Doksuri overhead

These are the Sheer Clamps being glued at the sheer on Doug's boat

Tropical depression Doksuri passed right over Hong Kong today, bringing winds and rain.  Just before she set in, Arlene and I managed to scarf and glue together lengths of 2" x 3/4" Douglas Fir, on the cool new Makita Table saw.  We have to glue the lengths as we don't have wood long enough for the length of the boat here in Hong Kong (around 15'): I envy those places like California and Maine, or Australia, where all this stuff is just round the corner.
Scarfing and gluing these lengths together was a bit tricky. First of all I did a 55-degree cut and glued them with epoxy, but this didn't work. So I redid them, using biscuit joints and biscuits in half lengthwise (see photo), and using thickened epoxy. This worked fine and they've made strong joints.

"Biscuits": wooden, 1.5" to 3" long.
They fit into cut made by a special power
tool that cuts a groove to fit them perfectly

These lengths are to laminate into "Sheer Clamps" that you can see in Dave's photo above (Dave being another guy that is blogging about his build of the Somes Sound). These clamps help to strengthen the sheer and are fitted inside the sheer plank (or "strake") when the boat is turned over.
With so much rain recently, and as I'm building outside with no cover, I haven't been able to get to the outside stuff.  Instead I've built other bits and pieces inside, so far as follows: the tiller, the rudder, the centreboard, the centreboard trunk (that holds the centreboard), the deadwood, the keel filler, the transom knee and cheeks and the sternpost.
These are all sitting round in the basement awaiting better weather.
I'm also awaiting some more wood: Batu (a kind of Asian mahogany) which is from China and takes at least 10 days to arrive after ordering. This is what I'm going to use for the Keelson and the Transom.

Rain, rain and more....

Rain...

That's the cool new Table Saw in the black cloak

Actually, managed to get some work done outside yesterday: fitted inner stem and lined off all the frames and moulds and put on transom pattern so we can laminate the sheer clamps.
Then, today, a typhoon on the way and storms forecast for this arvo....

If you can't stand the heat....

.... get out of the back garden!  It's so hot here in Hong Kong, my shirt is melting.  My iPhone Weather Channel App has a feature which says the temperature is xx and "feels like yy".  Higher the humidity the higher the "feels like.." temp.  So, lately it's been saying temperature 32 and "feels like" 44.  I reckon it feels even hotter, as I was in Sudan last year when the temperature was 44 and it didn't "feel like" as hot as it here....
And the rain... it's been raining for weeks, on and off, so apart from feeling like you're walking in water when you go out, getting soaked with sweat, there's regular deluges...
All of which is to say that I haven't been able to do much on the boat outside, as she's not under cover -- at least for working on.  So I've been about making other bits that I can make in the inside workshop.
So far I've made the Centreboard Trunk, the Centreboard, the Tiller and the Rudder.

The rudder, laminaed 2 x 1/2" marine ply.
LATER: wrong size, had to remake in 3/8", so now
have two rudders....

The Transom blank,  1" Batu.  I've decided to redo it with some new Batu wood,
as this one was joined up when I didn't have the proper clamps, and is a bit out.
I'll recut this to use on other bits, like the seats.

Nothing to do with the boat, just boating...
today's Dragon Boat Festival in Discovery Bay

Another guy blogs about his Somes Sound build

Doug's getting right along with building his Somes Sound

Web frames and Molds in place

Here's me skulking at the bow of the frames, Inner Stem in hand

Note to those who may drop by this site that actually are building a Somes Sound or know about its build: these molds and frames are not in their final resting place or neatly chocked off. They're just put in place to see how it all fits together and when the weather clears, I'll adjust them all properly and fix in place for the fitting of the transom, keelson and inner stem.
For the rain's set in and this is what she looks like now... (I don't have an undercover place for the build, here in Hong Kong):

Tucked up like a baby on our back patio

Back from Samui and working again

I'm back from the Samui Regatta on Moonblue 2, the Warwick 64 of our mates Pete and Gabrielle Churchouse, where we won our Premier Division!  It was down to the last race, which we won by one minute.  Thrilling stuff, with great winds, great boat, great crew and the lovely folk of Thailand.  See more here.
Now finishing off the molds and then the already-made Web frames will then be added to the jig.  After that, it's on with the inner stem, the keelson, and so on, before getting on with scarfing the planks, spiling and cutting them.

Here's Basil, our technical adviser, showing Noel and Arlene where the
marks should go for the 14' mold. Nikki in background, looking on,
but she doesn't understand boatbuilding as much as Basil the lab, a water dog.

Taken just now, full scale plans draped, Dali-like, on the couches and in
the background outside, the jig with molds at the  8' and 12' stations.
We've now finished them all and will add the web frames before getting on to the inner
stem, and keelson, after which the boards are made for the body of the boat.