Weather Tightening

 

This image is late breaking news from the last episode.  Here the smoked acrylic portlites are put in place and the hull on dolly is pushed away so I can get my first good look at the vessel's lines.  On the whole, I'm pleased with the result.

We now jump forward to the present build state.  Can you spot all the differences?  My focus has been on making the hulls weather tight as the build will be moving outside in the next few months.  Areas adjacent to, hardware plugging the hulls, have received the finished coats of paint before the hardware is installed and bedded with butyl tape.  Additional fitments will be made once the project moves outside.  Areas receiving these fitments will remain unfinished and primered until a future time.

The opening deck hatches feature an insect screen as well as a blind.  If a person were to sleep with their head forward, they could enjoy the night sky view as well as the in face hatch breeze.  

The shiny warts next to the hatches are also located aft.  The warts are solar powered ventilators that supply and exhaust the hull's internal air.  This is said to be an effective way to prevent mold and fungus growth.  The warts also feature a welcome small lamp to light up each cabin's dark ends.  I call them warts because the shiny stainless steel looks garish to me.  A brief examination found the optional stainless steel covering was just held on by small tabs bent over a white form and easly removable at a future date.  That should tone them down considerably and I may then know them better as ventilators rather than warts.

The main hatch tracks require standoffs to accommodate screws and the curved roof structure.  In the background is a standoff with screws securing it in position as the epoxy sets.  Each screw is working against a washer stack so that no screw pokes into the interior.  Much care was taken in this regard given the multitude of screws involved.

Highspots required some planning for smooth hatch operation.  The standoffs received a fiberglass top and epoxy fillets along both sides.  Once the sanding, repeated sanding and final paint coat was done, a new problem emerged.  When the full multitude of screws is installed in the hatch track, it induces a twist that binds hatch operation.  This earlier image is the same finished area re planned to remove the twist.  Curiously, this same correction was applied to the same area on the other hull.  May this geometric curiosity never rise to one that keeps me awake at night.

Intricate sanding and painting required between the inner and outer coaming.

The sliding hatches slip into a house to close the open end and "seal" against the hatch collar lip.  Note that the house has a curve matching the collar lip.

This image shows the progression from 3/4" stock to finished curved house segment.  A template is screwed to stock so a template outline can be traced onto the stock.  The template is removed so the stock can be rough cut outside the lines.  The template is reattached to the stock so a router bit can follow the template to create the finished shape.  

The house segments are glued together to form the house top and back.  I can't say the curving back added anything, but there it is.  These received the fiberglass treatment inside and out for weather proofing and strength.  The houses will be the primary securing point for locking the hatch.  A weep hole is incorporated into the houses should any water get past the collar lip.  The houses await modifications to receive hatch latches before installation.

After much resanding a semi finished result!  I had only enough of the light Grey antiskid material for one patch on each hull top.  A second wider antiskid patch coating will extend forward of the hatch standoffs where a person might gain footing closer to the roof edge.

I like the antiskid color against the off white paint.  I've never trusted my judgment on matters of selecting colors comfortable with each other, but I find this combination comfortable on the eyes.

I think the hatch and its house look good from the side, but ........

The aft view is ..... awkward.   I could do nothing and tell everyone it is a roll bar.  You may note the aft warts and the installed opening portlites featuring bug screens.

A possible solution is to reduce the visual height by painting a contrasting color.  In this image blue tape is applied to the hatch house top simulating a different color.  In practice the visual height is better shorter than shown here.  The arc of contrasting color house will echo that color applied to the crossbeam arched tops and the shear stringer sweep.  If a girl wants some action, it helps to emphasize the curves. 

Too Porty

September 2021 marks the forth year of this boat build project.  I've added a number of refinements that have extended the difficulties and time requirements.    Others may have built and launched a similar boat in less than this time span.  It is my hope to produce a finished product that is not a crude embarrassment.  The boat hulls are the most time consuming part of this build.  Both hulls are nearing completion and I've come to the most dreaded part of the build:

Fairing: The process of smoothing a vessel's surface to eliminate irregularities. 

Generally, fairing requires three or more applications of an epoxy filler compound to produce an acceptable surface. Hand sanding between each coat is required.  Sandpaper attached to a long flexible board averages out the surface by removing the high spots and revealing the low spots.   The image above shows the inverted port hull ready for another round of sanding.  It takes about three days to sand each side of a single hull.  This process uses massive amounts of epoxy that is later turned into sanding dust.  Sure, I may whine about all the sanding, but at times I find myself getting into the mindless tedious task.  I can look "forward" to repeating the process on the starboard hull.

With the hull faired, it was time to establish a waterline so that painting could commence.  The plans give dimensions down (it is up with the hull inverted) from the deck at the bow and stern to establish the waterline.  The hull is first leveled to assure it is not rotated to the right or left.  Leveled batter boards are then established at the prescribed distances from the bow and stern decks.  A fishing line is strung from one batter board to the other.  Weights at each fishing line end keep the line tight.  The line is moved along the batter boards to position the line near the hull as pencil marks are made along the hull length to define the waterline.  The line, batter board and pencil point are sighted in the same plane before each mark is made.

Masking tape follows the pencil marks to define the waterline.  The rudder is temporally clamped to the hull so that the waterline can be masked off.  Everything below the water line will receive an ablative bottom paint to prevent marine growth.  The ablative paint sluffs off with use and will require intermittent renewal.

Before I got too far along with painting, I remembered to install a fitting for the forestay (forward mast stay) bridal on the bow.  This fitting will be drill out to receive a U bolt that the bridal attaches to.

A drilling jig made it possible to drill the holes straight and parallel.  The holes were then re-drilled with incrementally larger drills so that the holes can later be filled with epoxy then drilled out again to the original size.  All holes in the boat are treated this way to prevent water from contacting the wood and promoting rot.

Areas below the waterline received two coats of a grey epoxy primer.  This coat was as rough as sandpaper and had to be hand sanded down before the three coats of black bottom paint was applied.  The bottom paint was less rough, but it may smooth out with use and I may or may not sand it as well.  Three coats of the off white (yellowish cast) topside paint was applied with wet sanding between coats.  I find that things go faster with wet sanding topside paint as the sandpaper will otherwise get clogged.  The wet sanding dust is immediately wiped off the boat as I find it very difficult to remove the sanding dust from my hands if allowed to dry.  Before applying the last paint coat over the sanded surface, a Scotch Brite was used to remove all the bright shiny areas in the hopes of producing a durable and satisfying result.

I'm contemplating painting the shear stringer (in primer white above) in a contrasting color.   I'm thinking of burgundy.  This might also be applied to portions of the crossbeams and other areas. 

At a point in the sanding, sanding and repeated sanding I've had to replenish my sandpaper supply.  Trips to the hardware store are usually an adventure.  A person is not allowed to peruse the hardware aisles and make those impulse buys.  Instead a person must convey, to a person behind a counter, the hardware item required before the item is presented.  In some hardware stores, the person behind the counter is a young woman.  Pleasingly, these women seem much more knowledgeable about hardware than I expect in young North American women.  Adding to the adventure are the different terms Belizeans use for hardware.  Sanding discs are called stick ons as an example. 

Knowable presenters on YouTube videos suggest using a finer grit sandpaper before applying the last paint coat.  Armed with this knowledge I announced to the young woman behind the counter that I required a packet of 280 grit sandpaper.  She checked with her computer and then said, "We have too porty".  "Too porty?", I queried.  Apparently, this did not convey my total bewilderment.  "Too porty", she repeated.  We went back and forth with too porty several times before a light came on and I realized she was saying 240.  She went off to fetch the too porty after I indicated it would be fine.  She returned with 220 grit sandpaper and indicated they were out of too porty.  I took the 220 grit home and used it as it is the grit recommended by the paint manufacture. 

At times progress has been delayed due to the lack of materials and the arrival of international goods.  I seek out little sub projects that must be accomplished at some point.  Above are five stainless steel items recently fabricated.  The smaller hook like item is a latch to secure the alcohol stove against the sloping hull side.  The remaining four items are bearing plates that rest under the bow and stern cleats.  The bearing plates prevent cleat forces from crushing the wooden decks and thereby loosening.  These parts were cut from a flat bar by a grinder.  Grinding, filing, sanding, drilling and polishing produced these finished parts for a future installation.  I hope I remember making them and where I put them!

Work on the starboard hull electrical system is complete to the extent that can be done until the boat is fully assembled.  Topside paint is also being applied to this hull in the areas receiving hatches and portlights.  This is so the hull may be made weather tight as the construction will move outdoors in a few months.

In late breaking news, the smoked cast acrylic sheets for the portlights has arrived.  I saved the plywood removed from the openings so they could be used as templates.   I've never worked with acrylic before and was very cautious while producing the first portlight.  Having some practice cutting the acrylic, the remaining portlights were quickly turned out.  It was just a matter of tracing the template on the acrylic protective paper sheet, rough cutting outside the line and then attaching the template to the sheet and running a router patterning bit around the perimeter against the template.

The portlights are not yet installed, but will be adhered with an adhesive used to secure windows in skyscrapers. 

It is unfortunate that the hull side is so close to the wall that a person can not stand back and view it from a distance.  The hulls have an upward sweeping shear that the portlights mirror on the bottom edges while the top edges are straight like the roof line.  This coupled with the black bottom paint and black portlights should look cool if not sinister. 

Its Twins

Followers of Q might say that I've received my first injection of microchips to ward off Covid 19.  On the whole, I would say that Belize has done a good job with the pandemic, but the vaccine distribution schedules were not well publicized, at least on the media I frequent.  I only heard about it by going to the hospital and inquiring to learn a mass vaccination campaign was taking place the very next day at the Community Center.  I showed up to wonder which of the four unmarked lines I should stand in to learn my first line chose was wrong.  After that things went smooth and efficient.  After receiving the shot we were required to wait awhile to make sure no one was suffering any immediate adverse effects.  We were then issued a packet of Tylenol and rehydration powder to mix with water before being released.  I suffered no ill after effects as one person I know has experienced and we were warned about during the wait.  I'll receive the second injection in about three months.

Above is a view down into the port hull footwell.  The oval shapes are access covers to bilge/storage area below.  The exposed faces are 1/4" plywood located by a smaller on 3/4" thick oval glued on below.  The cover, resting by the footwell lip, is upside down to show the locating oval.  Eight loose ovals for both hulls have been kicking around since early in the construction.  Some time was spent refining the locating ovals fits so that each of the covers drop into place very nicely.  Eight loose parts reduced to four, progress!

The companionway steps, the access covers and cabin sole (floor) have received a blue/gray antiskid coating.  I expect the antiskid will give a more durable surface than a painted surface, as well as providing improved footing.  It was very time consuming masking off and sanding the areas receiving the antiskid, but applying the antiskid goes very quickly.  This is followed by immediately removing the laboriously applied masking before the antiskid dries.  

An additional antiskid surface is needed at the bunk level or the long step between the steps and cabin sole.  Regular readers will know that each hull is provided with a removeable table surface that spans each hull's width above the bunk level.  Seating at the bunk level is too far away from the table to make it useful.  The solution is to build a movable seat that spans the footwell (bunk level) opening.  One side will provide a cushioned seat that can be flipped over to reveal a nonskid surface aiding entry and exit.  This solution will come at a later stage in the project.

Fiberglass is applied to the port hull companionway opening drain channels.  The cabin roof slopes towards the inner coaming and would encourage water towards the insides.  The sloping channels, cut at each opening edge, are meant direct water to the outside   The left side shows the fiberglass after the epoxy has set, but before the excess fiberglass is trimmed.  This fuzzy image shows the trimmed and sanded drain channel on the right side,

The port side now sports a companionway washboard.  Note the drain channels on either side of the companionway opening.  Completing the washboard required some 3/4" plywood that was not available in my scrap pile.  Some 3/4" plywood was set aside for a component I had not yet fabricated.  It was time to build this component and replenish the scrap pile.

 Above is the 3/4" plywood backbone for the aft beam.  Ignore jog in the shape, this is just an artifact from stitching two images together.  This beam will span the boat's sterns and support the aft trampoline.  Like the three other beams joining the hulls, this beam will have a triangular cross section with a gentle curve in one of the vertical and horizontal directions.  Its loads will be lower and it will have smaller dimensions than the remaining more heavily loaded beams.

This is the money shot, I now have twins!  Both hulls now have fiberglass and white primer applied on the upper surfaces.  The primer protects the underlying epoxy from degrading by UV exposure.

Patch Me

 After a recent birthday I found it was a good time to get patched up again.  Some boat building contortions had aggravated the hernia I've been babying for a couple of years now.  I had surgery on this hernia for the second time about a week ago and soon the stitches will be removed.  Boat building is such an obsession for me that I've been putting off the fix so I wouldn't be laid up for a while.  It got to the point that my motions were restricted by the condition and inhibited what I could accomplish.  Time to take the cure!

Both forward lockers received locking hardware.  Two hooks are visible in the locker opening.  These hooks engage metal plates, suspended from the lid, to lock the lid.  The hooks are mounted on a linkage that is operated securely from inside the cabin.  The hooks lay flat against the inner coaming in the unlocked position.  This arrangement works very well when it is necessary to secure items in the boat, but the lockers will also have latches operated from the outside under normal conditions.

The locking linkage is operated through an inspection port between the locker and the cabin.  A person must crawl forward into a low space that is mostly intended to receive feet as part of the forward bunk.  It was as I wormed my way forward to test the locking latch that I aggravated my hernia.  As a result, I've been giving some thought to a manipulator stick to operate the latch from a more comfortable cabin position. 

The lid interiors and inner coamings have received their first topside paint coat. Another coat or two will bring these lockers up to a finished condition.

I should test my regular readers to see if they can identify the above parts as the beginnings of the port cabin top.  I had to comb through my scrap materials to scrounge up all the bits and pieces to close up the port hull.  In the foreground is the companionway inner coaming.  The four arcs, to span and shape the cabin top, are in the background.  The foreground and background items rest on the 3/8" plywood that will close the cabin top.  

The smaller items have received primer and will require painting before installation.  An opening has been cut in the plywood to receive the coaming.  The list of hull completion tasks is growing smaller, but the hulls are still the project's most monumental sanding task ahead to brighten my future.

My 15 year old digital camera may be done for.  I've been operating it for a while using cable ties to hold the battery compartment together.  It doesn't boot up anymore; it gives up as it fails to extend the lens as normal.  My tablet is no help as it is out of service.  I'm fortunate to have a video camera that stores still images on a card so that I can continue documenting this build.  Special batteries for video camera have given up, but it came with an AC power supply to tether me.  I suppose I will have to give up part of my retirement fortune to a new camera.

Sheathing Up

 Adventures Obtaining a Belize Driver's License

My Washington state driver's license expires next month on my birthday.  I decided to get a jump on things ahead of time to assure I could continue bouncing along the lumpy roads.  This turned out to be something of a mistake.  I was first told that I had to be a permanent resident, but then I mentioned I owned property and that I lived here full time for four years.  The traffic police (separate from the regular police) said that they could work with that and that I would need to supply copies of my passport showing the date I arrived in Belize.  

The next morning I set off to obtain ink for my scanner/printer to produce the copies.  The ink was no longer sold at the store that sold me the printer, but I was directed to an alternate store that provide the first success on this mission.  Returning home the needed copies were produced and carried to the traffic police office.  I was then informed that the copies needed to show I had been in Belize for a year so it was a return home to produce other copies.  These records created some confusion saying that some months were missing, but I pointed out that the visa stamps were for more than one month.  After some examination this was accepted.  I was then directed to have a doctor give me an exam then stamp and sign the traffic document.  I thought I could game the system and escape the exam by obtaining the license before reaching next birthday's magic number.  Luck was with me as two doctors were available.  I had a short wait followed by an eye exam, administered with a cell phone app, then left with the needed stamped and signed document.

I returned to the traffic office to pay the fees and score a license after better than a half a day's effort.  At no point was a test or driving skill demonstration required.  I chose to pay $150 BZE for a two year license.  The guy taking the money tried to hit me up for some drinking money, but he ended up disappointed.  I expressed disappointment in receiving a license that expires in one year and one month.  It was then explained to me that a license year expires on my birthday, one month away.  To that I can only shrug and say oh well.  Though english is the common language, communication is not always clear or easy.  Belize tends to be bureaucratic and it does no good to get tensed up about such things.  I've learned to expect such things and just endure with internal humor mixed with a quiet dread.

It is not yet over, I just got a call from the traffic police.  My last name was misspelled on the license and I must return to the office to have it corrected free of charge within this month.

Rudder Preparations

The 3/4 inch thick plywood rudder trailing edges have been tapered down to 3/16 of an inch.  A grinder fitted with a sand paper flapper wheel made quick work of this.  This operation filled the shop with more sanding dust than any task to date.  Now a wiser person, I would have performed this shaping process outdoors.  

Rounded rudder edges are sheathed in fiberglass and green fillets are made between the 1/4" rudder cheek blocks (to the left) and the rudder proper.  All of this is part of the completed mission to sheath the rudders entirely in fiberglass.  

Note the series of drilled holes opposite the tapered trailing edges.  Matching holes are drilled in the hull stern to create the rudder hinges by lines laced in a figure eight pattern through the holes.  This is said to be a very reliable arrangement.

Hull Sheathing

In the foreground is the inverted port hull sheathed in fiberglass.  It took me about twelve hours to do the first side by myself.  This is more time than I like to spend on the project, but when working with fiberglass and epoxy it is best to get that second coat of epoxy with fairing compound on before the first coat cures.  I enlisted some help to get the second side done in half the time.

Three layers of heavier fiberglass were applied to the keel in the chocolate colored areas.  This is a deviation from the plans and provides great keel protection.  A professional boat builder used this method on identical boats built for a resort.  These boats are run up onto a beach three times a day with great success.  Without a dingy I am likely to beach the boat from time to time.

About two and one half gallons of epoxy were consumed to get this hull fiberglassed.  It will likely require another two coats of epoxy with fairing compound before it is ready for painting.  This work will require long board sanding after each coat to produce a satisfactory painting surface.  I can look forward to more sanding in the painting process, but in the mean time I'll find other tasks.

The starboard hull can be seen in the background.  White primer has been applied to the  fiberglassed areas to provide protection from UV damage.

On the left is the 6 oz. fiberglass used to sheath the hulls and other exterior surfaces.  Three layers of the 6 oz. fiberglass lap over the keel.  On the right is the heavier 1708 fiberglass also applied in three layers over the keel.  On one side is fiberglass woven and on the other side is chopped strand fiberglass mat.  The sides are sewn together and form a long tape.  1708 soaks up a lot of epoxy and requires a large amount of fairing compound to get it to blend into the hull's shape.  Sanding this stuff has been the first time I've experienced the itch that is common with fiberglass work.  I'm itching to avoid this kind of work for awhile.