Pointy End

Also did the non skid on the starboard bow as it will be largely under a tree when I'm putting the keels on in march or April. Will not plan to do much painting again until the end of Feb when the days are a bit longer and drier.

Tops

Last week I finished off the cabin top paint work, I also have all the forward windows fitted as well as the aft bulkhead glassed and primed. Fitted the large entry hatch today. For one I'm 1 week ahead so schedule in having the boat watertight by the end of the year!

A splash of paint

I wanted to get this small amount of paint around the front windows prior to fitting them. I was going to brag about how nice the weather was lately, but the temp dropped below the dewpoint shortly after I took this picture and dulled the paint. It seems to have cured OK though and need additional coats anyway. I continue to be thrilled with this Hempel paint as it really flows out well and is super hard when cured.

I do hope to non skid the cabin top this week so I don't have to crawl around up there anymore over the winter until I mount the hardware in the spring. Otherwise, no more exterior paint work for the next several months.

Stepping up

Whilst it's interesting to see other builders busy fitting AC mains wiring, sockets and inverters prior to fitting decks and beams, my top priority is being able to go sailing. In pursuit of that, I now have one very important bit nearly done!

Quick fit

Richard very nearly suggested there was no hurry in getting me a kingpost drawing. It seems one of the next logical steps to me and it has come together quite quickly.

An important bit

Much time was wasted this morning looking for the "perfect" wood for this compression post under the mast. Richard refers to it as the "kingpost" which is a term not much used on this side of the pond. I was offered some reclaimed long leaf pine by a building owner, but the foreman decided he'd rather keep it for himself. I ended up slicing up a 10' 2 by 10 of tight grained yellow pine to get these pieces. It should do the job fine.

a boat for every purpose!

My 1954 fiberglass Crosby Fish-n-Ski has proven to be a handy scaffold.

Finishing up

Good to have the cabin top glass finished as it was really challenging getting the weather right to work these large pieces of glass outside. It ended up being 4 separate days with some sanding in between as I could only do 1/2 at a time and two layers were needed. It is way stiffer now and with supports under the jib tracks and mast step, it should be quite good. In addition to this, I've gotten the starboard hull cabin side and upper cabin tops glassed. This leaves just the port cabin top and some edge joints that need glassing on the hull outsides. Will be great to get it all primed up and some of the windows in.

Glassing up

Let's face it; I what some dodgy joints here between the ply and cedar and cedar and foam. And the weather is getting a bit iffy as late. I've begun to realize the last 2 winters were very mild and hopeful of getting this all sealed up on the exterior by Christmas.

So it only rained on me a little toward the end of this glass job so things seemed to have turned out well. All the cedar is double glassed and sealed

Winter encampment

Feeling a bit like George Washington settling in for winter. I can really sympathize with anyone trying to do this in a high latitude climate outdoors. I should have it all glass and primed by Christmas though as long as the weather is half decent.

Closing in

Strip planking the cabin front.

Rounding things off

Closing Up

The weather has continued good and great progress has been made in the last week. I spent a good deal of time reworking the angle of the front panels and framing curves to hopefully improve the overall appearance. The window is one of a pair of Bomar parallelograms I bought in July. It's a slightly different look than is commonly seen and I may need to work something else out later. I made the front side panels from 2 pieces of ply otherwise it would take nearly 2/3 a sheet to get just these two pieces.

The big top

Quite good progress was made in the last week. It proved quite tricky to handle the giant piece of foam and figure out how to hold it in place whilst I glass the inside joints.

side view

looking more like a boat

wide open

You can see why I was eager to get on with the cabin top. I really wanted to minimize the amount of rain water into the boat.

Inch by Inch

I was actually surprised how relatively easy it is to still move the boat on PVC pipe. I ended up pulling with a ratchet strap, but I can just move it with brute force. I need to pick up some concrete blocks this morning to block the bow up level and pull here out about another 8' today to clear bulkhead 5 on the roof.

Light at the end of the patio!!!

The aft beam, decks and cockpit were all primed prior or moving the boat. Looks good!

The Driveway

Getting crowded out here.

Cockpit floor

There seemed to be a good argument to leave the cockpit floor out until the cabin top was done as it was easier to get onto the bridgedeck climbing up a ladder in front of the aft beam. Partly due to weather and partly due to the possibility if falling thru the gap, I decided to work up and complete the cockpit floor prior to moving the boat outside starting maybe sometime next week. Currently is seems best just to go far enough to do the cabin top and wait till it's time for the keels to come all the way out and onto the driveway.

Finishing up the starboard hull steps

Another small mod

I had to make a small hole in the roof or pull the rudder post. I had this edson tiller arm that I decided to install on the starboard hull for the autopilot. The tillers will be linked with a crossbar above deck and I my fit a teleflex push pull cable steering for use on the intercostal if that proves and attractive option in the future. Having this below deck tiller arm will allow all those options to be easily worked out.

Inching towards the water

Keen blog viewers may have notice the boat was captive not only by the outsized wall between the forward beams, but also this room support beam thru what will be the cockpit floor. Well, I moved the boat about a metre forward and now the roof beam has been replaced aft of the

Striking

the last task before unblocking the boat was to strike the waterlines with the laser level. I also applied a fresh coat of primer on the inner hull sides down to the waterline.

There will be a steering seat outboard here on the side deck. The seat height will be roughly level the top of the traveler to hopefully allow pretty good visibility over the main cabin top. I've had Richard lower the headroom by 4" to hopefully provide better overall appearance and sight lines while maintaining adequate standing headroom amidships for someone my height.

Cockpit lockers

This week seemed to get away from me a bit, but I did get the outboard lockers most done.

An improving view

Here is the current view out the kitchen window. I've fitted the traveler stand, starboard rudder post and the port aft cabin side. I had planned to do the port cabin end outside, but I want to minimize the amount that needs to be done to get things weather tite. I'm going to finish up the outboard lockers and hatches next and mark the waterlines. The weather can be pretty variable at this time of year with a good amount of rain so need to keep going with smaller projects till late October or so. Also have to rebuild Bill's rudder so that will take up some time.

Start of the cabin top

so the next really big step is of course moving outside and then making the cabin top. Richard is still working on the final design and I want to get as much done inside as possible. I glassed and fitted the lower part of the bridge deck bulkhead so I can finish out the outboard lockers in the next week or so. the large hatch will go in the middle here and there will be a sill added later, but I figured best to keep the entry as open as possible for now.

Fw:

BlogThis!

I made good progress on this considering I didn't get any wood for the framing until last Thursday morning. The idea is to have a piece separate from the aft beam to bolt the traveler to and also add a bit of security to the back of the cockpit. When I was onboard Romany, i was very uncomfortable with how shallow the cockpit was. The top of this piece will be 24" or standard lifeline height above the cockpit floor.

Traveler Support

Here is the pic that was meant to go with the sander bit.

Tools

My little 1/4 sheet Makita sander gave out today. Most people would consider these something of a toy, but with heavy cloth backed 40 grit paper they really do a good job rounding off edges and getting into corners. My other Black and Decker broke several months ago, but was able to fix it today. On a side note, the best orbital sander I have ever used was called a Rupes when I worked at Southern Spars. They used 1/2 sheet orbitals to fair all their mega yacht mast ans booms. I bought this Black and Decker a few years ago at a used tool store. They considered it an inferior tool it being a B&D, but the label says made in France and it looks a lot like a Rupes. The Rupes are made in Italy, but maybe B&D got it wrong or whatever. It's a pretty good tool, but the paper attachment clips could be a bit better. Having the right tools certainly makes all the difference on this project.

A quick update

Mostly finished up the engine mountings. Good thing I made the "oversize" as with the shifter in the side of the t8s they barely fit with the reinforcing. On the upside the same nacelle should also fit a Suzuki 15 or 20 if needed.
Anyway, on to the rudder posts! Starting to feel the wind at my back at least a little bit as I'm close to being able to actually move the boat if needed. I just happened to have this nice bias spun glass tube that was the right size. Had a guy in town turn down some bearing I picked up at the surplus also from Hunter marine.

Glassing up the nacelles

It's super hot here and will be the next few days. Heat index of like 104 when the humidity is factored in. Good for getting lots of glass work done quickly in the shade. Then nacelles will be ready to fit to the hulls tomorrow. They're a bit clunky looking, but I think they will work out just right. They'll also quick to build and easy enough to replace/ redesign as needed.