Thursday 29 November 2012

Dry fitting deck frames

Looks like the inside has been epoxied, but it's just rain.  The deck frames
and the breasthook at the bow are dry fitted.
It' been six days since the last post in which we had the deck frames already cut... so why so slow?
Well, we've been held up by rain every day.  Not what it's supposed to be this time of year, normally our "dry" season.
Note the first bits of hardware on the boat: the two "hatch inspection" holes (they have covers which screw in).  The forward section is sealed and waterproof, as a safety measure, and the hatch inspection holes can be opened to provide ventilation when not on the water.
The main deck beam, the one furthest aft, has been epoxied to the deck bulkhead.  Eagle-eyed builders of the Somes Sound will note a slight departure from the plans.... hmmmm.
As soon as it stops raining, we can fit the deck.
Meantime, going to be held up by King's Cup, which we head off to on Saturday, day after tomorrow.
Follow our boat Xena here.

Friday 23 November 2012

Doing the deck frames

The rough-cut deck frames.  Arlene measuring for the Deck Bulkhead.
Marcus, as always, offering technical advice.

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Over-turned

Marcus supervises clean-up of where the boat used to be... Arlene using the
high-pressure hose, after we turned boat over. So now Jing gets her patio back.  

Forgot to get photo of all the guys who helped out in turning over the boat.....
Here Steve and Chris.  Oh... and Marcus too; he's always around offering
observations and technical advice (and keeping an eye on the cheese...)

We knocked up a rough and ready "Rain Frame" from plywood scrap,
to keep the cover convex so that rain doesn't gather in pools.  Works
pretty well; rained last night but not a drop in the boat

Yesterday: we laminate the first of the Sheer Clamps onto the sheer plank
Stupidly I forgot to get a photo of the guys that helped me turn the boat over last Friday.  They were: Rocky (and two of his staff), neighbours Chris Hammond and Steve Wallace, Ken Wiltshire and Chris, and Wolfie.  Thanks to all those folk!  Turning her over with eight of us was pretty easy and she fits nicely on the cradle.

Friday 16 November 2012

Turnover day today

Looks like varnish on the transom, but it's just clear
epoxy, which needs sanding then about 6 layers of
varnish.  The white paint is undercoat; final colour
British Racing Green, aka "Sea Green"

Just before paining outer stem, keel and deadwood.
About 8 guys have committed to coming by 3:00 pm today to help turn her over and put her on the cradle for the next stage of the build: sheer clamp, decks, seating and coaming. Then off to the club for the lead keel.

Monday 12 November 2012

Painting

This looks pretty cool!  Yin-yang.... The starboard side
is painted in white undercoat, the port side in epoxy
ready to take its layer of white.  After another coat of
white, we'll turn it over and later paint it in final colour:
British Racing Green, like the example at the head of
this blog.

Just another shot, from before the sanding and painting.
I'm going to paint the whole hull in British Racing Green...
A Jaguar XK140 in British Racing Green.  (I used to own a maroon XK-120)
.... without worrying about the waterline.  That's a whole lot easier than having to work out the waterline, then painting below the waterline a different colour (usually black) and I justify it by it's being like the cool new look of Ker 40s which are all one colour....
A Ker 40. Black & Red... And White all over...


Wednesday 7 November 2012

Keel and centreboard trunk added, and the Bl#$%y Deadwood too

This is what she looks like now, with outer Stem added
Keel added, Deadwood added and Centreboard trunk added

Arlene cuts the Centreboard Trunk Cleat

Arlene cuts the hole for the centreboard slot

Cutting the centreboard trunk slot

The Centreboard Trunk with its cleat at top.  We joined this up to the hull
with 4-foot long Japanese clamps. That worked well. Then 2" screws to hold it.

Cutting the Deadwood was a real hassle.  Neither our Band Saw nor our
Table Saw was big enough to cut it, so we had to cut by hand and by
cross cutting by band saw and jig saw.  Here you see a plywood pattern
to try to make sure the whole thing came to some approximation of
what it was supposed to.

And this is it in its original form, after hand cutting and band-saw
cutting.  A real hassle and it turned out to be a bit of a dog's breakfast....

And here it is on the boat.  Still needs some trimming.... The magic of
epoxy putty will help too...


The reason for the Deadwood being such a hassle is that neither my table saw nor my band saw was big enough to cut it.  Mine are good house-hold versions, but I think what's needed are industrial versions, with a jaw of 12" for band saw or radius of 10" for table saw.