2007 building logs

Mar 07 Moving!

This month I will be moving into a new warehouse with enough room to finish the boat but more importantly the ability to easily get the boat out. I may even get to join the hulls this month but that very much depends on how soon I am able to move the hulls over and this depends on getting enough helpers to lift the hulls onto a trailer and off again. I should also finish the second dingy and the forebeam.

Mar 03 Pure Seal may be back on!

Regular readers will know that I have been testing some sample plates of a new type of single application antifoul called PureSeal. The idea being that this material is slippery which helps the hull move through the water giving better speed and fuel economy. But its antifoul property is that, being so slippery nothing can grip to it and that under normal conditions the movement of the hull while sailing would shake off most growth and a light scrub would remove everything else.

The first test panel was a failure as after 9 months in the water the panel was covered in sharp, well adhered growth. I have scraped one side with a scraper and restarted the test but only for interests sake (See pictures above). The makers claimer there was a problem with the first batch and issued new test panels. This second test panel seems to be working, but the first test panel also seemed to be working after 3 and 6 months. But this panel has lasted the summer months, which is promising.

The pictures above show the new test panel which has been in the water 3 months, on the left is the control side that I will not clean for the duration of the test, the picture in the middle shows the test side and the picture on the right is the test side after rubbing it with just my finger and rinsing it by dunking in the water. As you can see it is as clean as a whistle and came off very easily. As I said when the first panel cleaned off this easily, if it maintains this I have no problem with giving my hull a light scrub every 3 months to end up with a brand new boat again. I would consider that very light maintenance compared to having to slip the boat and re apply anti foul every 12 months.

The test continues but on the basis of this second sample lasting through summer with little or no permanent growth I am willing to say that Pure Seal is back in the race. For now. Lets hope I am not disappointed in 6 months like I was with the last test. And if this one fails there will be no benefit of the doubt given and no third test panel. I want this stuff to work but I cant afford to put it on the boat unless I am absolutely confident the stuff works and lasts the distance.

Unfortunately there has been a last minute hiccup with the lease and I wont get the keys until Tuesday so I will post pictures of the new shed then. In the meantime I have coved and taped all of the internal joins on the dingy. I will glue the compartment ply floor in tomorrow and glue the tops on. Then I can start the outside taping and then it will be just a matter of cleaning the hull up to finish it.

Mar 04 Dingy 2 almost finished

Today I glassed in the ply floors in the hatches, made steps for the stern of each hull and glued the lids on. That only leaves the steps to be glued in and then the lids trimmed so that all of the exterior joins can be glassed. Then a final sand and a coat of resin then paint to finish it, plus adding the deck hardware.

We have found another minor problem with Warren's dingy that I have rectified on mine. On Warrens his hulls ended on an angle from the longer keel back to the transom bulkhead creating an attractive wedge shape. Unfortunately these dig in when motoring at speed in reverse. Now I grant you this is not something you do often but is not preferable. I decided I wanted an easy way to get into the dingy from in the water as I plan to swim and dive from mine one day, so I have built a step into the keel and squared off the keels so that they wont dig in in reverse.

In the pictures above you can see the rest of the steps drying on top of the lids. Once dry they will fit into the keels and be glued and taped into place and the sides trimmed to suit. I might still keep a nice angled side rather than the profile of the steps on the outside but have the step profile on the inside.

I have to start planning for my hull move and at this stage I am trying to organize it to happen the weekend after next. In the meantime I can start moving smaller items across. Tomorrow I have one of my regular Melbourne trips but I hope to do a little more on the dingy on Tuesday or Wednesday and hope to have it finished and ready to go into the water next weekend. I spent 6 hours (3 hours yesterday and 3 hours today) on the second dingy for a total of 27 hours.

Mar 06 New Shed!!

I finally got the keys to the new warehouse today. I have taken a 3 year lease and I am hoping that I can finish the boat in that time. I have an option for an additional year if needed but Jo and I are aiming to spend New Years Eve 2009 on the boat on Sydney harbor.

I have measured the shed across and it is 13.7 meters. I figure on it being about 3 times as long as it is deep so about 30 meters. That is enough space to build 3 boats side by side in a squeeze. But more importantly, I have an agreement with the owner that I can remove the roller door and the 2 steel sheet fascia panels either side of it and the open space between the 2 structural beams is 7.1 meters. The maximum beam of my boat will be 7.0 meters so whilst it will be tight (50mm either side) the boat will come out and there is a massive hard stand (concreted flat area) outside where a truck and crane can park to load the boat to take it to the water. There is a wide enough driveway (although it is a little steep it shouldn't pose any problems) for a truck to get the boat to the road and then the road is wide enough all the way to the water.

I recently met a guy called Dennis (Warren introduced him to me) that is going to have a professional builder build him an 11 meter epoxy and glass over plywood cat in a Malcolm Tennant design and he has been looking for a place to build it. Having seen the space in the new shed we have agreed that he will build his boat along side mine. Dennis is in a wheelchair and cant build the boat himself as much as he would love to. They (Dennis and his builder) anticipate a 9 month (full time) build time so it will be fun to see a cat start and finish (in a fraction of the time!) in the new shed along side mine. It will be very motivating and informative. And of course I will include regular updates on their build. I am also anticipating that having the professional along side for the rest of the year I am sure that it will speed up my build hence the more optimistic launch goal.

So the move will start from tomorrow with some of the smaller things but the hull moves are still planned for the weekend after next (March 17-18), in the meantime the dingy needs to be finished (and also the forebeam).

Today Warren and I only spent about an hour on the boat, we trimmed the lids and sanded the joins round and glassed one hulls duraflex panel and joins. We also cut the pointed bows off and glued on the ply mini bulkheads.

Tomorrow I should get the rest of the external taping done. Then we can sand the glass back to smooth and give it a resin coat.

Mar 08 Undersides of dingy done

I have basically finished taping the underside of the dingy. It will need to sand the edges smooth, but Warren suggested we wet the glass tapes out on the hulls that way we resin coat the hulls as we go, which made good sense.

Tomorrow I will tape the remaining joins on the topsides of the hulls and glue the steps and anchor well top in. Then on the weekend I can do the final few tapes and sand the tape edges. 2 hours on the dingy today for a total so far of 30 hours, a little longer than I expected but the end is definitely in sight now so a few more hours will see her launched.

Mar 10 Topsides of dingy done

With all the underside taping completed, I started and finished all of the topside taping, well almost. I glued and taped ply pads into the underside of the tops in the stern behind the transom to take the rear deck hardware. I also glued and taped a timber block into the middle of the bow anchor locker again for an eye at the bow.

I then glued the stern steps in. I will still have to clean and round the joins, shape the hull sides and tape all of these. I then kerfed the anchor locker lid. I decided to experiment with the shape and the kerfing. I will need to kerf many different shapes in the internal fitout, so this experience will probably be handy. I decided that a shape like the bonnet of a car might be good, so I cut the front overhang of the anchor well into a curved shape instead of a flat line square to the hulls. I then kerfed the panel along the lines I wanted the panel to bend. There is a slight bend down from the back to the front and curved bend from the centre to the corners at the front but flat and square at the back, so that the front corners are noticeably angled down. I have also taped the last of the panel joins along the top and ply bow fronts today. Apart from the last few tapes the hull is completely sealed now.

I spent about 4 hours on the boat today for a total of 34 hours. Most of today was extra work that I did not need to do, but this is a fun side project and I have no time limit on it (almost), and also because the methods learnt will make the actual build easier or faster. The great thing this illustrates is just how versatile and easy to use the material is. I guessed the kerf lines and it worked fairly well. I have glued the lid on and tomorrow can clean up and round the front join, cove the sides and tape them and tape the forward join. I still also have to shape the transom at the top and glue a layer of 9mm ply to the rear and maybe also the front.

Then all that will be required is an all over sand to feather out the tape lines and a final coat of something, resin or paint, the hatches cut out and sealed and the deck hardware applied. I have gone over my time estimate on this boat but I should be able to get it into the water with about 6 more hours work. Next weekend I move the hulls so I want to finish this boat and the forward beam this week ready for the big move next weekend.

Mar 11 Taping finished.

I didn't make much progress on the dingy today even though I was at the warehouse for about 4 hours. So I am only counting 2 hours of work on the boat for a total of 36. Instead we emptied the warehouse of a lot of the remaining stock we store there and transferred it to the shop. There is a little bit to go but we will have that moved tomorrow, leaving only boat bits or rubbish. I think we will get a skip bin to throw away a lot of stuff rather than move it into the new warehouse. With the last parts taped today I have completely sealed the hulls and all compartments. I still have a little work to go, but essentially I could put the boat into the water now if I wanted. It is completely sealed.

I have coved and taped the stern steps and the anchor compartment. I kerfed the lid to curve in 3 different directions. There is a slight curve up from the front to back, a curve from centre down on each side and finally the fronts corners on each side curve down leaving a subtle V shape in the lid with the point at the bow.

I also put the outboard on the hull in order to set where I would place my removable bench seat. Most people prefer to steer by sitting on the right hull, I prefer to sit in the middle. So my solution will be to make a bench seat from an offcut of 25mm duflex (bulkhead) and glass in a strip of cedar or duflex on each side and behind and in front to form a small unobtrusive lip for the seat to sit in. When not in use it can sit inside one of the compartment. I had to be sure it could sit behind the internal bulkhead so that it doesn't interfere with the opening of the side hatches when in, but also in a position that makes using the tiller comfortable. There is plenty of room.

 

I still have to fit the ply plates either side of the transom (after fitting the outboard temporarily today I think it needs to be fatter so you don't have to wind the wing nuts so far). Then a final sand and paint and fit the hardware and cut the hatches to finish. I may not get to play around on it for a couple of weeks as I start to get the stuff moved from one warehouse to the other. My advise to anyone contemplating building, try to avoid moving. It is nerve wracking and a lot of work!

Mar 12 Dingy faired.

Warren has been feeling a little guilty for not spending as much time on my dingy (his is already in use). But I have repeatedly assured him that I am more than satisfied with the work he has done in design and also his help in moving my hulls next weekend more than make up for any lack of work on the dingy.

But today I got a bonus. Warren feathered all of the glass tapes, in other words, he faired the dingy. Not a pleasant job and I was glad for him to be doing it! It only took him an hour, but a hard hour! Unlike on the main build the tapes are still visible after sanding as I have not bothered with bog to completely fair them out, but I am not so concerned with looks on this boat and I am very concerned about additional weight as this dingy will need to be lifted up beaches and up and down on the targa. It just isn't that important.

I spent the hour making the seat, seat blocks and transom plates. I glued the blocks and transom plates in place after Warren had finished. Tomorrow I will glass them all in, and fit the deck furniture. All that will be left will be to paint it or give it another resin coat and to cut the hatches out and hinge them.

Mar 17 The night before the move.

Jo and I have done everything we can in preparation for the hull move tomorrow. We have cleaned the old warehouse out of as much stuff as we can, swept and vacuumed as much dust up as we could and moved the overturned hull (the one on the cradles) all the way over to the far wall making the space between the hulls as wide as possible. It is hoped we can just back the trailer in along side the hull, in between the two hulls and just lift the hull off the strongback onto the trailer. With 6 men we should have no problem lifting it across.

We had a bit of a scare today. Warren has organized the trailer for tomorrow and we have about 6 or 7 people coming to help us move, but today the key jammed in the lock of the door to the new warehouse and locked us out. After the panic subsided we called the agent who organized a locksmith to come and change the lock at about 4pm. With that done we dropped off the second of the cradles that I had assembled today and went home.

I must admit to being a bit nervous about the move tomorrow. I guess this is something like what it feels like just before the launch, except perhaps a little less intense. The move itself is not that far. The new shed is only about 2 kilometers from the old shed. So that means we should only be on the road for about 10 minutes for each trip. And lifting each hull onto the trailer should not take more that 15 or 20 minutes including strapping it down, and about the same for lifting off, turning over and placing on cradles. So about an hour for each hull should see it done. We plan to start at 10am and all going well should be finished about noon ready to relax with a few beers and a bbq lunch. So if we have no trouble I should be able to include pictures and a report on the move tomorrow night.

Finally for today, I have pretty much finished the dingy. In the picture you can see the transom plates are glassed in, the glass also sealing the exposed balsa along the transom edge and covering the filled oversize holes for the towing eyes. The seat blocks are coved and glassed in. I didn't get a chance to cut the hatch lids out and hinge them back on or to paint it or fit the deck hardware but will do that during the week and take some final photos before I launch it.

Mar 18 Easier than I thought.

Whilst I was a little nervous about moving the hulls I needn't have been. It was as easy as I described in yesterdays log. With 9 guys and a 40ft trailer these hulls are really easy to move. Its easy to make it sound like nothing after the fact but it really was no trouble. Not even a scratch to the hulls and all done in under 2 hours. We started at 10.30 and were enjoying sausages and beer by 12.30 with both hulls in the new shed on their cradles, side by side.

We started by lifting the hull off the strongback on its legs and moving the strongback onto its side against the wall. We then parked the trailer along side the hull and simply tipped it over onto the trailer and slid it over on its side into the middle. We removed the legs and strapped it down and drove it around to the new shed. We had originally thought we would transport the hulls upside down on the bulkheads but in the end it was easier to just lay it on its side. We will transport the strongback over to the new warehouse tomorrow along with the bridgedeck and some of the other larger panels and 44 gallon drums and other larger items using the same trailer. Over the next 2 weeks I want to move the rest and be out of this warehouse by months end.

At the new shed it was just a matter of taking the hull back off the trailer. The easiest method was to slide it off onto the bulkheads upside down and then roll it over. Then it was an easy task to lift the bow and slide the cradle in then repeat this at the stern. Once on the cradles the hull is super easy to roll into whatever position I decide to join the hulls in. The shed is wide enough for the hull to be rotated completely inside. I am fairly sure that once joined I will still be able to rotate the boat inside the shed not that I think I will ever need to. I will probably join the hulls diagonally across the shed.

Back at the first shed, we rolled the second hull (the first one finished) over to the trailer and lifted it off the cradles, and repeated the movement by leaning the hull over onto the trailer and sliding it to the middle on its side and strapping it down. When it arrived at the new shed we removed it in the same way, sliding it off onto the bulkheads then rolling it over onto its keel before lifting each end onto the cradle and rolling it over along side the first hull into roughly the correct beam. Its amazing how much smaller the shed looks now with a cat inside. There is still plenty of room to build a second boat and then some but it does change the perspective a little.

With the hulls safely inside the new shed it was time to relax with a beer and just in time for lunch. All the while we were moving the second hull Jo was barbecuing sausages in rolls for lunch. Just 2 hours of work consisting of a few short bursts of energy but a huge relief. I can now look forward to about 3 years of hard work to get her finished in the knowledge that the next move will be the last.

I would like to thank Warren for organizing and towing the trailer and James, Mark, Scott, Luke and Glen, friends of Warren's who came to help and to Andrew a friend of mine and to Frank a kind reader of the website that wanted to help move the hulls to get a feel for their size. I know I will see a lot of James over the next 12 months as he is going to be building a cat along side mine in the shed. Thanks again guys, I really appreciate your help today.

Once I have finished moving the rest of the stuff out (I should have the bulk of it done next by  the end of next weekend) I can get started on joining the 2 hulls and raising the bridgedeck. Then I will be able to say I have a cat. Although we only spent 2 hours moving the hulls today, Jo and I have spent about 4 hours cleaning and moving other things around so I have put down 6 hours of work toward MM. I was tempted not to count the time moving, as many would finish where they start so would not have to factor in a move, but many do, as Schionning's say on their site that you can build the hulls in one place and finish in another, just as I have.

For the readers that have missed the posts on the progress of MM (even though the dingy has been interesting) the work and the posts should now get interesting again.

Mar 25 Not much happening.

Since the excitement of last weekends move not much has happened. I had to go to Melbourne on Wednesday until Friday and this weekend was spent moving stuff from one warehouse to the other. I hand the keys of the old warehouse back next Saturday as the agents have found a new tenant to take over 1st April, which is great as it saves me a month of double rent. So this week I have to finalise the cleanup of the old shed and move about 3 more ute loads of larger items that don't fit into our wagon. No big deal but it takes up time that I could be using to start building again. To make the rest of the build easier I will also build a 12 meter table along one wall in order to cut glass etc. So I will probably not start the joining of the hulls until after next weekend.

I expect Dennis will get his materials delivered soon so James can start on his cat. I inaccurately reported the design. He is building an 11 meter ply design from Mike Waller design called a Sunseeker. It looks like a nice design.

One final note, the new shed is 13.5 meters wide and the beam of my cat is 7 meters and length 12.3 meters and those who remember Pythagoras, you can work out that from port bow to starboard steps the distance is 14.5 meters, so the boat may not rotate completely in the shed. I will join the hulls temporarily using clamps and make sure I can bring the hulls to parallel to the side walls so that I can move it to the roller door to roll it out. The boat will be on castors so it can be rolled around. The cradles have wheels but I may have to make a more rigid dolly out of steel for under the bridgedeck. I have seen pictures of production cats on them. I will need to block up the cradles in order to adjust the height of the hulls prior to joining them but I can join them temporarily whilst on the castors to do the rotation test.

If the boat wont rotate I will simply re align the hulls parallel to the side walls before joining them so that I can simply roll it sideways on wheels to the doors and out. I want to avoid this if possible because it makes getting up and down into the boat more difficult, not impossible but inconvenient as the hull ends would only be a meter from the walls. Not a big issue, there are many ways to solve it, I could even join the hulls in the position they are in, and then roll it sideways maintaining that angle until I get to the roller doors then I have more width to complete the roll around to parallel and roll out. Years to think about a solution but having started the build in a place I couldn't finish I now want to finalize all the end details before I go on any further.