2009 building logs

March 2009 Davits, duckboard and rear steps.

Unfortunately I did not get as much of the the rear steps done as I wanted in February and in fact I may not be able to complete them until I have a definite idea of the outboards I will fit. I am leaning to the Evinrude Etec 30 hp. They are only 65kgs for a 30hp motor and have a fairly good final drive ratio and excellent service intervals (you don't touch them for the first 3 years). So assuming I settle on them I then have to be sure they fit inside the steps. The only way to be absolutely sure is to have one but as I dont have the cash yet I will have to get the dimensions and hope that the specs are accurate. I will get the duckboard finished and the davits on this month. With any luck I will also finish the steps and close the final gap in the decks. Then it is inside for a while.

March 1 Pureseal test.

Another season came and went. Summer is officially over although I suspect we still have a few weeks of hot weather yet. As I usually do, I checked on the Pureseal plate to see how it was fairing after another 3 months, the hot water months when growth is usually at its highest and now 27 months in the water.

The verdict is they are still working as I would hope. Last month they came out of the water already fairly clean, which was unusual, but there had just been a big storm so I guessed that the strong water movement had cleaned them of any growth. There has not been a storm for a while this time and they came out covered in green slimy growth, which is fairly normal, other than last time they always do. And as usual a rub with the pad of my finger was enough effort to remove most of the growth. One side had some darker spots under the green slime which I had to scratch off using my fingernail but again, it was really easy to remove.

Today I did a little more work on the davits, clamping all of the sides together and sanding out the jigsaw cutting irregularities (each one was a little bit different shape). As they are the side profile of the davits they all need to be the same shape. I also cut more of the raised duckboard internal walls that will form not only the shape of the duckboard, that is the height (500mm off the deck) and the depth according to the curve of the original duckboard and the consistent angle that I have set the duckboard back panel to.

The cabin side extensions are also set. I cut them into a similar elliptical curve to the davits. I created the curve using a batten (a duflex offcut about 10mm square by about 2 meters) and I bent it by hand around the panel I wanted to shape, I already knew the size it needed to be at the top and decided on a size at the bottom that suited me in terms of the size the panel would end up, I did not want it too big as it meant getting onto the side deck would mean having to climb over it. With a mark at each end I clamped it at one end (the top) and just bent  the batten and put different pressures in different places until I had the shape I liked and marked it with a marker. I then cut it and checked to see if it worked on the boat. It did so I used it to mark the other and cut that. Easy.

I also started to mark out the rear step risers. I will have an outboard under each sides steps. I need about 800mm back from the rear bulkhead and about 1400mm from the keel at about the point where the outboard skeg would be. So knowing what I needed to have, I marked that out and worked back from there. I want to try to keep the risers to 250mm to 300mm and to at least get the same depth or more per step. If you don't get 300mm minimum per step you tend to walk up them on your toes rather than plant your whole foot, or you crab up them sideways. So with all that in mind I started to mark out the risers. I think I can get the height and depth I need so from here it is a matter of working out the shape of the steps that works.

During the week I will start to glue the davits together. They will be formed off the boat with the uni layup and blocks put in and the entire thing glassed and faired before it goes onto the boat.

March 5 Finishing davit parts.

The bottom of the davits will need to attach to the duckboard and because there will be quite a lever action of weight pulling down at the end of the davits I want to counter that by adding a foot to the davit that runs back along the duckboard to the bulkhead and for the front of the davit to be rounded at the base so that any loads are transferred down the uni around this curve. I will also curve the back of the foot back up so similarly I can glass from the bulkhead onto the davit foot to continue the load onto the bulkhead, but I should be able to achieve this with a large cove. So with the feet shape cut I glued them onto the davit sides.

I also cut the davit fronts, which was easy enough. I started with parallel planks cut from left over duracore (yes ironically I still have a couple of 16mm planks, but ran out of 19mm planks for the cabin roof, but that is the last of them gone now). Once I had them cut I decided that as I had tapered the curves on the side profile of the davit the shape of the back looked a little out of place so I simply tapered them also. I settled on 100mm wide at the end and the planks were cut to 150mm wide so I marked out a line each side from the end to about 3/4 of the way along and cut them down to that taper.

I then marked the kerf lines and kerfed the 4 planks. The front panel curves both ways (it curves the opposite way to the davit at the foot) so I cut kerfs for the main curve on the inside and kerfs for the foot on the outside and tested the bend around a side and it worked fine with an extra kerf needed here and there. Once I had the first one done and working I marked the others and cut the kerfs. I made the mistake of cutting kerfs for 4 fronts instead of 2 fronts and 2 backs but this wont matter it still bends fine. Cutting kerfs is hard on your forearm muscles. Mine were aching by the end.

March 7 Setting out steps.

Today was a really fun day. The task took all day but I was so enjoying what I was doing I didn't stop for lunch and hardly stopped to keep my fluids up (It is still warm here) and started to get a headache around 4pm. What I was doing was setting out a dummy of my rear steps. I used 3mm mdf to make up step risers and screwed blocks onto the boat to attach the steps to.

The process started with what I know I need to have. That is I am restricted by the size of the space below the steps that will house the outboards and they need to be able to raise up inside the well so the steps need to go around that space. I measured off a 15hp Honda belonging to Dennis for Nine Lives, (which is the same dimensions as their 20hp) and then added a little as I am not sure yet what brand I will go for but at the worst I fit the 20hp Honda.

I decided I needed 750mm deep and 900mm wide but ironically I don't need anywhere near that much width but this measure came about for aesthetics. I also needed to have a minimum 1300mm height inside the cavity for the engine to retract fully into the boat, then I wanted another 200mm to make a door that closes from inside instead of having a plate attached to the skeg of the outboard. I purposely raised the height of the transom in the rear bulkhead to accommodate this but even with the raised bulkhead I am struggling to get the height I need. I settled on 1380mm as I get less depth the higher I go because of the curve of the rear of the boat back along the hulls.

I marked out a curve for the top step keeping in mind that the centreline of the hull (where the outboard is likely but does not have to be mounted) needs to still be full depth and continue for at least another 200mm (the outboard is 350mm wide so 200mm either side of centreline gives plenty of clearance) until it could start to curve. I experimented with a couple of curve profiles by bending my batten differently until settling on the shape I thought would work best, also having mind that the first curve affects all of the other curves. You can see on the second step in the first pic below (the second step was my start point) an alternative curve I decided against to show how you can start and finish at the same point but use a different radius to get to it by altering the rate of bend earlier or later on the curve.

Once I had the curve of the first step I then had to make each subsequent step to match the curve of the step above and to be the correct depth and the rise set. I originally had 300mm step rise and depth but quickly realized that 300mm risers were too high. I wanted to keep the 300mm depth as it spans even the largest foot so that anyone can walk up the steps without feeling they have to use just their toes and not traverse sideways which is also a subconscious reaction to shallow steps. Often there is no choice as the rise and overall depth limit one or the other or both. Once I had refigured the depth and risers I realise I was out about 200mm to achieve the effect I wanted with the bottom step but that I could build it out to get what I wanted. So I proceeded to lay my steps down cutting the curves for each one.

The next step I had to make after the first step I made had a further complication in that it had to be my traverse step from the hull transom around to the duckboard. I was originally going to use the height of the duckboard for this step meaning that I would need have a slightly higher step up than the rest at the original 300mm. I didn't like this as I wanted to keep all the rises consistent for both practical and aesthetical reasons. Then I remembered that I need about 50mm under the step if I am to keep my outboard umbilical conduit hidden so I simply raised the step up 50mm to accommodate some space under that step when it reaches the duckboard. Easy. Then I needed to shape that step so that it transitioned around to the duckboard. I had already concluded that the best way to do this was to have a step on the bridgedeck (the original duckboard height) rather that extend the top of the duckboard directly into the steps. It just would not work that way.

Then it was a fairly easy to set the next 2 steps. The curves were of the right size and shape to match the width of the transom and the risers and tread depths worked. That just left the bottom step. I want a very big bottom step. I have seen what I want on the fusion 40 cat. (See pic below). I have spoken to the designer and the problem with this design feature (it seems everything is a compromise on a boat!) is that when underway the clean sides of the hull is broken by the step protruding from the sides of the hull creating drag as it cuts through waves. I have had this corroborated by another builder that chartered one and the step kicks up a lot of water when underway instead of a clean rooster tail so I am sure this must cause some drag.

So my solution to this problem so as to get the benefit of clean hull sides and water exit and still have the extended rear step is to build a hinged step side that when folded up forms part of the hull side and when folded down is the step extension. I can build it with a hinge arrangement that ensures it folds to a flat step (and no further) but can be secured when underway. It proves the old adage that there is a solution for every problem.

So a full day of messing with mdf just flew by and I have created my rear step profile. I can work on some of the aesthetics of the way the rear bulkhead is shaped from behind (at the moment it is just a flat surface) that may also add to the effect of leading you up the steps onto the duckboard but I don't want to cut into space much, so I may settle on a flat looking section of bulkhead. I can also play around with the profile of the duckboard rise and give it curved ends to flow into the rear steps better rather than just the open step profile.

Next step on the step build will be to make up the steps and step fronts (the fronts are easy, just 250mm parallel planks to the length of the front curve) out of duflex (by transferring the shape from the mdf template to the duflex and just cleaning up the curves) and of course making 2 of everything so that the reverse of each step fits on the mirror image other side by just turning it over. Then once all of the parts are cut I can glue them all to each other and glass them. The outboard hatch lid will cut straight out of the finished steps to from the lid. I will also recess the step fronts back 20mm so that I can run a led rope light under each step.

March 8 Glassing inside of davits.

I had some visitors early so I got a later start to work today but I still managed to get all done that I had set myself for the day, I just finished a bit later than I otherwise would have. Today's task was to set up the davits (screw the fronts to the sides) glue, cove and glass them.

It was warmer than it felt as I had a pot of resin go off before I had a chance to use it but other than that it was a fairly uneventful day with everything else going to plan. It is surprising how long it takes to do this work. I cut the glass (3 strips of 500g uni off a tape roll already 100mm wide) and 2 layers of 450g double bias for each davit, one for the base layer and one for a covering layer (uni needs to be covered with a layer of double bias to stop its strands from wanting to lift under load) and this did not seem to take long. I filled all of the kerfs with glue and buttered the davit sides (one at a time as I knew it would take too long to attempt to do both at once) then screwed the front back down onto the sides and cleaned out the excess glue that came out of the kerfs and side joins and used it to start filling the kerfs on the second davit.

Once both were glued I had to keep working so that the glue would not harden before I got the glass on. I coved the inside joins on each side of each davit. Again each cove must have taken 15 minutes meaning another hour had passed. I then started to wet out the first strips of glass. I decided to glass each one with the first layer of double bi so as to be sure I had a wet on wet join onto the kerf glue and coves. It had been nearly 2 hours since I put the first glue into the kerfs and it was starting to rubber up a bit. Once each side had the first layer down it bought me enough time to go back to glassing one davit until finished before starting on the second.

The davits will have the lifting line go over a block at the end and travel inside the davit to another block that will have an exit point on the front of the davit so you don't have to lean out to the down line to haul up the dingy. In order to do this I need a slot in the front of the davit. But the strength for the davit comes from uni running along the front (mostly outside but some inside) and the slot will considerably weaken any uni strands it cuts. To get around this I have run one uni tape along the side wall and front over the cove each side of the slot and the third layer of uni I have run down the middle of the front but cut a slit in it and separated the strands where the slot is so that they wont be cut by the slot, maintaining the uni strength. The final tying layer of double bi finished each davit.

Because I started a bit later and because again I had worked through without stopping for lunch I was quite tired when I finally finished the last cover layer of double bi. I really should have put a layer of peel ply on too but peel ply is a bugger to get around curves as it does not sit nicely so I got lazy and decided I would sand the inside of the davit and give it a finish coat of white epoxy. The davit will also have a back glued on so the inside wont ever be seen, but I will have removable lids in the back over the block so that they can be got at if any maintenance is needed. I will also need a floor and drain for any water that gets inside the davits to drain out.

Next step is to glass the outside including even more uni along the front face and maybe some down each side, but uni does not like to go around curves  against its strand direction easily. The davit sides are a fairly gentle curve though so I think I can get some light uni layers on without it bunching on the inside of the curve (shorter than the outside). Another good days work done and a good weekend. Getting the steps sorted was a relief as I was a bit nervous about having to design them from scratch. I think hey work well and look pretty good. Because I am going all the way from bottom step to hull top the steps have to climb a long way (the fusion for example has walk thru transoms so only needs 4 steps, whereas I need 8 to the decks and 6 to the walk through duckboard height) but even so I still think they look ok.

I also finished this week on exactly 2222 hours counted so far.

March 14 Cutting steps.

Another 2 day Melbourne trip on Tuesday and Wednesday meant little work done during the week. The work I did get done last night was to clean up the glassing of the inside of the davits and to rout the outside and sand it ready for glass on the outside. This took a couple of hours.

Today I spent the entire day transferring the shapes from the mdf steps to duflex. When I made the mdf shapes I was not too careful of the exact curves and cutting carefully to shape, I just wanted to get an idea of size, shape and placement. But now that I am transferring to the actual duflex I have to clean up the shapes to the proper curves and be careful cutting them to exact shape and size. I also am down the the very last of the offcuts and parts not used in the build meant for the walkthrough transoms so I have to be careful to nest the parts well to have the minimum of offcuts as I cant afford to waste any material. The good news is that once the steps are made, I have finished the external build so wont need any offcuts for any other parts of the build, with the exception of some internal parts such as some framing for the bedrooms and under the rear bunk to hold it up and leave a usable space below.

Because of the more careful cutting and nesting it took most of the day to get the first steps made. I am now cutting both sides together then I will put them together one at a time once all the parts are cut. Both sides are identical mirror image of each other so I just have to cut 2 of every shape then the other side just turn the part over and it is the mirror of the other side. I decided to make the biggest step first. The biggest step is the one that is the transition step from the transom to the duckboard. It curves one way then the other. I have nearly a full sheet of 19mm duflex but I did not have a piece of duflex big enough to get 2 out. I could have got 1 out in 1 piece but then would not have the material left for a second, but I could join parts to get both sides out of less than half the sheet I have as I can get the parts out of the sheet ends rather than down the middle. So once I had the parts cut for the first step I joined them by gluing and glassing them together.

I then started cutting the step below it, which is down in the hull on each side at the height of the top of the last bulkhead (8) in each hull, the bulkhead that the rudder is hung off. I am making the steps slightly oversize so that I can run the step risers in about 20mm from each edge so that I have a small overhang on each step and still have 300mm deep treads. The overhang is so that I can rout in a groove for led rope lights that I plan to use to illuminate the steps at night. They have 3 purposes, besides the obvious illumination so you can see the steps at night, I plan on using blue LEDs so as to be a bit different so that on a moonless dark night in a crowded anchorage in pitch black my boat will stand out for miles and be easier to find in the dingy and finally blue lights should look awesome.

Tomorrow I should get the rest of the treads cut and start on the risers too. The risers are much easier, each is the same 250mm parallel and just need to be cut to length. Then once I have all the parts I can start on the dry fit.

I also have a couple of new ideas that I will be working on and both are in the sterns and revolve around the steps or the cavities below the steps. The only reason I bring them up now rather than when I get to them is in case anyone ahead of me is thinking about these areas. The first will start as soon as the steps are finished. I have for a long time wondered how I would be able to get a swim ladder into the bottom step considering there would need to be a slot in the middle of the rear step for the kick up rudder. I have considered having a fixed rudder but I like the idea of being able to raise the rudder to beach or in very shallow water to reduce the draught. I also looked at a sliding rudder set up similar to a raising daggerboard but in the end Greg, a shipwright friend suggested that a wide rudder box would fix a number of issues with the kick up rudders and also be wide enough to house a slide out swim ladder. I have long worried about an aspect of the kick up rudders. The way they are now, with a narrow slot for the rudder box and rudder to kick up through, it occurred to me that if you saw whatever you are likely to hit with the rudder just before you hit it, the natural reaction would be to try to avoid it by steering the boat around it (submerged bommie, container, log etc), but with the rudder off dead centre it cannot kick up, or if it does it may damage the transom. But with a wide slot and box the rudder can kick up even when turned hard. In fact the shape of the box can be a wedge (triangular) starting narrow at the rudder shaft and widening as it goes aft. This may in fact be the shape I settle on.

The second idea is how to close off the outboard leg through hull. Readers might remember that I raised the height of the transom bulkhead so that I had more room inside the hulls under the steps to raise the outboard clear of the hull bottom so that I could have a trap door hinged from inside the cavity to close the hole off instead of the design of having a plate hung off the outboard skeg that raises up from below to close the hole. My issue with the original idea is that the plate on the bottom of the outboard must add considerable drag when under power. Anyway, even with the raised bulkhead it is still very tight for height inside the cavity under the steps. Then an idea was suggested. Why not make a roll top type flexible door that could be run in a track (aluminium) glued into the de-cored hull keel panel that the rollerdoor could slot into.  Better yet I could get some acetyl or similar (but not nylon as it swells with water) board (they make chopping boards from it) and cut kerf in it rather than slot made into a rollerdoor. That way the underside would remain fairly smooth and the kerfs should be enough to get it along a slot set on an angled approach. This idea is not only much easier to make, it takes up less height and is much easier to control its movement with pulleys to act in the correct direction as the motor is lowered or raised. They can work in unison so that as soon as you start to lower the motor the door is sliding open and visa versa.

It is great how problems get solved by talking to as many people as you can about them, sooner of later the right person will have the right answer.

March 17 Still fitting steps.

The steps are progressing slowly. The model outboard that I am planning on Etec 25hp is not released here yet so I don't have isometric dimensions of it so if you are reading this in the US and can get a drawing with top of cowling to tip of skeg for the long shaft I would be extremely grateful. I have been told the height of the 40hp and it is about the size in height of the Honda 15/20 4 stroke. As the Etec are 2 stroke this may be possible. Anyway, it is extremely unlikely that the 30hp could be taller and deeper than the 40hp so I am fairly comfortable that the Honda will be at least as big as it. And if not then at least I will know that the Honda 20 will fit.

But it is extremely tight. I had the mock up (the boys making the wells for Nine Lives had to make a full size mock up 1:1 of the Honda 15) in the well and the height I was going to have the step that would be atop it was too low by about 50mm. So I am reassessing the step risers. I want to try to keep to exactly the same risers on each step, the depth of step tread can be different but the rises ought to be uniform.

Then I also noticed that the plans call for the transom block on the sliding rail ought to be 200mm from the back of bulkhead 6. I had the outboard right up against the bulkhead so not giving enough space for the tracks and car for the outboard to run on. So when I moved it back 100mm or so and because both the hull is angled up and the deck of the hull angling down, moving the outboard mock up back 100mm made the need for raising that top step another 100mm.

So in effect, from the mdf mock up I have raised the top step about 200mm, that's almost another step rise. So the transition step has to be raised also, and the one below etc. Or I need to change the step rises back up to 300mm (I had them set at 250mm). Or a combination and compromise of both.

So the set up process is a slow one but important enough to get right. It effects not only the aesthetic of the boat but the function. The outboard wells must have enough room to fit the motors I want, the steps must be safe, functional and comfortable. I am getting closer but it is slow going at the moment but I am at least encouraged that I have an idea of where I am going with them, something I could not say last month.

March 22 One step forward two steps back.

The steps are a difficult part of the boat to build freehand. If I had stuck to the kit they would have gone together very easily. But there would be no way that anything other than a 9.9hp motor would have ever fitted into the bay. There simply would never have been room. I extended the bulkhead by 200mm and there was barely room for a 15hp Honda so I cant imagine there would have been anywhere near enough room if I had not.

I have pretty much decided on the Evinrude Etec 25's or 30's. They are the same motor with different software settings for the injectors. The salesman told me I should opt for the 25hp for my application as the extra hp only effects top end speed not torque so I would be paying for extra hp I could not use. What I don't get is how the same motor with different software could be $600 more expensive. Perhaps the injectors are different too? Anyway I was emailed the dimensions and as the Etecs are 2 stroke they don't have cam shafts and a host of other parts so they are considerably more compact than a 4 stroke. So much so that I had to make my own outboard mock up because the Etec 25 is more than 100mm shorter than the Honda 15 4stroke.

So I cut 2 shapes as best I could from the pictures I had keeping to overall depth and height (I did not have width so I have guessed that) and screwed them together to form a 3d outboard cut-out. I made it 30mm to high and 20mm too deep as a margin of error because if I end up with more clearance it wont be a problem but if it is too tight it could be. I don't have a problem with width. I could fit 2 motors in there side by side! I then hung it in the well the correct distance from the bulkhead (the plans call for 240mm from the back face of the transom block to the bulkhead. I compromised here to 200mm. I just don't have the depth. If when I fit the actual motors I find I have a little more depth I will extend that. It will just be a matter of either adjusting the rail car side plates or better yet making them adjustable by using screw slots instead of holes.

With the Etec mock up in the well I was able to lower the top step back down and go back to the original 250mm risers, with 1 small compromise. The risers themselves will all be 250mm but between the steps and for the transition step the material is 19mm and the others are 13mm so the risers are 263mm for most steps and 269mm for the step up to the transitional step. All of the treads are a minimum of 300mm deep, most are deeper which makes them very safe and comfortable to sit on. I have also built a 20mm lip on each tread overhang to accommodate an LED rope light under each tread to illuminate the tread below.

I have run out of larger duflex offcuts so I must now glue smaller pieces together to finish the steps. The good news is I do have enough duflex to finish them and once they are done I have finished the "construction phase" of the build. So I spent a good part of today measuring the requirements for the rest of the step parts (mostly risers but I did need a top step for the starboard side) and glued and glassed more pieces together ready to cut out the remaining parts needed once it sets.

Cutting the risers the same width will sure save time, I will just set the table saw and rip the duflex planks all the same width. I cut the first one today with my last long piece of duflex to be sure it works at 250mm and I cut kerfs on the inside 50mm apart (the riser bent ridiculously easily meaning I could probably extend that to 100mm) and bent it around and screwed it to the step above. The step above always sets the kerf shape. I have made the insides of the steps oversize and will trim them once the steps are all joined to each other. Once I have dry set an entire side I will then be ready to cove and glass them all together. As I reshape or trim each step and am happy with the new set out I transfer any trimming to the other side by tracing onto the other step and cutting it. Making the other side once the first side is all set should be relatively easy.

As is usually the case with all things made up on the fly, they tend to land in the ointment! After I had cut out the strip planked area in order to fit the steps at their correct height and depth I noticed that the transition and top step are too high at the hull edge by about 50mm. If I could lower them or make them less deep (push them back into the well) I could have them meet the hull sides at exactly the point where they turn (the corner edge). But unfortunately I need the height so the motor can pull out of the water and clear the bottom of the hull, and I need the depth or else the motor cannot clear the step (transition) directly in front of it at its deepest. The only way to make it fit would be to not have 300mm treads or not have consistent riser heights and neither of those options work for me either. I am just going to have to shape the corners to blend out the hard corners. Not as neat as it could be but here function wins over form.

So, another week and still these steps are not set. I guess it must be as frustrating for you wanting to see them as it is for me. Anyway I am making progress, its just slow.

March 29 Stepping Out?.

After much back and forth on the steps and the careful use of the remaining duflex I now have the step material all cut and have dry fitted the port side (unfortunately I forgot the camera so no pics) I have now taken the parts back off the port side and have trimmed the mirror image starboard parts so that they are exactly the same as the port side and should in theory fit exactly the same as the port side did.

I have also made sure I have the material for the back of the raised duckboard and most of the lids that make up the tread of duckboard and lids over the hatches below, it may just be the middle one that I have to use polycore for. Once this is all done I have finished the external construction of the boat and all of the materials I will need from now on are internal where again I will use polycore and ply. So I have made it. I have all the material I need to finish the boat shell.

Its funny how time perception changes. Before I started the steps, because I could not get my head around how to design them I anticipated that it would take me quite a while to make them. Then as the idea started to evolve I got the feeling that it would be quite easy and much easier than I had originally thought. Then as the actual fitting and making started, I started to realise just how time consuming and tricky they are. I initially started to set them a little higher because of the size of the Honda template and these really through out all of my initial measurements, but then I got the Evinrude dimensions and I could lower them back down and it all worked again. So finally now that I am into the construction phase again I can see the end of them, and the end could happen rather fast with the actual steps because being mirror images I am making both sides at once and I imagine all of a sudden the steps will be finished.

I am starting to glue the steps together in sections. I will completely construct the steps down to bulkhead 8, the bulkhead that has the rudder slung off the front of it, off the boat. And complete them off the boat, that includes cutting out the engine room hatches, and all fairing. It will be much easier to fair them off the boat at bench level than on the boat. I will also fit the LED rope light into the step overhangs. For the 2 steps below bulkhead 8 that include the kick up rudder boxes, these will also be constructed off the boat separate to the section above that I am making now and then when all of these parts are finished they will be ready to glue and glass onto the boat.

But before either section can go on, the outboard rail tracks and transom carriage will need to be fitted, the through hulls cut and the closing flap fitted and also the buoyancy compartments that go around the outboard legs (besides adding buoyancy they minimise the size of the wet area in the engine bay so that the volume of water inside the boat is minimized. And the rudders and rudder boxes will also need to be made and fitted as the bottom steps are finished.

I will also need to sort out my steering or at least the end of it at the rudders as I go. There is a lot of work in, what really is the business end of the boat, where the mechanical power and steering is all located.

So there is quite a lot of work to come and it will be at least another month maybe longer before the rear steps will go onto the boat and glued and glassed in. Again I would have liked to get more hours done this month. I really need to be getting 80 hours a month but again I have only managed 62 hours. Perhaps I can still get a few more hours this month in the next 2 days.