Well done, a fair bit of thinking went into that flip although it wasn't a standard one. I couldn't see any beers to oil the helpers.
I've got a U haul tandum the same as yours in the yard atm. I'm glad it didn't suffer the same fate last night on the road.
Jack,
Nah, no beers till after. The plan was wacky enough without alcohol mixed into the execution! I took them all down to the Bateau Bay Hotel for a "lunch" after which went down a treat given it was a very hot day. We arrived with the hire trailer at 8:45 and were finshed with the shed locked up at 11:00.
The Bateau Bay pub is a good spot. I recently moved to Empire Bay from Brisbane. I look forward to seeing the finished product out on Brisbane Water and Broken Bay before too long. Good luck with the rest of the project. I have been watching and learning, and have thoroughly enjoyed following the build so far. Well done.
Cheers,
Myles
"Elempi" American Bertram 33, 3208T Caterpillar power
Big congrats on reaching the "flip" milestone Steve. Great work on achieving said flip without a crane too. I like a lateral thinker
I bet it's great to have right right way up..... must really feel like you're getting somewhere now
Thanks, Midnight. Hey its great to see someone from the Central Coast on here! Woo, it does feel great and I am really re-energised.
On Monday I cleaned up the shed, finished laying out and taping down new plastic on the floor and building stairs either side in the stern. Tuesday I glassed the wide part of the bridge deck. This had been kerfed to accept the curve. I also glassed the insides of the motor wells, now upright, with 300, 200, and 100mm fiberglass, same as the outsides. In between I drove up to Swansea and had a look at Frank and Pauline's Spirited 235 wanting to get a picture in my mind of the under-deck work, particularly provisions for cabling and plumbing.
Frank died of pancreatic cancer midway through the build of his boat and Pauline has finally had the canvas and the flooring completed. She still hasn't launched the boat and is thinking now of selling. Such a sad thing in the middle of their retirement dream . Just goes to show: If you have a dream....
Wednesday, I leveled the boat again so everything I glass in is plumb and square. I also put up hand-rails on the stairs. I sanded off the sharp dags from the glassing (ahhhh the itch of glass fibre again!). I also located and cut out the forward webs (between the anchor lockers) the three full width bulkheads,and the intermediate half bulkheads which I'll start to install install this week. It's going to start looking like a boat real soon!
Yesterday I cut out all the full and half bulkheads. These are all glued and taped in and provide torsional rigidity.
I managed to get most of Bulkhead 1 glued and glassed in yesterday along with the three webs which separate the very front of the boat into 4 sections. On the outside points of each hull are flotation chambers which will be sealed, and inside these are a deck locker and an anchor locker. I expect it will take me about 2 days per bulkhead.
Questions for the brains trust:
1. You see from the last picture that there is a web on the centre line which separates the anchor locker from the deck locker. Any pictures/ideas out there of how to set up the bow roller and a internally mounted drum anchor winch with an offset anchor locker?
2. I'll also be having to install the tow-eye on the centreline to winch the boat up on the to trailer. Any suggestions for how to mount that without cutting away part of the web? I reckon I'll have to put in a backing pad for that as well.
It's good to be building again! And this part doesn't need fairing!
Steve
Steve
"internally mounted drum anchor winch with an offset anchor locker"
Off the top of the head, Could you build a "dish / cup" in which to mount the drum anchor winch and take a "chunk" out of the dividing bulkhead between the the two lockers and mount the "cup" containing the drum on the top of the now lowered bulkhead. You could also run a few fore and aft stiffeners / strengthening members off the sides of the "cup" to mount the drum bearings to that will also provide a strong mount for the "anchor cup"
The front end of the "cup" support arms also includes a backing plate for the tow eye to be mounted thru.
Next?
What yu think?
Cheers
Chimo
What could go wrong.......................
Just ideas . I know with precuts I am probably causing a nightmare.
Keep it simple . Mount the winch in it's natural position in the middle as far from the bow as possible to keep weight off the nose. It's mount plate will also act as the stiffening and backing for the tow / winch hook. Change the strengthening webbs to suit. Remember that tow hook will be what VMR tows you through a bar with so big strong backing and extra oversize to start with and reasonably low down so it is lifting the hull rather than diving the hull in a tow. Still need it accessible for clipping on a trailer winch strap. As yours will be moored you also need to have a really sturdy bow roller and a large surface area for it to mount on with a bollard as well. Bollards and roller cop pizzling on moored boats as they veer all over the place and constant flogging from waves / swell unless on a very protected mooring spot. Do a template of your front roller out of mdf and throw the anchor on it and a sham up a cardboard bod for teh template of teh winch and see just what space you have . Hard to tell from photos unless you have seen one with a drum winch in it.
Remember that with a drum winch the anchor will always be out there on the bow so you will need a double bow roller as you will need the 2nd one to have the mooring line come over and connect to the bollard and be clear of the anchor so it doesn't cut it.
You have mentioned a pet hate of mine - air floatation . Seriously I know it is legal but do you really want to trust the intregity of something to be airtight in 10 years time. Put foam in it and a access cover so it can always be checked and you can get to things like the nuts under railing fittings rather than screw them through decks or repair if you smack a dock. Same for under your coamings later on.
Sorry to hear about the ather bloke who was building one. Shame he didn't get the opportunity and satisfaction to finish it and use it. At least he went still doing things not just sitting around dreaming.
Edit
I can't remember shape of deck etc.
Just a odd thought. Mount the anchor winch behing the 2 storage lockers on the centerline on deck with a cover .
The other thing to remember is when will you use the drum anchor. Overnighters , only on sand etc etc. We use a reef and chain from deck a lot with a strop to the bow as it is simple and cheap if we get caught up. Really fast to pull with a buoy if in deep water. I just don't like donating anchors at the price of good ones with chains to the deep. Yep you can just have a shackle and attach a reef to the main drum is teh other way and your good anchor won't get stolen while it is siting on your mooring. You could run a single roller and slip teh main anchor in teh locker everytime you mooor up as well .
Hey Chimo & Cormorant thanks for the thoughts, lots to chew on whilst I'm glassing. I finished taping Bulkhead #1 and the deck locker webs today. Here's a couple pictures which show them pretty well. I've also included a picture of my Swansea mate's foredeck. The back of the anchor locker is 850mm from the front of the boat and is 777mm at its deepest.
Chimo, I could build a box centred on cutout in the centreline web, just big enough to hold the winch. The box itself would replace the support provided by the web, and prevent other things in the lockers from getting tangled up with the winch. The box could be made with a built-in backing plate that would spread the loads to bulkhead 1. Thinking about it, I'd still use the box even if I offset the winch to one side. I'd have to think about access to the winch for maintenance. The nice thing about centring the winch would be a straight run the the bow roller without a turning block.
Cormorant, lots of good advice in there. I hadn't even thought about filling the boyancy chambers with foam. That'd be really easy to do, but how would you check the bottom of it to see if water got in? My mate put a 5" round inspection port thought his bulkhead to check the floatation chambers he also had to cove and glass the deck down through this hole-there's gotta be an easier way! I suppose if you fill it up with foam or 3/4 of the way from the top, then it doesn't have to be air tight does it? That'd allow for a proper inspection hatch to get at the deck for glassing mounting etc.
You also mentioned putting foam under the coamings. There is a double wall there, back in the cockpit but I was thinking about opening that up and building in rod lockers in there. I'll have to check with the designer about what floatation calculations have been figured in the design. (the build material all has 90% or better boyancy, I'd guess.) I guess the good thing about filling these areas with foam is that air can be displaced with water through a fairly small hole - not true with foam.
Now, you've given me a really good idea for the the tow/winch hook. I've been thinking about those relatively little D brackets with 8mm studs. I could actually use something much larger, like a stainless rod, threaded on both ends and bent in any shape I'd like. Problem is: the lower it is the more impossible it is to reach from the deck. I guess a permanent pennant is the solution as I read in a thread on that topic on this forum, that'd let me get it nice and low but it just seems like an afterthought. However, it could come up through one of the double rollers.
As I said, you've given me much to think about, so....
Thanks guys,
Steve
Steve
I'm starting to put in the floors now and I needed a way to bond the floor to the outside of the hull. I could have put in a strip of wood (with its weight and potential for rot) but decided to create some bonding angles out of fibreglass instead.
I made a mould/clamping system out of a couple 4X2's to make two bonding angles at one go which then get sawed apart and trimmed with a jig saw. The sides of the boat flare a bit so I took a sliding bevel and measured the angle. Using a table saw I transfered this angle to both sides of a 4X2. I then ripped another 4X2 in half using the same angle. All three pieces got covered in packing tape. With the pressure of the clamps, all the excess resin gets squeezed out.
The pictures pretty much tell the story. As part of my kit, I got one whole roll of 450 gm/sqm sliced into 100mm sections used for joining all the panels. I had one odd ball slice of only 70mm and I used six 2 meter long strips of this to make the bonding angles, three layers for each side of the 4X2.
Here’s the completed queen berth and cabin sole, all glued and taped in, using the bonding angles from the previous post. Making the hatches involved cutting them out with a jig saw, then routing out 5mm of the core material from the edges of the hatches and the floors. This groove then had to be filled with medium density filler to create a nice finish that will stand up to wear and tear. There will be a huge storage area underneath the berth on the starboard side. An electric toilet and holding tank will be installed on the port side, as far forward as possible. The hatch there will be used to access through hulls for the toilet.
hi there Steve ive missed a bit of your build but have court up with it great turn over job and looks like you have been building at a great pase,cheers chris.
Hey Guys, it's time for me to order my fuel & water tanks. Looking around, 2 of the 40 gallon (150 L) Moeller permanent plastic tanks look good and would fit. I'm thinking of the same for fresh water, but from Atlas Tanks who I've had good dealings with in the past. I'd only rarely need to carry this much but then if I need it I'd have it. Any comments on running with these 1/3 full or less most of the time? Is there a Moeller distributor in Aus?
I've made a fair bit of progress. All of the 4 main bulkheads are now in. Also completed is the enclosure for the toilet. Holding tank is still a work in progress. I've also installed the 3 pair of intermediates (half bulkheads) which strengthen the hulls and provide support for the floors. The floors will be attached to the bulkheads and the hull sides by 90 degree bonding angles which you can see in these pictures. On the topside floors will be coved and glassed in place. This picture and the next show the bonding angles. This picture is of the underfloor compartments in the Wheelhouse. Port and Starbord 150 litre watertanks will be installed in the forward compartments. The following picture shows the underfloor areas in the cockpit. Two 165 litre Fuel tanks will be installed in the port and starbord forward compartments with the aft ones left for bouyancy compartments and storage. All tanks will be accessible through hatches large enough for inspection /repair/replacement.
To recap the layout, the boat will be 7 metres long. The forward 1 metre is anchor lockers and aft of this are 3, 2 metre areas: the head & berth area, the wheelhouse, and the cockpit. Under the floors, an intermediate bulkhead creates 2 compartments in each hull under each living area measuring 1000mmX 600 mm wide and 800 mm deep.
I'm coming to the point where I'll need to glue down the floors therefore tankage decisions have to be made.
The recommended 60L SS Cruisetanks and didn't have nearly the capacity I wanted for my planned travels, trailering to Qld and fishing the reef (assuming that it's not locked up by launch time.) I settled on 2 150 L fuel tanks. Given the boat is light (design is 1250 Kg including 500Kg of people, fuel and stuff,) I'm anticipating 1.3 K/L. That would give me a max range of 390km. For the rest of the year I'm going to be pottering around Sydney. For that and to keep the fuel fresh, I only need small tanks and I'm planning on installing two removable portable tanks of 20L each, leaving the permanent tanks empty unless I go cruising.
I got two quotes, for two 5052 150L aluminium tanks. One was $1750 the other for $2550 that included epoxy coating. On the other hand plastic tanks from the US, 2X 150L cost me $817. delivered.
The ones I chose are the new Moeller Marine tanks which have a bi-layer design to meet the 2012 EPA evaporative emissions law in the US. The inner layer is nylon which is chemically impermeable and the outer layer is XLPE or Cross-linked polyethylene. Moeller have been making these tanks for 2 years now. They have 2800 sold and according to them no warranty claims so far.
I couldn't find a Moeller distributor here that carried this tank, but both Amazon and West Marine are dealers for Moeller. West Marine wanted $349.99 for a tank, and $178.49 FedEx to Australia $528.48 X2 = 1056 total. They were $50 more per tank and $139 more on the shipping.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote