2006 building logs

Dec 06 Final work to Starboard Hull

I only have a the bulkhead to hull tapes to go and the Starboard hull is ready to turn. I anticipate finishing this work well before Christmas but I don't think I will turn the hull over until January. One of my tasks in January is to finalize where I will join the hulls. The questions I face is the difficulty in moving them, and if so to where or if not the difficulty in getting the boat out of the shed I am in. The job to get it out is to demolish and rebuild the 2 story office, and then remove and replace the aluminium front of the warehouse and all of this is dependant upon permission from the landlord. If I move to another place I still have 6 months lease to go, in which time I will make such things as forward beam, daggers and cases, rudders, and if time I may even make either the cabin top or the hull to deck strip planking. So as you can see there is still plenty of work can be done before I need to join the hulls.

2nd Dec 06 The last of the hull tapes

The last hull panels to tape were between bulkheads 1 and 2 (there is still one panel to to between 0 and 1 that I did as I attached the panels). I managed to tape this last panel today. I could have started on the bulkhead tapes today also but I am feeling a little lazy at the moment due mostly to the Test cricket on tv. It has been cooler today and I should be taking advantage of the cooler temperatures as this work is so much harder in the heat.

Today is also the day I checked the PureSeal sample being tested on the end of our pier. For those that don't recall, I am testing a new form of anti foul that apparently is a formula that is so slippery that nothing can grow on it or get a good enough grip that it cant easily come off again, and for the first test after 3 winter months the results looked good. However, the news is not quite so good after 3 spring months. The results last time were that the only growth would very easily wipe away with just one finger. This cannot happen this time. The growth is thick, hard, sharp and well adhered. You can see from the 3 pictures that there are still some areas that the growth is not as strong but I still rate this as a fail. And the summer months are only just starting and the water temperature still has a long way to increase.

Sam at Schionning and also a salesman at McIntyre marine both independently claimed that a new improved formula was available and they sent me a new sample plate before I knew these latest results (not as a consequence of them) so I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and test the replacement panel they have sent me, especially as it takes no great effort and I have nothing to lose and there is still 3 to 4 years before I launch, but I now don't hold much confidence that it will be able to do what the makers claim and what I would need it to do to consider it a real 5 to 10 year, minimal maintenance option. I hope I am wrong but sometimes if something seems to good to be true....

3rd Dec 06 The start of the Bulkhead to Hull coves

It was cooler again today but being a Sunday I took it fairly easy again (the Test match is still on tv) but I did manage to do 2 of the 15 bulkhead to hull tapes. There are 9 bulkheads 0 thru 8 but the front of bulkhead 0 on the outside of the hull and the inside of 0 and front of 1 inside that tiny space wont be done until the hull is turned. Today I did the front of bulkheads 6 and 7. This included coving with filler then whilst the filler was still wet I glassed the 2 tapes on.

 

I coved the front of bh7 first then the front of bh6. I then immediately started to tape them. The whole job from start to finish took 4 hours, so that's 2 hours per cove and tape. On this basis with 13 tapes to go I have about another 25 hours work to finish this hull. I think this will take me about 2 more weeks, maybe a little less depending on work. Either way I will finish before Christmas.

4th Dec 06 Let's start a new test

As I said I would give the PureSeal another test with the new sample and see how the new "improved" formula holds up. Unless there was a glaring mistake in the make up of the previous formula that this new one addresses I am not going to be as hopeful as I have been in the past. If they are talking about an incremental increase in efficiency even a 100% improvement wouldn't do it. Anyway, let's wait and see.

No work on the boat today, too much job work to do.

7th Dec 06 Still coving and taping bulkheads

Firstly apologies to the readers that have been unable to get onto my site for the past few days. The server claims they were hit SYN attack which is apparently where they are maliciously bombarded with hits that slows or stops there site. I have been moved to another server and it now seems ok. My original Australian server became due for renewal at $100 a year in November and I did a search for budget hosting and found one for $10 a year! But I guess you pay for what you get. It may have been a one off but only a month in I lost a week so we will see. Given the price I guess I cant complain if my site is up more than 10% of the time!

I have taped a couple more of the bulkheads. I have a third of them done now. I wont be working on the boat over this weekend, we are having an early family Christmas and I will be away for the weekend. So I will attempt to get them finished on the following weekend and during the week so that the hull is completed before Christmas.

I don't think I will turn the hull until after Christmas. I may even be moving them so I am on no real hurry to turn the hull until I am sure what is going to happen next.

10th Dec 06 3 more bulkheads coved and taped.

We got back from our early Christmas retreat a little earlier than expected so I was able to get some more boat work done. This makes up for the slacking I have been doing this past week or so. I taped 3 more bulkhead sides, the back of bulkhead 3 which it the front of the closet on the port cabin, the back of bulkhead 4 which is the front of the port cabin and the back of bulkhead 5 which is the front of the saloon.

I have just one bulkhead side to go to be half way (the back of bulkhead 2). Then I have the front of all the bulkheads to do. The reason I am doing all of the backs first is that the fronts have the legs attached that have to be moved before I can finish the taping. This is not a problem but just means I have to undo the legs one at a time, do that bulkhead and when it is set, re attach the legs. I need the legs to hold the hull up until I am ready to turn it over, then I will remove them all anyway. So with all but one tape to half way (2 hours tops) it means I have about 15 hours work to finish the hull ready to turn. If I was diligent, that is just a Saturday and a Sunday of work. Of course being diligent is not one of my strong points!

16th Dec 06 Only 3 more bulkheads to go

This past week I managed a couple of 3 hour stints in which I was able to tape 2 bulkheads each time. I coved and taped the 4 bulkhead sides inside 2 of the front 3 sealed buoyancy chambers (between BH1 & 2 and BH2 & 3) leaving just the most forward between BH0 and 1 to do when I turn the hull over (the space is way too small for me to fit into to cove and tape).

Today I started on 2 of the last five sides. These required that I temporarily remove the legs as they are in the way. I made the legs too wide and they are just a little too close to the edge of the hull and over where the tape needs to be in some places. So I undid the screws and clamped the legs out of the way whilst I coved and taped them. It took me abut 3 hours to do the 2 coves and tapes.

Tomorrow, after the tapes are set I will reattach the legs and remove 2 more to cove and tape them. That should take another 3 hours.

That will leave just the rear of BH8 the smallest bulkhead, to do. I will probably get this done in a little over an hour during the week before next weekend which will be the end of the work on this hull whilst it is upside down. Some time in early January I will turn the hull over and get started on some other boat projects such as daggers and cases while I decide where I will join the hulls.

17th Dec 06 Just 1 tape to do

I have just over an hours work to do until I can say I have finished the starboard hull to the turnover stage. I have coved and taped all but 1 of the bulkhead to hull panel joins, with just the aft most bulkhead join to do. I will probably get this done either tomorrow, or later in the week as I have another Melbourne trip on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Even though November and December have been a little slow I am still very happy to have both hulls finished in 2006. I can now look forward to joining the hulls next year and to having what looks like a catamaran and some much more interesting construction ahead.

23rd Dec 06 Both hulls completed

I have applied the last tape, so the starboard hull is now officially ready to turn. There is nothing more to do to this hull until it is turned. After I turn it, I still have the keel centre to tape on both hulls and then I can start to do things like add the keelson and maybe the soles before I join the hulls. Also before I join the hulls there are a number of other jobs I can do such as the daggerboards and cases, the rudders and kick up boxes, maybe even such things as the cabin top, forebeam and targa bar. I have finally decided that I will move the hulls to a new warehouse before I join them and I have 5 months lease left on the current warehouse so unfortunately from an interest point of view I wont get to join the hulls until May. But the upside is that the weather will have cooled again and that will mean I have more time to get things done before tapes (resin) and fillers go off.

So, now that the final tapes are on, I can report that the first hull took 500 hours, although the first 77 hours were spent gluing panels for both hulls so if you take that off, 423 hours over 7 months (Dec 05 through Aug 06) but I lost 2 months along the way, 1 while I was in Europe and the other whilst I fixed the bog problem, it would be fair to say that the first hull took 400 hours over 5 months.

The second hull has taken 237 hours over 4 months but I could easily have done it in 3 as I did very little over the last 2 months. I deliberately slowed down as I tried to figure out where and how I was going to join the hulls. So in all I have taken 660 hours in just over 12 months to complete both hulls and an extra month to tape the panels together and a week or so to build the strongback.

Now I still have to make the cradles for the hull and turn it but I figure that to be 2 hours or maybe 3 tops. We turned the first hull in just half an hour! I may not actually turn the hull before I move it. I will have to forklift the hull onto a flat bed truck to move it and it may be easier upside down anyway. Which may be ironic. I may actually have the turn the other hull back over (back to upside down) to move it!

Anyway, these are problems for 2007. For now, I would like to thank everyone that is reading the site and especially those that email and I want to wish all of you and your families a happy and safe festive season. Next year will be very exciting. The hulls will be joined and we will finally have a catamaran.

Time Spent: 27.00 Hours

Total build time so far: 737.00 Hours   Total Elapsed Time: 1 Year 2 months 3 weeks

January 2007 logs