pipeDream - i550 in Chicago

Spinnaker Pole Rigging

2011-12-12T11:43:00.004-06:00

Brandon from Tasmania chatted me up last week about how I rigged my spinnaker pole. Since I typed everything up to him, I thought I would post it here for anyone else that is curious.

For background I purchased a my spinnaker pole along with a inner and outer sleeve from C-Tech. The inner sleeve is .5m long and has an inside diameter to fit snugly on the outside diameter of the spinnaker pole. The outer sleeve is a thin walled tube larger than both the others and long enough to go from frame 18 to 110 to contain any water that gets in the forward end of the prod sleeve. The aft end of the outer sleeve is at frame 110 and the drains into the cockpit. What's not pictured here is the spinnaker pole and inner sleeve. Both are inside the out sleeve and I didn't remove anything for this photo opportunity.

Here are some pics to clarify the prod rigging (I hope) on pipedream using the c-tech spin pole with inner and outer sleeves.

This is the forward end of outer sleeve at frame 18. Note retraction bungee (green) and deploy block attach to small eye straps. A very small piece of G10 is on the other side of frame 18 and the eye straps are mounted with #8 screws tapped into the G10. Yes that is carbon on frame 18. I had some spare cloth and added it to frame 18 around the inner prod sleeve. The aft end of the inner sleeve is where all the upward force from the kite will go because there is no bob stay in this setup either. Then the outer sleeve was filleted in place. There is a U shaped hole in the top of the outer sleeve to allow the deploy line (yellow) inside.

This is the aft end of outer sleeve at frame 110, picture taken from above. Retraction bungee (green on the left) turns here and goes forward inside the outer sleeve to aft end of prod where it goes through a whole in the prod and is knotted (the hole in the prod was drilled, rounded the edges and then coated in epoxy. The tack line turns up in the same block and runs up to a thru-deck block and cleat mounted in frame 110. That's a piece of g10 laminated to the forward side of 110. The blocks are mounted with screws tapped into the 6mm g10. Note that the tack line is stripped endra braid. In normal operation the stripped portion never gets back to the block but we are in travel mode at the moment.

This is frame 53 where the deploy line goes through a fairlead at frame 53. It terminates at another stainless steel lined fairlead at frame 110 just below the cabin top. This lead seems to work just fine and keeps the 2 main jobs during a hoist/douse together in the pit, spin halyard and spin pole deploy. The sleeve is just below 53 and the bungee is green running next to it.

This the aft side of frame 110. The "pit". Deploy line cleat (yellow line) uses an upside down mounting of the cleat. This allows the line to run free during a douse (Same for the spin halyard which uses the cleat with red fair lead). Stopper knot in deploy line stops the prod so it doesn't over retract and come out of the inner sleeve. The hardest part about this setup is getting the prod into the inner sleeve from the rear. I just use a pole in from the front to lift and align the prod with the sleeve while the deploy line is pulled.

Tack line(green line) cleat in frame 110. This is a new setup. If you tend the spinnaker prior to a hoist you can set the tack line before you start of the hoist. The tack will have to be forward of the shrouds so you can't sail upwind like that for long. The pole deploy will finish the job and pull the tack out to the end of the pole. You just have to make a mark on the tack line. I have a wiping at the proper place and the tack line is stripped so that part of the system runs very nicely.

Note: I originally had a more complex setup that worked but was too complicated for my tastes. The deploy line continued on as the tack line. It went from the aft end of the prod back to a turning block and then forward and out the forward face of the prod. Thus it had a 1:2 purchase that sucked in 2 feet of tack line for each 1 foot of prod extension. This setup was not quite long enough to get the tack back to the companionway so there was adjustment needed on the turning block every time you hoist. And it was adjustable while flying the spin only by a hefty crew member (usually myself). The separate spin tack line is the easier setup to rig and allows easier control.

I hope this helps anyone who is interested. By the way, a trick that Jeff used to locate the forward hole for the inner sleeve was to cut the hole in frame 110 and then shine a light through it forward onto the hull. Worked like a charm.

Cheers. Kevin.

Rudder #2 - Step 1, the plan and the cores...

2010-12-09T09:04:00.007-06:00

So I just got the quote from flying foam for rudder #2. Details below are for a tapered rudder, a cassette to go around the rudder and a tiller to be attached to the cassette. I'm following the build method used by the swift solo guys. Basically you use the outer part of the foam core block (the female part if you will) as a mold to squeeze the layup against the core to get a lean fiber to resin ratio and a nice light part. Peel ply (nylon fabric) and absorber cloth (cotton knit fabric) are used to pull extra resin out of the part. The goal is to achieve similar results to vacuum bagging with clamp pressure. Pretty clever actually, but I didn't figure this out.

A few differences between my plan and the swift solo rudder because this is a bigger boat. First, I intend to add a spline down the foil at max width. This is to link the to skins together to counter compression loads that will build between the rudder blade pushing one way and the tiller/cassette pushing the other way. The spline will be about 34oz layup of +45/-45 degree biaxial fiberglass cloth. Because this is compression load, carbon is not really the best choice, it's far better in tension than compression. The biaxial layup is key to the strength of the spline. Second, the general size of the rudder is bigger because we are a bigger boat.

The cassette is intentionally larger than the finished rudder head by .375". This gap will be filled with a pourable urethane to create a custom fit gasket between the blade and the cassette. If a new rudder is made, you can re-do the urethane gasket and you are in business. The gap is a little big to allow good flow of the urethane which tends to leave bubbles if the gap is too small.

Finished foil will be 57" long with 42" below the water line which is about what the plan calls for and what my first rudder was. This rudder is designed with a symmetrical taper a little less aggressive than what Chad used for his rudder. Chad's first blog entry on his rudder can be found here. For the record, the profile documented publicly has been changed to a naca 0012 to protect the intellectual property of a 3rd party.

Kevin.

Project or plane: Rudder #2
Core: 2 piece, 2.3# Spyder foam    
  Panel Length:          21.0 / 40.0
  Airfoil Name(s):       N0012 / N0012 / N0012
  Chord Length(s):       10.0 / 10.0 / 7.0 
  Setback Length(s):     0.0 / 1.5 
  Foam Block Height:     1.8 
  Dihedral:              none 
  Washout:               none 
  Sheeting Allowance:    .0625  
  Leading Edge Length:   Round per airfoil 
  T.E. Thickness:        0.06
  Spline slot:           0.125 @ thick point?
---------------------------------------------------- 
Core total:                                $   81.86 

Project or plane: Cassette
Core: 1 piece, 2.3# Spyder foam    
  Panel Length:          18.0
  Airfoil Name(s):       N0012 / N0012  
  Chord Length(s):       10.375 / 10.375 (researching hopefully this would be 10)
  Setback Length(s):     0.0 
  Foam Block Height:     1.8 
  Dihedral:              none 
  Washout:               none 
  Sheeting Allowance:    0.0000 (researching hopefully this can be -.1875)
  Leading Edge Length:   0 
  T.E. Thickness:        0.06 
---------------------------------------------------- 
Core total:                                $   30.83 

Project or plane: Tiller
Core: 1 piece, 2.3# Spyder foam    
  Panel Length:          56.0
  Airfoil Name(s):       1.5x1.25 / Ellipse 
  Chord Length(s):       1.5 / 1.5 
  Setback Length(s):     0.0 
  Foam Block Height:     1.8 
  Dihedral:              none 
  Washout:               none 
  Sheeting Allowance:    0.0 
  Leading Edge Length:   0 
  T.E. Thickness:        N/A 
---------------------------------------------------- 
Core total:                                $   27.93 

Shipping via Fedex Ground (Zone: 8):           24.00

edit note: I'm researching using a negative sheet allowance so that the cassette profile is a larger version of the rudder profile. Upping the chord will not create a larger version because the width is a percentage of the chord and would thus be a smaller amount than the increase in chord. I want a 3/16" gap around the entire rudder for the gasket.

Crack!

2010-10-18T16:23:00.002-05:00

The worst sound any boat builder can hear is the sound of his own boat going crack. The analysis starts immediately. Where was it? Is something falling? Is everyone safe? The good news is that nothing fell and everyone is A-OK. The bad news is that the rudder went crack and we were done for the day. I'm guessing a 18ish knot puff is what did the damage. We were pretty powered up in 12-15 knots already and then the wind just kept on coming. Here's a little video of what the rudder looks like...

The issue was that I put all of my rudder to tiller load into one spot. A 1/4" bolt through the rudder to the tiller, which had a piece of stainless steel on each side. This is just one more reason to go with the rudder cassette instead of fixing the rudder to the transom. The pain in the butt of connecting the rudder to the transom is another great reason for the cassette. What a joy it will be to just drop the rudder into the cassette instead of fighting the buoyancy of the rudder as you try to connect it to the pintles. Adjustable draft so I can get in and out of the harbor past those blessed sand bars is another good reason for the cassette.

So, I'm off to the drawing board to figure out a new rudder foil and cassette setup. Thankfully the season was about over anyway so I don't feel like I'm missing great sailing opportunities. But having said that, it will be 70+ degrees with a 8-10 knot breeze from the southwest blowing for the next 2 week ends. If you are willing to share a hot setup, I'm all ears. Old foil was a simple NACA 0012 profile and I had plenty of control so I could probably take it up a notch or two.

Cheers for now. Kevin.

2010 i550 US National Championships

2010-09-27T17:07:00.000-05:00

A great time was had by all. We raced in light and rather binary conditions (on or off, not much in between). Format was simple 2 lap windward/leeward races on a short course to keep thing tight and interesting. In the first race we had 4 lead changes so it was very exciting and fun racing while the wind was blowing. We learned a lot but mostly we just had fun. Ron took home the Epoxy Cup Trophy with 5 points over 4 races. Jeff was just 2 points off the pace. I had good starts and good upwind speed by couldn't hold on for better than 3rd.

Here is a shot of PipeDream with the spin up and looking pretty good. Concensus is that the luff is a touch short. We had the spin halyard eased about 18" and that gave us a better shape. Another thing to work on and figure out.

Special thanks to my fantasitc crew. On Saturday Andy, who works for Mad Sails in Madison and a friend Matt were with me. On Sunday we had Eliza at the helm with Andy and I pulling the strings. Eliza did great in her first big regatta and is looking forward to her next turn at the helm already.

A huge thank you to Jeff and Traci for organizing a fantastic weekend event. They have set a very high standard for the next years venue to live up to.

A little mast base detail

2010-08-10T17:26:00.001-05:00

Someone chatted me up and asked about a detail picture of the base of the c-tech mast. I took this picture horizontally and then rotated it so the background may look right to you.

Starting at the bottom I have a hinged mast step. This is about an inch tall and pretty heavy duty stainless steel. Because the keel sticks up above the cabin roof the mast can't go straight back so I've rigged up a "flexible" lashing with some line that lets the mast come down and to the starboard side around the mast. That's what the red/yellow/orange line is doing.

Next is the stainless steel shoe/step provided by c-tech. This provides a vang attachement point in the center. Several additional holes for added vang blocks are also pre-drilled. Along the side are slots for turning blocks for your halyards. I've not optimized these just yet. In the center running across the step is a 1/2" stainless tube welded to both sides. This provides the structure to the step and locates the mast to the step.

Inside the base of the mast is a extra sleeve tube that is glued into place. This doubles the wall thickness at the base and helps eliminate any edge weakness at the mast base caused at the end of the tube. I glued mine in with some g/flex 655 from West. I like this stuff alot by the way. There is a 1/2" wide by 3/4" deep notch in the bottom of the mast which fits over that cross tube. This was the hardest part of setting up the rig because you really want that slot to go straight across your mast in line with spreaders.

Jeff just has his mast sitting in the slot while sailing. His step is bolted right to his cabin top. He has to loosen his shrouds to place the mast over the center tube and then tighten them down. I have the hinged step and can keep my shrouds tensioned where I like them. I use a 5:1 purchase on the jib halyard to tension the rig into place and then attach the forestay. So far that system has worked pretty well for me. I have to remember to put the mast step pins in at the right time though becuase they don't want to go in or come out when the rig is under full tension (which is a good thing I think).

Cheers for now. Kevin.

Now the fun part, Sailing!!!

2010-06-10T14:48:00.004-05:00

On Sunday morning I hit the water with my good friend Claus. The goal was to get some shakedown sailing in and to figure a few things out. The wind was from the north with gusts from the north west (a good 40 degree shift) which kept thing interesting. Up wind the boat just gets in a groove and goes, it was really simple to get going. Down wind we were surfing waves and hit 10.3 knots as our max with plenty of time in the +8 knot range. It was a fantastic first outing. Especially considering everything isn't figured out just yet.

Lessons learned...
a. My jib was too long. This made de-powering the jib pretty impossible.
b. My jib tracks are a little to far aft at this point. I think this will vary with sails too.
c. My tiller still needs some figuring out. It sits too low and the extensions kept getting messed up. Part of that is just being tidy which we didn't take the time to do.
d. My vang purchase was too short. You may recall my cascade purchase I built which is awesome but limited in range. I changed it to a double block at the top and a single at the bottom and ended up with the same purchase and a little more simplicity.
e. My cunningham wasn't quite right either. Another thing to make sure you have right as it's hard to de-power with no cunningham.

The bottom line is to get help if you need it. A great boat like the i550 will attract attention and it shouldn't be too hard to get some folks to come along and have some fun.

Cheers, Kevin.

The good, the bad and the ugly.

2010-05-05T22:44:00.006-05:00

So Tuesday was a great looking day and we decided it was time for a shake down cruise. I have to give full props to my 1st mate who put up with the tedious process of figuring things out for the first time over and over again. With a few repetitions I think we'll trim considerable time from our arrival to launch time.

It was a day of way to many firsts. But you have to start some where right.

#1. We got the rig up. I've done that 4 times now and this time I even got the cunningham line rigged right instead of pinching it in my mast step like I did back in March.
#2. Then it was time to launch. That proved to be a little more challenging because the keel didn't clear the rear bunk. I needed to make a cut out in mine like Jeff did. Ended up lifting the rear of the boat to get it up and over.
#3. Worked out the keel hoist system. Turns out my 3:1 setup didn't have enough purchase. Had to release the main halyard to get the keel all the way down. Then had to re-rig that so we could get it back up.
#4. Re-drilled the cross bolts in the keel/keel box so the keel doesn't go anywhere while we are sailing.
#5. Ready to go :-)

#6. We motor out of the harbor (which isn't very big). Everything is going fine and then Doah #1, the sand bar is only 3 feet deep. I thought for sure my 4 feet of draft would make it past. Ok, let's get the hoist on the keel and lift that up until we are free. We'll be ok once we are past that because this is lake Michigan after all. So the hoist is setup and we give it a yank. Keel doesn't even move. But I know it works because I used it 4 times at the dock when I put the pins in. Doah #2, the pins are in. Ok. I go below and the pins come out with a little wiggling. Let's get that keel up. Doah #3, the top plate bolts on the keel have failed. The top of the keel is now sitting a foot above the cockpit sole and I can access the pin holes and lash the plate to the keel so we can hoist. Check the pocket and there are the reefing lines for the main. With the lashings in place we lift the keel but we are not free. Doah #4, the rudder is also hanging up in the sand now that we've drifted so far onto the sand bar. With a little work the rudder also comes free but for a while there I wan't sure if she was going to cooperate. With some assistance we were towed back into the harbor and tied up at the dock. Back safe and mostly in one piece.

Now I'm in repair mode. The new bolts with nuts are now setting up in thickened epoxy in a much improved setup. For my first attempt I had drilled into setup thickened epoxy and then threaded in lag bolts. Obviously, that didn't work too well. So I'm using regular bolts coated in a couple coats of McLube as a release agent. Once cured I'll pop them loose with a wrench and voila we have a great setup to keep the top plate securely fastened to the keel. For the record the holes were 5/8" wide to fit a 3/8" bolt with nut.

I'll hoist up the transom next and pull the rear bunk off the trailer so I can open up a slot for the keel next. With these 2 jobs done we should be ready to give it another go.

Cheers, Kevin.

p.s. If you are in my neck of the woods the christening is on Saturday at 4pm.

She Floats!

2010-04-15T16:46:00.001-05:00

I had pipe dream off of her trailer so I could get some welding done on the trailer. I drover her down to Montrose harbor and used the lift there to place her in the drink for the first time. All went according to plan and my daughter and I were able to manage the whole process. As you can see in the transom shot the transom just touches the water at the center. The knuckle is much harder to see in the blue on blue of the picture (and I was using my phone for a quick photo instead of my real camera). Only thing not aboard was the rig and sails.

Only problem was when we pulled the boat out the keel was binding in the keel slot. This was because the balance point for the haress was behind the center of the keel. In the future I'll hoist the keel of the the main halyard to eliminate that problem. I did miff the trailing edge just a bit but that won't dampen my fun much in the near future.

The welding was to fix the rear "swing" bar of the trailer I bought that had rollers on it. It was sagging with only bolts and needed to be kept in place. Now that it is firmly welded the trailer fits to the boat great. I broke a tail light though which was a bummer.

I've been sorting out jib and spin sheets and other rigging issues I found while at yacht-a-polooza. I really like 12 strand, it's so nice to work with compared to double braid. Thanks to by brother for the spin sheets that didn't work on his boat.

I'm camping with the scouts this weekend so real sailing will have to wait until next weekend.

Cheers, Kevin.

Close follower...

2010-03-26T21:22:00.001-05:00

Just a quick shot out the review mirror on the way to the Crowely's Yacht-a-palooza. First significant trailerling went fine. I do need to get a little welding done on my trailer though.

Cheers, Kevin.

Just add water...

2009-11-29T22:44:00.001-06:00

As one of my favorite movie lines says, "I'm all dressed up, with no one to kill".

On Saturday we had a gorgeous day and pulled the boat out for a little rigging comparison with Jeff. We had a little fit issue with our jibs and the only way to really sort it out was to throw them up and see what we got. It's not a huge deal, just a touch long in the luff length and we're not quite sure how that happened. The rig is racked back some and there is decent pre-bend in the mast too. So we'll just have a little modification done and leave it at that.

All the rigging is in place and ready too. I just need to tweak a few things like the split tail main and the vang length. Should be easy to deal with before spring. Jeff and I are looking forward to some fun sailing both here in Chicago and up in Madison.

To follow-up on a few of my nagging issues...

The keel is now in. I basically cut out the fiberglass sleeve from inside the keel box. It's a small opening and the generous amount of silica putty down the max chord didn't make that job any easier. At this point I have the hull bottom and the keelbox top plate to support the keel along with the 2 cross bolts to keep it from playing to much forward and aft. I'm sure there are better systems out there. But this is what I've got for now.

My trailer is also sagging. I bought a "roller" trailer that had roller bunks on a swinging cross bar at the back. I tightened up that bar as much as I could and added some bracing but it's still sagging. I'll need to get the trailer over to a welder at some point to get that problem resolved.

Everything else is pretty much ship shape and ready to rock and roll.

Cheers to all and have a happy holiday season. And if you are lucky enough to be building, then keep on building. Looking forward to seeing more boats ready to hit the water come spring time.

Kevin.

Close, but no cigar...

2009-10-06T20:41:00.003-05:00

Ok. I have to admit that I'm not in a good mood right now. I've been busting my arse almost constantly in the hopes of getting the boat in the water this year before the flakes start flying. The good weather window is closing fast and I keep running into road blocks.

When the sails arrived I discovered that 2 grommets were missing. That dampened my enthusiasm a bit. The issue has been corrected now and I'm good to go sailing but it was a blow to the momentum. And momentum is everything some times.

Next on the hit parade was the keel. We drove the boat down to Montrose harbor to use the lifts there to lift the boat onto the keel yesterday afternoon. It was a gorgeous 60 degree day with a light breeze. Would have been perfect for a shakedown sail. But I get ahead of myself. We aren't there yet.
As with everything on this boat. I seem to be doing everything for the first time. Yesterday we had the following firsts. Hitched up the new trailer and towed the boat. That went pretty well, especially after I swung up the jack. Once we got there, a new lifting harness had to be adjusted to hold the boat level. For the record, you can use the chain plates and some fixed point aft of 169 to lift the boat. I've got pad eyes installed for my mainsheet bridle 1' forward of the transom and they worked just fine. I was surprised at how much I had to shorten the rear ropes to hold the boat level. The balance point on my boat seems to be right over the keel slot which will work perfect. So now we have the boat in the air and the lift we are using isn't tall enough to get the keel inserted. So we have to drop back onto the trailer (another first) and roll it down to the next lift. We also discovered that you have to be careful with weight distribution on the trailer. 185 pound keel, me and my little helper all aft of the axle equals bow in the air. Sure am glad I put the non-skid on already.

Finally we are all set to drop the boat on the keel and the SUCKER WON'T FIT. The real cause is that it's just been too tight all along and I was in denial. I made the sleeve after initial glassing and fairing. But there was significant fairing after that. I tested it before priming and paint the keel and it was snug but fit. I pushed forward instead of dealing with this. The sleeve basically has to be cut out. I'm thinking just a millimeter all the way around is all I need. So we are back in the garage with the keel in the cockpit and the keel box in need of some work. My plan is to get my favorite tool (the dremel) out and start cutting and sanding the sleeve out. Once it's removed I'll carefully sand the top plate and hull panel to give me extra clearance. and hit it with a couple coats of neat epoxy. Then we should be back in business. I'm thinking I'll use HDPE tape to snug up the fit of the keel to the new larger keel box. What's that saying about the best laid plans of mice and men?

In other news...

KiwiGrip is pretty great stuff. I had good luck applying it and the grip is just great. One thing I did was apply it differently to the cockpit sole than the deck. The deck I used an old 3/8" nap roller to apply and then the texture roller to make it grippy. It was a really thin coat of material so it's not too aggressive so it shouldn't eat everyones clothing. However, it doesn't hide everything underneath because it's so thin in the low spots. For the cockpit I layed the stuff on thick. I basically just globbed it on and started with the texture roller. I just worked it until I had an even coat and went on to the next section. You can use a notched spreader to start, but I found it just as easy to work it with just the roller. It was cool (about 60) when I applied it so it took a while to really dry. I bought a gallon and ended up with about 1/2 left. Not sure if I could have gotten away with 2 quarts. A gallon is cheaper than 3 quarts so it's a toss up.

Perfection in white just doesn't cover. At least not for me. I put 3 coats of white on the cabin and cockpit (everywhere I wasn't non-skiding) and I can still see through in spots. I don't know why the white doesn't cover or what I should have done differently. I didn't even thin the last coat. Maybe I'll be ready to patch up the deck and re-paint at the end of next summer. Until then, it is what it is.

I also mounted all the hardware on Sunday. I used 3m 4000 marine sealant/adhesive. It was pretty easy to work with. I found it much easier to tape off the area around the fitting than to clean off any excess after the fact. One issue I ran into is that the metal tube ruptured about 1/2 way through and that made things extra messy.

Cheers for now. Kevin.

Getting somewhere...

2009-09-27T22:42:00.001-05:00

Or at least I'll be able to get somewhere. The foils are coming along and actually look like they should. The fairing and painting of foils can be a real pain. I here by send a big dose of persistence to all of you making your own foils. I think mine only need one more coat of paint and a little wet sanding to make them extra fast :-)

On other fronts, I also finished painting the deck and cockpit. I only painted where I'm not putting non-skid. So that's the cabin roof, the cockpit sides, the gunwales and wherever hardware goes. The white perfection certainly didn't cover as well as the blue. I was vexed by show crappy looking results. It just didn't want to hide anything. It's officially done for now. Perfect isn't worth it considering I'm just going to bang it up, scratch it up and drill holes all over as I move hardward to find the perfect setup. I'm glad to be done with the painting. It's certainly a pain and the perfection adds a level or two to normal pain and suffering. Remember you must use an organic respirator with the 2333n thinner that you use with perfection.

I've also been working on rigging stuff in my spare time. My current project is the spin sheets. I'm using some Yale conception line that I got from my brother. I thought I would be clever and add some amsteel blue tails with nice splices to connect to the spin. The trick isn't getting the 3mm amsteel into the 3/8" conception. That's the easy part. A nice long bury seems to be locking nicely so I think it will work great. The issue is tapering the conception so I can bury it into the amsteel. It's proving to be a little big at the moment. But I've got a crazy plan and that's part of the fun isn't it.

The mast is rigged and the boom is well on it's way so we'll be ready to rock and roll once the non-skid is down and dry. I'm thinking I'll be feel not so great at least one afternoon this week. Maybe two, we'll see.

Cheers, Kevin.

No more fairing...

2009-09-17T10:39:00.002-05:00

Well, That's the dream anyway. I've been working along on the little stuff needed to get a boat finished. Let me tell you, there are lots of details and they all need attention.

I laid up my tiller to rudder connection, patched up the rudder and added more compound to the keel bulb at the bolt holes. Hopefully I won't have to mix another round of epoxy, but I know that's just a dream. There always seems to be something that needs more epoxy. But the fun now is I'm mixing a single shot and then splitting to do 3-4 things. This is much better than the 8 shot batches of fairing compound that was more the norm in the past.

I've also been doing some rigging work preparing the halyards and sheets so we can go sailing when the time comes.

I'm in "do what I can when I can" mode. Looking forward to being in sailing mode.

Cheers for now, Kevin

2nd coat looks better...

2009-09-11T13:41:00.001-05:00

Just had to post a picture of the cockpit after the 2nd coat of primer. It just looks so much better!
By the way, you know you are using nasty stuff (primarily it's the Interlux 2333n thinner/solvent) when the mosqitoes drop dead all over the place. I guess that's another reason to paint early in the day for the finish coats because they won't be out yet. Of course I mixed too much paint for the 2nd coat. That's how it usually goes. Oh, well.

Happy building to everyone over the weekend. I look foreward to lots of blog updates next week.

Cheers, Kevin.

Got some primer on!

2009-09-10T09:34:00.001-05:00

First, I must congradulate Ron on the launching of the first US i550, Lunatic Fringe. What a happy day for Ron.

My progress continues to march along. I finally finished all that silly filling and sanding and put some primer on the deck, cabin and cockpit. I have to say, it now looks completely different now. You get used to seeing all that wood and the primer just covers it all up.

There were a few lessons learned. First, the top half of the boat is probably bigger than you think. I thought I had mixed way to much paint but had to mix more to finish. And then what I had mix in round 2 was barely enough. I also went through 2 rollers as the solvents took their toll. That's what the 2nd coat is for though, to cover all the misses of the first coat.

I'm hoping to squeeze in another coat late tonight. I've got a 48 hour window on overcoating without needing to sand. We'll see if there is any gas left in the tank by then.

Cheers, Kevin.

Sunshine, on my carbon...

2009-09-08T16:07:00.002-05:00

Way corney on the musical reference.

But it works...
I put the final coat of clearcoat on the carbon spars and they look pretty awesome. I used interlux perfection varnish and the stuff is a very easy to work with as long as you don't mind the organic respirator. When it's layed down right the results look really good and seem to be really tough.

The carbon spreader bracket is just too cool. The layup work is top notch. I'm really looking forward to setting sail.

On other fronts this weekend...
+ we have faired the cockpit and decks. A final sanding of some touch up spots and we are ready for primer.
+ we fitted the rudder and it's ready for paint.
+ we joined the keel foil and the keel bulb and can now call it the keel (period).
+ we made a carbon tiller. That was a fun little project that had it's own ups and downs. It turned out ok. Certainly will get the job done.
+ tested the bow prod rigging.

Wow, that sure seems like a lot. No wonder I'm do tired. I've got a scout trip this coming weekend so I might not get the final coats of paint on until the middle of next week. We'll just have to see how it goes. Hoping to prime tomorrow afternoon.

Cheers, Kevin.

Just keep on trucking...

2009-09-04T11:00:00.003-05:00

Sanders are a boat builders best friend. At least it feels that way right now. I've been sanding and preparing the decks, cabin and cockpit for painting and I'm almost there. At least I really want to be that close. I'll have another look when I go out today. I was at the end of my rope when I called it a night last night.

On the good news front I've got fewer nagging problems to be dealt with. The keel now fits in the keel box. That was a big deal because the hole point of this deal is to have a bulb that will right the boat after I pooch it. Also, the bottom of the bulb is now fair. Time to flip that over and fit the keel strut. Then I can finish that fairing so the keel can get primed along with everything else.

I also have the rudder ready to prime. So that's pretty good news.

If the work plan goes well, I'll be painting by the end of the weekend. Wish me luck.

Kevin.

Booms away...

2009-08-31T10:03:00.001-05:00

So this weekend was a mixed bag of tinckering, fixing, sanding and fairing. All the things you come to love as a boat builder but will really not miss once you get to be a sailor again.

The fun project was attaching all my carbon rigging parts to the boom. It's now ready for clear coating! The mainsheet blocks are held in place using little padeyes. I made them by laying out a couple layers of carbon cloth (on top of wax paper over the boom) and then added a little eye made of G-10. I then did a fillet and tape job to make that nice and strong. As you can see from the pic, the force on the eye will be along the boom since the block is lashed around the boom and through the eye. I had to buy new line to lash around the boom because I need 5+ feet and the ti-lite only comes with 4 feet. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. The fitting is attached to the boom with G-flex adhesive too. I figured the elastic quality of the g-flex would be a good idea considering the shock loads that a flogging sail can create on everything. It also gives the illusion of the fitting being glued on and possibly removed. I would not bet on the easy removal though.

You can also see the outhaul fitting made from g-10 mounted on the tail end of the boom. You can see the bail I added to ensure the line to the mainsail clew stays on the sheave. It is also mounted with g-flex adhesive. This gives a 2:1 primary outhaul purchase. There will be a 2:1 secondary inside the boom with a cleat on the bottom side of the boom. We'll see how that goes.

BTW, the c-tech boom is a wicked cool piece of carbon. It's lighter than the bow prod even though it's 2 feet longer. I marvel at it every time I pick it up. Cheers to Alex at C-tech.

In other news... The bow prod was sanded so it would fit through my sleeve. An extra wrap of carbon seems to be the culprit as Jeff's didn't need any sanding to fit and work smoothly. The mast and spreaders were prepared for clear coating too. I even installed the sheave for the jib halyard. The foredeck and cabin have been sanded and faired where needed. I'm not over doing the fairing where I'm going to put down non-skid, that seem a bit excessive. I started fairing the keel bulb. And lastly, the tiller is just about ready for some skin.

Should be painting next weekend with sails completed by September 10th and then a Big Splash!!!

I hope everyone else had a productive weekend.

Cheers, Kevin.

Spar me!

2009-08-26T11:00:00.002-05:00

This was a few weeks ago, but I figured I should post the pictures of assembling the mast. It turned out to be very straight forward. I had 3 points of support that I could use to hold the spar straight. I roughed up the outside of the spar where the spreaders are mounted and I wiped the joint areas down with alcohol to make it nice and clean.

To assemble I used G-Flex 655 thickened epoxy adhesive. It's from West Systems and has an elastic property that is well suited to the use and abuse a mast goes through. Anyway the stuff is yellowish, very smooth and has a long working time of more than an hour. This gave me lots of time to get things together, align them and then re-check them about a hundred times. With joints that fit as tightly as these it didn't take much adhesive.

One trick I figured out was to tape the spar to the supports as I got the alignment right. I also had to tape the spreaders in place. At first I had used string to tie the spreaders in the right place to a saw horse. But I found that they would move very slowly by the light tension on the string. So I put tape running the long ways on them and we were finally staying in place. By the way, the spreaders are centered over the joint between the bottom and middle section (exactly 3300mm from the planned bottom point of the mast).

This was one of those enjoyable 1 hour projects that didn't require any further effort when you were done. I really like those kind of projects on the boat. They are very few however.

To complete the rigging you have to install the top t-ball backing plates because they are in the joint between the middle and top section. My spar came without jib halyard sheave. The area is reinforced with carbon cloth. It's just a matter of cutting the opening and pop-riveting it in place. This is a place for the dremel with the cutting wheel. I'm going with a Harken 1.5" wire thru-deck block because it's all stainless frame and casing. Lots of sheave boxes are available but are Aluminum. You want to avoid AL to Carbon contact which means you basically have to glass the back of the fittings. Doesn't that sound like fun. At the mast head there is a 1.5" sheave for the main halyard. The Spin halyard uses an external block lashed to a 1/4" pin. And that's about it.

On other fronts, I'm off to re-drill the last of my hardware mounting points. Once that's done it's off to the races with the sander. I'll do some fairing where I'm not putting non-skid. That is one of those internal head debates that I need to stop having. We'll see how that goes. I've got a rudder and a keel bulb to finish too. Wish me luck because I need some seriously positive vibes.

Cheers. Kevin.

Let me in? or Out?

2009-08-24T14:41:00.001-05:00

Build progress has been good and hectic. I'm basically trying to finish everything ASAP which doesn't leave much time for anything else. Special thanks goes out to my lovely wife who is putting up with all of this crazy obsession.

Hardware mounts were the first order of the day. To protect the wood core of the boat, each hole you drill has to be drilled over-sized. Filled with silica putty. And then re-drilled to the proper size. All of the holes I think I need are now drilled and filled. Most have already been re-drilled too. The occasional miss (new hole not in the silica putty) have also been fixed. I need all the holes drilled so that when I paint I can find them. Losing a hole after this headache is no fun at all.

I've been able to work on other things while the filled holes dry. I got the rudder cleaned up and placed some blocks on it to hold the mounts (grudeon and pintle). I also molded the tiller head to the rudder so I'll have a way to control this boat soon. While that dried I needed another project...

So I dropped the mast down from the ceiling and popped in the upper shroud backing plates (learned how to pop-rivet too). That wasn't too bad. You just have to be careful and use a wire through the fitting and 2 holes while you rivet in the 3rd. Once that was done I needed another project (This is where the endless list of 2 hour projects comes in handy)...

So I jumped into the companion way hatches. For the vertical boards I used this really nice grained piece of plywood (that was supposed to be the foredeck but turned out to be too small (see the duck bill deck post). Anyway, this cool grain pattern will still get some good use. I'll leave these bright. There are strips on the aft side of the top 2 to keep the rain out. This is not a water proof hatch in way shape or form. BTW, the vertical hatches are in a aluminium C channel that is filletted onto the forward side of frame 110. I did that just like Jeff did on Alchemy and he has good pics of his setup. It was nice to cut wood again, but it sure does make a mess.

For the roof hatch I used the cut-out section I saved from the companionway roof to make the hatch. I trimmed it up some so it fit around stuff added around the opening. Then I added a 1 1/2" strip of wood ply around the edge so that the hatch will rest on the cabin roof. I'll also add some pieces on the forward bottom edge of the hatch to hold the forward edge down. Then all I need is a haspe to hold the aft side of the roof down and in we should be all set. The roof hatch comes down over the vertical hatch so one lock should secure it.

Should be ready to stop playing with little projects and get on to fairing and painting the decks this week. Hoping to splash very soon. It's a race between me and the sailmaker now.

Cheers, Kevin.

Lots of little bits...

2009-08-20T09:26:00.003-05:00

So I'm stuck in little project hell. Everything that needs to be done is a "little project". Those not to0 tough things that you should be able to do in a couple of hours. Many I would have loved to gotten done when it was nasty cold outside, but didn't happen for one of a thousand reasons.

Here's a quick run down of the little things you have to look forward too...

Fitting the bow eye... My stem is 2" thick, which is a bit much, and there is a recess I made for the the backing plate of the bow eye. The only problem is that it's not really bit enough for the backing plate or anything to go in around it (like fingers). So the backing plate didn't go on correctly and I couldn't get it to come off so I could fix it. I spent 4 hours curled up in the bow of the boat with my arm stuck through a 6" inspection port, thank god I didn't cheap out and put a 4" port in. I finally got the plate off so I can open up the recess up. Shouldn't take more than 2 more hours to get the thing properly fitted.

Mast and Boom rigging... So the mast and boom are fantastic but c-tech is not a rigging shop. They are spar makers. I've had some fun making a few fittings to make the rigging totally awesome because we don't want to drill any more holes in that carbon than we need. First there is the cunningham which will have a 2:1 primary that dead ends below the gooseneck. I laid up a piece of SS tubing, covered in silica and then carbon cloth. It looks like a miny gooseneck if you've seen a picture of that. Second, there is are the mainsheet blocks on the boom. They will just slide all over if I let them so I made up some carbon padeyes (for lack of a better name) to be attached to the bottom of the boom. The blocks are ti-lites so they will be lashed around the boom and through the eye to keep them in place. Lastly, there is a hook for the vang. I'll make up a grommet (loop of dynema line with a cover) that wraps around the boom and hooks onto this hook to keep it from going anywhere. All of these will be attached to the spars with g-flex adhesive once I get them trimmed up and looking pretty.

Foils... Still need primer and paint. And the rudder need fittings so that's more work. The keel bulb hasn't been touched since I glued it together. The keel slot has crap in it so the foil won't go through right now. Oh, and the tiller plug lies in wait for it's skin. I bought a nice tiller extension though.

Hardware... This is one that I'm closing in on. I still need to position the jib tracks and the halyard cleats but everything else is drilled and filled and mostly re-drilled. All of the odd positions have g-10 backing plates ready to go. The trick will be to keep the holes visible and open while painting, but I figure a toothpick should handle that ok. It sucks to loose a hole that's been prepared for hardware. Had that happen once and I don't plan to let it happen again.

Hopefully I'll have to pics to post soon. I've been busy building and not so busy snapping pics or blogging.

Keep on building.

Kevin.

Flip Video #2

2009-08-13T09:21:00.007-05:00

So here's that video I promised. Total time from start to finish was 11 minutes so it really doesn't take long if you have a plan ahead and have some help. My chain plates are in so I could use them to attach a tackle. On both flips this proved to be a good thing.

I send a big thank you out to all my friends and neighbors who showed up to help. I'm off to celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary this weekend and will be back in the hunt to finish the boat next week. I have some hardware mounting holes to prep and then we prime and paint the deck. I'm thinking the weekend after next we'll be close to splash day.

Cheers, Kevin.

And over she goes....

2009-08-09T22:24:00.003-05:00

The flip onto the trailer went great. I was a little concerned when a thunder shower blitzed by at 3pm when we were planning to flip at 4pm. But the wacky weather held off until the boat was on the trailer and in the garage before hitting us with a more serious shower. Of course I was grilling the dogs and brats then, but they tasted pretty great.

As flips go I think we did great. We had lots of helpers which is always a good thing. I don't think anyone was overloaded. I did have a 3:1 purchase to the top chain plate to allow us to steady the boat and rest while it was sitting on it's gunwale. Total time was less then 11 minutes, so it's a short burst of fun. And remember, the boat is only about 500 lbs (that's a guess, mine may weigh 700 lbs, I really have no idea). The important thing is that she fits in the bunks and on the trailer she fits in the garage.

I'll see if I can put together a video of the flip #2.

Next step is a little fairing of the glass tape seams and some prepping for hardware and we are ready to paint the deck and call it a boat.

As I've been told this boat is no longer a pipe dream, name recommendations are welcome.

Cheers, Kevin.

p.s. BTW, I'm the good looking guy in the in-and-out burger t-shirt.

Going somewhere?

2009-08-06T16:30:00.001-05:00

I bought a trailer in Shawano WI of all places while I was at scout camp. For those unfamilar with northern Wisconsin, there are 2 things to do there. Watch trees grow and water sports (lakes abound for skiing fishing and other such fun). So it was a good place to find a used trailer in need of a new home and a better purpose than holding up a jon boat.

This is a 12oo lb capacity ShoreLandr that will do the trick nicely. The bunks are going to be fitted tonight so that we are ready for the flip onto the trailer on Sunday. It's a 4pm if you are interested in coming to help.

Now I just have to figure out a mast crutch to rig into the winch stand and I'm good to go.

Cheers, Kevin.

All together now...

2009-08-06T16:22:00.001-05:00

Sorry, just hum a beatles tune in your head...

So I put my keel halves togehter the other night. Figured I should get on the stick since I'll be flipping the boat on Sunday and once that's done everything needs to come together. I need to fair the bulb up some and then fit the keel into the bulb.

Although it doesn't show well, I did add a little loose lead between the 2 halves. I had some shavings from the driling and lots of very fine pieces from the clean up of the halves after they were cast. They had been sitting in a cup for more than a year. Anyway, I was under weight and figured this was about the best way to add weight I could think of. The 2 halves are bolted together so the epoxy in the middle is really there to fill the gap between the 2 halves and a little extra lead just makes it heavier. So now it's a really heavy chunk of lead to be connected to the keel shortly. Hopefully that fairing will go quickly.

My buddy Bill also came over yesterday to help put on a 2nd coat of paint. I'll post a pic after we hit it with a buffer. Right now, it looks pretty much like it did after the first coat which is a testament to the quality of the interlux perfection paint.

Also adjusted the fit of the mast sections and I'm ready to join them up. Just waiting because it will be sitting in the backyard once I join them until everything else is finished. I'd like to be ready to clear coat it right after I assemble it.

Cheers, Kevin.

Feeling Blue ??

2009-08-04T17:37:00.001-05:00

I'm not, but pipeDream is. The first coat of paint is on the hull and it looks fantastic!!! Many thanks to my good friend Bill who came over this afternoon to help.

For the record I'm using Interlux Perfection 2-part paint using roller and tipping with a brush. The results look great with just one coat on. We'll wet sand it tomorrow with some 320 paper and apply a 2nd coat. I used less than a quart for the first coat so the 2 quarts I bought should be plenty. The coverage of this paint is really amazing. It was being rolled on really thin and still it covered nicely over the multiple primer colors below.

The boat flipping party is scheduled for 4pm on Sunday for anyone in my neck of the woods. You are all welcome to join in the fun. I'm off to work on lots of little things tonight.

Cheers to all. Kevin.

Time for some Bunks...

2009-07-18T21:28:00.001-05:00

I put my last day before camp to use by building the trailer bunks. They are 6" wide and will be filleted and taped to 3/4" plywood supports. The fun part was cutting the plywood supports to match the hull shape while not going to far. I had the cradle supports to use as a starting point. But they weren't perfect and the extension onto the side panels made that more challenging.

The forward one required a far amount of weight to hold the 1/4" ply to the hull shape. I think there is about 40 lbs total on it. Once the fillet sets up, it will hold it's shape and then the tape will seal the deal. But it's always a challenge to fillet around the weights and not get them all glue covered too.

Oh, and I placed the pad material (Lemar stair treads in a diamond pattern) on the hull below the plastic so that they will fit properly when finished. I figure they will get the same treatment as everthing else. Primer, paint and such so that they will last for ages. Probably longer than the boat.

Well, I hope everyone has a great week. I'm off to scout camp for a week. I should be painting the week after camp. My goal is to flip the boat back over by the 4th or 5th of August. Then we finish the topsides (fit the mast step, finish the companionway...) and call it a boat.

Cheers, Kevin.

Prime Time...

2009-07-13T11:47:00.001-05:00

This weekend was painting time. I finished sanding the hull bottom and side panels and decided it was time to use some of that paint I had bought over a month ago thinking this would go quickly.

If you look close you'll see that the coats got darker as I added them. I added pigment to the primer so I could see the different coats as I sanded out the primer. I also only painted the bottom. By focusing on the bottom, I was able to get 4 coats of Interlux 2000e on in less then 24 hours. The conditions were perfect yesterday and I just had to keep going. Because it's a 2-part epoxy primer, you have to mix batches and let them sit for 20 minutes. Just doing the bottom allowed me to keep my batch size manageable too.

I expect to hit the bottom with 220 grit paper tonight and then put on some Interlux perfection tomorrow (hopefully 2 coats in 1 day).

Another reason I didn't do the topsides was because I have to finish fairing the gunwale area and ran out of filler. It will arrive Tuesday and I'll be back in the hunt to finish the hull. I may not get the topsides finished before my week at summer camp though. I'll just have to see how that goes.

Thank goodness I don't have to look at that filler anymore. It's always nice to paint.

Cheers, Kevin.

p.s. Buy an organic resporator when you paint with just about any marine paint, especially the 2-part variety.

I just keep sanding...

2009-07-10T11:13:00.004-05:00

sanding sanding, into the future....

Lets just say that fairing has always sucked and always will suck. I've just about got the bottom ready for primer. That will be a good day.

Pictures of the boat while being faired just suck, so I'm not bothering to post. If you've faired a boat, you know what it looks like.

Cheers for now. Hope everyone else continues to truck along.

Kevin.

All glassed in...

2009-06-29T10:02:00.001-05:00

Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea. The boat is all glassed now. Yeah!!! Unlike lots of building this boat, this is a non-stop situation. You really need to have the time to keep going.

The fairing was a bit painful and the pictures were ugly. But the results look pretty good. I know for sure that my hull will be a unique shape because of some of the odd panel alignments that I ended up with.

If you had 60" glass you could probably do the hull with 2 19' pieces. But I only had 50" glass so I had to use 3 pieces. I used 1 piece on the bottom and trimmed it to hang over 3" at the chine. Then I ran a piece down each side panel. I figured it would be easier to fair the seam if it was along the chine where I need to fair some more anyway so that's what I went with. The plan in general worked pretty well.

Things not to do...
#1 Don't waste time with 8 shots of epoxy in the cup. I was working on the bow area for longer than I expected. So I got to about frame 53 on the bottom and as I started to pour out the rest of the cup of epoxy it started going off (means the epoxy started exotherming and setting up very quickly). I did a quick clean up but the glass was trashed in that area and I had to put a patch in. Thus my nice smooth 1 piece of glass on the bottom plan went up in smoke. Morale is to work with small batches when doing difficult areas. When you are doing a large area, go for the 8 shot batch and just dump it out.

#2 Don't let your nicely trimmed side panel piece fall off. I had the chine area wet and layed the glass on the side panel and just tacked it into the wet epoxy. This worked ok and I got the gunwale trimmed off. But then as I'm working on the other side, the first side peeled off (starting at the bow) and I found it on the ground. All it would take is 1 piece of masking tape to hold the bow for a short period of time and I would have been ok.

I put 2 coats of epoxy on and now it's time to sand the seams and fill the low spots before a 3rd coat of epoxy. I'll sand that out and then it's time to prime and paint.

Cheers, Kevin.

A little outhaul...

2009-06-17T16:52:00.002-05:00

So, When I went to the strictly sail show at Chicago back in February with Jeff, we were looking for cool stuff to do to our boats. That's one of the joys of building your own boat. You don't have to suffer with some other guys idea of what's best.

One thing we saw that was really cool was a 2:1 outhaul on the viper 640. It looked cool and seemed pretty simple too. So, I took a picture and stored it away for another day. Well that "another day" is here.

Step one was to make the basic structure out of something stiff and strong. My solution was 6mm Gaston G-10. The only problem with this stuff is that it's heavy. It's basically epoxy and glass cloth compressed and cured. Very stiff and strong. I bought it to make backing plates that could be taped for screws so my hardware in odd places is easier to install and remove. That's why I got 6mm thick stuff. It comes thinner and at 3-4 mm would be strong enough for this. Anyway, this stuff is pretty tough and will take it's toll on any sharp cutting tool you throw at it so use an old bandsaw blade.

The layout is pretty simple. It's 2 4" by 1" pieces that have 10mm spacers between them so a harken 306 1" sheave will fit between them. Then there are braces to fill in to the sides of the boom and a little triangle to guide the line down to the bottom notch. It's all held together with some neat epoxy. Then there are some notches to hold the tail of your outhaul line.
The line I used is 4mm Excel Racing line. It's got a spectra core that's braided so the other end will be lashed to a 29mm ti-lite for a secondary 2:1 cascade inside the boom. You could go smaller on the line, but then you have to work out the other end differently.

A simple stopper knot is all it takes to secure the tail. Should make rigging the main pretty straight forward.

I need to add a bail on the top to keep the line from jumping off the sheave and it will be all done. Once I cut the boom to length (it's 2.8m long right now) I'll fillet this into the end. Then it will get clear coated with some Perfection 2-part varnish just like the rest of the rig. Should look pretty sweet and work smoothly. It was also a good side project while I waited for fairing compound to dry.

Cheers, Kevin

p.s. Now I have to go back to sanding and fairing the hull :-(

Keep on Sanding...

2009-06-08T11:40:00.001-05:00

Let the fairing begin. I'm off and sanding my arms off now to get the hull nice and fair.

There are 3 things that happened during the early days that I'm now fixing. First, the hull panels in places did not stay stitched corner to corner. You want that for a nice fair chine. To remedy this, use the dowel or pvc under the zip tie method when stitching. I'd go with Tim F's idea to do small fillets with squares of cloth over them as your inital run to hold the boat together. Then remove the ties, clean and sand everything and put down a good fillet and tape. I did this for my roof and got much better results. Stay out of the hull until it is setup too. I think that's what messed me up.

Second, don't over tighten the zip ties in the middle of the side panels. Especially at 53 and 89. Check the hull for fairness as you go and stop when it looks good. You can use Jeff D's method of sistering a strip of ply to one side of the frame to fill the gap between the hull panel and the frame. Then fillet in from the back side and tape both sides. Don't forget to use some microfiber in the lamination of your sister strips.

Lastly, the bow is tricky. It all depends on how you connect your stem and what you like to see up front. There is no good intelegence on what will make the fastest bow so we'll all just have to put some boats in the water and go sailing to figure that out. My bow has a concave curve to it forward of frame 18. I'm going to go with it and just make both sides as close to the same as possible.

Don't mind the huge patches of compound. The forward ones have not been sanded out yet so they look worse then they actually are. I firgure a couple more nights of dorking around with fairing and I'll be in good enough shape to start thinking about glassing. Need to shape the bow nicely too. Right now it's a little blunt.

Oh, and micro ballons are easy to sand, just have a good fairing long board and a wire brush to clear the "green" epoxy from the paper pretty frequently. I've washed the areas down and still gotten clogging on the paper so it's not blush. This is a "slow and steady" type operation which drives the family crazy. They are looking forward to the "it's good enough" decision point.

Cheers, Kevin.

FLIPPED OUT !!!

2009-06-03T19:13:00.001-05:00

So we flipped the boat yesterday. By all accounts it went well. The process was pretty straight forward. Pull the boat out. Add supports for the boat while flipped to the cradle. Flip it over and lay it on cradle. Then roll it in.

Here's a pic of Dad and I after the flip. And here's a video just for fun.

Cheers, Kevin.

All Glassed In...

2009-05-27T11:02:00.001-05:00

We finished glassing the cockpit sole last night. It was more pain then we wanted. But sometimes you just have to suck it up and get it done. Last night was one of those nights. I'm glad it's done and we are ready to move on to bigger things.

This weekend is a big celebration at our house. So the boat works will be on break. We might sneak in a little work hear and there, but nothing major.

Cheers, Kevin.

A good Memorial Day

2009-05-25T21:24:00.001-05:00

First we sanded like crazy. Mirco balloons are easy to sand, but it's still sanding. The goal was to get the basic fairing done so we didn't have to work too hard at that after the glass was on. Dad had worked hard on the cabin roof and the cockpit sole over the last week so we were in great shape.

Then we had this crazy idea to put some glass on. That's when we bit off a little more than we wanted. At this point, glassing is pretty routine at the boat works, but it wasn't all fun and games. Big pieces of cloth means you are committed to lots of epoxy when you start. We had plans to do the cockpit sole in addition to everything else but we scaled back and will do that on another day.

I think it turned out looking AWESOME. We'll second coat tomorrow and then go from there. The next week will be a busy one on the family front so the boat progress will be less dramatic. Still hoping to flip the boat next week sometime. We'll see how we do.

Cheers, Kevin.

All decked out!!!

2009-05-24T23:09:00.001-05:00

Pipedream has been decked !!!

We had an awesome day yesterday getting the deck on. The only problem came when the foredeck piece I had cut didn't fit (short by 2 inches in most directions). I have no idea why it wasn't big enough. So we quickly cut another piece and got it on before the epoxy set up on the top of the frames.

We got some fairing compound on as well. If it all sands out nicely tomorrow then we are going to glass the deck.

Cheers, Kevin.

The Platypus Deck Breakthrough

2009-05-23T22:20:00.001-05:00

We are excited to announce the all new Platypus Deck design breakthough. This decking plan has been painstakingly tested in both computer models and test tanks to provide benefits never before seen on a 18 foot monohull. This new technology is being revealed today in this sneak preview.

Benefits of the new decking desing include more sun bathing area, aerodynamic lift to increase pointing, splash protection and a unique look on the water. Call us today to order your plan set with the new and improved Platypus Deck design.

Prod sleeve and Chain Plates are done...

2009-05-22T11:02:00.001-05:00

We mounted the outer prod sleeve last night and it looks fantastic. To catch up those not paying attention earlier, the Prod is internal and thus will leak water into the cabin. To prevent this we got a 90mm ID x .9mm wall carbon sleeve from C-tech. It's mounted around the prod to catch the water and drains into the cockpit. One thing you have to do to make this work is widen your cockpit in the pit area. I'll snap a pic of the cockpit in a little bit once I've smoothed out the sleeve to frame 110 area (It looks a little ragged right now). The sleeve is amazingly light at about a pound. At both ends there are openings for the rigging. Should work out pretty well.

We also taped the chain plates in. I used some more of the carbon cloth that I bought for an arm and a leg. Again, it may be expensive, but it lays down so nicely. I also figured, if anywhere needs the added strength of carbon, it's the chainplate gusset. I would do all carbon just for the easy of fabrication if I could afford it. But that's a thought for another boat. All that's left to do on the chain plates is drill out the bolt holes which shouldn't take long.

We are in cleanup mode for the rear compartments of the boat now. Once we have averything cleaned up and ready we can work on the side decks. The just need slots for the chain plates. We might put them down tonight !!!!! Wouldn't that be fantastic !!!!!

Cheers, Kevin.

More coarbon...

2009-05-20T16:21:00.001-05:00

So, what do you give the carbon tube that has everything. You give it more carbon of course. I had some fabric that we used to tape the inner prod sleeve to the hull. It looks so good I can't see covering it up with paint. We'll see how that goes over time, but for now, I'm leaving it exposed so I can admire it.

I also used some fabric on the aft side of frame 18. I needed to tape the frame/hull fillet and decide it would look best in black. Not the neatest job in the world, but pretty good for my first go at laying down carbon fabric. I found it more conforming to odd shapes than the e-glass has been. e-glass always wants to be straight I've found out over time.

Anyway, tonight we fit the outer sleeve and tape up the chainplate fillets. And then we should be ready for some decking. Won't that be wild to see. I could be glassing the deck on Friday night or Saturday if things go really well.

Cheers, Kevin.

Out with the old, in with the NEW!

2009-05-16T22:28:00.001-05:00

We worked on the bow prod today. We removed the homemade sleeve last night. The dremel got a work out. As part of my rig purchase from C-tech, I also purchased a carbon bow prod, inner sleeve so it will retract and an outer sleeve to catch the water and drain it to the cockpit. The AL prod I was going to use was heavier and would have needed a bobstay to the knuckle which I'm happy to avoid.

We mounted the new sleeve in basically the exact same hole as the old one. I was pretty happy that I didn't need a drastically different location for the prod then the previously installed one. I was expecting to need to put lots of work into patch the side of the hull. Thankfully, none is needed.

We also finished patching the taping in the front 2 compartments and got 2 coats of epoxy on them too. It felt great to finally be done with that PITA from my first attempt at taping and all those swine bubbles.

Now we have to finish prepping the chain plates and mount the outer prod sleeve (to catch water intrusion and send it out into the cockpit) and then we are ready to lay down decking.
That will be wild. An actual boat, who would have thunk it.

Cheers, Kevin.

Back in the hunt...

2009-05-12T12:34:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. It's been way to long since I've posted anything. Sorry about that, but life gets in the way of boat building sometimes. And my winter/spring has been way too full for my tastes.

The photo is of the keel after I finished fairing it. That's one thing I have been working on this sping is the foils. As you can see by the many colors, it wasn't as fair as it needed to be and took many attempts to get it nice and fair. I think fairing is about 98 percent persistence, 1% proper straight board and 1% sanding. One thing I started doing is adding pigment to my fairing compound so I could see the different layers. Next will coat the keel with some epoxy filled with graphite and then sand it up.

Look for lots more progress in the coming weeks. My dad will be coming to town so my progress will be much faster. I expect to flip the boat soon.

Later, Kevin.

More warm weather :-)

2009-03-19T09:36:00.001-05:00

So I got the foot bensons (foot rests or ankle busters or whatever other name they have) filleted yesterday afternoon. They are going to really help stiffen the cockpit sole up. While I had the garage warm I came back and did some fairing for the cockpit so I can get it ready for some glass. Now I just have to do a bunch of sanding :-). Hopefully we'll have some more warm weather soon. Otherwise it's off to the basement to fair the foils.

I'm thinking about Jeff's little boxes. They look cool, but I'm not sure I'm up to adding something like that to my cockpit at this point. Cutting a hole is the easy part, but doubling the rim and then building the box and more fillets and tape. I probably should keep the long view in focus since I'll probably not make my desired end of May launch date anyway. Something to think about.

Cheers, Kevin.

May the luck of the Irish be with you!

2009-03-18T10:56:00.001-05:00

It's hard to believe that it was 70 degrees on St. Patrick's Day. As it's my birthday I usually remember good weather days. Yesterday was exceptional.

I got the companionway opening cut and trimed as well as cleaned up the cabin roof for round 1 of fairing/hole filling. I also fit the foot bensons and they are ready to be filleted into the cockpit. I've got the heater going so it should be warm enough out there this afternoon to get that done.

Anyone with ideas on how to finish the companionway and make the hatch work, I'd welcome some ideas.

Cheers, Kevin.

Keep on fairing...

2009-03-02T13:59:00.004-06:00

So I've been working as time permits between posting on the forum on actual boat parts. I cut the keel foil to length and glassed both ends. It should be ready for final sanding this week. I'd like to cut my teeth on painting with the 2-part polyurathane paint on the foils so when I get to the boat I at least have a clue how to make it work. I need to get some thinner for the paint though.

I also started fairing work on the rudder. All I can say is that fairing is a sucky job no matter how you slice it. On the rudder I'm going to try to get enough compound on to not have to go back and recoat the whole foil once I start sanding. We'll just see how that goes. The add a coat, sand most of it off and repeat method is getting really old on the keel. I'd recommend not doing that if you can help it.

Oh, and make sure you have a solid and flat fairing board for the foils. I you don't you'll just make a hollow somewhere that you get to re-fill later. Start with a rigid long board! You'll thank me for it.

Cheers, Kevin.

It's almost a boat...

2009-02-11T14:31:00.000-06:00

I used the warm weather yesterday to butt joint the side decks. After you've done this on the hull panels, cockpit sole and side you get it down pretty good. I think it took me 30 minutes flat start to finish and that included getting the glass cut and the epoxy out of the basement shop.
Then last night I got the panels trimmed to fit to the cabin. When I glue them in I'll need to duct tape the joint at the deck to roof but other than that they are ready to go. It's pretty cool to finally something that looks different and like a complete hull. I have some work to do in the bow still, so that will get the attention on the next warm day.

Cheers, Kevin.

What are they?

2009-02-09T08:57:00.000-06:00

I'll give you 3 guesses.

It was too cold in the garage to work on the boat Sunday, so I jump in on basement sized project that will find itself in the boat soon.

I look forward to reading your comments.

Cheers, Kevin.

Da Roof, Da Roof...

2009-02-07T22:21:00.000-06:00

That's cabin roof. It was 60 degrees today here in Chicago. The first really warm day since christmas. I decided to go for something on the boat and packed up my epoxy and headed out to the garage. What awaited me was an inch of slushy water that had run into my garage. See I have this really cool setup where all the water in my back yard wants to drain to the alley through my garage.

So after a little mop up / squegee out I was ready to rock and roll. I had everything ready before so it was just a matter of roughing up the underside of the cabin roof where the frame we going to go. Then mixing up some thick silica putty and batter the frame tops. Finally lower the roof on the frames. Secured it with some screws and smoothed out the internal joints into fillets.

If tomorrow is warm enough to work out in the garage I plan to cut the opening in the cabin roof so normal sized people, as opposed to my 10 year old daughter, can get in and out of the cabin from the cockpit. If it's warm enough for more epoxy work I'll butt joint the side decks together.

Cheers, Kevin.

To fair or not to fair, that is the question...

2009-02-07T00:34:00.003-06:00

I'm working on my keel to give it a nice finish and it's of course being like any fairing project. It just takes for ever. Persistance is the name of the game. But at this point I'd love to just paint the sucker and be done with it.

I'm at the "it was smooth" stage which seems to disappear every time you put a top coat of epoxy on top of that sanded out fairing compound. Actually what happened is that I made a rigid long board that is nice and flat. This has revealed a few areas that I previously thought were done that are in fact, not done. So I'm in that lovely cycle of adding epoxy and then sanding most of it off and then repeat until sanity leaves you completely.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be 50. If it get's that warm, the heater in the garage is going on, the tarp is going over the work area and I'm going to get the cabin roof glued down. That actually shouldn't take that long, just a quick sand of the areas to be joined, level up the boat so I can get everything aligned and mix up some silica putty.

Cheers, Kevin.

p.s. If you are interested in sail quotes, let me know. I've got lots of info for those far enough along to be interested in a spring group sail purchase.

Hello and Happy 2009

2009-01-22T15:32:00.003-06:00

Well, it's been way too long since I've posted anything. Unfortunately, that is directly related to how much work I've been able to do on the boat. When people ask how the boat is going I just reply "It's frozen". While this has been a bummer, it's not totally un-expected. I do live in Chicago.

What I have been working on in earnest is a rig for the i550. We have a group of 6 builders all purchasing new carbon rigs from C-tech of New Zealand. This had been a lot of fun and we are all quite excited to have a quaility company working with us. The number of details involved in getting a rig all sorted is just huge. It's been very involved and sucked up way more of my time lately than I can count. I'm looking forward to getting all the questions answered soon.

I've also done a little rigging and I've been practicing my splices. The pic above is my vang cascade which is pretty cool. The 29mm ti-lite blocks are brummel spliced to amsteel blue (even though it's red) 12 strand line. I like working with the 12 strand stuff. It's just easy to work with.

I hope everyone who lives in a warmer climate is making progress on their builds so we can all go sailing this summer. I just had to post something to feel like I was back in the game.

Cheers, Kevin.

Chainplates are in...

2008-11-06T10:48:00.000-06:00

We are getting close to being done now. I installed the chainplates last night. They are filletted and still need to be taped. I'll have a bunch of stuff to tape up once I get the cabin and deck on and I figured I would tackle all of that stuff at once.

So in the pic you can see the nice big fillet and also see the jib tack backing plate that's already installed. Because I was adding 1/4" ply to the top of each frame, I could install the backing plate for the jib and that stabilized frame 89 quite a bit. However, this is not the preferred method. I would use Jeff's split 1x stock idea and laminate that to one side of the frame only. That will give you the surface area needed to glue down the deck and avoid filleting and taping the underside of the deck. So if this was my second boat the jib backing plate wouldn't be there.

My next move is to glue down the cabin roof. Then I have to finish the bow compartments (#1 and #2). Then I can lay down decking and trim out the companionway. Might get another warm spell, we'll just have to wait and see when I get to work on the boat next.

Cheers, Kevin.

70 degrees in November...

2008-11-05T14:06:00.002-06:00

I don't know what's going on with the weather, but for the last 2 days it's been 70 here in Chicago. I'm doing my best to take advantage of it and get a little more boat work in. Last night I put in the rest of the cockpit sole. I need to do a little fairing and then it will be time for glass back there.

We'll see how tonight goes. I might get the cabin roof on and maybe mount the chain plates. Fitting the chain plates is a major PITA. That will be what slows me down the most.

Cheers, Kevin.

Keel Box extended...

2008-11-03T16:39:00.000-06:00

Not a very flashy title. Sorry about that. But with the help of my Friend Bill I was able to get the keel case extended up to the cockpit sole level on Saturday. Compartment #5 (between frames 110 and 124) is now ready to be sealed up. With the sole complete I can do a little fairing of some goofiness at the center seam and then I could glass the cockpit sole. That would be pretty wild progress considering it's now November. I won't hold my breath for that happening this week though. I've got a campout this weekend and thus my progress will be stalled again.

I've also got the cabin area done and can glue down the cabin roof. I need to fit the chain plates and then I can install the decking. It will be really crazy to see pipeDream with decking installed. I'm a little shell shocked to think that I'm actually ready to work on decking the boat. It's been moons of work on little things that felt like I was getting no where. Well, now I'm getting somewhere. Oh, so many challenges still to be figured out. I hope we've made the right call on lots of little decisions that will play out as you add rigging to the equation. Just a long, cold winter to ponder what is to be.

Cheers, Kevin.

The bunks are glassed...

2008-10-28T11:21:00.000-05:00

I did my first large scale glass project on Saturday night. It was warm and I just went for it. I've switched to the fast hardener and I have to admit that it's not as fun to work with. It's just a little thicker right from the start. The slow hardener mix really soaks into the glass fast and easy. But with the cold temps, there's not much I can do about that. I might have to wait weeks for the slow to setup.

It still amazes me how the dusty crappy looking area changes to a nice finished area just like that. I like the almost done part that I'm getting to on the project. Thinks are being done for the "last time" instead of the first time. Hopefully we'll have a warm weekend so I can finish the keel box and finish a bunch of little things on the back 2/3's of the hull. I'm saving the bow for last.

Keep on building :-)

Kevin.

Hardware anyone...

2008-10-28T11:12:00.000-05:00

Well, I took advantage of a killer deal and bought a bunch of hardware for the dream. Lots of little parts that when combined will hopefully make it possible to sail away.

Just kind of fun to touch hardware instead of drooling on the catelogs. Also makes dilling the holes a little easier :-)

Cheers, Kevin.

I've got sole...

2008-10-14T23:01:00.000-05:00

Cockpit sole that is.

We had a great day on Sunday. We cut all of the decking out. Laminated the chain plates. Added the 2nd layer of ply between 110 and 124. And then for the fun of it, we layed down the cockpit sole. Getting in and out of the boat is a whole new experience.

It just might turn out to be a boat at this rate.

Cheers.

Compartments 6 and 7 all done...

2008-10-14T22:53:00.000-05:00

We had the fun of finishing the rear 2 compartments on Saturday. It was a huge effort that started with cleaning weeks of crap and drebris out of the boat. Then we moved on to cleaning and sanding all the annoying drips and such that tend to find the bottom of the boat. One fun thing we found is that a 1lb lead ingot can be used as a nice little sanding block. Then we coated everything that hadn't been hit yet with the first coat. We also layed down some 1.5" carbon tape that I had bought for something else and decided against doing. I figured a stiffer bottom panel was a better used that having the stuff collect dust in a box. Then we hit the whole thing with a 2nd coat many hours laters (after a nice beer of course).
Sure is beautiful when it's all finished. The irony was that I covered up this area the very next day. I plan to leave my boat natural on the inside. I'll probably put some varnish inside the companionway area to protect that from UV rays.

As they say, Now we are getting some where.

Bunks are in...

2008-10-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

The other big thing we did on Friday was get the bunks installed. Yes, those are concrete blocks. At $1.14 a piece they are about the cheapest thing you'll find and weigh in at 20-25 pounds.

Fitting the bunks that came with the kit was a really pain. 2 issues really came to light. My spacing between frame 110 and 124 was wider than plan and my keel box was also narrow. So the floor was really floatting in the back. If this happens to you just remember to not stand on it!!! I was able to repair mine and it's probably stronger now than origianlly but you don't really want to re-laminate a piece of plywood.

Anyway, fitting the bunks is a lot of trial and error. Just mark them and then cut a little and then repeat. I must have done 10 cycles to get mine to fit. It felt great to get the bunks installed. Almost like it was going to be a boat some day or something like that.

Cheers, Kevin.

2008-10-14T22:23:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend was hugely productive. So productive that I think I need to post multiple entries just to cover it all.

We installed the bow pole sleeve. I was thinking that this was going be super hard to get just right. However, it turned out to be pretty easy. I just cut an oblong hole starting 2 inches below the deck with the jig saw. Then I started flaring and fitting the tube to the opening with a drum sander in my dremel. (I think I've mentioned that this is by far my favorite boat building tool). We used a string to mark the center line and just kept working the tight spots until we hit center line 58" from the bow on a even line with the deck.

I'll start with Friday's fun part 1.

Once we had the front opening we used a 3" hole saw for frame 18. Then a little more sanding and it looked just right.

Lastly we followed that up with some silca fillets and voila. We have a bow pole ready to rock and roll. Well we still need to work on the fairing a little and junk like that. But I can do that after the deck is on.

The Keel Box :-)

2008-10-09T14:53:00.001-05:00

So, after what seems like months, I finally had a keel sleeve. It didn't take quite that long, but if you want something constructive to do and you don't have a hull to dork around with yet, the keel and rudder foils are 2 good places to invest that time. Certainly a good activity if you are stuck inside with multiple feet of snow outside. Anyway, the first shot is of a trimmed up piece of the sleeve that I made last week. It's 3 layers of 6oz cloth with the middle on the bias. It's strong yet flexible and I can cut it with a pair of scissors.

With the keel sleeve ready I cut a whole in the bottom of the hull between frames 110 and 124 for the keel to go through. I'm not sure how other people would approach this, but I wanted my sleeve to extend down through the hull to protect the hull from wear. Thus my hole is slightly larger than the sleeve to make room for some fillets.

Next we added a few block on the forward and aft sides of the keel box. This gave us something to match the sides upto as we assembled and help hold the keel just where we wanted it while everything setup. We also hit everything with some neat epoxy just incase we have leakage down the road.

The last shot is the completed box right after we had finished the fillets. I'll glass the joints and then we'll install the cabin floor with it's 2nd layer of ply added for strength.

All and all a very rewarding day of work. We are now ready to work on cleaning up and sealing the rest of the cabin and then it's time to start cutting decking. Hopefully it will be a productive weekend.

Keel Sleeve...

2008-10-01T11:20:00.003-05:00

I don't have a good picture to post yet, but we put together the keel sleeve last night. I think it will work out good. I used my 5 oz. cloth to layer up 3 layers, 2 at 0-90 orientation and a middle layer at 45-45 orientation. I did the layup around the keel with a layer of poly sheeting on the inside and the outside. This worked out well as we were able to squeeze out the air bubbles and then clamp the bottom edge to get our desired profile. The trick was I had to tarp this little project to keep the heat up so it would cure.

That leads to my next big challenge. The dropping temperatures. It will be winter before I know it and I'd love to have a the decking on before that happens. So the push is on to get the keel box in and the bow pole mounted as well. Then I just need to do the cleanup work and coat the interior so I can mount the decking. I'll be doing lots of work under tarps with the electric oil filled heater. I also built a foam box for the resin with a light bulb in there to provide heat. It 67 in there this morning when the outside temps were done below 50. So I think that will work out great.

Cheers, Kevin.

Fair at last...

2008-09-29T10:39:00.000-05:00

It's fair at last. Thank you lord, it's fair at last. What a relief to be done fairing. It's a great feeling when you make those last few passes and the template lays dead flat across your keel.

Fairing has to be one of the biggest pains in the arse there is. It is a work of persistence more than anything else. I finally finished fairing the keel yesterday morning. I'm now madly adding finish coats to the keel so I can mold a sleeve around it for my keel box.

The plan is to have a fiberglass sleeve that is a perfect fit for my keel. That sleeve will then be mounted in the keel box with lots of tape and glass surrounded by ply on both sides. With the keel box in place I can finish coat the interior and install the deck and cockpit sole.

Should be a fun week.

later, k.

A little "backing"...

2008-09-25T14:41:00.000-05:00

So I'm adding backing blocks where the hardware is supposed to go. It seems like I'm getting close to decking this sucker. But I also seem to have a never ending supply of little things to be done.

Don't even get me started on how many times I've added fairing compond to the keel. It's over the top silly. But I'm getting really close now (on 1 side) . Maybe I'll get lucky and get that done this weekend. We shall see.

More later, Kevin

Cabin roof head shot :-)

2008-09-10T23:37:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post a shot of the cabin after I pulled the zip ties and screws and blocks and stuff.

Looks really cool to me.

Of course there is a but to that though. I pulled it up to work on the underside and the front batten proved to not be strong enough. So I had to act fast to keep it from completely crumpling. I improvised a clamp to pull it back into shape and then I cut a doubled stinger to reinforce the batten. Once the fillet sets up I think it will be bullet proof for the long haul. I planned to fillet the front down to frame 53 too so when it's all in and done I think I'll have now worries.

In the words of Monty Burns, "Excellent".

Cabin Roof 2.0

2008-09-10T11:16:00.000-05:00

Ok... I ripped the roof apart and tried again. I had 2 problems, first the center seam wasn't right and I couldn't get it flat as it was opening up at both the front and the back. 2nd, the side panels were not happy and were overlapped more than I wanted.

To fix the center line I took 1 panel and layed it on the frames. I then marked the centerline of frame 89 (it's on the centerline at 53 and 110). That's how much needed to take off to get the panel to only be on it's 1/2 of the frames. I then used a hand plane to shape the curve down. It's much smaller but still a curve. I took about a 1/2" off in places. Next, I clamped the 2 halves together and planed the 2nd one down to match up with the first. Then I did some dry fitting and had to do 3-4 more passes on different spots to get the center seam nice and even. I then used battens to secure the 2 halves together and give a fair curve to the cabin top.

Next I fit the 2 side panels and low and behold, they fit almost perfectly without further change. (I had already taking about a 1/2 inch of the tip which removed that odd little curve at the front) I just had to do a little work at frame 89 so that it fit as desired.

I choose not to force the roof down to frame 89 at the outer edge. There is about a 1/2" gap at the outer corners of frame 89 which I plan to fill with silica putty when I permanently mount the roof.

I'll post a head on pick of the roof to show the end result once I clip off the zip ties and remove the screw holding the battens on. I think it looks pretty darn cool myself.

Cheers.

Stitching again...

2008-09-04T12:44:00.000-05:00

So I dove into stitching the cabin roof last night. It was fun but challenging. The curves involved in that "little roof" are pretty complex. At this point I can tell you that it's not just a snap of the fingers to get done. Allow some time to fit the panels.

At this point I have it together, but I think what I really want is to have the panels snugged up to the frames. Because the panels are not a perfect fit and probably couldn't be with all the little issues that come with a build like this. I've still got a ways to go before I'm happy.

The other issue is the front. The side panels are supposed to be flexed out to a flat plan next to the top panels. But that's a tall order considering we are talking about a 12" wide piece of 1/4" plywood. I think I'll be able to get it there. I just need to work on relaxing the wood slowly so that it will flex. Should be strong as hell when it's all glued up, taped and glassed.

Any advise on how to flex those side panels is welcome.

Cheers, Kevin.

p.s. the side panels are designed so that they point in towards the center line, not out towards the gunwale. When flexed, they do line up in a straight line. It's kind of freaky how it works.

Lots of fillets...

2008-09-02T11:54:00.002-05:00

So we had lots going on this weekend and that resulted in not much happening on the boat until Monday. It was a fillet mania kind of event. We filleted the cockpit sole and sides all together. Everything was tacked in but not filleted yet. So we had the whole gang out filleting at once. It was kind of fun to have it all going at once. Then we did a big tape fest a few hours later and got it all taped too in just 1 hour. Not much to show picture wise, it was just lots of working on upside down stuff which is a general pain in the butt.

Thanks to the family for spending some time on the pipeDream. I think I'm going to fillet things as I go for a while and then have another tape fest when I've got a whole bunch ready to rock and roll. The hardest part about doing them back to back (the fillet and then the taping) is when the fillet isn't great. Then the tape gets air gaps that you have to go back and take care of. That's no fun at all, so I think I'll just fillet things on for a week or so. Then have another 1 hour tape fest blitz.

I still need to finish that swine keel. I'm good at putting that off apparently. I need to just do it as Nike says. I've got a campout this coming weekend so that will slow me down a bit. Hopefully September will stay warm for a while.

Cheers. Kevin.

Cockpit view...

2008-08-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

The cockpit is starting to come together so I thought I'd show a picture and share a few things. I've already written about the stringers added from frame 124 back to the transom. I've also posted about the i-beam stringer I made for the cockpit sole. I have to say that those really stiffened up the boat.

I installed the sides of the cockpit this week. It's a great feeling to have another exterior finished piece installed. One thing to remember when making the long cockpit version is that the cockpit is longer than 8 feet. I just used a butt joint using 4" strips of cloth on both sides to make a 10 foot piece roughly larger than I needed. I then fit each side after it had setup. It's tricky at the front depending on how you angle in your seats because the angle on each frame is the same, but the relation to each other is not. Just give yourself some extra material to work with.

Next steps are to get strips attached to the frames for the cockpit sole and seats/deck. I also need to start working on the port side sheer clamp and finish sanding that swine keel so I can make my keel case.

We'll have to just keep on trucking.

Just keep on going...

2008-08-22T09:56:00.000-05:00

That my theme right now. Just keep on going. An hour or 2 on the boat is that much closer to launch time. It's so hard to watch great sailing weather go by and not be out there having fun. But sailing a 4ktSB isn't much fun and that's my only current option.

Here is the keel with 2 coats of fairing compond. I just need to make my template and start sanding. It's pretty close now so that's a good feeling going into the next step.

I also make progress on the gunwale. I need to fillet and tape forward of frame 89. Again, install your sheer clamp before your frames. You'll be a much happier camper. I wish someone had told me to do that.

Cheers...

Fairing the keel #1

2008-08-21T15:16:00.000-05:00

I'm off and fairing as they say. It's all fairly easy, you just have to take your time I think. I coated the keel with 1 coat of epoxy tinted with white pigment. This is intended to give me a visual reference point while sanding to know when to stop so I don't get into the glass and or carbon layers.

Next came the first coat of fairing compound. When I was done I still had a noticeable line where the carbon tape was. So I applied a 2nd coat a few days later. I really need to get on the stick and do this closer together so I don't have to sand between coats. But I didn't learn from the first time and need to do the exact same thing on the 2nd side.

I also made some fairing boards that are just long strips of plywood with handles. They work pretty good. I also have some strips of sandpaper with adhesive on the back so changing the paper is a piece of cake. Thanks to Scott for the sandpaper. It really works pretty good.

I should have a picture of a nice faired keel in a couple of days. Then I need to put a couple coats of epoxy over the compound. Sand that down and I should be ready to make a keel case. It will get a little thicker when I paint it so I'll have to compensate with an extra layer of plastic.

Taking my work opportunities one at a time. Hopefully we can still get the boat closed up and flipped before the weather gets cold for the winter.

Cheers.

Duct Tape to the rescue...

2008-08-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the right answer is the wrong answer. I for some reason felt the need to add some support to frames 89 and 110. They just go all over the place and were not straight anymore. So I decided to tack on some strips of 1/4" ply to hold them straight and strengthen them up. The middle was easy to clamp, but the ends, well that wasn't working so well. So when all else fails, try duct tape.

And to my surprise it worked pretty well. Sometimes you just have to do things in odd ways. And while not my favorite technique, this one worked out ok in a pinch.

As for boat progress, I've finished the cockpit sole stringer and man of man is it strong. I didn't put my full weight on it yet, but it certainly isn't going anywhere and feels really solid. It's amazing how the boat firms up as these parts are added. I expect the cabin floors to have a similar effect.

I've also started on the sheer clamp. This is a strip of wood that runs the length of the boat to fair and strengthen the hull/deck joint. I've got this wacky plan to fabricate the sheer clamp from 1/4" ply. While I do that I needed something to make the hull edge fair. So I got a piece of 1x2 poplar and screwed it in place on the outside of the hull. I'll add the strips and fillet/tape them in place. Once that's all set, the 1x2 will be removed and the holes will be filled.

Lastly I'm working on fairing the keel so I can complete the keel case. So I've got lots of irons in the fire to say the least.

Cheers, Kevin.

More stringers...

2008-08-11T10:07:00.000-05:00

Put together the cockpit sole stringer last night. I love the crossing point where the stringer crosses frame 169. It just looks cool. I'll be adding strips above and below the stringer to greatly improve it's strength. Kind of a home made i-beam. But I watched to much olympics coverage last night to keep going on this.

I can still see my other stringers flexing as I move around the boat and I'm considering adding something on top of them too to help solidify the rear portion of the bottom panel. Less flexing equals fast usually. I've got some carbon tape that I may criss-cross on the bottom too since I bought it to make something that isn't going to work out. That should be the end of this stiffening saga as I move on to bigger fish.

Time to get cracking on the sheer clamp and cabin top too. I have lots of strips to cut and fit all over the boat. The family will be out of town all week so I should gets lots of quality time with the boat.

Oh, and I got tha cabin floor panels cut to fit. Just need to get the keel trunk built so that I can put that all together. That of course means I need to get cracking on fairing the keel. Never a dull moment around here.

Cheers, Kevin.

It's August already...

2008-08-07T12:53:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to say I'm back in town. I spent 8 days at scout camp and as scoutmaster that usually means spending double that time getting ready before and cleaning up afterwards. I'm really hoping to get some quality time in on pipeDream over the next few weeks. We just have to see what we can get done.

Also expecting a visits from a builder in Madison who has ordered a kit and another potential builder in Chicago. We may just get us a fleet here.

More real progress to come soon.

Cheers, Kevin.

What could this be?

2008-07-21T11:38:00.000-05:00

That's the $64,000 question. What is it?

And what is it for too?

Well it's a launch tube for my bow sprit. I bought a 2.25" AL tube (with a .125" wall thickness) for my bow sprit. You can spend all you want on a carbon this or that, but this piece of 6061-t6 AL only weighs 7lb and doesn't flex at all under my weight. I can think of lots of ways to save 3-4 pound in the bow and I can retrofit a carbon pole later if I need want to. Anyway, I was looking for a piece of pvc tubing or something that would be just a smidge bigger than my tube and couldn't find anything. So, I decided I'd just try and make one. You want a pretty tight fit to prevent point loading.

The steps go like this...
1st, clean your tube up (remove anything that sticks out and sand it super smooth with the finest stuff you can find).
2nd, wax the surface a bizillion times.
3rd, wrap in plastic
4th wet out your cloth (I used 3 wraps or so of 6ox cloth that I had here).
5th (this is the secret step, so don't tell anyone) add some graphite to your epoxy and apply to pole and 1st wrap of cloth.
6th, wrap pole with cloth and then reinforce with something. I used strips of 1/4" ply because I had it available. I probably could have used some biaxle cloth if I wanted to go all fiberglass. The wood will allow me to sand and shape the outside quite a bit as I need or want to. I also thought the wood shell would be easily mounted in the stem and frame 18.

I used the copper wire to hold it together while it setup. I was careful not to get that too tight because that would make the tube too tight and we don't really want that. The rough tube is over 13 inches long and I'll cut into 2 pieces about 4" long for the boat and then epoxy them into the stem and frame 18.

The trick is to use enough plastic to create your gap space between the 2 pieces so that they will slide easily but not be too loose when you are all done. You can use this same technique to make a keel case or a rudder cassette. I beleive you want to have the plastic come off the trailing edge so you can open/close the trailing edge to control the friction on the foil. I won't use wood strips on my keel case. Instead, I think I'll use fabric on the bias in every other layer and probably 7 layers. A chunk of mat would work too as you just want mass to keep things rigid.

At least I got something done this weekend. We'll have to see what else I can get done before my week at camp.

Cheers.

Stem fitted and installed

2008-07-17T10:39:00.000-05:00

So I got the stem glued in last night. It was a much bigger pain to get done then I wanted it to be. Mostly due to the clamping. Tim had sent me a nice piece of oak for the stem and it was already cut with a 20 degree taper. The problem is that pipeDream didn't quite agree with those angles. So I shaped the stem with an angle grinder with that sanding disk attachement to get a better fit.

Then came the glue up. You have a trapazoidal shaped stem that wants to push aft that you are trying to attach to side panels that want to spring out. I would definitely recommend that you recruit a friend to help if possible to hold everything in place while you get the clamps working for you. Behind the stem are 2 blocks (top and bottom) that I cut to hold the stem forward where it should end up. One each side I made a tack strip out of scraps that would grab into the side panels so the clamps would have something to grab into. That worked ok, but they kept falling off so I had to clamp the strips so I could get the clamps on.

I used a mix of microfibers and silica in the putty so that it wouldn't run out on me and would hold like crazy once cured. I think I hit the mix about the right as I had little run out. I'll need to go back and fillet / tape the aft side of the stem. I'll do that and finish fixing the taping on frame 18 soon.

It looks better with the clamps off. Wow what a great feeling to have the boat fully together now. Except for a few remaining screw holes that need to be filled I've got a water tight hull. Not very smooth on the outside yet, but if the flood comes tomorrow, I have an something that will float.

Cheers.

Progress is progress...

2008-07-14T09:46:00.000-05:00

This weekend I got the stringers between frame 169 and 214 filleted and taped on Saturday. And on Sunday I got the bunk supports between 53 and 110 filleted and taped. The time lapse pictures don't show much change but when you were the one on your knees going over and under frame supports for many hours, it looks sweet.

I have to say that the taping process if far more time consuming that I want it to be. I've decided that the trick is to pour out as much of your batch as possible so that it doesn't setup in the pot. Nothing sucks more than having your batch setup while you dork around with one little corner that won't cooperate. I think I finally got in a grove on my last batch where I had epoxy on 3 pieces of tape at one time. I could flatten on section and use the excess to finish a corner on another. Luckily my temps haven't been too high and I've been able to make good progress. On those super hot days, it's much tougher.

Looking forward, I need to get my keel shaped up so that I can get the keel case together because I need that in place before I can put down the bunks. I need to stitch the cabin roof too, but don't want to do that too soon because I'll have nowhere to put it. I'll probably need to flip it and lay it in the cockpit area to tape the inside of it. Then it will be time for some decking :-).

I've got family coming in this coming weekend and then summer camp so my progress may be slowed down a bit until August. Hoping to make time for the boat, but I know that I probably won't be able to.

Cheers, Kevin.

Lightening holes are fun :-)

2008-07-11T09:51:00.001-05:00

A little progress. How about those lightening holes. They sure look good don't they. A fair bit of work though to make them happen. Rule of thumb for ligntening holes is to leave a diameter between each hole and a radius between the hole and any edge. You want to be sure to drill them in from both sides too so you don't blow out the bottom ply of your plywood.

I used the 5-minute epoxy trick and I'm happy to report that it worked great. They are sitting there waiting for fillets without any clamps . It's quite cool actually. One thing to note is that the 5 minute variety of epoxy will bond to you plastic sheeting (at least 1 of mine did). Maybe it just got pinched in there, but I think it bonded). So best to pull clamps off and move any blocks (wrapped in plastic) away once it has setup.

I also laminated on the rudder and motor mount reinforcements. Once less thing to think about doing and move to the done column. Time to figure out hardware mounting points below deck and get those ready to go next.

Hopefully, I'll get a bunch of filletting and taping done on Saturday. That would be awesome.

Cheers, Kevin.

5 minute epoxy trick...

2008-07-10T11:18:00.002-05:00

I used the 5 minute epoxy trick on my first set of bunk supports and it worked well. What is this great trick you ask. Well, you basically use a little dabs of 5 minute epoxy to hold the stringer in place. It doesn't take long to set up and you can remove any clamps or strings or sticks you needed to use to hold it in the position you wanted. Then you can fillet around them without too much worry of them getting out of place.

I wish I had put a dab in the middle of the span in addition to the ends. That would have kept it exactly where I wanted it while filleting. I had to improvise some sticks to hold them in position while the fillet cured overnight.

Also, don't put lots of weight on the panels around the part you just popped in. It won't hold lots of weight until it is filleted fully.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I've been lazy.

Slow progress - swine life...

2008-07-10T10:57:00.004-05:00

So progress this past week has been slow to say the least. Real life seems to keep pushing it's ugly head into the middle of my boat building.

I've been splitting my building effort into 2 areas. First priority is to finish fixing all of those bad spots in the frame tape job. I'm right at about 1/2 done with that job right now. I can handle taping maybe 2-3 pots worth of epoxy at a shot before I've had it and need to do something else. So I've taking to working on other parts of the boat to save my sanity.

My 2nd focus is on fitting the internal stringers and bunk supports. I've decided to add stringers in the rear section between frames 169.5 and 214. I've also added stringers along the side hull panels between 124 - 169.5 and 169.6 - 214. I'm thinking that this will help keep the hull shape as we battle through waves. I've not gone nearly as far as Ed has (the Philippine boat). I'm not sure why he has so may added frames and stringers. Maybe he is using thinner plywood or he's planning to cross the ocean. Anyway, I've fitted each string to it's new home and just have to finish drilling lightening holes. Then these stringers (6 in total) will be ready to go.

Well, I'll be back at it tonight, unless life interrupts me again.

Cheers, Kevin.

p.s. I recommend that you not take over as scoutmaster of your son's scout troop while building a i550. The time spent on scouting is rewarding, but the lack of progress on the boat is also painful. Can't do it all at once, that's for sure.

Bubbles no more...

2008-07-03T09:44:00.000-05:00

So I started making progress on getting those bubles fixed. The pictured problem bubble is small and probably could have been fixed with a syringe and some neat epoxy. A small hole at the top, heat up with a hair dryer and inject the epoxy. However, I have so many bad spots that such an approach really wasn't going to make me happy. So I went for a more involved process.

First picture is of the hole morning after the first taping.

Next we've opened up the hole with a dremel tool. I used a round ended carbide cutter. Probably overkill, but it seemed to be the best tool I could find. There are engraving bits that also do a fine job, but they are really small and need some care. Also the dust with the really small cutters is super fine. I found the carbide cutter to take off larger flakes which was a little easier to deal with. Wearing a mask is required. Don't skip it, the fiberglass and silica are both bad for the lungs.

Next we filled with more colidical silica putty. Use a spreader and be a little generous with the putty. It shrinks as it drys and you don't want a recess that needs to be filled a 2nd time. On really large holes, be prepared to go back a second time. You'll know the bad spots after you do your sanding.
Finally, top it off with a piece of glass and some neat epoxy. I had some scrape 6 oz glass that I cut on the bias. This is a more flexible taping solution and it works around the bumps and stuff better than regular tape. Also, the 45 / 45 degree orientation of this layer of tape should give me lots of strength when teamed up with the 0 / 90 degree orientation of the base tape layer.

And there you have it. A fixed air bubble. Now aren't you glad you rushed one of those earlier steps. Moral of the story is take your time. If the fillet isn't smooth, then make it smooth before you go and tape it. You'll be happier in the long run and you won't have to go make and mess with it. I'd much rather be fitting bunk supports than dealing with this.

Cheers. Oh and I'm now getting to those supports which are fun to fit in.

The joy of drilling lead

2008-06-30T09:30:00.001-05:00

Ok, there is nothing quite as much fun as drilling in lead. It's a soft metal so you'll think you are doing great. Then the bit will grab to much and snap goes your drill bit. So I have the following advise. #1, Use lots of oil. You can't use too much. Just set yourself up with an easy way to catch the drips so you don't have a permanent oil slick on the garage floor. #2, Take your time. Stop often to clear the lead from your bit so that it has room for more shavings. This is especially true if your hole is deeper then the flutes on your bit. If they fill up before you pull out, you've lost a bit just like that. #3, Use a slow speed drill. I used my 1/2" milwaukee drill driver on slow speed with the clutch set at about 50%. The slow speed allows the bit to cut but doesn't over power the bit when something goes wrong, which it will. With the clutch I was able to save the bit when something went wrong. #4, No wimpy bits. I'm using 1/2" bolts so I need pretty big holes. I used a 1/4" bit for my pilot hole. Don't pilot hole all the way through. The bit I got was long but flexible. So my pilot hole was curved a bit. Not what you want.

This is what I recommend and is an improvement on what I did. Drill a 1/4" pilot hole. Go through you first 1/2 of your bulb maybe. The reason for the small pilot hole is not to get through the lead but to have a good center point for you counter sink.

Cut your counter sink so your bolt head and nuts are inside your bulb. I used this really cool 1" wood bit for this. It's like a heavy duty spade bit. I believe you can get a 3 flute type bit now that's intended for wood only. They have stopped making the one I've got. The shavings I got off were big. I tried to not go any deeper than I needed to bury the bolt heads.
Now bore out your pilot hole to your desired size. In my case that's 1/2". I really think you only need to have your pilot hole deep enough to cut your counter sink. That's what I'll do next time. Continue your hole into the 2nd half. Go deep enough that you can follow in the correct direction. Then I would change to the pilot hole sized bit again and drill that out to the other side. Now you can counter sink in from the other side. Finally bore out the pilot hole and you hopefully are done. You may have to tweak a little to get a bolt through if you got off course. That's what I ran into and so I ended up with some odd looking holes on the inside.

I hope this helps you all out. Good luck and keep those shavings. You may be able to use them to fill between you bulb halves. I plan to fill the putty with lots of lead when I put mine together. The more weight the better :-)

Cheers.

Swine air bubbles.

2008-06-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

As we did the frame taping we noticed that we were getting some air bubbles around the zip ties. And in other places too to be honest. I found the e-glass tape far less forgiving then the fabric we used for the hull joints. (We used regular e-glass cut on the bias to make our own bi-axle tape for the hull joints.) Anyway, the tape had a mind of it's own when it came to conforming to the odd shaped fillets that we had made. The zip tie speed bumbs and the subtle curves of the hull to frame joints both contributed to making this a big pain in the arse.

Anyway, now I have lots of air holes that need to be repaired. My plan is to remove the glass on top of all of the bubbles. Then fill the voids with collidal silica putty and let that cure. Then clean and sand them smooth before glassing over them again. The picture is of a fairly small bubble, but I have some that are inches long.

Moral of the story is that you can get a lot done if you have a full day to fillet and tape and it's not too hot outside. But you can't have it all. If you have fillets that are too small, the tape won't conform to the shape and the zip tie bumbs need to be buried in the fillet if at all possible. So keep those holes close to the edge. I think you only need a 1/2" of ply to hold the frame into the hull.

One idea I would recommend to try is to use 5 minute epoxy to "spot weld" the frames into the hull. Let that cure and remove the ties. Then do the full fillet. You would have to be really careful and probably couldn't sit in the boat while filleting because of the stress that would put on the small fillets. I was able to be in the boat while filleting and taping because the ties were in. I'll probably try the 5 minute epoxy trick for the bunk supports.

Ah, the sound of the dremel awaits me tonight.

Egad, It look like It's supposed too..

2008-06-23T10:12:00.000-05:00

How sweet are these babies. One weighed in at 82.2 lb, the other was 80 lb even. I couldn't believe how even the 2 ended up. Very happy with that result !!!

I removed the slag or what ever you call the stuff that ran over the top of the mold with a rotary cutter. It's a 1/8" bit for your dremel that is used to cut plywood and drywall usually. They are also know as rotozip blades. Anyway, it did a great job of wacking off the extra lead here and there. I put down plastic to catch the shavings. When I put the halves together I'm going to mix the shavings into the epoxy with some silica. Every lb of lead helps at this point as long as I stay below the magic 185 lb class max. Using the dremel was a little tricky at first. Just like using the angle grinder on the foil cores. You just have to take your time and let the tool do it's thing. Don't force it. That just breaks blades or creates issues to be faired out later.

Another issue is the weight of these dudes. They are heavy to say the least and are hard to move around. I built a little cart on dolly wheels so I could move it out of the way when I wasn't working on it. That has already been helpful.

My next task on the bulb is to drill it for the bolts that will hold it together and hold it to the keel foil. 1/2" stainless steel bolts are the order of the day for that job. Drilling the holes in lead is tricky. I've broken a few bits already and that creates a real pain because the bit may be impossible to get out and you have to start a new hole in a new location. Slow drill speed and light pressure are the order of the day.

I have to go back to work this week, so progress on the boat will slow down to a normal pace.

Ah... Sucess !!!

2008-06-20T22:57:00.000-05:00

So you've poured your lead. Everything is really hot. Don't waste your time trying to play with it and get yourself burned. Just sit back and relax in that new lounge chair, oh, I mean hull, you've built. To bad the actual seats won't be this big.

Now to get them out of the mold. We had wait about 2 hours (maybe) and we were getting a rain storm so we decided to move the castings into the garage. We unscrewed the box around the plaster casing. Then we put it on a hand truck to move it into the garage. I had the idea to put it on the truck facing down instead of up. When we layed the truck down the bulb 1/2's dropped right out. Well now, that was easy. Plaster is off to the trash and the bulbs are cooling on the hand truck.

I'll make a little dolly for the bulb so I can move it out of the way when I'm not obsessing about it's shape, smoothness or fairness. We are certainly very happy that we went ahead with the casting of the lead. No regrets!! If you want to use my pot or laddle, just give me a holler. The laddle cost only 18 bucks at a good plumbing supply shop. That was the only piece of equipment I had to buy for this. We borrowed a turkey fryer burner and scavenged the pot and skillet.

Now I just have to drill some holes so I can bolt this sucker together. Much more fun to come as the family is off to camp next week. I'll have evenings to toil away. I will however, miss my dad. He has the odacity to go home after a 3 week visit. As usual, he helps me get right into the middle of a big project and then has to leave. He left me without a roof on my house about 13 years ago. I survived that ordeal, and I'm sure I'll keep on trucking on this project too.

I'm off to fix air bubbles next.

Getting the lead in the mold...

2008-06-20T22:42:00.001-05:00

So we had a few starts and stops on the lead bulb. First, I was going to follow some advise from others and cast my lead in epoxy putty inside a mold. We had many problems along the way. Everything from not being able to pull some glass off the plug to not being able to get the lead to fit in our cast plaster molds. So, I decided to stop dorking around with it and just do it the way it's been done for years. I decided that we've only got one of these to make, so I wasn't going to go crazy about paranoid warnings. If you want to wear a organic resporator while doing this, then go ahead. I chose to just go for it and work outside.

First step is to have a mold. We made ours in a wood box from plaster. Once we had our plugs out, we took it to my basement and cranked up the de-humidifier. It did a pretty good job, but the mold was not completely dry. Because we were working in the box, I wasn't to worried about the mold cracking or going some where. Give it a couple of weeks if you can and you'll be happy.

Second, you need to melt the lead. I had about 190 lb total and have 20 lb left over. So that puts my 1/2's at 85ish lb each right now. They need to be shaped and drilled so they will get lighter. We used a cast iron skillet and then an aluminum pot on top of it. This worked well for us. I would not recommend only using just an aluminum pan. I think it would have been a problem without the skillet. Melting the lead takes a while. We had the pot almost completely full before we started to pour. And one of us was adding as the other did the laddling. That way, we had the shortest pour time possible so the individual layers all came together. If you wait, the top layer will setup and the next layer may only make a mechanical bond.

Then you get to do the pouring of the lead. This is fun to watch as the lead is just so cool to see in it's melted state. Work back and forth filling the mold all the way across. And remember to remove the slag from the top because you don't want the junk in your bulb.

As you get the bulb full, you'll want to put something in to create a space for your keel strut. I just used a piece of the cut off from my keel core. I off set it so it was a little deeper than 1/2 way. We soaked it in water before we put it in to give it a little protection from the 600 degree lead. It got cooked, but was in only 2 pieces after the first go so we could flip it and use it for the 2nd 1/2. You'll need to hold it down too. As the lead will push up under it. The top layer solidified in about 5 minutes. Once you are done pouring and wait that 5 minutes, you should get that wood out before it goes up in smoke.

I guess I can only have 4 pictures in one post, so I post another entry with the final results.

Frames filletted and taped...

2008-06-20T22:25:00.000-05:00

Ah, to fillet and tape. I wouldn't recommend this to many, but if you have a partner in crime, you can fillet all of your frame in and then tape them on the same day. I had a partner, so we went for it. The trick is to get the fillets in. Let them setup. And then start taping before they get too far into the cure so you get a wet epoxy bond between the fillet and the tape.

I have to say that I'm not a fan of the tape. I used cut strips of 6 oz cloth for the tape on the hull joints. This was much easier to work with. Especially with the curves of the hull and frame joints. For some reason, the aft tapes were harder to get flat and down well than the forward side. But all were a bit of a pain. I've got some air bubbles to open up, fill with putty and then glass over. That's my next project.

Also, the tape I got has one edge that has a funky stitch that makes it sit up a little after it's been wet out. We'll have to see how it looks after I put the coats of epoxy on the interior. I'm hoping it's not too annoying because I don't really want to do any fairing on the interior of the boat. I just don't think it's worth the time or the added weight. We did this on Thursday. I've been going so much, it's been hard to make the blog entries. I'll try to keep up as I move along.

Next, it's time to pour lead...

Carpenter time...

2008-06-19T09:30:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we put in the frames. I wanted to get them in before the epoxy fillets had really setup hard which takes a few days. No need to work too hard at this right. After seeing the contortions that Ron B. had with his boat I decided to work from the stern of the boat forward. I think this worked out really well with only 1 issue that I know of right now.

My philosophy with fitting the frames was to not force anything more than I needed too. I had stitched the hull on the cradle to get an approximate shape to the hull and that worked out great. I didn't have to force the bottom of any frames at all. The power of the zip ties was enough in each case to get the bottom to conform to the frames. I stiched the bottom of the frames first. Then used a level to figure out the side locations. At each frame I found that the side panel did bow out so you had to push in pretty hard to get the panel up to the frame. The rigidity of the boat as you put the frames in is really awesome. I can't wait to see it after the fillets are in. But that's today's project.

I did have the pretzel frame 89.5 though. Everything looked great as we put it in. Then we did frame 53.5 and left the side a little loose. Then we put in frame 18. When we snugged up frame 18 and 53.5 we found that 89.5 was under compression. For the short term we put a 2x4 in between 110 and 89.5. Looking down the side panels from the bow I don't have any kinks like Ron had at 18. In fact, the startboard side looks really smooth. We had a issue with the port side panel during layup which is persisting. We''ll have to deal with that during fairing I guess because it's not going away.

Oh, and I intentionally left the stem out for now. I used a scrap piece with the frame 0 traced on it to line up the hull panels. Once the fillets are in I'll work on frame zero. I want the side panels to remain the way they are instead of forceing them to conform to how the stem was cut. This too could have contributed to Ron B's contourtions at frame 18.

Off I go to fillet and tape.

2008-06-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

Here's a shot of the boat with the seems filletted and taped. I used strips of 6 oz cloth cut on the bias to get bi-axle strength for the hull. The taping went pretty fast. Maybe 2 hours tops. It was hardest around the but joints because of the added change in elevation. I might taper the ends of the battens if I had it to do over again. And maybe leave them an inch short so the tape has to do less bending. Also, the zip ties add challenge to the taping because you have to carefully wet it out and then work the fabric down so that you don't leave any air gaps. You really don't need that much bit on the plywood when you are stitching. A 1/2 from the edge is probably enough to do the job. That will leave less zip tie exposed and a smother spot to tape over. Just have patients as you work the epoxy so that you get as much out as possible. I found that worked best to pull the epoxy out across the seam instead along the seam.

Before I filletted, I did test the hull width at frame 53 and 169. I used nylon straps to hold the panels in at about the right angle. This was to ensure that I didn't have to fight the fillet when I went to put the frames in. I think that was a good decision in the long run. This was to hopefully avoid the pretzel frame 89.5 (which I did not avoid). More on that in a second.

Cheers...

The Hull is Stitched !!!

2008-06-18T08:47:00.001-05:00

It's a boat! Well, at least it looks like one now. We stitchted the hull panels together today. It was rather challenging physically because you have these really long and heavy side panels that don't want to go the same place at the same time. The other hard thing is knowing how to line up the bottom and the side panels. I think we should have had the bottom behind the sides, but we had them on top of the bottom. When we got to the back we had about a 1/2 inch extra side panel. So my boat will be slightly shorter. Not that 1/2 an inch will make much of a difference.

We stictched both sides at the same time. There were 2 of us, so maybe that helped, but I don't think I would have done it differently if I was alone. We used some nylon straps to hold the sides up to the ceiling towards the back. The bow was just held together with a clamp.

Then we decided we needed to do some filleting and get the boat a little more together. I got inside the boat which was ok until I moved forward. You almost have to be inside to deal with the center seam in the from station 53.5 back. But resist the temptation to go forward beyond that. and if possible send a light weight to do the task. We used plastic spoons as our filleting tool and they worked great. I'd recommend to anyone doing this to not bother with trimmed sticks and all that jazz. We used a spoon and a spreader for the cleanup beyond the fillet. Also, using a squeeze bag might have worked but I kind of doubt it is worth the mess having done it the "sloppy" way we did it.

We waited a couple hours and then did the taping too. I wasn't to keen on waiting for the fillet to cure and then having to clean and sand it before doing the taping. So we taped right over the zip ties. We'll just nip them off flush with the hull on the outside.

I'm so happy to now have a hull. It was a long day, but the results of stictching day are amazing.

2008-06-18T08:23:00.000-05:00

We built a frame to hold up the boat. Actually, all credit goes to my dad. He built the frame while I was away on a weekend scout campout. When I got home we cut the supports to match the frames contours. Screwed it all down and that was good. Right now it's in one place on the floor. We'll add wheels once the boat is rigid enough to keep it's shape.

The scale of the boat starts to become known when you lay it out like this and have the big side panels to work around.

It's going to be a busy week. (The frame was done on Sunday night.

Hull Bottom glued up...

2008-06-16T23:46:00.000-05:00

We have assembled a frame/cradle and got the bottom panel glued up tonight. Tomorrow we are planning on stitching the hull together. Won't that be wild. To go from not much, to a hull in just 1 day. All the prep work and learning curve type stuff is behind us for now. We have the epoxy mixing, laminating and filleting process all figured. And the tape laying shouldn't be too bad either. Very similar to the layup work already done on the keel.

Hopefully I'll have a some more cool pictures to post tomorrow night. Right now it's all systems go, but of course we need to make some more room in the garage before we can do anything else.

ttfn.

I've got big panels...

2008-06-12T18:47:00.001-05:00

The required post of the panels being glued up. We've got both side panels on top of each other so that made thing interesting while doing the glue up. But that was the only way I would have had enough room to get both done today. It's handy to have a bunch of lead ingots lying around waiting for the keel bulb. They make great weights when you are laminating things up.

I've got a scout trip this weekend, so I wont layup the bottom panel until Sunday afternoon. Then on Tuesday I think we will be stitching the hull. That will be a really exciting day.

Thanks to Dad for all the help. He's been enjoying the laminating part I think. It's really cool to see a few pieces of plywood stuck together and know that they are not going to come apart.

More soon...

I've been framed

2008-06-12T18:41:00.001-05:00

I had to do a little doctoring on the frames to get them the way I wanted. The cockpit gets too narrow up in the pit area for my tastes. So I added 22" to the width of the pit area. That puts the cockpit seat right at the cabin/deck joint at frame 110. The problem is, frame 110 doesn't really have enough material to support the cockpit sole right there. My solution was to tack on some supports for the cockpit sole over the arch. We laminated them on and they seem like they will do the trick. Especially because we are not cutting the companionway too close to the cockpit sole. Tim R. tried to leave me enough space to do this but in the end it wasn't enough. I wanted the maximum height of the bunk opening to be 12.5" instead of the 13.5 or so that's in the plan. I also cut and laminated a thwart on to the forward side of frame 110.

We had to cut a new frame 124 to get the cabin sole width I wanted. Again, I chose to pull it back 11" on each side so I should be able to make a nice subtle curve in the cockpit side and seats. I'm thinking I'm going to like the openness of the cockpit. Especially when 2 want to be in the pit to do a douse. Or on light days when you want everyone to move forward.

The frames are all hanging in the garage to keep them off of the floor. We've had so much rain that I keep getting water in the garage. It's a real drag. Hopefully we'll start to dry out soon and I won't have to have everything on blocks.

Transom is laminated up. Internal frame rame edges have been hit with a router. We should be all set to put frames in once we have the hull stitched.

Looking forward to that on Tuesday next week. !!!!!!!

Making 'Keel" progress :-)

2008-06-12T18:30:00.001-05:00

We did the layup on the keel and rudder Tuesday night. It took longer than we thought it would and only got 1 fill coat on while it was still wet. We have some fairing to do, so I think we will wash them down and rough them up a little and then go straight to the fairing step. There is Kevlar down the leading edge and uni-carbon down the cord on each side. Both went on easier than we expected.

One note to the wise. When hanging things you are going to be working on from the ceiling, give yourself enough room to work. You want to be able to go between them and flip it up on it's side to work on it. Then let it back down and do the same on the other side. We got slimmed a few times because of the two were too close together.

Also, the trailing edge didn't turn out great. I think we are just going to have to take off the high spots and air bubles first. Then build it up a little to get the trailing edge we are looking for. As only our second glass layup project, I think we did ok. If you are working with kevlar, I highly recommend you invest in a ceramic knife. They work wonders on the kevlar. Also, pre-cut any slits you need to get the kevlar to wrap around a contour. It's much easier to cut on a flat block with the knife before it's got epoxy on it. Both the rudder and keel are waiting from more attention. We've been laminating other things, so they can wait a bit. But not too long. I need to make a keel case one of these days.

More soon. :-)

A little history

2008-06-06T22:29:00.003-05:00

Ok, So a little history. I was hooked on sailing the first time I went out. It was with my younger brother Pat on a Lido 14. We were reaching across Alamitos bay when he said "ease that jib a bit". We were over trimmed and by release a little tension we instantly accelerated. I knew right then that I needed to know more about how this whole sailing thing worked.

I started reading everything I could find about sailing. And started saving my pennies because I knew I would want my own boat some day.

It was in May of 2007 when this cool boat showed up on the sport boat forum on sailing anarchy. It seems like a really fun and cool little boat. And it struck me as somehow doable. Now that I'm actually building the boat, I'm not so sure it will just happen. It's just going to take time to get all the little things figured out so that you end up with a working sail boat. There are now over 120 plan sets sold all around the world. It is truly an international class from the beginning. I'm excited about what the class will be come, but more so, I'm excited about what my family and friends will help me bring into reality.

Not quite the begining...

2008-06-04T23:31:00.000-05:00

I've been working towards this whole boat idea for a while now. I've thought about it, figured stuff out and bought supplies. I'm not going to try to back fill this blog with everything I've done. Rather, let's start with the facts. I know I'm crazy. I know that what I'm doing is crazy. And I'm determined to have fun and enjoy building a boat no matter what. It will float. It will sail someday. And I'm going to enjoy the ride along the way as much as possible.

Right now I'm lucky to have my Dad in town for 3 weeks to help get the ball rolling. We have worked on little stuff so far, but it's time consuming stuff. And big time learning curve stuff. We laminated the keel and rudder cores. We shaped both the rudder and keel cores to foil shapes. We are learning fast and just doing what we can. We are also attending lots of events as it's end of the school year recital/concert/baseball mania. The first 3 weekends in June always seem to just be crazy for us.

More soon.