protrude from the sides. Although having said that, I am not sure I will be able to get an innerspring mattress down the stairs and around the corner once the port stairwell cupboards are installed. I know mattresses bend but I am not sure they can bend and compress the amount needed to get through what will become a very small opening once all the furniture is in. I have considered latex which is much more flexible but it is very heavy and very very expensive. A queen mattress would run at about $1500! (On the starboard side we will have 2 full size queen mattresses also one in each berth but I think I have more room to get them down that sides stairwell).

Next step before gluing and glassing this all in will be to set the step heights and cut the shapes now that I have the bed end in place. I also have to make some storage bins that run along side the bed at the full width end of the bed. These will be curved and eventually also be padded as they can be rolled into if asleep and the boat suddenly moves violently which can happen on a boat. Then once all that is done glue and glass it in. and apart from the linings to come later and some wiring also to come later, and the mini masts due around October this room is done. The steps up the bed on the forward side also cant go in until the mini mast is in.

Aug 11 Port fwd island bunk glassed.

Setting step heights and shapes is trial and error with cardboard. Once you decide on the heights that is, and setting heights is somewhat more difficult, because the only way to be sure they work for you is to use them, and the only way to do that is to have them fixed into the boat well enough that they can take your weight. Now what the hulls are sealed I am very loathe to screw into the hulls anywhere near the waterline in case a screw goes through. So I used blocks on the bottom step and then made a judgment call on the rest of them. Stepping down the steps into the hulls or back up them to the bridgedeck you do so on your feet the entire time but up into be it is likely that whilst you start stepping up on your feet you revert to your knees at the top. So whilst I settled on 4 steps plus top and bottom 200mm apart for the hull/bridgedeck steps I have decided to make the bottom 2 steps 300mm apart and the top 2 steps 200mm apart for 3 steps plus top and bottom.

So having decided that, next was to decide on a shape. I experimented with curves but in the end straight edges worked best here. The issue is the same as I had with the other steps, that of being able to see the step below to get a foot fall when coming down and for the step above your foot not to impede your ability to find a foot fall on the way up and because of the near vertical rise in the hull that then transitions to the chamfer at about 45 degrees. It is the lower steps that present all the issues. In order for the bottom step to protrude far enough it starts to encroach on walkway space and into the doorway so that it impedes the travel of the door through its arc. The solution is curved steps or angled steps, in other words the front edge of the steps is not parallel to the hull centreline. This is the way I went. It suits the angles of the island protrusion and the angle is such that it keeps the doorway clear and by subtly changing the angle of the steps as they rise it curves around to naturally lead you up onto the bed.

With the steps decided on, the next step was to start glassing the bed island sides in. After the front and top edges are de-cored and filled. Angles marked so that they are easily replaced into the correct position with glue on then coving and glassing has them set in place, level and plumbed front (also note that the front edges are sanded on an angle so that the fronts are parallel to the center line despite the angle of the sides.).

 

With the sides glasses in and after I set the step shapes and heights Jo and I discussed whether we would put fronts on the step risers so as to close them off, or leave them open and just run carpet up under each step. We couldn't decide, until I realized that I would need pipes across the steps to ferry water pipes in both directions and power. Water will go from the tanks in between the 2 bedrooms, across under this bed under the steps to the main cabin (and under the steps in there) to the kitchen and bathroom and from the water maker in the bathroom (behind the shower wall) and to the water tanks. The power will be for lights in the bedroom and may not be needed but better to fit is now and not need it than to need it and it not be there. And the power and water have separate conduit paths because it makes sense that power and water be separated in case I have a leak.

The pipes will need to be hidden so fronts on the top 2 steps will hide them. The top steps will not need footfall under the riser above as is needed in the main hull steps so fronts on the top 2 (as I will have in the main steps anyway) works out fine. With these final details decided I glassed the steps into the boat. But again this occurred over a few days as the usual process of de-coring and filling, waiting for it to set so I could sand it then glassing the steps in from above first as there were screws below to hold the step up at the height (and level) required so they need to be removed before the underside can be glassed, so next day when the top glass had set I removed the screws and glassed and coved the underside.

 

With the steps glassed into the port bedroom I moved across to the starboard bedroom to work on a problem that Jo will decide this weekend (she is down for the weekend). Each bedroom (there are only 3) ought to have some clothes hanging space, and the port bedroom has a dedicated walk in wardrobe. The aft bedroom on the starboard side also has hanging space in the change room in front of the bed (which is behind the bulkhead) but the forward bedroom in the starboard hull does not yet have a hanging closet/cupboard. So I have to figure out where I will build one that does not intrude into the room too much but still works effectively as a cupboard. The issue is that at the front of the room there is to be a mast post that restricts the size and access to a forward cupboard, and whilst it will act as a good support structure to strengthen the mast it wont be as practical as a cupboard because of the mast. However and cupboard on the aft bedroom wall will be very obtrusive and close in the bed too much but will have very good access. So I am doing the only thing that makes sense. Have Jo decide.

Aug 14 Finishing the nav cabinet.

The nav cabinet is to have a curved side so that the path into the saloon through the double doors and past the nav table into the starboard hull is around a curved cabinet corner. I thought kerfing would be the easiest way to do this as the inside (kerfed side) is inside the cupboard and hidden from view, but kerfing polycore is a bit harder than it ought to be. Kerfing duflex balsa core is very easy but with polycore the saw rips the scrim and glass from the poly core leaving a mess to glass to and also it does not curve easily like duflex does, it is more rigid. So after attempting a kerfed panel that failed miserably I decided the easiest way was either use duflex which I dont have much left of, or curve a flat polycore panel over a mold then glass it to set curved. This is by far an easier way to curve polycore.

Making the curved mold parts out of mdf is a bit of a chore, many builders hate building something that will just get thrown away at the end, but often it actually saves time or results in a better finish. And of course the more use you can get from an mdf mold the better it works out in terms of amortizing the time saving. And as it turns out this curve radius is consistent (by design) trough the boat so I will re-use this mold again on the port bunk bed side cabinets and also on the pantry door and also the curved ends of the 2 cupboards that will be either side of the port stair well (it is also the radius of the curves on the saloon lounge). The boat was originally designed for fore and aft bed alignment but we decided we wanted at least one bunk to be across the boat, so the port bunk runs across in a space designed for it to run fore and aft, so there is 250mm space either side of this bunk (2000mm space but bed only 1500mm wide) and it protrudes out over the chamfer to make up the length required (2000mm required and bridgedeck space only 1500mm so 500mm used over chamfer). So this 250mm space will be extra storage space about 300mm high, but because it is along side the bed and there is a chance the edge could be rolled into I will curve the corner to the same radius using the mold. I may need 1 or 2 more mdf molds as the spans are longer and if the mold panels are spaced too far apart the shape is lost between them, this will be especially true for the pantry door as it is 1950mm floor to ceiling (the floor to ceiling is actually 2100mm but there will be a 150mm kickboard). But that is a bit further along, probably 2 months or more before I get to that.

I have glassed a front onto the top step of the port bunk under which I have 2 pvc pipes. 1 pipe is larger than the other and is for the water pipes to traverse to and from the water tanks, to and from because one pipe will take water from the tanks to the various outlets in the kitchen and main bathroom, and the other pipe will take water from the water-maker that will be behind a bathroom wall to the tanks. The other is for wiring to go from the switchboard to the various requirements of the bedroom (lighting and 1 power outlet and maybe a fan) and the fresh water pumps that are behind the bedroom wall between the 2 bedrooms. I can wire the pumps via wiring that will run through either bunk so I am yet to determine the exact wiring diagram but I have conduit in place so that any option is possible. Those pipes under that top step are at a very visible height so need to be hidden and the only way is a front on the step.

I have determined that whilst the top step needs a front its fall is higher up the chamfer panel than where the step below meets the chamfer and that next step down is already quite deep. However if that next step were to have a front, its would fall onto the step below and that next step is quite shallow. What happens with shallow steps on the chamfer is that the angle up and away from the level step is such that your toes can follow it so it in effect becomes part of the step whereas a front on the step above stops that, so because of this, only the top steps will have fronts on them. This will be the same for the top step on the other side of the port bed and also for the top step of the starboard bunk. That bunk will run across the boat and I may have cupboards at either end of that bed so there will be a wide (about 800mm) single set of steps up the middle of the bunk side between the 2 cabinets, but they will be at the same heights and the same depth steps as used on this bunk but again, that is next job on the list.

After this port bedroom is finished I will move over to the starboard bedroom. There is going to be some furniture in each room I cannot finish yet due to having to wait until the mast stub posts arrive later in the year, probably around October or November. They will need space around them to glass them into the boat then the furniture is made around them. Whilst doing the forward bunks I am continuing to work on the saloon and I also still have some furniture to build into the starboard aft bunk. Once that is all done I will only have the main bathroom to do which includes the shower back wall behind which will be the laundry, and shower side wall behind which will be the watermaker and maybe also the fridge heat exchanger so that it can vent out into the cockpit. I am yet to speak to the fridge supplier, I have narrowed it down to 2 brands, so once I do I will get a better idea of the physical size of the unit, where it can fit and where I can vent it to, there is a slim chance I can vent it under the bridge deck through the chamfer panel but I am not convinced of that idea yet, best to keep water away from anything that opens to the inside of the boat.

I anticipate I should have the bedroom furniture, as much as I can do now anyway, done by the end of the month and have the saloon furniture done by the end of September. So things are moving along. Every now and I then I get delusional and think this boat will be done very soon, but then I come back down to earth to realize that I still have to hustle to get it on the water even late next year.

Aug 18 Start on the Starboard bedroom.

I have previously marked out where we could build a hanging cabinet in the starboard forward bunk. The aft bunk in this hull has a space for hanging clothes and of course the port bunk has its own dedicated closet where the ensuite is in this bedroom so it needs some space. The issue with all space is its use usually precludes it not being used, what that means is something cant be both there and not there, so anything built in must on be obtrusive. That is certainly the issue if the hanging space is built on the aft bulkhead of the bedroom (the one between the bedroom and the saloon). In a catamaran the boat lifts and falls at the hull ends, its called hobby horsing, or I call is seesawing. As with a see saw, the closer to the middle of the boat the less this occurs, so obviously in a fore and aft bed, you are likely to be much more comfortable having the pillows as close to the center of boat as you can, meaning in this case, our pillows would be at the aft bulkhead.

Another thing likely to induce claustrophobia or discomfort (and perhaps danger) is having the area around the pillows surrounded on 3 sides by building out the space with a cupboard. There is never an issue with having a wall behind the pillows, nearly every bed everywhere in the world has this, nor is there a major issue with having a wall down one side of the bed but a wall down both sides does induce a feeling of no escape and claustrophobia and in some cases such as the rear bunk, this is unavoidable, but where it is avoidable it is advisable. So it did not take long to rule out a floor to ceiling cupboard at the aft end or pillow end of the bed. That only left one option.

Whilst access and space is compromised by having a mast post in the room where I want to now put a hanging space the cabinet would at least hide that mast post and provided additional support for it. But having a part of the bed at your legs closed in is nowhere near as claustrophobic. So it is decided. At the aft (pillow) end of the bed there will also be a cupboard but it wont be any higher than the height of the mattress. It is additional storage space, fills the space above the chamfer and provides the aft side of the steps up into the bed (the front edge of the steps are up against the side of the hanging cupboard).

The bedroom between the bulkheads is 2000mm, the first measurement was how wide the steps ought to be. Anything over 500mm is adequate. I felt that 750mm was wide enough for the steps. That left 1250mm of which I made the hanging cupboard 750mm and the forward half cupboard 500mm. So with the size all decided I got that trusty mdf template out again and marked on it the adjustments needed for the 2 positions of the 2 cupboard sides for transposing onto the polycore panels the further forward you go the more out of shape the template is and needs more adjustment when transcribing because of the change in angles as the hull sizes change (it narrows the further forward you go as hulls tend to do!). The forward of the 2 panels being full height (2000mm floor to ceiling) and the aft panel only to the height of the bed surround, which is 150mm higher than the bridgedeck, 50mm taken up in the under-bed frame and half of a 200mm mattress covered by the sides of the cabinets.

With the size transposed and the panels cut, I was pleasantly surprised at how accurate I am getting at cutting these panels that meet the various angles of the hull and chamfer panel. I am now getting to less than 2mm tolerances. On the first panel I cut (the starboard aft bedroom wall that ran at an angle to the hull) I was about 10mm out in places but to be fair that panel was not square to the centreline so adjusting for the angles was somewhat more troublesome. Of course the temptation is to glass them in straight away. Alas you cannot do that, well you can but you make more work for yourself later or the work you must do harder. For starters the front edges (and the top edge on the half cupboard) need de-coring and back filling. Which of course is what I did to finish up for the day. The setting of this stuff takes at least 24 hours, more like 48 in winter until it is set well enough to sand. So in the interim (I filled them yesterday but cannot sand them until tomorrow but they are set enough to handle) I have marked out the shelve and step heights so that I can create a cutting list for the steps and shelves. The heights dictate the size, the higher off the sole the deeper the shelf or step as the hull or chamfer angles away from the centreline. Next step is to cut the various panels I need to create all of the various parts and to de-core and back fill any exposed edges.

Setting out, marking etc takes a lot longer than you would think. Especially if you are winging it without a set plan or kit. And you live with your decisions a long time, so it is appropriate that due care is taken to think through the implications of each decision. Those that know me understand the depth to which I think through some of these implications but some of this no matter how much you think about it, is not possible until you have the parts in place. Obstacles present themselves that you had not considered. One such issue is what to do with the top aft corner of the hanging cabinet because it protrudes out past the point where the cabin wrap around shoots up from the deck/roof. I would prefer not to protrude into that air space as it looks out of place so I will just have to trim the cabinet for that 200 or so mm (its a triangle shape so imagine a block with the a corner removed about 200mm along the 3 faces, one down and one at each right angle. It is only a small section that intrudes past the curved wrap around but even that small overlap will look out of place, so once the cupboard is shaped on that corner, whilst it will mean that area is smaller than the depth required for a normal hanger, it is only a small section, I may fill that space with shelves (so a vertical internal wall and horizontal shelves to fill the space. I cant really move the side wall forward because that effects the width of the door I can put on the front of it, because the mast post protrudes into that space, so with 250mm of the door space already taken with the mast space, moving the wall the 200mm would mean the opening would only be 300mm which is probably not quite wide enough for an adequate door.

Aug 21 Start on port stairwell.

I need to cut more parts for the starboard hanging closet, and because they are quite large and because I still have some very large panels to cut for such things as the port stairwell, I decided to cut them together so I could nest them in the most efficient way. As with all furniture work with exposed edge core panels, there is a lot of stop start as I wait for back fill to set before being able to sand it (and it must be sanded before being glassed in place) and making it up as I go along (in other words not having a kit with pre-cut parts) it becomes very much stop start because I cant just cut all the parts and backfill them all at once so construction was not so stop start. The side benefit of the stop start nature though is that I move to other jobs and keep the interest level up because I dont get bored on one section of the build. 

I have been troubled by the shape of the port stairwell for sometime. As is usually the case I have competing interests that cant both be met. On the starboard stairwell I maintained the angle on both sides of the steps so the width was uniform. On the port hull, the bathroom wall is square to the centreline and the forward side will be angled. This makes the stairs wide at the base but very narrow at the top. The angle I wanted to use was the continuation of the angle on the front of the island bench seat (that I am yet to build) and the same angle as the starboard stairwell. And whilst the width at the bottom step is wider than the stairwell in the starboard hull it is much narrower at the top step I keep that angle. The width of the starboard well is 680mm. The width of the bottom step of the port well with the angle I have is 800mm but the width at the top is only 500mm and whilst there are many companion ways and doorways 500mm on the boat, it is too narrow for the top of the stairs.

So I experimented with a variety of angles until I set upon a solution that works. The most obvious was to just make the opposite wall square to the centreline also and just maintain the 680mm width and this would seem an easy solution, but it just doesn't feel right for 2 reasons. First it means you are effectively turning a 90 degree corner at both the top and bottom of the steps and this is not only out of harmony to look at, it is difficult at the bottom of the steps to make that corner. Because the hulls are narrow and the height compromised by the angle of the chamfer and hull sides and you ideally want the steps to turn your body for you as you go down them, that is by angling them you have already started to turn that corner as you descend. Ascending is no problem with just about any configuration so it is not really a problem whatever I decide. So parallel and square to the centreline is out. Well kind of.

It occurred to me during the various experiments with my templates that there was no reason the angle of the stairs couldn't start parallel and wide enough to work and then change to the angled panel as you go down. And bingo, it works a treat. I get my minimum width I wanted (I wanted the steps to be the same width each side so I set my minimum as 680mm). Furthermore I made it possible to get even better use of a sheet of polycore by cutting 2 separate smaller panels that would then be joined at the point where I made the angle change.

So with that decision made and the panel parts cut the decore, fill and wait dance continues. Fortunately (or unfortunately!) there is still so much to do that I can move to other jobs while I wait, but it does mean having to curb the enthusiasm that discovering a new solution and wanting to push ahead with that new and exiting work. But by having different panels setting for different sections on alternating days I am just going to alternate between the port stairwell and starboard bunk. Both sides of the steps into the starboard bunk have now been glassed into the boat, the forward end being the floor to ceiling hanging cupboard wall, the aft step edge being the side of the mattress height cupboard over the chamfer panel. Next step on this job will be to glass in the various shelves and steps to finish the cupboards and access to the bed, leaving only the mast posts and cupboard finishing around that once the mast posts arrive later in the year. I have similar works to finish in the port hull where the furniture is unfinished for the same reason.

And of course there is still a lot of new furniture projects to get stuck into. Its definitely interesting and fun at the moment.

I have glassed the shelves into the smaller starboard bedroom cupboard and the first of the steps up into the bed. I have also cut (and shaped) a panel that will hold the mattress in place. The forward third of the bed is enclosed in by the floor to ceiling cupboard back wall and the aft third is enclosed by the top protrusion of the smaller cabinet that has been built to a height that falls just below that of the mattress, its taller than a normal cupboard for that reason. I have also de-cored and filled the edge of that panel. And also de-cored and filled the edge of the forward stairwell wall which is of course also the side of a cabinet in front of it in the port hull, that cupboard will house the switch panel and inverter, so in other words the power management system. Behind that (on the bridgedeck) will be the fridge and freezer.

So before that can be built and the stairwell side panel glassed in, there needs to be provision for getting a lot of wiring from the batteries to the management panel, and back, and also across the boat to the nav cupboard and also some water movement across the boat. I will glass 3 conduits across under the fridge although I think I will only need 2 over them will be insulation for the fridge and once its all down there is no way to put any more through so better to have too much space than not enough and if some goes unused then no biggie. There is quite a junction of conduits going in 3 directions in this area, some going forward to cross under the port bed to the water tanks, come aft through to the bathroom and kitchen and some across the bridgedeck.

We will also have a dishwasher under the island seat extension on the other side of the fridge so water and power will need to go to it and waste water from it so that extra conduit might help. But for now, I have to wait for the edges I filled today to set. I always fill at the end of a days work as the last thing I do and always try to have something setting. This is especially ture on days I am coving and glassing anyway, as there is always coving compound left over. It is very hard to judge how much to mix in larger jobs so I mix smaller and smaller amounts as the jov nears the end of the days work and use up the left over filling the edges and then able to make up a small mix to finish that edge filling. With better planning I would have more filling done ahead of time but in many cases I am working panels out as I go.

Aug 23 More work on Starboard bed.

I have already glassed in the second to bottom step up to the starboard bunk and I am just waiting on the front edge fill of the bottom step before glassing it in. I have shaped it, as with every stair set in the boat, the bottom step needs to be oversize so that it can protrude further into the hull than the one above it, which in turn means it is protruding into the companionway further than would be optimal, so as a result it has to be shaped so that it does not have sharp corners that can be bumped into with your shin or knee whilst still providing the shape required to create a safe footfall from above (it is always descending that requires the footfall). That done (again the trusty cardboard cut out helped me decide).

And then, while I was fitting the newly cut out bottom step, a solution to a problem that I had long ago forgotten having not been able to think of a solution became plainly obvious. I have decided to have an escape hatch in the port hull in the bathroom, it is the only place in the port hull that I have to fit it. Escape hatches are very much optional, and lets face it, most people fit them because they make a nice feature of being able to see the water from inside the hulls rather than contemplate the disaster that an inverted boat brings, which is the real reason for having them. And of course, ideally you would have one in each hull because its not like you can plan which hull you might be in at that crucial disastrous moment. But I had been lost for where I might put the starboard escape hatch. And then while not really thinking about anything and certainly not where I might put an escape hatch I was squatting staring to fit the bottom step, get it level and mark it out, and staring at the shape of the space where the 2 upper steps would go and suddenly realized what would fit into it beautifully. The space is over the chamfer panel, which is where an escape hatch must be fitted, it cannot be in the hull as it is too close to the water line and cannot be in the bridgedeck as it is not as accessible, the angled chamfer panel is the perfect location and the top 2 steps into the bed are over the chamfer panel. The issue becomes that the steps must be firmly in place for safety in climbing in and out of the bunk but quickly removable if ever needed to be used in an emergency. This of course is a problem that I can solve, but of course I cannot glass these steps in and thank goodness I did not start from the top steps down rather than the bottom steps up.

Aug 28 Port stairwell walls glassed in.

I am managing some good hours each weeknight and my usual weekend hours, I still find 7 or 8 hours sees me done on the weekend, my back muscles start to hurt and the climbing up and down wears me out. But this is shaping as a very good month. The steps up into the starboard bed are now glassed in. Well the ones that are going to be glassed in. We have decided that under the step or steps up into the bed will go the starboard escape hatch. Its not unusual for cats to have removable steps and escape hatches under them. So now it is just a question of whether we have just one more step or 2. The bottom 2 steps are set at 300mm heights apart for the step up to the bunk in both the port and starboard hulls, but from there, up to the chamfer, then as the angle changes the steps become 200mm height and 3 more steps fit where 2 fit below. Jo tried the steps and she felt she would not use the top step and go from the step below the top straight to the mattress, so the top step is not so required. So if I keep to the 300mm spacing then I will only need to have one hinged step nearly at the top of the hatch underneath so that when hinged up (down when inverted but lets no ever think that will happen) it is conveniently against the existing vertical bed side wall and completely out of the way. So it seems better that way, and much easier to construct. I just have to figure out how to brace it so that it works well as a step (after all that will be its only function right?). And of course the secondary (primary really because we dont really think we will ever actually need an escape hatch)  reason for fitting the escape hatch will be to have a feature window under the steps and the step conveniently folds out of the way for that too. But I will come back to this later. Now its back to the port stairwell.

Last week I cut the panel that is the forward wall of the stairwell (the other side will be the switchboard and inverter cabinet) well actually 2 panels, because there is a bend in it and it become easier and more economic use of material to join 2 smaller parts. And the aft stairwell wall is the bathroom wall had been cut for some time but I am yet to glass it in. Now both are glassed in.

With the forward wall glassed in I glassed a shelf over the chamfer panel to extend the fridge space by about 200mm so that I will have an outside dimension of 1300mm long x 600mm deep front to back x 900mm high (or deep top to bottom, but once insulation foam is applied the actual inside dimensions will only be 1000mm wide, 600 deep top to bottom and 400 deep front to back. The side wall insulation foam will be 150mm, the top insulation 100mm and the bottom insulation will be 200mm. Because cold air falls (hot air rises) most insulation is needed at the bottom and least at the top. This will result in a 240 liter cabinet of which 90 liters will be freezer and 150 liters will be refrigerator. So I needed that extension to give me the 1300mm needed for this formula. The height and depth (front to back) are already set by the standard cabinet sizes, so the length was the only variable in deciding what fridge size I wanted. The pipes glassed on are because the batteries are on one side of the fridge and the switchboard and inverter on the other side of it so power cables are able to cross from one side to the other. Next step will be to glass a wall into the space between the bulkhead and the new stairwell wall that will form the side of the fridge leaving just the front of the fridge open. Into that 3 sided space will go the insulation foam around the 3 sides, then the inner fridge skin then the front insulation before the front skin (cabinet face) goes on leaving the only the lid to finish the cold box. Then the eutectic plate will go in. More on that when I build it all.

With the walls both sides of the stairwell glassed in I can finish the steps. But this poses another problem. Because the bathroom wall is square to the centreline and not angled like the starboard hull, the doorway into the bathroom is on the centreline and closer to the inside hull edge than the starboard side so the steps cannot be as deep because the door is closer. And because of the need to have visible footfall, in other words each step below protrudes so that it not only provides the footfall but is visible, I may have to revert to my original idea, and that used on the beds, of having the bottom 2 steps 300mm apart and the top 3 steps 200mm apart. On the starboard hull all 6 steps are 200mm apart, but this may not work on the port hull. So far I am just experimenting with cardboard. Once a decision is made I transpose the final shapes to duflex to make the step, then the front edge de-core etc. I would prefer to maintain symmetry, so now that I have 6 steps (4 steps plus top and bottom) into the starboard hull I will try to get 6 steps into the port hull but in the end symmetry is nice but function is king.

I have run out of resin for a while (only a short while, I have ordered another drum and it should get here in a week) so I will be busy measuring and cutting panels ready to glass it all once the resin arrives. Another pressing job that needs to be done before the fairing can start is to make and attach the nose cones, but there are a number of things that need to be done before they can be attached. First I need to cut holes in bulkhead zero and get behind it to glass the inside of the hull to deck panel from the inside. I also need to glass ply pads against the inside face of bulkhead zero to take the load of the steel strap that will bolted in to take a foresail running stay if I ever decide to deploy a foresail. Then the hole cutout is glued back in, the front face of bulkhead zero is glassed then the nose cone can go on and be glassed on. But still before that can happen, the boat will need to be turned. The shed is 14 meters wide and the hull is currently 12 meters. If I add the nose cone it becomes too long to turn inside the shed, which makes it very hard to get out of the shed, so pretty important priority. But I can start to plan for the shape of the nose cone. So lots to keep busy on until the resin arrives.

Aug 31 Big month comes to an end.

This has been a big month. I almost hit 90 hours which for a non holiday month is my best ever. And a productive month in which I almost hit all of the goals I set for it. I set out to complete the furniture in each of the forward bedrooms, or at least as much as I know I can do until the mast posts go in probably in November. I have not made the curved panels that will be the side cabinets along side each side of the port athwart ships bunk. I ran out of resin but even if I had not I would not have got to them before the month was out. But I got the back of both forward bunk furniture broken, and have just a little to go there now. Next will be to finish the furniture in the aft bunk. But part of this work completed was to complete the steps into each of the beds, all except for the top step into the starboard bunk which will be hinged or removable so as to accommodate an escape hatch.

I also glassed the port stairwell into the boat and started on the rest of the steps into the port hull, which should be finished in the next week. And also did a little more on the saloon furniture including the curved Nav cabinet and the third side of the fridge cavity.

One of the still unresolved issues with the steps is whether I retain symmetry and have the same step height spacing as the starboard hull which for various reasons is more problematic in the port hull (due to the more forward position of the steps and the square wall). Because the well is about 500mm further forward the well is more opposite the daggercase rather than behind it as in the starboard hull. This means that the bottom step is about 100mm closer if the normal footfall formula is followed and the result means the companionway is only 400mm instead of the usual 500mm. I can maintain a 500mm companionway if I go to the original 300mm risings instead of 200mm as in the starboard hull. I am still working on possible compromises and step shapes, there is no reason we have to follow any formula or symmetry and will settle on what works best for us.

The curved panel for the front of the navigation cabinet was trimmed and dry fit in place, and a flat panel piece cut to finish the sides of the cabinet with only the doorway opening left. Of course I am still to make the top for it and this will incorporate a hinged section and a box below it that will house the multi function screen. Once the curved side is glassed on I will make a ply box and fit that before making the top to finish that cabinet. Hopefully that will be done before the end of September.

Then finally I started playing around with templates for the nose cone but I have a bit of work to do on it yet as I cant quite get my head around how the various chines and angles work. The centerline of the hull whilst centered at the keel is not centered at the deck, with the hull flaring more inboard than outboard so that the centerline is no longer center and if lines are maintained they converge at differing points forward of zero bulkhead. These pics explain it better than I can in words.

This has been a fun month and it is reflected in the hours I managed to log. Another interesting piece of information is that the boat kit was delivered to me 5 years ago this month. I started work on the strongback in September 2005 and actual boat work started in October so I am approaching or have passed the 5 year anniversary depending on whether I count from the start of the blog (July 05, receiving the kit Aug 05, starting to actually work (strongback Sept 05 or started on working with the actual material that becomes the boat Oct 05). I had originally budgeted on 5 years so I ought to be in the water now. I am probably still a year away but I am surprisingly not too disappointed by that. I can see the end and am very happy with where I am. Would I like to be finished, of course but I can see the finish now and am still healthy, happy and enjoying life.