Finally, scaffolding down...

And the frames and molds can be revealed again

After months of being surrounded by bamboo scaffolding, they took it down on 4th August, and in between rain storms, I've been able to get on with a bit of building....

Typhoon Vicente... "havoc and devastation"....

The jig and frames didn't suffer, just the cover ripped apart.  I went to take it
off and slipped on the wet plywood on the ground, ripping out the webframe
Station 2.  Thus: not only no forward movement due to weather, but some backwards....

"Havoc and devastation in wake of Typhoon Vicente"... that was the headline in last Tuesday's South China Morning Post, after Typhoon Vicente came right over us, the first to labelled T10 since Typhoon York in 1999 -- which we remember.  We went out of the house with John, then 2, and had to hang on to him in case he blew away.  Vicente caused quite a bit of damage and some injuries, but no fatalities, thank goodness...
Since then, it's been raining non-stop, till today when we could get to a bit of work, not much, but a bit.  Wait now the dismantling of the scaffolding, so we can add the Keelson and Transom (both already made).

In our place, not much damage, many branches blown off, and rain, rain, rain

And a bit more of the detritus

One of the many trees in the Plaza, mature, 30 years old
ripped out at the roots.  Nine lost in the Plaza, many others
around Discovery Bay.  This one is a Mock Bodh.

One of our local DB boat, Serenissima, on the rocks.
Photo: my mate Edward Coebergh

Serenissima again, with Ed's son.  

Much flooding round Hong Kong.  SCMP photo

Heaps of boats round HK were pounded onto the rocks.  SCMP photo

Bevelling Bumpf

Woodworking is part of the Cosmos...... see below....

About the bevel on the Transom; left to right:
John's book says start with Jigsaw and then chisel.  I found this a bit slow and
tedious.  So, I worked out the angle of the bevel (bevel plane and angle
calculator done on the bit of wood), then used planes and the -- best of all --
the spokes-shave.  This worked out pretty well, though slow.

A bit of the biscuit used to join the pieces of transom peeks out after
I've done some bevelling with the spokes-shave and planes

I've sanded a bit of the transom and it's going to look great.
This is a bit that looks like the Oval Galaxy, above.  The Zen
and galactical interconnectedness of woodworking....

Righting moment

Thought I might do my first bit of boat design: changing the position of the Lead in the centreboard.

See where the lead is supposed to go.  But the further down the weight in a boat, the better, for the greater the righting moment: the pressure to keep the boat upright at various angles of heel.
I did a calculation of what it would mean to shift the lead weight (just 20 lb) a bit further down on the centreboard.
It turns out that if I move the Lead down 6 inches, the righting moment improves by 13%, and if by 7.2 inches, it improves 15%.
On the downside, the further down the centreboard the Lead is, the harder it will be to haul the centreboard out of the water.
Still.... maybe worth going for 6" down for 13% better Righting Moment.
The excel sheet I used is here. ("A" is the designed set up; "B" is my adjustment).

Batu back and Transom built....

Orchids in our yard, loving the rain and heat.... iPhone MarbleCam App

Well, the wood that needed to be replaned was done by last Wednesday and I've made up the Transom and cut the Keelson ready to go on the backbone.  But I'm going to wait until the painters and scaffolding have gone before getting into the planking.
Also, the beveling of the edge of the transom is proving a bit of a challenge.  The book says use a jig-saw for rough cut, then chisel.  I gave the a go yesterday and it looks like it'll be quite time-consuming.  The Batu is a really hard hardwood and the cut takes ages, even with new blade.
While I was waiting for the wood, I glued the two pieces of board together to make the centreboard and planed it down along the bevel line, to produce the finished piece, which looks quite nice....

Glued up transom blank (3/4" Batu).  Note the cool Japanese clamps, which I didn't have
the last time round, when I build a blank with 1" Batu, and only with
rope to tighten them together.  Not really ideal, and this re-do is much better.

And this is the transom cut out on bandsaw.  The vertical lines mark where
I placed biscuits for strength.  The join's pretty strong.  Marks on the
sides are where the bevel has to be cut to.  It's a bit of a challenge.

The transom join even stronger with the addition of the Transom Cheeks

While waiting for the wood, I joined up the two pieces
of 3/8" ply for Centreboard and beveled with planes.  The hole is
for the lanyard to pull up the centreboard. Doing this
is relaxing, satisfying Zen-like work.
Where it says "Lead" is to be cut out and 20 lbs of lead added.
Then the whole Centreboard is fiberglassed.

And for something completely different.... 

.... a few photos taken with the iPhone SlowShutter App.  For sure these need to be taken in small doses...

The ICC Tower, 108 floors, with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on the top
20 floors, the world's highest hotel.  Our Discovery Bay Ferry
Terminal on the right.  Taken the other night on my way back from
China Coast Race Week committee meeting.

ICC Tower, Kowloon, Hong Kong, from Ferry, the waves reflect in the photo
Shutter speed 3 seconds (iPhone SlowShutter App)

ICC tower at less of a shutter speed (1/2 second)

Well, the Batu arrived, but...

Couldn't work, so off to the pool.... this is 2 minutes down the road.
A clear day in Hong Kong, looking East.  Still hot: 34 degrees....

... it was the wrong size.
That's the wood I need for the Keelson and the Transom. ("Batu" = 抄木 [chāo mù] a kind of Asian mahogany).
It comes from China.  They cut it too thick and had to be sent back.

And... the factory here has to send it back to China and have just informed me they have trouble with Customs for re-importing back to China...[left, click to enlarge]
So they're looking for a place to do it here in Hong Kong and "will let you know" when it's ready....
Meantime, the painting of the house got going in full today and I can't even get to the Jig...
So... it's off to the pool for me....

Round the front all covered for the painting of house

Can't even get to the boat.....

Later: received 10 July:

Sheer Clamps on

Port side Sheer Clamp installed.  Note Inner Stem also dry-fitted

Yesterday was fine and hot. Arlene and I were able to do a bit of work.  We laminated the Sheer Clamp.  This is two pieces of Douglas Fir, 3/4" x about 1 1/2 ", laminated together along the line of the sheer (Mutti: that's the line along the top-most plank).  Then they are taken off and put aside till the boat is planked and turned over, when it's glued along the inside of the sheer plank to strengthen it.
We only did one, the Port-side one, because:
1.  It was really, really hot!
2.  I only had enough clamps to do one
3.  It was really, really hot!

It was so hot, I recalled something I overheard a guy say on the bus: "it's like walking in water".  Too right!  For me, it means getting soaked head to toe in my own sweat. Really. After an hour outside, I have to go and have a shower and change clothes, so I can only do so much work outside: it's either rain (as it is now), or too hot!  Actually, I can't remember recent years being as hot.  Must be global warming...

I'm doing this while I wait for the wood for the Transom and Keelson to arrive.  Should do today. It's "Batu", a kind of Asian Mahogany.  It comes from China, so I need to order via Dorfield Timber company in Yuen Long, and wait around 10 days for delivery.

After the Batu arrives, I can make the Transom (or remake, as I made a blank before, but was not happy with it because I had to join it without proper clamps, which I now have). Then the Keelson can go on, and start the planking.  Hoping can get to that next week.