Progress on SEI and a really good evening out

Ive been working away in the shop, fitting the seat tops and filleting them, turning the offcuts into doublers under the edges and sanding out the odd dribbles of epoxy,  read on.

Blog 4 September

Its getting close,  today I fitted the forward seat top.   Tis is in two pieces joined down the middle and glued in to form  to form not only the seat but the top of the forward bouyancy tank, as well as bracing the mast box.

 Filleting, the white stuff is a low density filler from Epiglass with a little cotton mill fibre ( glue mix) mixed in, thats for strength. The brown is Microballoons but underneath that is a smaller fillet of straight glue applied about 6 hours before.  

So that’s done, yesterday I fitted the doublers under the edges of the center thwart and the after seat ( which should be referred to as “Stern sheets” but I’m not that “correct” in my terminology).  These doublers make a big difference to the feel of the boat, stiffening the overhanging edges of the seats considerably as well as giving them a much more “solid” appearance.

These adoublers re made from the scrap left over from cutting the big parts, there wont be much more than kindling left when I’m done with this project,  successively smaller parts get cut as the project goes on,  so the scraps get smaller each time around.

Stern sheets, the doublers sitting on the seat  above where they will be fitted underneath the overhanging plywood seat edge.

Center thwart.  This is a great way to use the offcuts from the planking, makes a much nicer job of the edges of the seat. Next job to do is to glue them in, then round them off.

Forward seat tops to come next.

So tomorrow its at them with the angle grinder and sander to finish off the endges, round them over and fair them.  Then some filleting, more sanding,  and then its time for paint.

I must say that the Fein Multimaster is an amazing tool for sanding fillets, the point of that triangular sanding head with 60 grit paper on it does a very good job, effortlessly and quickly.  I love this tool and would almost own it just for that.

Paint, the outside looks good,  two coats of primer, and two coats of  satin finish paint looks good, so tomorrow I’ll be splitting the white between two containers and pouring a little of the dark green into one to get the pale green for the interior and then start swinging that paintbrush again.

Tonight, my friend and next door neighbour Emily Scott sings.  She has won a scholarship to the UCLA School of Music where she will study in the Masters classical voice program,  this is seriously top level stuff!  I’ve been to a couple of performances and she’s got me converted to Opera.

Tonights performance is a fundraiser, she’s got to get enough money together to live in Los Angeles for two years to take up her scholarship, and I’m going along.

We’ve had shared dinners, helped each other out some, and enjoyed each others company.  I’ll miss her, all the very best Emily.

http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/news/news-2014/2014/07/scholarship-helps-talented-singer-find-her-voice.html

Here’s her facebook page, well worth a look.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=675895038&fref=ts

Time I got myself tidy, don’t need the black suit and tie but epoxy and paint covered overalls wont quite cut it.

( I went, full house, I listened, I enjoyed the concert immensely)

My big day

Today was quite the day. Im over my cold, as in, I dont feel like super-crap anymore, but my head and chest are still congested to hell and back. However, since Im slowly on the up and up, off to the basement for a little R+R.

Last night I realized that I had beveled the bottom of BH1 in the wrong direction. Today I fixed this by re-beveling it flat, and just leaving it as such until later. If I have to bevel it in the correct direction, so be it. Its only 2mm so its not too tricky.

Second, I found this:

Delamination in the ply on my Starboard bow, inboard. Approximately 4"x6" or so. Nothing on the "mated" side, the Port stern, so Im assuming it is only this piece that has the problem. I sounded it out with a pencil, and Ive got a good idea of its shape. I poured straight epoxy into the hole, then squashed it with bricks.

Third, I discovered this:


Thats my finger pointing at where the bow SHOULD be. OOPS. Im slowly coming along with the dreaded stem, and I went to match the stem to the bow and it came up a couple of cm short. Either my stem was wrong or my bow was wrong. I busted out the lofting map for the sides and for some damn reason, I measured 55mm from the end of the ply to the point of the bow rather than 55mm from the last 300mm mark. Damn, bro, good catch! So I re-marked the bow and cut them anew on both sides. The stem fits perfectly now, with room to spare for the bow knee.

Then, I got gutsy and ripped two of my cedar planks and and scarfed them for the chinelogs:

This is my scarf. Some of you are really going to hate this, but I eyeballed it on the table saw, and then planed them to match. Not perfect, but close enough for this amateur! I used a 1:6 ratio, so that would be 1 1/2" : 9".

THEN, I cut out the buttstraps and glued my scarfed chinelogs and my side together!


Here we are now in the garage. The buttstrap gluing kinda blew, I was by myself and I rushed it. I was sure I put on enough glue, but very little actually oozed out from underneath the straps. Im actually a little concerned I may not have put enough, but maybe I put just the right amount, I tend to go overboard with the glue. So well have to see about this.

Finally, I glued on a little piece of ply for backing on the transom for el rudder. Thats Spanish. That in itself was a mini-adventure, because the ply I chose for it initially starting sliding around after I glued it up on the old epoxy from the frame and the seat cleat. WOOPS. So I pulled it off quick, tore apart the garbage for an old jigsaw blade, and holding the jigsaw an inch above the ply ripped a small piece of one end so it could sit better between the frame and the cleat. Of course I got wood dust all over the backing, and I scraped it off, threw on some thickened epoxy, and called it good. I thought this would have been a simple operation, so I didnt wear gloves and holey moley my hands got sticky.

On a blog-related note, I am deleting the timing scoreboard from the blog. Its beginning to get inaccurate and more difficult to keep up with. Today I did a million things and Im not keen on attempting to figure out what was what. So maybe from now on just a tally total.

Transom

The transom is ready for gluing. I spent mucho time preparing the top frame last night, I cut it wide with the jigsaw and then sanded it down to match the ply, so this took quite a while. I was being cautious. Everything fits nice and tight and perfect. I am pleased with the result of taking my time with this important element.


AND THEN

I screwed up. I was cutting out the hole for the tiller. I carefully plotted everything out, carefully cut everything out, sanded smooth and inspected for variations. Along the top cut, I noticed I had ever-so-gently strayed "north" and my top cut was not as true as my bottom cut. "NO PROBLEMO" I muttered, whilst grabbing the jigsaw firing it up. "Ill just trim it straight out easy peasey! The fact that maybe the power tool wasnt the best idea didnt cross my mind and I proceeded to venture boldly north now, as opposed to gently stray. goddammit. Now the radius of the corner doesnt match the width of the hole, the top cut is wobbly and not even parallel anymore, and Im super scared to keep cutting to get it straight, because even with a jig clamped down for the jigsaw, I wasnt getting a straight cut. So Im leaving my wobbly, diagonal, cut as a two part lesson: a: SLOW DOWN. b: Its OK to screw up. Im owning up to it, and Im walking away from my almost-but-not-quite perfect transom.



Tomorrow, I will do the first gluing, and stay tuned for some exciting new boat developments!

A note on tools

A few things on tools that I have found out the past few days.

A japanese pull saw is awesome. I doubted it at first, hemming and hawing for months before getting a small one-sides saw. A FANTASTIC PURCHASE. Versatile, sharp, easy to use, and precise. Practice first, because youll saw through something important quickly and without realizing it (trust me).

My random orbital sander was a $9.95 DEATH DISASTER I purchased at cheap-tool-emporium Harbor Freight. Its so frustrating to use I want to throw it at the cement wall. I will have to go buy a better one that actually secures the sandpaper.

Most importantly, I was perusing my jigsaw blades and saw something called a "scrolling blade." It was small and skinny. "Hmmmm, I betcha this is for going around corners a little tighter than the normal blades!" Hmmmm, I reckon I was correct... and this was after I cut the hole through the transom, BH2 and BH3. Boo me, for not knowing my tools. Again, amateur style is my building style.

Other Storer boats

As many of you know, Mik Storer is the designer of my Goat Island Skiff.  As popular and as awesome as the Goat is, Mik has also designed other boats as well, all of them excellent.  Obviously my mind wanders to boat building as the days get shorter and water colder.  While I am Zinea, Pterodactylus and I will sail well into the cold season, Im getting a hankering to trying some new boats, if only to demonstrate my new hard won building skills.

For instance, I have had a real hankering recently to get a canoe so I can do some paddling on the local ponds and rivers, freeing me from the 1hr. car ride I have to make everytime I want to go sailing.  Its my water fix, and I need it.  Since Im not working now due to my two ruptured discs in my spine (Im fortunately mobile, but I cannot sit for any appreciable amount of time-- this is why the Goat is so awesome, I can easily stand and sail), Id love a canoe, but it needs to be a cheap canoe.

Voila, el answero:  The Quick Canoe.  Goes together quick and dirty and cheap for fun on the water.  Of course, one could also make it nice.  Csaba in Hungary just put one together, and put together this video for it.



I mean, how much more fun do you want, in 5 hours and a couple of hundred bucks later?  Already Ive seen sailing versions, narrow versions, white-water paddling, a motor-QC conversion, amongst numerous other builds, some really spanky nice, some really cheap.  Get on the water!

Another boat that really has my Goat *joke* is Miks sailing canoe yawl, Beth.  This is a beautiful boat.

  Please see Miks Beth Flickr page and peruse around.

Mik sells this plan with the caveat that you are going to capsize, get wet, go fast, and then capsize again, but boy!  She pulls at my heartstrings she does.  She may not be the best boat for my back right now, but shes on my hit list.  No kidding.

In the meantime, my good friend and adventuring buddy is working on his own Storer design, the elegant and multipurpose Eureka canoe.  Stay tuned to see this boat in person, vicariously through me.

Another boat perhaps on the Storer drawing table is the fabled "Son of Goat," a smaller yet just as capable version of the Goat Island Skiff, except mainly tuned to one person and the occasion passenger.  A thread here, describes the concept. 

A nice stable of boats, if I may say so myself.

Framing the transom

Ooooh boy, Im in it now. I got home after being on the road for almost two weeks and immediately picked back up on working on the boat. I decided to frame the transom. I cut the cedar parts to frame the sides, the bottom, and the seat cleat in 2:45. I thought it would go significantly quicker, but it didnt because it was a little more complicated than I thought, and my framing was fraught with multiple mistakes. I also do not have a solid piece of cedar for the top piece, which needs to be wider than any of my stock. Maybe Ill use two pieces, maybe that will have to wait.

The first mistake was correcting an old one... the transom needs 7mm of extra on the sides of the ply and 12mm extra on the bottom. I figured this was extra that was going to be cut off, so I threw in a few extra mm to make round numbers. Turns out the 7 and 12 is important, because I will be basing the bevel of the sides and bottom off these numbers. Fortunately I read the section first before, cleaned up the lines to the correct length, and then cut and sanded smooth.

After that, it was a comedy of errors cutting the cedar to fit appropriately. In the end, it looks good, tight, and straight. Next up, I have to glue it all on and/or seal the ply in epoxy and then glue it on. I also do not know how to bevel any of this stuff. This is something I am going to have to ask about for because I dont know how to do it simply and without screw up. Time to phone the collective.

Casco Bay ME

Today, I went sailing off of Portland on Casco Bay in Maine.  Joining me was Clint Chase, Boatbuilder who builds Goat Island Skiffs and cuts GIS kits for the homebuilder, amongst many other fabulous pleasure craft.  We had a delightful sail in light to an increasingly steadier sea breeze.  The pictures dont do the place justice, the water was cerulean, the sky deep blue, the clouds white... Casco Bay is amazing.  In the 60s era videos, Clint Chase Boatbuilder (yes, another shameless plug, this dude is the real deal) is skippering "I am Zinea, Pterodactylus" solo, while I took pictures from terra firma. 

VisionQuest ManQuest2010

After my solo Casco Bay trip it was time for my great friend Jason and I to do some nifty sailing together and answer some of Lifes Big Questions (ketchup was not the answer).  We loaded up "I Am Zinea, Pterodactylus"  and set sail!

Day One:  South Portland (A) to Bangs (B).


View Larger Map

This was an evening sail.  We enjoyed the tail end of a blustery day and made good time behind Long Island into Chandlers Cove and out up to Bangs.  The northernmost campsite was occupied so we turned upwind and rapidly moved southward enjoying some amazing bioluminescence as we sailed along under a moonless sky.  The rudder stock glowed an unearthly pale blue while bright sparks outlined our wake.  A magical few moments, indeed!  Rowing into harbor each oar splash sent off a swirl of luminescent water.  The Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy lit our campsite as shooting stars streaked over the dome of sky.  I couldnt have asked for a better way to start the trip!  I only have one picture-- the examination of our bottle of rum:

Day Two:  Bangs Island (A) to Eagle Island (B) to Jewell Island (C). (might have to zoom out on this one)


View Larger Map

Up after dawn the next day, we patched the sail which suffered a rip when it snagged a piling in South Portland.  Nothing a little duct tape cant fix!  We sailed off of Bangs Island and reached out to Eagle Island, which is a Maine State Park (reached by boat only) and used to be the summer homestead of Admiral Peary, the first person to make it to the North Pole.  How could two adventuring buddies resist visiting this beautiful island once inhabited by such a fascinating adventurer!?

Duct tape sail patch

Lobster boats

Ready for adventure!

Admiral Pearys house on Eagle Island

The view North, on Eagle Island

Goat Island Skiff from Adm. Pearys library!

After our visit to Eagle Island, we sailed upwind to Jewell.  The wind was around 17kts from the South East, and with such a large fetch we were definitely riding some nice large rollers from the Atlantic.  We would high point on one, surf down the backside in the trough, lose sight of some rock we were trying to avoid until we were hoisted again up on high.  It was an exhilarating, fast, and wonderful sail.  Our destination was a small beach next to the Punchbowl on the Northeast side of Jewell, where we were going to camp for the night.  Unfortunately, no pictures between Eagle and Jewell since we were so busy sailing.

On arrival on the beach we found two large parties underway with local families.  One gentleman went above and beyond the call of duty, and when everyone was done with their fill he brought us over a pan of mussels, harvested in the Punchbowl just hours before.  OH MY WORD-- after a cold wet sail, this was an amazing gesture that we will not forget!

On the Beach on Jewell

Camp

The Punchbowl, apparently the largest tidepool in Maine

Natures bounty-- mussels!

After our mussel feast, we wandered about Jewell.  This island used to have a military installation on it for defensive purposed during WWII.  This means observation towers, battlements, and batteries.  Kinda cool!

Looking north from the WWII tower

WWI tower from WWII tower, South

WWII Tower

South End of the Island

Evening.  Notice the disappearing sea wall with high tide...

That evening was windy and wet.  It spit rain, the wind picked up, and the boat got really bashed up on the beach as the tide came up.  The small protective wall went under water and the Atlantic came rolling right into our cove.  The decision was made to decamp for day three to Cocktail Cove, a beautiful and protected anchorage on the other side of the island, with camps that are located higher up from the water underneath pines.  A great spot.

Day Three:  Jewell Island to Cliff Island for sandwiches, and back to Jewell.

After moving camp, we sailed to Cliff Island next to Jewell and then back.  The rain and clouds moved out.  The rest of the day was spent snorkeling in the Punchbowl, swimming, enjoying the post-Labor Day serenity.

The Punchbowl

This cove will fill right up at high tide

Six Sailboats shared the cove for the night.

Oh yeah, there was a sunset.

Day Four:  Jewell Island (A) to Little Chebeague (B) to South Portland (C)


View Larger Map

The next morning saw passing showers, reports of isolated thunderstorms, and fog rolling in and out of the different islands.  This was go-home day.  We got up and after the rain decided to make a run for it.  The tide was up, the wind was whipping up whitecaps and pretty good rollers from the Southeast.  We decided to stay inside Casco Bay and go back to South Portland via Little Chebeague instead of the open-ocean passage.  In hindsight, it probably took the same amount of effort since the wind variations in Casco Bay actually left us becalmed for a bit.  A more consistent wind with albeit more effort on the Atlantic side would have yielded the same result:  tired yet happy crew.

The tides up in the cove-- before the wind and waves...

Camp Three, fog in distance

Drying out on Little Chebeague

Gluing BH 4 and some things I found out about gluing

Alright, Im a little frustrated at myself right now, because things are coming along nice, but not coming along like I want them too. Everything will be OK in the end, but it wont be as nice and neat as I would like to see, and thats aggravating. A lot of the mess stems from excess epoxy squeezing out and making the seams look all lumpy and dumb. A faster clean-up job before anything even begins to think about setting up would have saved me from having stupid looking frames.

First, Ive been having some problems at work that are pretty significant, and I wasnt as focused on gluing as I wanted to be or could have and that led to sloppy gluing work.

Second, I just dont have wood gluing experience. My epoxy/fiberglass experience is solely focused on my Laser, hull #194, from the early 70s. This boat has hit submerged objects, sandbars, docks, buoys, other boats, etc. at speed. Laser speed. Fast. Rig humming with 2/3 of the boat out of the water fast. Once, it fell off my car... while I was driving. Needless to say, Id just slop some epoxy on and keep going. Now that Im gluing together my wood boat, I cant be as messy, or at least, Id rather I wasnt as messy.

BH1 is messy but will be hidden mostly from view. BH2 is somewhat in view and the frames are going to visible, and its kind of messy. BH 3 could have come out perfect, but it looks messy too because I rushed and didnt STOP.THINKFIRST.NOTSOFAST. BH 4 came out really nice and clean, but the frame is mostly hidden within the rear airtight box, so no one will see my clean job! Dammit! Roar!

So heres a tip to you beginners out there: First, read all you can about epoxy. I have yet to find a nice primer/tutorial on wood gluing for boats, and that would have helped. The Storer forum, my thread in particular could help you out. Second, my biggest mistake in neatness is that I waited for the epoxy to firm up to a putty and then tried to hack off the excess. This is a mistake. This evening I glued BH4 together, let it sit for a few minutes to excess epoxy oozed out, and just cleaned it right up. Presto besto pesto yum done. A nice neat job. Why I didnt think about this 3 BHs ago, I know not.

Ive been out having little adventures

Last week I took the ship out up to Kawau Island, about 2 hours away by sea, visited friends their then went to meet up with the beginning of the Kiwi Raid at Sandspit.

I was the “baggage barge” for the first day, baggage including camping gear for about 30 people was a good sized cargo but there is plenty of space in the covered cockpit aft so apart from needing four loads in the inflatable to get it all ashore at Martins Bay where they were to spend 3 nights at the motor camp while exploring the river at Mahurangi and the islands in the area, it was no problem at all.

I had the pleasure of the company of Roz for a couple of days, she is the organiser behind the Taweh Nugganah raid in Tasmania, those people being the bulk of the participants in our raid here.  Nice to meet you Roz, thanks for the pleasant time, you’re a great “deckhand”.

Raid progress reports here, I wish I could have stayed longer,  next year!

http://nzcoastalrowing.org/page/2/

More Kiwi participants too, this is a fabulous event, well organised, well supported with escort boats, the campsites all arranged, food provided, well done all the organising team.

From there, it was Mahurangi Regatta time, the annual event for classic yachts held in the entrance of the Mahurangi River,  there are usually between 250 and 300 boats there and while I’m primarily interested in the small boats, and admit to being biased and wanting pics of some my own designs, this is a fabulous event and one that I hate missing. 

This time, with the aid of Denny on the helm I was able to get around the fleet, hopefully not inconveniencing any of the racers, and got some very good shots.

Waiting near the beach, this is Carlotta Ann, soon to be renamed Kairos, I dont have any connection to the original name and she was an opportunity not to be missed.  Shes my most of the time home, big, comfortable and capable. I still have five other boats two of them with sails so Ive not defected from the small boat fold.

Breeze, 65 ft on deck, operated by an Auckland Maritime Museum volunteer group, a lovely sight at the Mahurangi Regatta, she sails the course with all of the racers and adds much to the spectacle. Yes Ive been up on that yard, while shes not a big ship its still a long way down.

Four of the St Ayles skiffs from the raid, all Tasmanian crews. Thanks for coming over people, great to meet you.

A sloop rigged Pathfinder,   http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans/pathfinder/index.htm 

At this stage of the race  lying second to a boat that has won the event multiple times, local knowledge makes a huge difference on this course.

Rogue, slim, easily moved by that big sail. She finished second, well done. 

http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans/rogue/index.htm

Saturday Night Special, designed to be a really quick and easy build for events such as the Texas 200, while not at her best in the very light winds ( the T200 is a notoriously windy event, there is an alternative larger sail area rig) she more than held her own among a fleet of very competitive small racers.   http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/jw/sns/index.htm

No excuses for just chasing pics of my own designs, the opportunity does not come up very often so I take it where it happens.  But Ive more pics and will post again.

We took the ship up the river to Warkworth, the town at the head of the navigable part of the river, being a midday tide and a holiday weekend, plus the Raid boats were up there with John Dory their escort,  it was way too crowded and no space at the dock so I managed to turn us around in the smallest space imaginable without touching anyone else, a maneuver that I was very proud of, tied up at the kayak jetty ( not being used at the time) for an hour then headed back out.

Perfect weather, light winds, just enough to move the boats, sunny and calm, itrs a lovely venue and ideal for boatwatchers, birdwatchers as well, there was a big flock of Fluttering Shearwaters resting just off the point as we came in.

I’m back at my home dock now, have a few jobs to do before I catch the bus into the airport and fly across the Pacific to Santiago to meet up with Howard Rice to help prepare the way for his planned Southern Ocean adventure with his SCAMP.

Check it out here.   http://www.below40south.com

The fundraiser is to make a movie so everyone can share the adventure. The cameras are organised, the filming planned, it’s the production costs that we need to cover, even ten dollars will help.  Please.

I’ve not been to Chile before, New Zealand has strong trade ties with that country and quite a few Chileans live here, but this is a first on that continent for me.

I’m very much looking forward to it.

Watch this space for reports.