Tetris

I think people of my age have certain corner of their brain that is wired for Tetris. That being the case I think my hull deck structure is starting to look like a Tetris screen.

I still have wiring and related electrical tasks to do but I think the pacing item for getting the foredeck installed is going to be setting up for forward trampoline pad-eyes. The reason is the delay from order to arrival. There are a few things that are falling in this category (plastic bottles for capsize flotation, netting to contain flotation bottles, wire retaining clips, bulkhead connector).  I ordered the wire clips today, and hope to source the netting locally, will try to size and place the plastic bottle order and order the bulkhead connector tomorrow. If all goes well I will stay busy doing structures work on the boat while needed items arrive.

Electrical Schematic

I downloaded a schematic design program to do this, but was spending too much time just fooling around with the tool. So I did this on powerpoint. It was annoying at times but I got down what I wanted in relatively short order.

This is how I'm thinking of wiring things. I'm not 100% sure I can wire the charger that way (using the common side for the return). I don't see why not, but then I'm not an EE.

Mast Partner And Mast Plan

I've been rolling over the mast installation in my head for some time. I've coalesced around the following. The mast will not rotate. The main reason is that if it rotates the halyard cleats and reefing cleats will need to be on the mast. Bear in mind that the mast is not really accessible from the cockpit. So to facilitate easy and safe reefing, the mast will stay put. This has other benefits since it makes the wishbone rig more straightforward and allows for a fully battened sail.  So with that decided the mast step will be a pinned joint with the pin running athwartships. This has a few functions. It will resist rotation, it will keep the mast and boat together in the event of capsize, and it will allow the mast to have its rake adjusted. When I say adjusted I don't mean on the fly, I mean that I plan to have the partner be a separate piece that is bolted on. So If I don't like the rake, I can re-make a new partner and re-install the mast. This also leaves open the someday possibility of making a rake adjustment that can be done on the fly, but that sort of fancy thing can wait for someday. One last thing to mention, as much as I like to take credit, the idea of an adjustable rake was not mine. It was mentioned to me by famous New Zealander Bryan Cox.

Today I started on the mast partner structure. This is just the beginning, I will re-force this area liberally, since the step and the partner is where the boat is getting all of its horsepower. Here is the picture of how its starting.

The cutouts are sized to fit pieces of 1X2 that will run parallel to the hull axis. The partner bolts will fit to these parallels, also a good amount of supporting structure (besides the deck) will also be fit to these pieces.  

Besides the above I put one piece of support for the forward deck hatch. I will keep moving things along as I can tomorrow. I can feel things beginning to get scattered again. So I will have to come up with a some way to stay focused. I may just concentrate on the bow of the boat and simply stay there until the deck is installed. Not sure if that is feasible since there are several items to order and figure out still. It turns out building a boat requires a lot of thinking, as well as doing.

The Ongoing Saga....

Not much interesting going on today. Just keeping up the pressure as best I can.  I built the rudder gudgeon jig.

And then used it on the transom. The picture shows the transom after the larger holes were drilled and filled with epoxy putty.

Finished  filleting the second beam recess and started giving it its epoxy coat. and lastly kept up work on the main hatch opening.  Tomorrow I will cut the deck stringer out from the center of what needs to be the hatch opening. I will add a few stiffeners here and there but this will basically be done until there is a deck to work with.  Also I will start framing for the forward hatch (which arrived today), and start giving more serious thought to the mast step and partners. Below is a picture of the forward deck hatch. Not sure why but I'm very happy to have this piece of hardware.

It Was A Hatch Transom Recess Kind Of Day

I went away from the aft beam structure for a bit and made some progress in other areas. I got the transom backer cut and installed.

And trimmed and started filleting the second beam recess.

And finally started putting in the structure to support the main hatch opening.

I spent a good bit of time trying to make sure these are parallel. Hopefully it was time well spent. Tomorrow I should receive the hatch covers for the smaller forward hatch (I'm going to make the cover for the main hatch). I will keep turning the crank on these deck structures, Then will transition to inside the hull work (sole, anti-vortex panel backer, and mast step).

Rudder Gudgeon Plan

I spent a bit of focused time thinking through the rudder gudgeon installation. This is going to get detailed.  There are two main issues I see with these. The first is that they have to be installed in a way that does not introduce a leak path through the transom. The second is alignments, they need to be aligned with the rudder housing to insure that the rudders can rotate about their pins (no binding) and be offset so as to fit the rudder housing.  So here is the procedure.

1. Make a jig to using a rod to hold gudgeon pin axes aligned, a lip to locate transom top edge, and a mark to locate center.

2. Cut and install 9mm plywood backing on inside of transom

3. Locate jig on transom and drill pilot holes

4. Drill out pilots to large hole and fill holes with filled epoxy

5. Re drill pilot holes using jig

6. Drill 3/8 clearance holes following pilot holes

7. Drill T-Nut depth counterbores on inside of transom

8. Install T-Nuts with filled epoxy and polymer brad nails

9. When installing gudgeons use bedding compound

It should end up looking like this.

There is a risk that some filled epoxy could get in the threads of the T-Nut, That can be chased out with a tap after it cures. Now for the good part. When building the rudder housings do the following

1. Use jig to drill pilot holes in scrap plywood.

2. Use pilot holes and alignment rod to temporarily install gudgeons on plywood.

3. Use this gudgeon installation as fixture to build rudder housings.

By using the jig and rod to set up both the gudgeon installation on the transom and the rudder housing build. I (hopefully) will avoid any part fitting or binding issues. I like this procedure because while there are seemingly many steps, each is very simple.  

Rough Day

The second layer of fiberglass under the aft beam butt strap was way more difficult than the first. It just did not want to stick onto the previous layer. I ended up using painters tape to hold the glass in place. It sort of worked. I went out tonight and managed to get the tape off (not that hard actually) and it revealed some areas where the second layer is loose off the first. Here is the picture from before I took the blue paint off.

I think I will cut the egregious areas near the corner, off with a dremel and try some patching tomorrow.  Also I got the second beam recess walls cut and installed. Here is a picture of that.

Tonight I'm going to come up with the plan I will use to install the rudder gudgeons. Kind of a chicken and egg problem since I don't want to install the gudgeons until the paint is on, but I don't want to need to access the inside of the hull to install, and I don't want the gudgeons to become a leak path. I will document the plan (as much for my own use) in an upcoming post.

The Momentous Occasion

I didn't get out to the boat last night to put in the fillet under the the aft beam butt strap. So this morning I did that first thing, then did some carpentry and epoxy work for the beam recess. Then I went back and put on the first layer of fiberglass under the butt strap. It was not easy and I got a bit of epoxy on my arms,  But it was not a nightmare.  I wet out the fiberglass on the workbench, then rolled it up, then took to the butt strap and with one arm around each side of the butt strap I unrolled it and smoothed it out. Then I proceeded to fool with it to try to get to lay just right. I only stopped fooling with it when it seemed like each time I touched it I made it worse. Here is the picture of how I left it.

I cut the glass too long so I will cut off the excess with a dremel tomorrow.  Also as mentioned I continued work on the forward beam recess. I cut and installed the outboard side end support and the forward bolt structure pieces.

If the weather is dry tomorrow I will cut and install the walls. and get the second layer of glass on the inside of the butt strap.

Taking a broader view, as I'm nearing completion of the second beam recess, I will start drilling, filling and adding backing for the rudder gudgeons, then working on structure for the main hatch, then structure for a smaller hatch forward. Things not to forget: bow and transom lights, bow cleat, and capsized flotation, and (oh yeah) the mast.

Hitachi Sander Update

I have been pleased with this purchase. There has however been a development. When I bought it, I briefly looked for a model that had attachments that allowed for the tool to be turned upside down and used like a bench sander.  Aside from some unidentified pictures on the internet I didn't find any models with this feature. Nor did I find mention of this as an available feature for any tool, regardless of price. So I gave up and bought the hitachi which has been a very competent tool. Since turning the hull over I have needed to sand bits and corners off relatively small pieces of wood. Just the sort of thing for which a bench sander would be perfect. So taking my cue from some random internet tool pictures. I made my own stand. Here are the pictures.

It is very sturdy in this little mount and the trigger and lock switches aren't too hard to get to. 

Getting Ahead Of Myself (As Usual)

I thought I would be putting on the fiberglass under the aft beam structure today, Hah. I don't know why it did not occur to me that this would be a lot easier if the plywood piece was already installed.  So I did that.

I'm hoping (a very tenuous hope anyway) that I can get out there tonight to put a filled epoxy fillet in the inside corner under there. So I will be able to glass tomorrow.  Also turns out that the glassing is only needed on the inboard side.

Besides that I made a couple more steps of progress on the second beam recess. I cut and installed the shims to bring the recess into square, and put on a couple of structure pieces on the aft side that will be needed when its time to install the studs. Tomorrow I need to build in the outboard structure parts (basically another set of shims). And might as well put on the additional stud structure on the forward side.

Lastly I was looking back though the last several posts and noticed that its been a while since I did a full hull picture. It's not that I think this picture is so great, but it does give a good impression of what it's like to work in the boat shed nowadays.

Even A Boring Day In The Boat Shed Is Still Pretty Good

It wasn't a great day, no momentous achievements or anything that was hard to do, just turning the crank. Working alone in the boat shed is turning into my peace. I think this has a couple of reasons. Firstly when I'm out in the boat shed my family tends to leave me alone. Maybe the boat shed makes me just unavailable enough that they find other solutions to their many needs. Secondly, the boat requires my thinking as well as my hands. This is relaxing because I can't think of all the various needs, problems, worries, and noise that usually occupy my mind. Just the wood, the tools, the boat.

I kept up work on the second beam recess and the aft beam supporting structure. These beam recesses are deceiving since they appear simple, but actually take quite a bit of work. A healthy number of pieces to get cut and fit-out and several let-the-glue-dry steps. It is rewarding though, here is the picture of the first beam recess.

Today I got the floor and mid-span vertical support cut and glued. Here is the picture of where I left it. The belt sander is there as it is pulling double duty as a weight to insure the floor is seated on its structure.

As for the aft beam structure I rounded the inside edges of the shears and the bottom edges of the deck stringer with a finishing router. and then I filled the inside corners (shear to hull wall and butt strap to hull wall) with filled epoxy. The idea being to get rid of any hard corners that would make laying in the fiberglass difficult.  I will sand the ridge that is still there at the edges of the butt strap but should be good to go after that.

Next trip to boat shed will be to lay some fiberglass on the inside of this piece of structure. This is a new thing, so if it goes well it will qualify as momentous.  

Moving Along But Need A Plan On Through Deck Fittings

Since today was my last opportunity for a bit, I made the most of it. Although I'm still not actually done with anything.  Progress was made on the first beam recess.

And also in framing the second beam recess.

I had some time so I started laying the groundwork for the structure needed for the aft beam cradles. This is basically a huge butt strap that acts as a backing plate for the aft beam mounts.

The specific challenge to this is that the underside of this needs to be glassed.  I think the trick will be to wet out the glass at a separate location and then move into position under the buttstrap and down along the interior wall of the hull to the topmost stringer.

On the through deck items I'm having trouble deciding how to go about installation. I wanted to use t-nuts so the nut could have some bite into the structure, but in order to install you need access from the inside after the deck is installed.  The best I have so far is the following procedure.

1. Dry fit the deck and drill over-sized holes
2. Remove deck and separately fill holes with filled epoxy (deck and underlayment already on hull)
3. Install t-nuts and studs in underlayment with epoxy
4. Drill correctly sized holes in decking (through cured filled epoxy)
5. Install deck with epoxy (use epoxy on stud in the deck through hole)

I don't really like this plan but for the moment its the best I've got. The last bit of fidgeting is over the aft beam cradles. I really don't want to install these until I have both hulls together to make sure the cradles are straight. Given and angles and distances at work a tiny misalignment could be big trouble later. The bummer is that I wont be able to finish the topside paint until I have both hulls done and the cross-hull alignments completed. I suppose that will just be the way things have to be, but I was really looking forward to have a completed, pretty hull.  I suppose I could leave the beam cradles loose, like giant washers between the hull and the aft beam. It feels wrong, but technically I don't think it would matter to the joint loading much. I'll sleep on that one.

Beam Recess,.....Again

I'm splitting time between finishing recess 1 and working on the second recess.  In a previous post I wondered why it was taking so long, and I think I have an answer. I'm simply having to measure every edge three or four times to make sure it's good. And I think the reason for that is that it is hard to trust your eyes. See the picture below to see what I mean.

As I was doing this I was worried that the vertical on the far side wall was off. So I laid a laser line down the edge of the previously installed cross member. As you can see it looks like it comes down from the shear at an obtuse angle (I held a square on the beam relief to show straight). So the line is right, it just looks wrong because your eye wants to use the shear as the reference. But you can't do that because the shear is moving all over relative to the CWL.  With that little rant done, this is where I left the second beam relief.

As for the first beam relief, I installed additional cross members aft of the recess as shown below.

I will do something similar to this at the forward side as well. That will make it so I can make 16 beam brackets all the same. I thought about having different stud locations at different hull locations. Implying that the brackets would be matched to certain locations as well. I spent a bit too long on that idea before I came to my senses.  I also trimmed and sanded the recess top and hull wall joints.

I still need to go to the hardware store tomorrow and will just keep working on recesses. Tomorrow will be my last boat shed opportunity until Monday the earliest, since my wife has a busy family weekend planned.  

Theory Of Conservation Of Laundry

Laundry is never created or destroyed, it only changes forms. And no matter how you may try to escape, the laundry will always be there waiting for you, very similiar to a conscience. This weekend we had a very nice Mother's day and then I neglected to do laundry on Monday. So yesterday I was facing a laundripocalypse. The good news is I survived and lived to get back out to the boat shed this afternoon.

I put the walls on the first beam recess. I've got this just about dead square and straight. Also I used the overage on the inboard side to help set up the depth cut for the second beam recess. See pictures below.

I also laid out the second beam recess and found it is almost exactly the same flavor of out of square as the first one. So I when setting up the bulkheads I must have put BH5 or BH6 out of square and then followed that mistake all the way down the hull.  Here is a picture that shows the problem.

Finally I did get the beam relief cut in the hull and a start at building in the recess framing.  I will try to finish out recess 1, while making progress on recess 2.  For the first one I need to add another cross member to the aft side of the framing to have something for the beam brackets to tie into.  Here is picture of the where I left recess 2.

Tomorrow is a trip to the hardware store for beam studs and t-nuts, stainless, of course.  Then I will start strategizing how to install those as I keep up the pressure on the second beam recess.

Beam Recess floor Installed

I got out to the boat shed this morning before the big kids woke up. Which isn't saying a whole lot since they are teenagers and won't wake up until noon if left alone. I did go out last night and got the epoxy coating done.  So this morning I cut one more piece, did some sanding, and got the recess floor and a few more pieces installed.

At the right are the shims I made to pull the beam recess into square. I need three wall pieces and to deal with the beam mounting hardware (which is going to be a little weird due to the shims) and then this beam recess will be done.  Which leaves 1 more beam recess, the aft beam mount, mast step and deck relief, two hatches, transom and bow light wiring and two cleats to worry about before installing the deck.  

Slow And Steady,,,,Did I Mention Slow?

I don't know why this is taking me so long. Yes, I'm stopping to measure quite often and yes this is requiring a lot of different tools, but even with all that said this seems to be moving at a snail's pace.  Here is the picture of where I left the beam recess.  I have some other pieces cut but have to wait for this round of epoxy to cure before installing them.

I'm thinking that tonight I will go out and paint the exposed wood pieces with epoxy so I can make a bit of progress tomorrow.  Tomorrow is mostly family stuff, but I will try to sneak in a bit of boat time. Sunday the boat is off limits for Mother's day.

Beam Recess

I finally stopped pondering this and got started. It's a little unnerving at first taking a saw to the just turned hull. Especially when the reference lines are distant and unseen references to the CWL.  Once I got started I felt much better. I'm getting better at using the right angle laser to quickly find my marks and am slowly learning to trust it.  The depth of the recess is defined as a distance from the CWL (like everything). So after some translating with the offsets drawing, I plotted the depth at two points (at BH3 and BH4). I then set up the below fence to guide my cut.

The verticals were marked out as offset from BH3 and perpendicular to the line marked by the batten. the first cut through the hull was the hardest. After that it is was a-lot of measuring and remeasuring before I mixed the epoxy. Below is how I left things.

Tomorrow I need to make a run to Dunn Lumber for more 1x2s and will keep up the pressure on completing the first beam recess.

This Is Going To Get Ugly

I spent most of the day on random house or kid functions. But did make a point to go out the boat shed to try to think a bit about my beam recess problems. What I found is more problems. When I set up the bulkheads I measured the station position on one rail and then made sure the distance was the same between bulkheads on both sides. This allowed (apparently) for some walk on the on non-station side. The result is that the bulkheads are not parallel to each other.  I dont think it makes that big a difference structurally or to the overall shape of the hull, since the beam is very short. But it does make a difference where BH3 is being used as the beam recess wall for the forward beam.  Here is a picture of how I'm laying things out in an attempt to right this mess.

This is not just a matter of cosmetics, there are 4 angle brackets that hold the beams to the hull. These need to have something stout on which to mount. Which is why bernd was using BH3. Bernd just didn't count on me coming along and making everything crooked.  I think I will build out the misaligned angle in the beam recess to make the recess square. Its going to be extra work (of course) but in the end this fix will be invisible from outside of the hull and  very difficult to see from the inside.

I should mention that while I'm mildly annoyed with myself over this, I'm not that upset.  Reason being that the hull is a giant box-beam. And the stiffness of the epoxy bonded joints means that the beam is sharing loads as if it were one piece. Point being that the hull will be very strong. Certainly strong enough to handle anything me and my kids will throw at it.  With this in mind I just need to concentrate on getting the major components built in a way that insures they will fit together. I've been a little scattered recently, but I think I'm going to focus on beam recesses. I need this prioritization to keep me from just walking around the hull thinking about all the things I could do, while doing none of them.

Have You Ever...

Have you ever had a problem for which you were working toward a solution, only to have someone come along and solve it, far more simply than you had even considered?  That is what happened to me when the incomparable Bob Burt mentioned that I should just go to the local hardware store to buy the epoxy pumps I was missing. Turns out it was a bit more complicated, I had to go to the local fishery supply store (about 1/2 mile further than the hardware store).   In any case the good news is that I have epoxy again and have put it to use gluing in the deck stringer.   I left out a picture because it looks exactly like the set-up picture from a few days ago.

I started laying out the electrical schematic and it has seems that I am overthinking this.  I only plan to run lights (all LED), a radio (intermittently) and maybe a device charger off the battery. I think I will buy 2 small 12 volt batteries so I can have a backup. At most I am only planning on spending 1 night at anchor at a time so I can rely on shore power to recharge the batteries.  The last piece of this is that since the batteries will be relatively small I will keep them in the cabin instead of in the hulls. I know this is sub-optimal from a weight distribution perspective but it will be much easier on the wiring especially since the cabin and hull need to be able to move relative to each other (fewer, smaller bulkhead connectors).

I'm feeling whole again now that I can use my epoxy. I've got a lot of errands tomorrow but will hopefully start chipping away at the long list of deck tasks. The heavy hitters are beam recesses, aft beam holder and trampoline rails.