Archive for May 2023
Another ten days has slipped away with the seemingly endless task of sanding. On the 23rd May after a long sanding session I washed the hull down and took a few photos of the undercoat. The sides and the radius chine look very fair but I was still unhappy with the finish in the bottom particularly at the bow. After more sanding I rolled and brushed another coat of Interprotect over the bottom at the bow and was still not happy. In some areas I had overfilled with filler and more sanding was needed. Much of the problem was due to the light conditions so I applied sanding guide to the whole bow area and to selected patches on the bottom where I had previously applied filler. The sanding guide was a great aid to improving the bottom finish and after another coat of Interprotect sprayed over the whole bottom I am happy with the finish.
In the next few days I will sand any rough patches and apply another coat of Interprotect and leave the bottom until the hull goes to the dock for launching. There I will have a final two coats sprayed both for added protection and for the tie coat to the antifouling.
Inside there has been much sanding of the unpainted bottom from the bow to the stern. Working from the two ends towards the middle the bow to the mast step is primed as is the stern to the cabin top. The bow area has also had the primer sanded ready for the second coat so some progress is being made.
Between strenuous sanding and tedious painting I have been looking for less taxing tasks so little wood working tasks have been added to the job list. A little filleting of furniture to the hull here and there and a few doublers where hinges will be screwed all add to the progress in detail if not in visual impact.
This last ten days have been good for boatbuilding with dry conditions and mostly light winds and the forcast for the next few days look promising to complete the bottom painting.
On the sailing front we have had a couple of very light air races. Last Wednesday we worked the breeze up the middle and seemed to be working out from under the fleet when the breeze came across the course from the opposite side. We had to sit and wait for the breeze to get to us by which time seven yachts had passed us by from the windy side of the course. On the run home we made up some ground and negotiated a larger wind shadow to finish 7th fastest and 7th on handicap. This was a good result considering the ground we lost waiting for the wind to arrive.
Today I studied the tide charts and decided we needed to stay out of the incoming tide. Despite the boat end being to leeward of the fleet it was well out of the tide and had a hotter angle away from the line. Allegro started lowest but at the hottest angle and Joli seemed to follow suite but I wanted to lowest position on the course out of the tide.
Britannia and Monkey Magic had the same idea with Monkey Magic the most aggressive gybing back to the slow tide area. Unfortunately they zigged out of the wind when they should have zagged and waited for a very long time for the wind to return.
Ourselves and Britannia had the best selection of wind and tide and as a result ran away from the fleet. Britannia was first and fastest and we were second and second fastest.
Motoring home from the finish line we were able to see how much of a lead we had established over the field.
What little wind there was up near the heads soon died so we towed Britannia back to RANSA. After detour we could see the fleet in the distance still trying to finish.
Apart from picking a good line up the course we had the crew camped on the bow and to leeward, a very light line on the genoa clew and the backstay on tight to flatten the main and let the wind exhaust from the sail.
After today’s result we are back up to second in the series just one point behind Allegro.
In the ten days since the last post I have made steady progress helped by a few crew who devoted several hours to sanding both inside and outside the hull.
Before that the furniture in the galley and quarter berth ante room had been fitted and the filleting of the bulkheads to the skin completed.
An unexpected task was to extend the gussets on the rudder port out another 200 mm each side and fix in with four layers of 450 gram double bias epoxy glass. This was a change Dudley had advised back in September 2002 but which had slipped my mind until Dudly gently reminded me via a request for an updated photo. I promptly did the change and sent out the photo but it took the best part of two days to fit the gussets and then glass them in place in the upside down position. Once the hull is turned I will add more glass around the port and the strongback for appearance sake and to tidy up the finish on the glass.
Last Wednesday was another steady result on the water with Passion X. We won the race on the run to the top mark by an inside overlap on Allegro but an override on the mainsheet winch stopped us following the fleet inshore where they picked a big lift. Despite dropping a few positions we sailed well to make up ground and finish with a 4th place on handicap. It was another good result in strong winds with a reef in the main and the No 3 jib.
This coming week looks like a complete change to a drift but there is still a few days to go.
After the crew assistance with sanding I decided to get a little more aggressive with the torture board on the last four coats of epoxy primer to remove the remaining uneveness in the bottom panels. I had roller coated the bottom due to the wind conditions and that needed more sanding than the sprayed sides. Also I had overlapped the four sprayed coats from the sides with the four coats on the bottom around the radius chine so on the radius chine I had a lot of paint to help with the fairing.
On the bottom the design has three layers of 450 gram double bias glass along the centre line and each layer is wider than the next to achieve a taper from the glassed section to the unglassed section. Now the glass is 1.5 mm thick as a minimum and the taper was not over a wide enough area to remove the appearance of a hollow along the keel line. While this was by design I decided to use the opportunity of an aggressive torture boarding to take off the glass high spots and fill the long hollows. Three days later the bottom is bogged up ready for a final fairing and another two coats of epoxy primer hopefully in more favourable wind conditions.
We had a lovely time sailing to Newcastle and Port Stephens for Sail Port Stephens, a good regatta and a pleasant transit back home via an overnight stop in Pittwater. Along with preparing Passion X for the trip with an engine service and provisioning the event took up two weeks.
This year’s Newcastle to Port Stephens race was our best result on ORCi club since launch. I have removed the Code Zero from the rating and that helped a little and we were pleased to finish mid fleet. On Scratch we were tenth and just a few seconds behind the J111 Black Sheep and a couple of minutes in front of the Farr 30 Nocleks. The reaching leg suited Passion X and we were unable to repeat the performance in the regatta at Port Stephens. We were however mightly pleased with our fifth place.
One day back and the RANSA Winter Wednesday started. With a strong north westely breeze the course had two long reaching legs which again suited Passion X. Initally the two sports boats blasted away for a sizeable lead at the top mark while we rounded with Amante. The positions held up to the turn in Rose Bay when we started beating to windward. Amante leapt ahead but we performed well in the conditons with the No3 jib and a reef in the mainsail. Before long we had overtaken the over powered sports boats and maintained our break on the fleet. The second fastest to Amante and first on handicap was a pleasing result but the handicapper penalised us a full percentage which came into play this week.
This week the breeze was a more traditional West South West with a broader reach up and a work all the way back. After a good start we lost the wind out wide and never fully recovered . We did manage to round the top mark with Allegro, Crosshaven and Amante. Love Byte and Alibi were also in the mix making the rounding very tricky.
We worked back doggerdly picking up yachts as we could and were pleased to pass the Sydney 38 and the First 40 and make up ground on Monkey Magic but at the finish we were seventh fastest and last of a group of four who finished within one minute. Indeed we were on corrected time only a minute and two seconds off of third place.
Well done Foreign Affairs and Meridian for leading the fleet home.
Including today I have had only 8 working days in three weeks so it is no wonder progress seems slow sdo what have we done.
The transom boarding platform was closed off on 14th April. Then I started on the galley furniture completing the panels for the fridge and oven compartments and then started on the chart table. We then left the chart table skeleton while we enjoyed Sail Port Stephens.
On return I reworked the supports for the hull after the turnover. To accommodate the wider hull the supports had to be reshaped and the reworked support surface reglassed to the plywood frame. That is mostly done and sitting next to the building jig.
The skeleton of the chart table was causing me some headaches and I mean that literally as I hit my head on the sharp edges so I was highly motivated to complete the structure and round all the appropriate surfaces. That I did but not before destroying a router bit and taking a small nick out of the plywood. It is all repaired and complete except for the lid on the table and the top of the navigator’s seat.
A lot of painting later the components of the galley and quarter berth lockers are double coated and ready to install. That I am hoping to do tomorrow so that I will have something to show for my efforts.
Coating both sides of the locker fronts takes a minimum of three days as while I can do both sides in a day the coating is not hard enough to sand the following day so they have to be left the extra day to harden. Mix that up with wet weather and other obligations and it seems like time is standing still.
Not wanting to waste any mixed epoxy I have a large area of the V berth primed and sanded ready to take a second coat in the event any paint is unused but sadly the paint is running out on the jobs at hand and the V beths are still in their first coat state.
There are miriad tasks to complete before the hull can be turned. All the joins in the hull have been inspected and any gaps filled with thickened epoxy. All the ply joins have been double glassed and most of the hull to bulkhead joins have been filleted. Just the deck locker and transom area have to have the filleting completed. Once this is done I will finish priming the interior so that after turning it will be protected from any adverse weather events.
