Today I glued in place the last two 12 mm ply panels that form the bottom of the new vessel. It is a significant milestone as the sheets of 12 mm ply in the garage has dwindled down and the last five sheets will soon be stood up against the wall freeing up valuable working space. It is significant as the structure is now well protected from the weather and I have a dry place to continue the work.
Looking ahead there are lots of jobs to be completed before the two layers of 6 mm ply can be moulded around the radius chine. Foremost is completing the sealing of the water tanks around the keel floors and sealing the plywood inside the tanks. The interior of the water tanks are much cleaner than on Passion X as every floor has blocking back to the skin so there is less surface area and it is easier to coat. After the water tanks the tangent stringers all have to be trimmed to the radius and then the moulding can begin.
Having started by boat building career moulding Moths in my Dad’s garage I am quite at home tapering panels so that they lay flat on the stringers. I still have my trusty block plane from about 55 years ago and have been giving it a good workout on the 12 mm panels so the 6 mm ones should be OK.
This week Dudley sent through a Deck layout and that gave me a few evenings contemplating the changes and investigating the supply situation with fittings.
But it has been a big week. On Tuesday I worked a 12 hour shift to get two panels installed and cleaned up.
On Wednesday I took Passion X to JBC Engineering for a test run and confirmation of the drive train we will put in the new build. Everything stacked up well but we possibly need a bit more pitch on the propellor to stop the engine revving too high. That is a minor adjustment at the next lift out.
After the test run we had the Winter Wednesday at RANSA where we were fortunate to dodge the rain but that was about all. It was a pleasant afternoon with Elaine spotting dolphins in the harbour but the pleasure diminished when Allegro, Joli, Meridian, Love Byte and Brittania passed us as the breeze died. We did not do ourselves any favours by getting on the wrong side of a couple of shifts but we were in the mix and did not prevail.
Today I set myself the task of finishing the bottom ply comprising two panels from one sheet of ply. The full list of jobs comprised cleaning the weathering off the unpainted edges of the bulkheads where they will be bogged to the skin, adding doublers to the short stringers, cutting the short stringers to length and cutting the limber holes in the last bulkhead.
The final, final, fairing of the strongback to the bottom Vee took longer than expected but once done the panels could be cut and checked, edges routered, glue lines marked, screw holes predrilled at set spacing, screw holes counter sunk and then we could start the gluing.
It takes some discipline to keep the jobs progressing at a pace that will have the tasks finished before nightfall. After dinner and a break I finished the clean up under the tarpaulins and under the work lamp. There is so much white epoxy paint on the bulkheads and side panels that the light from the work light fills the interior and softend the shadows. Anyway I will clock it up as a ten hour day but a very satisfying one.
Just a couple more photos from the week.
