2006 building logs

May 2006 Turning the Port Hull

1st May 2006 Glassing internal joins

A quick recap on where we are. We have recovered from the bad bog and now have the final preparation of both the inside of the hull and the outside before the hull can be turned.

Of course the fairing is important that it is done before the hull is turned because it is easier to get to but more important for structural integrity when turning it that as many of the internal joins as can be reached need to be glassed.

This includes all of the hull plank joins and all of the hull to bulkhead joins. This is also referred to as taping. A tape is a strip of glass. The usual tape schedule for all joins is 1 strip of 150mm double bias 600g glass then another strip of 100mm over that of the same glass. Before the glassing can be done, the panel joins (hull to bulkhead or plank to plank) need to be coved. Coving is filling the internal part of a join so as to reduce the angle that the glass will turn at into a gradual rounded join instead of a sharp angle. The angle is not so sharp on the plank to plank joins but is of course 90 degrees on the hull to bulkhead joins.

I have coved many already before I found out that they can be glassed over whilst the cove fill is wet, so these need sanding back to a smooth round even surface. Just another amount of extra work that need not be done but for a little knowledge. You can see how the second hull will go together much faster without these little errors.

So I spent a few hard hours inside the hull sanding the coves I have already done.

7th May Still avoiding fairing

There is still a very big job of fairing to be done on the hull. Although everyone who has built a boat before me has had to do it, knowing that does not make the job any easier to tackle and the more I put it off the more I don't want to do it. Randall had assured me that once you get into it, it doesn't really take that long. But unfortunately I am still not ready to get into it. I do have a bit of an excuse, the fairing does create a bit of dust even though I have a dust extractor it is only really useful when using the power tools and dust still gets into the air and over our stock and there are a number of pallets that need to go out soon so as soon as they are gone I can get stuck in. Honestly!!!

In the meantime I still have a lot of internal taping to do. These are deceptively time consuming. It takes me a couple of hours to do one hull to bulkhead. I have glassed all of the pre coved (and sanded) joins, so I am attempting to cove and glass whilst wet.

This is a tricky job. I apply the cove in the usual way, using the shaped spatula and pushing the mix along the join with the spatula leaving a cove of filler. This is particularly tricky as there is a limit to how thick you can mix the stuff and it still seems to run. Gravity! Then once it is all in place and seems to be well applied I then go and start wetting out the glass strips. I am finding that it is easier to wet them out on a table and roll them when wet to unroll on the join. I know that the wombat is very effective but for such small lengths I don't think the set up is time is worth it for the length.

The application of the wet tape is quite a challenge. Besides the curves that the flat glass has to negotiate there is again the effect of gravity, you have to have the glass wet to the panel before attempting to roll out any more from the roll because if it is not properly adhered it just peels away like wet wall paper, but to further complicate matters, I am applying the wet glass to soft cove and it is very hard not to mess up the nice smooth finish when trying to press out the air bubbles down in the wet glass into the cove. The pre sanded coves look much neater than the wet on wet coves but so far I have been doing the coves in the engine compartment so I am not too concerned but I need to get on top of it soon as I want the internal joins in the habitable rooms to look good.

I worked for 6 hours on Saturday and 6 hours on Sunday and only managed to get 2 bulkheads coved and glassed this weekend (back and front = 2 joins each day). I should be working longer hours, but I am happy not to work too hard on it. I don't bother to start a job if I know I am going to run out of time that day, and whilst I could be doing smaller jobs I have decided I am happy not to work myself into the ground.

13th May There is wet and there is wet

After the trouble I had last weekend keeping the coves neat when I glassed them I discussed the problem with a couple of other builders and one of them told me the obvious which hadn't occurred to me. What is meant by wet on wet really means wet on green. The cove is a epoxy based mixture just like the resin (it simply has a filling powder added). Randal advised me to wait until the cove was well set but within the "green" time before glassing. Epoxy has a green time of around 12 hours in which time you still get a chemical bond, which means you don't need to key (sand) the cove to get a good bond.

So I tried this today. And whilst the result was a lot better, it was still a very frustrating process because I must have made the mix a little too runny because I couldn't stop it from sagging down the join ending up very thin (and no longer the shape of the cove I layed down) at the top and thick at the bottom. I had to continually re shape the cove until it was almost set and even then I don't think I ended up with as smooth and neat shaped cove as I could end up with.

One suggestion I also received was to add some chopped glass into the cove mix as this would aid in holding the cove shape together. I hadn't tried this today but plan to upon my return.

So only 3 hours work on the boat today and just one side of a bulkhead coved. Another slack day where I managed to avoid fairing and any day that doesn't involve fairing is a good day!

Tomorrow we head off (driving) to the Gold Coast for a week off. Of course next weekend is the Sanctuary Cove boat show so a very important part of the boatbuilding process. You could learn something that could change the direction or the way you build the boat, or find a bargain or a new product that helps in the process. So the next entry to this page will be a show report more than anything else.

17th May Sean's 1230

As part of our visit to the Gold Coast we have arranged to visit Sean's 1230. Sean started his boat about 3 months ahead of us but is now nearly a year ahead of us. He has both his hulls finished and joined and the bridgedeck raised and glassed into place. The great thing about seeing Sean's boat was to get a true idea of the size of the boat. It is deceptive when the hull is upside down. Walking onto Sean's boat gave Jo and I a real idea of how big rooms are and how big the boat is going to be overall. Sean is doing a fantastic job and his boat looks great. And I can tell you, its huge! I don't regret the decision to build this size boat, but it is going to take some getting used to the size of it once it is finished having never sailed any size boat let alone one as big as this! It is also nice to see a boat ahead of you in the process as you get a lot of tips and ideas on how things can be done and also the reassurance you get from seeing someone else that has done something the same way you did or ended with the same result. Having said that it is pretty hard not to end up with the same result with these kits as they are laid out for you so well and are pretty straight-forward to follow.

So a big thanks to Sean and Leasa for letting us see their boat. Well done on your progress, it shames me into working harder but I know that once I get back to it I will revert to my usual pace which I am happy with. We all get there in our own time I guess.

As it happened we had hired mopeds the day we went to Sean's. We used the experience to find out what kind of bike we would buy to scoot around Gosford on. I have a car in Melbourne because I am there on business so often and we have a car at home but I didn't think we would need a third car but I do occasionally need to go somewhere around Gosford when Jo needs to go somewhere else so a scooter or small bike would be a great idea. And those that have read the whole site will know that Jo has always wanted to ride a motorbike. We got our learners permits on the Friday before we left for the Gold Coast (we actually did the riding lesson a few weeks back) and we hired a Pagsta 100cc chopper and a 150cc TGB scooter. Well there is now no question. A full size 250cc roadbike would be too heavy for Jo and the Pagsta 100cc is way too small for me, so the 150cc scooter is the right compromise size for us both. The poor little pagsta really struggled to get up Tamborine Mountain. It barely made 40kmh and I spent most of the time in 2nd gear, and when going along the flat or down hill 70kmh was its top speed. All in all is was a great day. Really good fun.

20th May Sanctuary Cove boat show

Sanctuary Cove boat show is huge! I actually spent Friday and Saturday at the show and still did not see as much as I would have liked. Next year I will go on all 4 days. Seriously. I had intended to go on all manner of boats to get ideas for fit out, but only had time to go on cats and around the halls (big tents!!). I got some ideas and a heap of motivation from the show. I think I am still a bit early in the build to buy stuff but I got a good idea of the kind of things I want on MM. I also got some misconceptions cleared up which opens more options. For example, with a bi-rig the placement of a radome is a bit of a problem. Usually these are mounted on the mast. I thought that a radome needed to be placed in the centre of the boat, but this is not the case, so it can go onto a post in the rear corner of one hull as in the Schionning waterline 1480 in the picture below. My original plan was to build a pole on top of the middle of a targa bar, but this new idea gives me the option of davits instead. I may still go with a targa but now I know I have a choice. In fact having a duckboard would make davits not so practical but it means I don't have to mount the radome up there on the targa if I don't want to.

Jo and I also really like the idea of large port lights (windows or hatches) and we saw some French cats (a Catana and a Lagoon) one with a large hatch the other a large flush non opening window both of which gave plenty of light below. So this is definitely something we will try to add to our boat.

Two other nice ideas we saw were a 12volt washer/dryer. We have decided that we don't want to rely on Laundromats or other non onboard laundry methods, so will definitely have a washer. I assume a washer/dryer will not only be expensive but also consume a lot of power, but we would like one. The other idea we saw promoted was a remote control like one you would see a child using for a remote car to control the boat under power when manoeuvring in marinas, that you can use from the bow or anywhere on the boat. This device would also be useful for motoring back or forward to set or retrieve anchors single handed. This device works better in conjunction with a bow thruster although it is not mandatory and cats manoeuvre very well when one engine is reversed and one is in forward, but a bow thruster is great for manoeuvring sideways in and out of tight marina berths. Just a thought. I may also think about a drop down bow thruster rather than one built into a hull the way this one is. Although this is a really neat option, I am not sure what drag effect it would have.

Our conclusion about the boat show is that is was super motivating. When you step onto finished boats, especially the Schionning's you cant help but want to get onto the water. And also a very satisfying knowledge that apart from the hard work involved, there are some $1,000,000+ production cats that are no better than the cat we will end up with. They are great boats don't get me wrong, I would take one if it were given to me but I know we will have as good a boat for a quarter of the budget. More money to cruise! Even the cheaper production cats come in at over half a mill! The only one that isn't is not a cat I would want to live on. I won't name it as that would not be fair to them, I am sure there are some customers for their boat that would be very happy with it (and lets face it, anyone who has one has a better cat than I have right now!) but the finish and design was not for us! Suffice to say that they were the talking point of the show though, but for the wrong reasons!

28th May Back to the boat

They say a week is a long time in politics (or football). I have learnt that a month is a very short time in boatbuilding. At least is seems that way. The month is gone and from a combination of interstate business and the Sanctuary Cove boat show week (which with the drive consumed 2 weekends), I have not managed to accomplish much on the boat this month.

I find myself still spending all of my efforts avoiding fairing! But I am working on the boat. Slowly. I tried the idea of adding chopped glass into the coving filler. It did help to keep the mix from sagging but I must have had the strands way too long because it was really hard to work with in that if you had to touch up an area you pulled on strands that pulled and moved on an area that was not in need of re shaping. This is equally frustrating. In the colder weather I am finding that the filler is taking longer to set and this only makes runs in the cove inevitable. I will try really short chopped strands in the next mix and keep experimenting. I am bound to get the right mix sooner or later. I spent another 4 hours but only managed to get one bulkhead coved and glassed.

I hope to finally have this hull turned some time in June. Probably 2 months late but who's counting.

Time Spent: 23.00 Hours

Total build time so far: 378.00 Hours   Total Elapsed Time: 8 Months 4 weeks

June 2006 logs