Building 23' catamaran. Build updates

[stevemid]

One thing I've learnt about all your work Steve is that its top notch. Most of the time spent would've been putting all that tape down perfectly.

Yep, it took two of us a full day + 2 hours to tape. The painting was done in 4 hours.
Steve

[stevemid]

Happy Australia Day!

I finished off some odds and sods this week and other than canvas, soft furnishings and getting the rego, I'd have to say the boat is pretty much complete.

I did all the thru-hulls in one go: underwater the outlet for the toilet and the saltwater inlet. I've deferred installing the holding tank and the toilet. Cormorant gave me a suggestion long ago to look at using a camp stool toilet with a plastic sacks and a bag of kitty litter. That idea has been buzzing in the brain and I may give it a try. I did already buy a TMC mascerating toilet but as luck would have it, I'm going to need to replace the unit on the sailboat before selling so it could go there. Above the waterline, I installed skin fittings for the following drains: Sink, fridge, cockpit hatch gutters and the cockpit floor drains. Also in the plumbing category, I installed the kitchen sink and tap, and the fresh water pump (in the galley cabinet next to the fridge compressor) leaving a provision to run a fresh water line to the back for a stern shower.
Sink.jpgFresh Water Pump.jpg
I debated about just punching 50mm pvc pipes as scuppers out the transom but although they would be more efficient, I opted for some nicer looking ones that I set in bog in the floors, in the back corners of the cockpit.
IMG_1754.jpgIMG_1755.jpg
Earlier I showed pics of the locations of the portable fuel tanks. Some time ago I built cradles for these tanks which limit side-to side and forward and aft movement of the tanks. Today I added a strap to hold them down in the cradles.
Tank Cradle.jpgTank Strapped In.jpg
The wiring was completed some time ago but I thought I'd show how I fitted everything in to the helm station. I created a door that swings down from the bottom of the helm and to this I mounted a fuse panel for everything not connected to the fused switch panel. In the second pic forward of the hydrive hydraulic pump you see one of two of the Yamaha intelligent hubs. Each hub has provision for a power input, 4 instrument inputs and a hub-to-hub connector. On the back of the Speed instrument there's a 6 pin connector which takes analogue leads from the two fuel tanks and the NMEA output of the GPS. Very neat and no NMEA 2000 ethernet hubs required (so far.)
Wiring Swinging Door.jpgWiring inside helm Yamaha Hub.jpgDashboard.jpg

I also installed hand holds next to the cabin door and put my 6 kg Rocna anchor and 150 metres of 6mm nylon rode in the anchor locker. I've had to defer the drum anchor winch due to cashflow issues so I'm not showing pictures of the rope; you'll just have to use your imagination.
Handholds.jpg
Next project is the canvas. I've got a sailrite walking foot sewing machine and I've done all the canvas on Lorelie so I'm feeling confident I can do a semi-professional job on the cockpit canvas. Lorelie is for sale incase anyone would like to give up their stink boat ways. The good news with Lorelei is that you can't tip it (for long) top speed 6.5 NMPH, and Jessica Watson will testify to her sea keeping ability.
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[Chimo]

Excellent Steve as we have grown to expect. You should be very proud. If the S&S 34 is in the same sort of nick as the 230 maybe Jess will grab it for old times sake!

Have you hung the motors on yet? Any action on the plates or how are you going to play it?

What did you end up doing about a trailer / tow vehicle?


Cheers
Chimo

[stevemid]

No motors yet. When I finish the canvas, I'll drag it out of the shed on 6 4 wheel carts, then hoist it up on an 8M sliding tilt tray for the 40 minute journey down to fenwick's marina where the travel lift will plop it in the water. On the way to Fenwick's we will weigh the loaded truck and on the way back, we will weigh it empty, so I will know exactly the weight of the rig. Yamaha Marine will be waiting at Fenwick's with their workboat to tow it 100M to their slipway to install the hydraulics and the motors and do the on-water tests. Knowing that the motors ared going to be low (per sharkcat mounting experience) I'm going to have them mount the motors in the top holes and hope that'll be close enough, but my guess (and it is only a guess) is that they will still be 20mm low which if it turns out that way will initiate the jackplate phase of my life.
Once that's all complete I'll start on the trailer which I anticipate will be oil filled, epoxy painted, mild steel.

For a boat weighing no more than 1200 Kg, does anyone have any suggestions on the size of the longitudinals and the crossmembers that I should use? I've found a very good welder with a shop in the country and I can have the axels, springs and accessories delivered straight to him.

[stevemid]

Well, the boat's pretty much built so I decided to do the canvas and the cushions before leaving the shed. I do have a walking foot sewing machine which is mandatory for working with larger pieces of canvas. I pretty much paid for this machine by doing the canvas on the sailboat myself rather than paying to have it done. Although that first project showed my inexperience, I'm convinced I can get a semi-professional result if I just take my time.

Here you see the sewing table and the Sailrite Ultrafeed sewing machine. For anyone interested, Sailrite produce lots of how-to videos for everything from cushions to sails. Qld. Sewing Machines is their Aus Distributor and Greg is a helluva good guy to deal with. I decided to go with Sunbrella Plus "Toast" coloured fabric just to be different: everyone has dark blue and the turquoise colour seems to fade quickly so I went with this colour.

I started by deciding to make my breaks in the track on the middle of the back corner radius offsetting the sides and the backs just enough so I could install either if the other was already in place. First step was to bend and mount the track. (When I built the roof, on Phil's suggestion, I put 3mm al strips around the edge to take the screws that hold up the track.) First I had to figure out where to put the zippers then make patterns using plastic ( some good videos on YouTube on how to do this. ) Once the 3 pieces were patterened, I could figure out how much fabric I needed depending on the width of fabric I could find. This enclosure will require 5 metres of 80" fabric.

Having been down this road before, I basted in the bolt rope and the zippers to make sure everything fit as I wanted before doing the final stiching. I will be using Tenara thread by the Goretex company ($186/roll but guaranteed for the life of the fabric.) I'll post more pictures when the enclosure is finished. I'm gong going to have clears all the way round to match the size of the side windows and I'm considering having the clears on zippers so I can interchange them with fly screens. I'm planning on making the canvas so that when rolled up it pops up on the roof top to be out of the way.
Sailrite Walking Foot.jpgSewing Table.jpgBending Boltrope Track.jpgAluminium in Roof.jpgPatterning.jpgFirst Fitting.jpgZippers Basted In.jpg

[chris69]

Your a man of many talents Steve,looking real sweet.

[Fed]

What did you do when you had a real job Steve?

[stevemid]

What did you do when you had a real job Steve?

I was raised in a service station, then kind of a sparky, kind of a cabinet maker, then 30 years selling and managing in the software business. Given the right tools and the UYT (University of YouTube) you can do anything.

[Apollo]

Steve

Have you thought about hull/cabin horizontal stripping to break up the 'white whale' look that all white boats get?

You have done a great job.

[stevemid]

SteveHave you thought about hull/cabin horizontal stripping to break up the 'white whale' look that all white boats get?You have done a great job.

Hi Apollo,Thanks. Yes, I've got a quote from a professional striper for $1500 to do a swirl following the sheer line from front to back and incorporating the rego numbers and the boat name + the name at the back. But ouch! I can get the names and rego for $230 in 3M cast lettering online but have not been able to figure out how to DIY the stripe to match the sheer line. Any suggestions?PS the quote I have is for something like this pic, however, in NSW the Rego will be 150mm high and in the front, the boat name will be at the aft end of the stripe.

[Lovey80]

I cant wait to see some video footage from the front and side of it riding in the chop.

[stevemid]

I got the canvas completed yesterday (except for the snaps) and today I put the headliner on half the berth. Pics of that tomorrow.
The completed boat.jpgIMG_1819.jpgIMG_1818.jpg

[Apollo]

Hi Apollo,Thanks. Yes, I've got a quote from a professional striper for $1500 to do a swirl following the sheer line from front to back and incorporating the rego numbers and the boat name + the name at the back. But ouch! I can get the names and rego for $230 in 3M cast lettering online but have not been able to figure out how to DIY the stripe to match the sheer line. Any suggestions?PS the quote I have is for something like this pic, however, in NSW the Rego will be 150mm high and in the front, the boat name will be at the aft end of the stripe.

Have you asked for a price from a sign writer? $1500 seems steep.

[stevemid]

A proper sign writer? With paint? Apollo, I thought they had all died of drink ages ago.

No, seriously, I had so gotten into the new age that I forgot that's how it used to be done.

I'll have a look.

Steve

[tjotter]

Looks Fantastic, & the range of your Boat building skills is amazing.

Another skill you may not have appreciated is this thread ...
if rating by number of Views, of Boating Chat threads,
it is currently 11th out of 23,000 odd.