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.

Keeping it Simple

I had all kinds of neat ideas about clever swinging brackets, but have decided it's best for now to keep it simple. I have now roughed out port and starboard engine nacelles. I built them largely stich and glue and will ad some timber reinforcements on the inside as well. I'll pull them off and glass the outside before glassing them to the boat.
I positioned them just aft of the main cabin bridgedeck so they will receive 100mm of wave break and also the forward diagonal section will transfer the forward thrust of the motors onto the bridgedeck structure. I built this just slightly oversized for my Yamaha 8s as I think the ideal setup may prove to be a primary 15 or 20 hp EFI engine and maybe a 6 horse Tohatsu wing engine in the future. Note the bracket hang down past nacelle. this is because i removed and sold the tilt units off these motors for roughly the cost of the motors. i will either cut the brackets down or leave as is and just use a simple tackle to raise and lower the motors. The trim units on these motors are a constant issue as the motors are way to close to the waterline. unfortunately most of the new 25" kickers come with tilt standard and the suzuki and merc units look to be even worse than the yamaha clearance wise. Both these yamahas seem to run well so the I will use these while I do some initial coastal cruising (hopefully next spring/summer) and see how they work out.

Start of the cockpit

Been back home about 10 days and slowly getting going. Here is the start of the cockpit and engine lockers. The fore and aft timber will be the lower inboard edge of the outboard locker. Still working out my mounting ideas, but hope to have both motors able to be mounted in the next few weeks. I realized I was getting a bit burned out in July and have decided to ease up some on my work weeks especially in the hot weather.