Boat Plans Australia | Mast in boat re epoxy ing and neat turtles

Boat Plans Australia

So, Ive been pre-occupied recently with other events, namely, my impending return to work after some serious back-rehab (phys. therapists = good), some life events, and so on and so forth.  So, this is good.  Im broke, my back is better (which means I can actually do some work in the hull as opposed to just staring at the bottom of the boat), and springtime is coming.

One harbinger of spring is the emergence of turtles through their long torpor and into the light once again.  Today I ran into this chap, a Blandings Turtle which is actually considered endangered in New Hampshire.  They dont mate until their late teens, and they can live to around 80.  Anyway, I moved this guy for a photo-op only to later find out theyre endangered in NH, so I feel like an ass, but I treated him gently and placed him back right back where I found him.  Actually, this could be a her, I should find out.  Handsome, regardless:

 

I will report this to the Dept. of Fish and Game, they keep track of this stuff.  I also reported a Bobcat that came trundling through my yard two days ago.  That, was neat, but it was too quick and I have no photo.  Sorry.

ON TO THE YACHT!

With the mast all built, I tapered the base per the plans.  If you remember, I made the mast slightly larger than the plans called for, not much, just 1mm here and there, but it affected the fit in the mast partner and step, and those had to be enlarged.  This was not a big deal, its only a little bit and if you may recall, intrepid reader, I made the stock of the partner and step bigger than called for.  So I feel safe doing this.  Here is my great friend Matt, recently returned from Overseas Adventures Extra-Ordinaire doing his duty, and helping me out at the annoying task of rasping the mast partner larger.  Welcome home:

He did a most fantastic job.  Then I ruined it.

After some rasping and Dremel-ing the heck out of the mast step, we got the mast stepped:

I offer you many vantage points.  The overhead is kind of neat.

The mast is currently being fiberglass-taped right now, two tapes at the base, two at the top, and two amidships, one covering the single knot in the lumber.

Also being worked on is the hull.  I sanded the epoxy coating I gave it the other day, and added a third coat.  This was a technique I stumbled upon doing my BHs.  If I sanded and then added a last coat, it came out super smooth.  Im hoping for the same with the hull, especially since the Im trying to get the fiberglass tape down smooth.  After aggressive sanding, Im thinking the extra coat will fill up to the gap.  Here she is, sanded:

So next up, I have to figure out the rudder hardware problem.  This is worthy of another post.  I cannot, for the life of me, get my rudder hardware figured out, and its beginning to piss me off.  By hardware I mean what attaches the rudder stock to the transom.  Some gudgeons are too small, others are too big, Im going nuts.  Also, I have to figure out what to do with my daggerboard trunk.  It needs to be, literally 1mm wider, and I dont know how to do that.  A lot of glue, maybe? when I glue it together?  These are two items that are holding me up.  Also, I have to epxoy coat the inside of the boat, with nice weather finally on its way, there shouldnt be a hold-up.  I really want the hull ready for paint when and if I get some time off from work to come back home.  If Im home for 24 hours, I want to be able to get mucho stuff done.  So that is what Im staging for right now.

Do you find information about Boat Plans Australia are you looking for? If not, below may help you find more information about the Boat Plans Australia. Thank you for visiting, have a great day.

Read More..

Boat Plans And Patterns | Cutting holes into the bottom of the boat

Boat Plans And Patterns

There comes a time when every man needs to pass through some hurdle and move from childhood to adulthood.  Theres a small period in between called "limbo" by various anthropologists.  In the course of building this Goat Island Skiff that rite of passage is the cutting of the daggerboard slot in the bottom of the boat, the limbo is staring at the hull and imagining what you are about to do.  Translation for the non-boat crowd:  I have to cut a gaping hole in the bottom of my boat, and its gotta be dead on with the case on the inside, or else gallons of water will pour into the hull and my expedition is over.

The intrepid reader will remember the positioning of the case in the interior of the boat.  Now, I have to cut the hole on the other side.  In an ideal world, I would have drilled two pilot holes before I glued in the case, so I wouldnt be hunting around in the blind.  However, the way my case was built and how it fit (badly) this was not possible without severely complicating matters.  It was in my best interest to install the case and figure out the slot later.

So I carefully measured the exact middle of the boat from edge to edge, then again opposite, then again from the runners.  I knew that the seam between the two pieces of ply that comprise the bottom fall where the slot is, so I only needed to make lateral measurements. Then, a small pilot hole:

Success!  I hit it on almost perfect!

Then, thanks to my very good friend Peter who takes pity on me, I was able to route out the slot with his amazingly slick router.  He has to give me a primer on how to use it everytime, but thats ok.  I drilled a 1/2" hole, and then began the terrorizing task of cutting a mondo sized hole into the bottom of my boat.  I used a flush-bit.  If there is ever a time for a man to get nervous this is it.  This is where I left boat-building childhood and became a man.  I stuck the router bit into the hole and routed away.

It smoked some, but in the end, the result was mega-awesome.  Precision slick.  Slot, accomplished!

So this is all very awesome.  Sailboat now she is, for sure.  This is the one unmistakable sign of a sailboat, a slot in the bottom.  Vindication and satisfaction is seeing that the slot lines straight up with the centerline drawn on the bottom of the boat from days long gone. 

Do you find information about Boat Plans And Patterns are you looking for? If not, below may help you find more information about the Boat Plans And Patterns. Thank you for visiting, have a great day.

Read More..