Success!

After finishing the pads on the inside of the coach roof it was time to cut in the gas locker so after waiting a couple of minutes for the brave pills to kick in i measured then measured again and just to be sure had one more look then went for it with the air saw.

These are great tools - no vibration relatively light too so all you have to worry about is holding the tool on the line, this enabled me to cut a perfectly accurate shape. I decided to start off small so did the gas locker on Friday which went successfully although i couldn't get over the thickness of the lay up in the cockpit (12 - 14 mm).

On Saturday i framed it up with marine ply creating the drainage detail and sides which will take the hinge and ram. It feels a bit hairy as the grain is raised from me drowning everything in resin but i'm pleased with the initial result so will start filling/fairing later in the week.

Monday came and buoyed with the success of the gas locker i decided to retire the brown trousers and red tunic such was my confidence and began marking out the big locker on the starboard side.

I'm pleased to report it went without a hitch and i now have the beginnings of two decent looking lockers. The point of this was to create storage and obviously to adhere to gas regulations but above all i hate those bloody sit-on mouldings that westerly made and fitted from the late seventies onwards.

They leak they don't look great imo and they're uncomfortable to sit on, the early boats (laurent giles era) had proper moulded-in lockers so i guess the accountants had a say in the making of the newer ones shame really.

That's that bit done.....................

Got the last reinforcement that i can do done as irish as that sounds i have two more on the forward part of the coach roof to take the organisers but until i know where a couple of other pieces of hardware are going to go i can't place them yet.

I have got through all of the 25kgs of polyester with about an 1" left in the bottom, decided i'm going to take my brave pills tomorrow and start on the cockpit lockers. I say brave pills as this involves alot of cutting in the cockpit and in such a way that if done wrong will take a lot to put right.

So will spend a large part of Thursday drawing lines all over the cockpit and checking where existing bulkheads are, i was going to jump onto the hatches and companionway hatch but since i'm still waiting for the two hatches for the saloon i will concentrate/do battle with the cockpit area once more and just when i thought the aft locker was a memory too.

I'll post some piccy's of the reinforcing work end of the week.

Still kicking ass and taking names.

Yes as the yanks would say its still full steam ahead in the shed and what with the epiphany i've had this week about using polyester resin its all going swimmingly.

Since the start of the project i've been using west's epoxy but what with money being thin and the need to get on with work i have decided to use polyester for internal/non-structural work and leave the epoxy for external/structural stuff - its saving a small fortune.

This past week i have got all the deck reinforcements bonded into place and have started tabbing them to the hull, the only fly in the ointment is the styrene fumes - in a confined space its postively awful even with a full respirator & eye protection but at one sixth the price of epoxy i will be using this stuff alot more.

Next week after i've finished the inside of the deck my attentions turn to the outside of the deck. That entails cutting away the old box hatch surround and to get the new ones made primed and dry-fitted to the deck along with continuing the filling and fairing i'm on course to get the deck finished in the next couple of weeks.

Go with throttle up......................

Progress has been stunning the last couple of days, getting lots done as the weather is better and my work has slowed off so i have made a conscious effort to get on and get as much done as possible.

I have allocated the next four weeks towards getting the deck moulding completed to primer coat stage so thats everything - hatch surrounds, rig reinforcements, custom mouldings etc all done in 4 weeks.

After this my attention will turn to everything below the rubbing strakes, namely keels back on hull sheathed, rudder and skeg fitted. Overall i'm giving myself ten weeks to get the lot done then after that i'm hoping the weather will be good enough to get the guns out and paint.

Having a pc in the shed is paying dividends as i have a spreadsheet set up with the days tasks on it. As i write up tasks on a timeline i can tick them off as they get done, i find this a more structured way of working from which i get a sense of accomplishment.

The last few days i blasted the anchor locker out and got the remaining few bits of hardware in the stem out, i've sanded back the coachroof ready for another hit of wests, routed out and vacuum bagged the mast foot area with marine ply & cloth & drilled out every single hole in the deck ready to be filled so plenty done with plenty to do.

Oh yes and i have also taken delivery of some of the hatches that will be fitted and yes they look awesome.

Cheers rog

It may have stopped raining but...............

Its still too bloody cold to do anything, i got 98% humidity and minus 1 degrees for the last couple of weeks so have no alternative but to wait this out, although the boat shed gets nice and toasty with the gas heater on i must admit.

The problem is the cost of running the thing; so for the time being i will console myself by renovating the inflatable dinghy since a good friend has breathed life into the previously dead outboard.

I'll post some pics when its all done and i've got the summerhouse back to looking like a summerhouse and not a paint shop

cheers rog

Its finally stopped raining inside!

I find the process of problem solving on this project as interesting as working on the boat itself, a case in point being the hot vac system or infact making my boat disappear from anyone's line of sight, although that did entail the use of a 25 ton crane, so i can't take all the credit.

the latest 'challenge rog' was to stop it raining inside the boat shed, for one the idea of going to great expense not to mention the time in putting a fairly decent shed over the boat was to keep the elements out whilst the work is undertaken. so imagine my surprise when looking down at the floor to see it soaking wet.

Looking up it was plain to see there was a condensation problem , this wouldn't do -so after a trip to maplins and the acquisition of a humidity/temperature probe showed the roof at 85% humidity it was time to do something.

the first thing was to insulate the roof, originally the idea was to take the existing white tarp off and lay the insulation over the old blue tarp then cover back over but finding the white tarp frozen on, it was going to be cheaper to buy a another tarp. Wickes had a buy 1 get 3...yes 3 free now being a natural tight arse i couldn't pass up such an offer so for £30 i insulated the shed and for another £30 via ebay bought a cheap tarp - job done.

since last weekend we've had several frosts and so so far no moisture problems, i put this down to also cutting half a dozen vents down either side at the eaves so any moist air can escape, it does feel colder because of this but feels a lot drier reflected in humidity readings around 57 - 58%.

what else have i been upto? i've installed a pc in the shed for music and info purposes, the extraction system is also paying dividends too that works a treat, oh yes i have also made winter hats for the keels as the tarps had pretty much destroyed themselves

This means the area around the keel studs is protected from the elements although hairline cracks are forming again on 'Eric' the starboard keel whilst 'Ernie' the port keel seems largely unscathed, i made repairs to 'Eric' in the summer so think its more down to poor prep that this problems recurring that said once its got 25mm of sika on its face and is bolted down tight i'm hoping that will do the trick but that will now be in the new year.

This just in......................

Am writing this from the pc now installed in the boat shed, got bored went up in the loft and cobbled together this system from old bits and bobs.

Seeing as its too cold to do any real work on the boat and i'm totally sick of my radio stations playlist i thought i'd make this system so i can pipe music about the place, as well as be able to get information when necessary.

chin chin