Shiny thing make it all better.....

Been thinking and having mild chest pains lately regarding 

a) how much I still have left to do

b) how much i still have to buy &

c) how little funds i have .

Thinking of shiny objects i was resigned.........well not resigned but thought it was a foregone conclusion I'd be buying Nasa instruments - nothing wrong with that, they're perfectly good and exceedingly well priced. 

It was while researching marine instruments on the internet i came across a company called Echopilot so immediately trawled fora and found very positive reviews as i genuinely had never heard of them.

Even more curiously it turned out they were based about a mile from my front door, eventually curiosity got the better of me so decided to investigate what they had to offer.

Disliking 'tyre kickers' in my own profession i didn't want to appear a time waster and pointed out to the very knowledgeable bloke (who talked me through what they could do)  i was only looking to get an idea of cost and capabilities. However the more i was shown what they could do the more i realised these instruments are fantastic, not only the plethora of data each one outputs but the fact you can use other manufacturers transducers and sensors, they really are the swiss army knife of the marine instruments world.

There was even an opportunity for 2d sonar but for the fact the transducer couldn't be mounted internally i'd of had one, however one thought sprang to mind - cost. I wanted these but was dreading the cost based on their technical capabilities however much to my surprise they were no dearer than Nasa's stuff.

Still brimming with excitement i couldn't help but ask the incredibly knowledgeable woman Sue who dealt with my order (Speed, Wind & Depth) why i hadn't heard of them - she said, "simple - we don't have a marketing budget anywhere like our competitors". 

It got me wondering; how many other great little companies like Echopilot exist that you don't really know about?

Well......well what?

The canopy within a canopy has now been perfected (looks like a poor man's Eden project) and i can achieve near perfect temperatures and humidity within a couple of hours regardless of weather, this after spending Friday carving out all the polyester filler up under the rubbing strakes.

With all the filler removed i masked up the strakes ready for paint, that's still a way off but when the time comes i can release the canopy down the side of the boat to protect the paint and crack on with the deck.

I've also had enough of filling the keels with 410 so decided to apply a guide coat (dark colour) to look for lumps and bumps which although i could feel - when i painted i couldn't see. So a couple more coats, then wet sand, then barrier coat,  then hi- build, then (god this is getting tedious) anti foul and i can remove the cradle and finish the hull......... never ever peel a boat's gel coat - seriously!

il diavolo

Always something to fix....

I have added a link opposite called 'lo-res brochures site' to combat a problem i found whilst maintaining the scribd.com site using a computer that wasn't mine.

With help from 'google drive' i've now placed all the brochures in the ether with links to them here, this enables you to truly help yourself without joining facebook, scribd.com or having to pay for them.

If it sounds to good to be true .............

Goldie Looking Keels

What's happened since last week, well i recently received the engineering drawings from Sponberg Yacht Design concerning the new swept back rig, the level of detail is incredible and is a credit to his industry. I can't wait to use these drawings to fabricate the bits and pieces i need but for the moment I'm still on keel duty.

After fabricating a vapour barrier under the boat i got into the starboard side to finish off the last of the laminating work. I've learned alot working with Kevlar - again another string to the skills bow in this project.

Its funny having talked on the forums about propping keels with timbers and doing work yourself i will readily admit to a tingling sensation when - with my nose half inch away from the very bottom of the keel - i finished laminating the last of the Kevlar.

I say this as i have estimated from materials-used the boat weighs 3300kg and its all balanced on two end plates made of 2 x 18mm thick WBP ply - nothing under the keels , it just sits there. I remember when the bloke came to strip the gelcoat many moons ago; to get access he asked me to unbolt half of the cradle declaring "its not going anywhere" and sure enough it didn't although i bolted most of it back on afterwards.

The true test of both my 'bottle' and the panel strength of plywood came yesterday when i spent all day crouched inside the cradle under the boat mixing up and applying west system's 410 to the inside of each keel.

After the first ten minutes i just got on with it not before figuring out a way to escape, today (Sat) i'm giving myself a day off from the sanding as it gets me down day after day so think this afternoon i'll tidy the shed up and get ready to go again.

cheers

Oh yeah nearly forgot, i own agentlemansyacht.com so now its even easier to read my desultory prose via the internet, although solwaycloud.blogspot.com still works perfectly.

I'd never of thought..........

The amount of time i have spent on constructing and maintaining the boat shed truly bewilders me at times, at present I'm playing a 'cat and mouse' game with the elements; more like a catch 22 really as i need the raised floor of the shed out of the way so i can get access all the way around the bottom of each keel.

You might think little of this until you factor in the UK's rather shitty weather for by removing the floors i now have cold moist air coming up from the ground combining with the warmer air  in the shed creating an immense condensation problem with the encapsulated keels. 

If ever there was a catchphrase for this project  its; "solve one problem create three more" i agree not very catchy but accurate nonetheless.

So what to do? Well i spent the last couple of days head scratching and with one eye on my ever decreasing wallet went for the cheapest most practical solution - to make a fully sealed vapour barrier under the boat using heavy gauge polythene the like you use when pouring a concrete floor. 

Going from one side of the shed to the other in one whole piece i worked late to get it done as high humidity levels are with us for the foreseeable.

Well i went out this morning to see if the keels had stopped wetting themselves and was pleasantly surprised with the feel of the air in the shed as well as completely dry nay almost warm feeling keels.........another problem solved and all because i forgot to laminate the Kevlar when the keels were in the shop.

I get told regularly by family i should write a book about this project but i don't know if i can recount all the cock up's seeing as there's been so many and some i'd rather forget.

Roger

Now with new improved Kevlar

Having had enough of the christmas tv schedules i ventured out to the shed to see if the boat was still covered in condensation like it'd been all last week. The signs were promising so having consulted the tea leaves and my handheld hygrometer/temp sensor i was good to go.

The first job was laminating kevlar rub strips along the keels exposed areas; the reason being if the glass gets compromised then it 'll only be two maybe three seasons before the lots peeling off, so  its more an insurance policy than anything else.

I had never used the stuff before and  was advised to buy kevlar shears - thinking it was a waste of time and money i tried cutting some 200g plain weave kevlar with the tools i use for bi-ax and realised it was a complete waste of time so now i possess the bentley continental of the scissor world and am forty quid lighter in the pocket.

Still very disappointing cutting with them - not so much the 170g but the 300g kind of got chewed up into the required shapes, however after a couple of hours i had two layers on the leading edge and one on the sole then repeated it all again plus some peel ply and now the port keel is finally finished of all its glass work - just needs filling and fairing.

Starboard side tomorrow as long as the water levels in the boat shed don't rise any further - gets a bit dispiriting rolling around in the mud whilst trying to laminate. 

cheers

....And You and I

Its a bit 'peter cries wolf' as I've said this before but the keels are almost at an end, just have to laminate a kevlar rub strip onto the leading edge and sole of each and then its hawk and trowel at the ready to smooth over the lumps and bumps.

Got the cradle back together and fitted under the boat, that was a performance but necessary to get the job done then when the kevlars on dismantle it and flog it (hopefully) along with alot more bits and bobs i've got too.

What else........oh yeah had a right result buying some wests off a WOA member (cheers Tony) he used it for his own boats osmosis treatment, its around half a 'c' pack so that should get the hull filled and faired maybe even get the barrier coat on seeing as he kindly included the additive in the sale.

Spent the last couple of days de-rigging the mast back to a length of aluminium, that was a pain in the arse too, spent three hours coaxing the plug in the bottom out, at one point i contemplated making the mast 40mm shorter so stubborn was it but eventually it played ball, well that - a can of WD40 and a bloody great rubber mallet.

Since i started the project i wanted to add a bit more canvas to get the old girl moving seeing as it needs near gale-force conditions to get it going so last year set about reinforcing the deck in various places and adding plywood gussets in the stern to take runners. 

I did all this discreetly thinking it will really need a crew to operate, but to go runner-less and still have a fat roach main requires more brains than i have (yacht design drop-out 1998), so to make it work i have taken some professional advice which required me stripping the mast to take piccies and measurements to send to the engineer.

I know they say yacht design is 10% science 90% art but the thought of the rig coming down and cracking my or various crews skulls open like water melons appealled even less than lots of bits of string in the cockpit. 

Roger