Grey Seal

Meanwhile I’ve done a bit of woodwork on the boat. A rough out of the Samson post

Which have a bolt and a block under kingplank also the bronze crossbar is around here somewhere! There’s still a bit to do on post which at its bottom end is notched around one of stem fitting bolts. Can’t fit it until I have the deck on which will be major.

in the cockpit I’ve fitted the Carlin’s and sidedeck beams which completes the deck framing. Now ALL I’ve gotta do is fair it all in. The Carlin’s were laminated to the curve of the sheer but of course it’s not the same curve is it. After I had the lamination in hand I rough cut it to length and positioned it in its place but about 50 mm high because I have bulkheads for/aft. I used a level and pencil riding on sheer to plot the side curve of sheer then cut the deck angle of 6 degrees onto the top of beam. It actually sits vertically so next job will be to cut a wedge/shim with seat backrest angle (12 degrees) and glue it inside Carlin.

The rudder is receiving some love too in the form of some dynel sheathing. One piece each side wrapped around and peel-plied.

Now that weather has warmed a little it’s easier to get my lazy bones out in the shed again. The rudder is about 3/4 done and in this photo it’s mounted to sternpost and blade has been dyneled and 3 coats of neat epoxy. I tinted the coats that’s why it looks a little 70’s. Still deciding how to to treat the cheeks and gotta make the tiller too.

Currently working on fairing deck beams (gentle application of belt sander!) then the grind of epoxy coating and painting them.

Just for a major injection of enthusiasm I made up the templates for cabin ply out of mdf and some wallpaper ones for decking pieces. I don’t have a lot of ply left so I’m trying to work out how much more I’ll need to order before Xmas shutdown here. Whole bloody country seems to start shutting down in November and goes til February so you have to get in with your orders beforehand.

I had the fortune to receive some templates for portlight rings from Ian Milne (thanks Ian dunno how many days you saved me making those) and had a bit of fun working out how to mount them on a dummy piece of ply. Still needs work. I used a sub-base on my trim router with a nail pivot.

Thanks for the pictures Ian. In a way I’m lucky that my ply is 12mm so all I need is a rebate for the casting back-lip and to take lexan. I’m planning on an inner ply “ring”to takes screws similar to yours , inside cabin

Well I’ve decided on cut layout for remaining sheets of ply and it looks like I might make it, barring any whoopsies. So all up I’ve used 20 sheets of 1/2” , 3 or 4 sheets of 3/8”(interior cabinets and bunks) , 4 sheets of 1/4” ( cabin roof).

Above are are all deck pieces layed out with scarf allowance, just for OCD satisfaction I’ve lapped the scarfs from bow to stern. In the end it doesn’t take much to cut each scarf just some noise and dust. At one stage I was considering butt joins but Ian Milne talked me out of it thankfully.

Dynel and peel ply isn’t as easy as it seems at first sight. I’ve done a little fibfreglassing in past with 6oz cloth but wetting out Dynel is a bit more difficult. After a first failed attempt I stripped it all off and filled three bins. For the next go I had my epoxy coated and sanded ply all ready so outgassing hopefully wouldn’t be as much of a problem this time round. What I failed to realise first time was that the days peak temperatures were not til 5 pm! So this time I started then and finished about 9.30. So after a rough, levelling sand this is what it’s come up like.

also had some bronze ports cast for me, which need polishing now( thanks for the patterns Ian)

We’re into the summer hot weather here, days can get up to 43+Celsius but Ive made a rule that no work over 30. Started work on cabin where I’ve got the sides and front cutout and dyneled. Beams are in production and so far its been pretty easy working out curves. Front and back beams just follow bulkheads but in between each beam has its own curve so I need to set up everything and measure each beam’s arc to laminate it. In the photo you can also see the porthole doublers (for screws) which will need cutting down to fit under the Carlin.