Neemow is ready

This cat ended up adopting us before the holidays and she is one of those 6 toed Hemingway cats. (John came up with the name and spelling) They're supposed to be great boat cats. Hopefully she does a good job cleaning the decks of flying fish.

This pulpit is a different one than I just bought and plan to use on the stern, but may actually swap them around. They are off a Mumm 30 and I had to have them repaired by a welder as they were basically thrown away after a collision. I'm really using them partly for nostalgic reasons as were it not for the Mumm 30 class and my involvement with the boats for over 12 years; my life would likely be much, much different today.

More Bits

I got a great deal on these pulpits today, although I had to pay a bit more as they were "new in the package" I offered to remove the paper so they would no longer be in the package, but it ended up a good bargain. I believe they were originally made for Hunter marine as stern pulpits, but they will work really well for bow pulpits with minimal modifications. They also have tabs for mounting seats in the middle which will be a nice touch.

As part of the deal I also bought 15' of aluminum toe rail track to use on the inboard hull sides to attach the forward net to. This seems like it represents the best option for having a solid, maintenance free attachment system.

Putting a Lid On

Big Beam Little Beam

Here is a pic of the mast beam with the "king plank" fitted which will join the 2 bridgedeck pieces and form a slight "V" shape to the underside. Richard and I went back and forth on this as I was doubtful 1.5 degree deadrise would make much of a difference. In the end, for a variety of reasons I decided to go with the V shape. I call it the king plank since I don't know the technical term for the center of the bridgedeck timber thingy and it does end up bearing some similarity to the namesake in a teak deck.

I had big plans to deck the starboard hull this week then realized I'd need to complete the mast beam reinforcements. After dry fitting the mast beam, I then realized how hard it was to move around and how nice it was to get it out of the floor space. Of course it does restrict the walkway a bit, you have to duck under the other beams anyway and this one is so low there is no chance of hitting you head on it.

. Naturally, I then rememembered that my little aft bridgedeck "mini" was not yet finished! So another day was spent doing something else but the decks. Maybe next week; I just need to do....... First!

Bridgedeck Headroom?

I needed to dry fit the mast beam to workout the necessary reinforcements to bulkhead #3. (Note to future Vardo builders, fit these when making the bulkhead. but they were not shown on early drawings) Anyway, you can see my dilemma about when to do the bridgedeck as even John is impeded in getting thru the shop. As a side note, I measured the bridgedeck clearance on a Seawind 1160 and it appears the Vardo clearance should be about 50mm higher at comparable loading.

a few pics

I'm having some technical difficulties with my other computers charger and can't upload any of my better recent pics at the moment. I've just finished another Searunner project for a customer, but also making good progress on the Vardo. I know have both aft decks on, the inner small cabin side aft pieces and most of the framing and stringers on the starboard cabin top. I should have the starboard hull mostly decked this week and then I plan to work on the galley prior to doing the bridgedeck as it seems it will be easier to access now.