and one task only.
Paint.
I put on a second coat of paint in the cuddy and second coats to various hatches.
Last night I put a piece of plastic over the cuddy to keep the drips out, just like I did when I put the graphite on the bottom and it worked well. Tomorrow if the paint in the cuddy is dry I'll take the hatches in, paint the last of what needs to be painted and hang a piece of plastic over the door to keep the sawdust out.
Then it's on to the belly tank and the rear bulkhead. The first will drive the second, so getting the first right will really matter.
1.5 Hours
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Day 121 - Cardboard engineering
More work was done in the cuddy today. First things first though, I made another trip to my favorite store to get a replacement 5" sander as my old one died yesterday and another gallon of enamel paint. After brushing the latest snowfall off the shed (which I did twice more today, sigh) I got to work inside.
First I took off the rope locker door and hardware, the starboard bulkhead door and the port side vent. I sanded everything down; bulkheads, hull and decking, then vacuumed everything clean.
Then, as promised!, I took the two halves of the middle hatch and lined them up in the opening. I screwed a scrap piece of plywood to them, put some epoxy down the middle and a strip of fiberglass.
It's painted here, but it was actually the last thing to get painted to let the epoxy at least sort of set up. This will be a interesting experiment to see if the epoxy will harden with enamel on top.
I put two little pieces of fiberglass in the corner joint between the hull, deck and bulkhead. The gap is too big to fill, but it's not structural so the fiberglass is there just to cover the hole. Don't know if it'll survive, but we'll see. With what was left of the epoxy I made some real smooth peanut butter and filled the joint between the deck out on the bow and the rope locker bulkhead. I don't know how I missed that the first time around, but I squeezed some in for good measure. The last of the peanut butter was used to fill all the screw holes in the deck and bulkhead.
And painting was next. Roller, brush, pan and the last of the paint in the old can and off I went. First the flat surfaces, then the inside edges of the hatches were done. Too, I used the roller to get some more paint in the lockers to cover up the epoxy runs and brown spots from the peanut butter that fell out of the cracks.
Finally the faces of the hatches and doors were done. It's amazing to watch the paint soak in, especially around the knots. It's much more visible than when it happens with epoxy, but it's exactly the same process. With the wood being so dry, the paint just disappears.
I went out to the truck and got the third fuel tank out. It's been sitting back there for a couple days but I figured now was as good a time as any to start working with it. It will sit below the rear deck and will function strictly as a reserve tank for when I'm on long trips and need the extra fuel.
With the two main tanks at 27 gallons each, plus the reserve tank at 25 gallons, that gives me 79 gallons on board, with somewhere between 70 and 75 usable.
I had originally planned to put it at the rear of the boat, with the filler, vent and pickup lines feeding through the splashwell, but when I put it in the boat to see how that would work I had an epiphany. I could turn it around, move it all the way forward, and have all three lines end up under/inside the rear bulkhead.
Eureka!
Now the main reason I brought it in was to figure out how it would work out for height in relation to the stringers. I had figured that I would have to raise the height of the stringers, and consequently the rear deck an inch or so, but just looking at things with a 2x4 across the stringers I may not have to.
We'll see. The tank will expand 3% when filled with fuel the first time which will add approximately 1/4", plus I need to put a piece of 3/4" plywood underneath it for support so it'll be close.
Last up for the night I started taking measurements up in the cuddy area. The original design for the roof and sides of the cuddy by Renn is basically a box plopped on top of the shelves. I really don't like that look, so I'm shooting for a cuddy roof that follows a line from the top of the forward bulkhead to the tip of the bow. That will provide some downward slant that I think better matches the lines of the boat. I also want to put some curve in the roof for strength as I can easily see that as lounging space. That will require that the roof be laminated out of three layers of 1/4" plywood.
But guess what? The roof dimensions are greater that 4'x8' so I'll be scarfing more plywood. Yay. :-)
And that's where the cardboard engineering comes in. No paper? No problem. It's not like I don't have a surplus of cardboard laying around.
The sides will actually have two angles. You may have noticed in the photos that the bulkhead sides angle inwards above the shelves. That's intentional so as to offset the sides to make it easier to walk on the shelves. But from the top of the bulkhead the sides will go straight up. That will allow the windows to be vertical, making it easier to keep water out, but also creating a little more space inside the cabin.
Of course, all of these things affect how the rear bulkhead is built, and since that's next a couple hours were spent contemplating all this stuff.
Oh, and just to complicate things? The port side of the bulkhead will be made with 1/2" plywood to allow for windows, while the starboard side will be made with 3/4" plywood to allow for mounting stuff outside. The other reason is that the captains chair is on the starboard side, behind that will be a small galley and mounted on the rear bulkhead will be a small propane heater so I can't put a window there anyways.
It's not what's next that matters, it's what's next, next, next that matters. :-)
I finally went home about 9pm when the power went out. Figured that maybe that was a sign. ;-)
10 Hours
First I took off the rope locker door and hardware, the starboard bulkhead door and the port side vent. I sanded everything down; bulkheads, hull and decking, then vacuumed everything clean.
Then, as promised!, I took the two halves of the middle hatch and lined them up in the opening. I screwed a scrap piece of plywood to them, put some epoxy down the middle and a strip of fiberglass.
It's painted here, but it was actually the last thing to get painted to let the epoxy at least sort of set up. This will be a interesting experiment to see if the epoxy will harden with enamel on top.
I put two little pieces of fiberglass in the corner joint between the hull, deck and bulkhead. The gap is too big to fill, but it's not structural so the fiberglass is there just to cover the hole. Don't know if it'll survive, but we'll see. With what was left of the epoxy I made some real smooth peanut butter and filled the joint between the deck out on the bow and the rope locker bulkhead. I don't know how I missed that the first time around, but I squeezed some in for good measure. The last of the peanut butter was used to fill all the screw holes in the deck and bulkhead.
And painting was next. Roller, brush, pan and the last of the paint in the old can and off I went. First the flat surfaces, then the inside edges of the hatches were done. Too, I used the roller to get some more paint in the lockers to cover up the epoxy runs and brown spots from the peanut butter that fell out of the cracks.
Finally the faces of the hatches and doors were done. It's amazing to watch the paint soak in, especially around the knots. It's much more visible than when it happens with epoxy, but it's exactly the same process. With the wood being so dry, the paint just disappears.
I went out to the truck and got the third fuel tank out. It's been sitting back there for a couple days but I figured now was as good a time as any to start working with it. It will sit below the rear deck and will function strictly as a reserve tank for when I'm on long trips and need the extra fuel.
With the two main tanks at 27 gallons each, plus the reserve tank at 25 gallons, that gives me 79 gallons on board, with somewhere between 70 and 75 usable.
I had originally planned to put it at the rear of the boat, with the filler, vent and pickup lines feeding through the splashwell, but when I put it in the boat to see how that would work I had an epiphany. I could turn it around, move it all the way forward, and have all three lines end up under/inside the rear bulkhead.
Eureka!
Now the main reason I brought it in was to figure out how it would work out for height in relation to the stringers. I had figured that I would have to raise the height of the stringers, and consequently the rear deck an inch or so, but just looking at things with a 2x4 across the stringers I may not have to.
We'll see. The tank will expand 3% when filled with fuel the first time which will add approximately 1/4", plus I need to put a piece of 3/4" plywood underneath it for support so it'll be close.
Last up for the night I started taking measurements up in the cuddy area. The original design for the roof and sides of the cuddy by Renn is basically a box plopped on top of the shelves. I really don't like that look, so I'm shooting for a cuddy roof that follows a line from the top of the forward bulkhead to the tip of the bow. That will provide some downward slant that I think better matches the lines of the boat. I also want to put some curve in the roof for strength as I can easily see that as lounging space. That will require that the roof be laminated out of three layers of 1/4" plywood.
But guess what? The roof dimensions are greater that 4'x8' so I'll be scarfing more plywood. Yay. :-)
And that's where the cardboard engineering comes in. No paper? No problem. It's not like I don't have a surplus of cardboard laying around.
The sides will actually have two angles. You may have noticed in the photos that the bulkhead sides angle inwards above the shelves. That's intentional so as to offset the sides to make it easier to walk on the shelves. But from the top of the bulkhead the sides will go straight up. That will allow the windows to be vertical, making it easier to keep water out, but also creating a little more space inside the cabin.
Of course, all of these things affect how the rear bulkhead is built, and since that's next a couple hours were spent contemplating all this stuff.
Oh, and just to complicate things? The port side of the bulkhead will be made with 1/2" plywood to allow for windows, while the starboard side will be made with 3/4" plywood to allow for mounting stuff outside. The other reason is that the captains chair is on the starboard side, behind that will be a small galley and mounted on the rear bulkhead will be a small propane heater so I can't put a window there anyways.
It's not what's next that matters, it's what's next, next, next that matters. :-)
I finally went home about 9pm when the power went out. Figured that maybe that was a sign. ;-)
10 Hours
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Day 120 - Bunk reassembly
Whew! Much more painting and fiberglassing was done today. I got a late start intentionally as I needed to give the paint time to dry. Technically I was supposed to wait 24 hours, but I pushed the envelope a little as I'm keeping the humidity down so low.
First I added a second coat of paint to the bottom side of the deck so as to give it some time to dry before handling.
Next up was adding the second coat to the insides of the storage lockers.
Sure is white! Last up for the painting was the hatches.
You'll note that there's still only three hatches, not four. Yup, I still haven't gotten the fourth one put together. Somehow there always seems to be one thing that refuses to get finished. Oh well, as long as it's not the boat! :-)
The paint on the deck had dried enough to handle gently so I mixed up some epoxy and painted its edges and then the tops of the nailers (twice), then made peanut butter and coated same. I put towels on the shelves (just in case!) and set the deck up on them, climbed up in the boat and carefully swung and flipped the deck around to get it right side up, then just as carefully set it in place. I drove screws in strategic places and picked up the squeeze-out.
Now the whole time while I'm working with this enamel paint I'm using my mask and things are going along fine. Then I stuck my head inside the storage lockers to be able to scrape up the rest of the squeeze-out and Holy Cow! the fumes were so strong my eyes started to water. So I went and opened the door, cranked up the propane heater, both burners, and turned up the electric heater. All combined, they held the temperature up while letting the air circulate.
I made more peanut butter and put fillets and fiberglass on the bulkhead-to-deck joint and the hull-to-deck joint. What was left of the epoxy was used to coat the top side of the support lip for the hatches.
Tomorrow I'll pull all the screws and assemble the center hatch cover (promise!). I bought some cut-off disks tonight as I need to figure out a way to cut the screws off that are sticking out from the hinges and latches. I think I'll paint the inside of the cuddy as well. I'm not fast at any of this, so it's likely it'll take all day to do. ;-)
5.5 Hours
First I added a second coat of paint to the bottom side of the deck so as to give it some time to dry before handling.
Next up was adding the second coat to the insides of the storage lockers.
Sure is white! Last up for the painting was the hatches.
You'll note that there's still only three hatches, not four. Yup, I still haven't gotten the fourth one put together. Somehow there always seems to be one thing that refuses to get finished. Oh well, as long as it's not the boat! :-)
The paint on the deck had dried enough to handle gently so I mixed up some epoxy and painted its edges and then the tops of the nailers (twice), then made peanut butter and coated same. I put towels on the shelves (just in case!) and set the deck up on them, climbed up in the boat and carefully swung and flipped the deck around to get it right side up, then just as carefully set it in place. I drove screws in strategic places and picked up the squeeze-out.
Now the whole time while I'm working with this enamel paint I'm using my mask and things are going along fine. Then I stuck my head inside the storage lockers to be able to scrape up the rest of the squeeze-out and Holy Cow! the fumes were so strong my eyes started to water. So I went and opened the door, cranked up the propane heater, both burners, and turned up the electric heater. All combined, they held the temperature up while letting the air circulate.
I made more peanut butter and put fillets and fiberglass on the bulkhead-to-deck joint and the hull-to-deck joint. What was left of the epoxy was used to coat the top side of the support lip for the hatches.
Tomorrow I'll pull all the screws and assemble the center hatch cover (promise!). I bought some cut-off disks tonight as I need to figure out a way to cut the screws off that are sticking out from the hinges and latches. I think I'll paint the inside of the cuddy as well. I'm not fast at any of this, so it's likely it'll take all day to do. ;-)
5.5 Hours
Friday, January 27, 2012
Day 119 - Nope...
still don't like painting. There's a lot of it in my future, but it's still the most tedious part of this boat building thing. Anyways, I painted the insides of the storage lockers, the bottom side of the bunk decks and the bottom sides of three hatches. The fourth is in two pieces because of piecing the two deck pieces together, it'll be assembled tomorrow with fiberglass when I can line them up in the hatch.
Tomorrow morning I'll flip all the pieces and paint the top sides. Too, I'll assemble the split hatch pieces. Tomorrow night I'll flip them again and apply a second coat plus repaint the storage lockers. Sunday I'll install the hardware and install the deck into the boat with peanut butter on the nailers, and fillets and fiberglass on the hull-to-deck joints and the flotation tank-to-deck joint. Monday and Tuesday I'll paint the rest of the inside of the cuddy.
Such fun! Bah. Can't make sawdust while I'm painting.
2.5 Hours
Tomorrow morning I'll flip all the pieces and paint the top sides. Too, I'll assemble the split hatch pieces. Tomorrow night I'll flip them again and apply a second coat plus repaint the storage lockers. Sunday I'll install the hardware and install the deck into the boat with peanut butter on the nailers, and fillets and fiberglass on the hull-to-deck joints and the flotation tank-to-deck joint. Monday and Tuesday I'll paint the rest of the inside of the cuddy.
Such fun! Bah. Can't make sawdust while I'm painting.
2.5 Hours
Day 118 - Pieces and parts
parts and pieces. Cutting and sanding and peanut butter and epoxy oh my!
Further progress was made on the bunks tonight. I finished drawing the lines for the underside supports for the hatches.
Measure twice, cut once. :-)
Once all the parts and pieces where cut out I mixed up a batch of epoxy and started gluing and screwing them together. The underside supports for these hatches are an inch wide instead of the 1/2" I used on the doors. I want a little more support there and there's definitely more stress.
I used some of the leftover epoxy to finally attach that nailer I've been talking about for days.
And I used some more of it to coat whatever else I could find inside the hatches that hadn't been coated yet. I also trimmed and sanded some of the bumps and stickery things (that's a technical term for stuff that draws blood when you're not paying attention).
Finally, I turned what was left of the epoxy into peanut butter, made a little more epoxy to make a little more peanut butter and applied a fillet and fiberglass to that last joint between the bulkhead and the hull.
Tomorrow I'll clean the storage areas, the bottom of the bunk decking and hatches, and then apply the first coat of paint. They'll get a second on Saturday for good measure and then I'll probably assemble everything Saturday night. A coat of epoxy on top, fillets and fiberglass on the hull-to-deck seams as well as the deck-to-flotation tank joint and then the hinges and it should be good to go.
Oh, almost forgot. I need to drill a finger hole in each hatch so they can be opened. :-)
I'm not going to install the porta-potty yet, that needs some more pondering, but I can get started on the rear bulkhead. That will entail it's own set of challenges.
4.5 Hours
Further progress was made on the bunks tonight. I finished drawing the lines for the underside supports for the hatches.
Measure twice, cut once. :-)
Once all the parts and pieces where cut out I mixed up a batch of epoxy and started gluing and screwing them together. The underside supports for these hatches are an inch wide instead of the 1/2" I used on the doors. I want a little more support there and there's definitely more stress.
I used some of the leftover epoxy to finally attach that nailer I've been talking about for days.
And I used some more of it to coat whatever else I could find inside the hatches that hadn't been coated yet. I also trimmed and sanded some of the bumps and stickery things (that's a technical term for stuff that draws blood when you're not paying attention).
Finally, I turned what was left of the epoxy into peanut butter, made a little more epoxy to make a little more peanut butter and applied a fillet and fiberglass to that last joint between the bulkhead and the hull.
Tomorrow I'll clean the storage areas, the bottom of the bunk decking and hatches, and then apply the first coat of paint. They'll get a second on Saturday for good measure and then I'll probably assemble everything Saturday night. A coat of epoxy on top, fillets and fiberglass on the hull-to-deck seams as well as the deck-to-flotation tank joint and then the hinges and it should be good to go.
Oh, almost forgot. I need to drill a finger hole in each hatch so they can be opened. :-)
I'm not going to install the porta-potty yet, that needs some more pondering, but I can get started on the rear bulkhead. That will entail it's own set of challenges.
4.5 Hours
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Day 117 - Holes in bunks
Bunks with holes...
Yep, cut holes in the bunk decks tonight for the hatches. I left three inches all the way around the edges and where the vertical supports are.
After cutting the hatches out I started tracing the patterns for the support strips that will go underneath. Those will get finished and glued up tomorrow and the last of the epoxy work will be finished as well in preparation for painting and final assembly.
3 Hours.
Yep, cut holes in the bunk decks tonight for the hatches. I left three inches all the way around the edges and where the vertical supports are.
After cutting the hatches out I started tracing the patterns for the support strips that will go underneath. Those will get finished and glued up tomorrow and the last of the epoxy work will be finished as well in preparation for painting and final assembly.
3 Hours.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Day 116 - Happy dance!
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have bunks! Not finished bunks mind you, but bunks none the less.
Tonight was pretty simple. I spent a couple hours scribing, cutting and sanding the two 1/2" pieces of plywood for the bunk decks into place. Once again, two pieces were required as the space to fill was wider and longer than four feet.
I did discover one DDD though. The nailer on the starboard bulkhead wall was 3/16" to high. Now that's a head scratcher, but some work with the sander brought that down to level.
After fitting the two pieces together and screwing them down, I just couldn't resist laying down on the deck and just staring at the ceiling. There's still three or four days of work here, but it was so satisfying to lay there and contemplate that moment.
What's really cool is that the bunk space from the bulkhead to the forward chain locker is 7' 2" long! With the decks in place the space looks huge!
I'm really thrilled with how well this space has worked out; numbers and lines on a computer screen never quite match the feeling of reality.
So, four hatches to make, a little epoxy work to do in the storage areas, paint the storage areas, fillet and glass the bulkhead to the hull, fillet and glass the decks and it will be on to the rear bulkhead.
Some mental reworking has been done there as well, off to the CAD work to see how it looks.
2.5 Hours
Tonight was pretty simple. I spent a couple hours scribing, cutting and sanding the two 1/2" pieces of plywood for the bunk decks into place. Once again, two pieces were required as the space to fill was wider and longer than four feet.
I did discover one DDD though. The nailer on the starboard bulkhead wall was 3/16" to high. Now that's a head scratcher, but some work with the sander brought that down to level.
After fitting the two pieces together and screwing them down, I just couldn't resist laying down on the deck and just staring at the ceiling. There's still three or four days of work here, but it was so satisfying to lay there and contemplate that moment.
What's really cool is that the bunk space from the bulkhead to the forward chain locker is 7' 2" long! With the decks in place the space looks huge!
I'm really thrilled with how well this space has worked out; numbers and lines on a computer screen never quite match the feeling of reality.
So, four hatches to make, a little epoxy work to do in the storage areas, paint the storage areas, fillet and glass the bulkhead to the hull, fillet and glass the decks and it will be on to the rear bulkhead.
Some mental reworking has been done there as well, off to the CAD work to see how it looks.
2.5 Hours
Day 115 - Bunks!
Yay! Work on the bunks has started!
And then stopped. :-)
I got to the shed tonight and swapped the single propane burner for the double. Holy Cow! Next thing I knew the temperature was soaring! This is awesome, but it does come with a trade-off. It still takes time to bring the materials up to temp, so I think I'll have to figure out how to manage the burners and maybe bring the temp up a little slower. We'll see.
Anyways, I vacuumed the cuddy area and knocked off all the little peanut butter pieces that had fallen all over last night in the frantic mad dash to keep up with the epoxy going off and then sanded the insides of the storage lockers. I was right about that vertical piece being high so I sanded it level and then carefully sanded all the other pieces level.
I decided I really wanted to get a bunk deck piece done so I pulled out some more cardboard and made another template.
One of the benefits of being so careful about my measurements when building the hull has been the payoff in both sides being so close to a mirror to each other. I can basically flip my patterns and they're within an 1/8" of the other side.
I put the pattern on the last two pieces of 1/2" plywood, traced it out, clamped the two pieces together and cut them out. Put the first piece in the hull, scribed the little bit I was off on the hull and trimmed it down. Took the sander to get it even closer and TaDa! The first bunk deck piece!
Now, the entry way is to your left in the above photo, and the bow is to your right. The compartment on the right is a storage locker, which means the compartment on the left is where you'll step into and is also the space for the porta-potty. I unboxed it tonight and set it in place and it'll work just fine.
I have to figure out how to secure it in place, and a portion of the bunk decking will cover it, so I have to figure out how to hinge that hatch, but still provide enough support so it'll support my weight. That'll take some figuring, but it doesn't have to be done right away, I'm a couple days away. Still have to fit the other deck piece, cut hatches, paint, epoxy, yada, yada, yada...
I also put a layer of fiberglass in the bottom of all the storage lockers and put epoxy on all the bare wood still left in them. That took way more time than I thought it would, but it's done. However I did forget to get the last nailer installed DDD, so I'll have to do that tomorow.
It was a good, if long night. I'm looking forward to getting the other bunk decking piece done, this cuddy is getting close to finished, at least for the stuff I can do for now. Finish work will come later, and can be done anytime. That deadline looms. :-)
5 Hours
And then stopped. :-)
I got to the shed tonight and swapped the single propane burner for the double. Holy Cow! Next thing I knew the temperature was soaring! This is awesome, but it does come with a trade-off. It still takes time to bring the materials up to temp, so I think I'll have to figure out how to manage the burners and maybe bring the temp up a little slower. We'll see.
Anyways, I vacuumed the cuddy area and knocked off all the little peanut butter pieces that had fallen all over last night in the frantic mad dash to keep up with the epoxy going off and then sanded the insides of the storage lockers. I was right about that vertical piece being high so I sanded it level and then carefully sanded all the other pieces level.
I decided I really wanted to get a bunk deck piece done so I pulled out some more cardboard and made another template.
One of the benefits of being so careful about my measurements when building the hull has been the payoff in both sides being so close to a mirror to each other. I can basically flip my patterns and they're within an 1/8" of the other side.
I put the pattern on the last two pieces of 1/2" plywood, traced it out, clamped the two pieces together and cut them out. Put the first piece in the hull, scribed the little bit I was off on the hull and trimmed it down. Took the sander to get it even closer and TaDa! The first bunk deck piece!
Now, the entry way is to your left in the above photo, and the bow is to your right. The compartment on the right is a storage locker, which means the compartment on the left is where you'll step into and is also the space for the porta-potty. I unboxed it tonight and set it in place and it'll work just fine.
I have to figure out how to secure it in place, and a portion of the bunk decking will cover it, so I have to figure out how to hinge that hatch, but still provide enough support so it'll support my weight. That'll take some figuring, but it doesn't have to be done right away, I'm a couple days away. Still have to fit the other deck piece, cut hatches, paint, epoxy, yada, yada, yada...
I also put a layer of fiberglass in the bottom of all the storage lockers and put epoxy on all the bare wood still left in them. That took way more time than I thought it would, but it's done. However I did forget to get the last nailer installed DDD, so I'll have to do that tomorow.
It was a good, if long night. I'm looking forward to getting the other bunk decking piece done, this cuddy is getting close to finished, at least for the stuff I can do for now. Finish work will come later, and can be done anytime. That deadline looms. :-)
5 Hours
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Day 114 - Fillets, fillets, and more...
fillets. Yikes my knees and ankles hurt.
All the pieces from yesterday were installed today with fillets and fiberglass on almost every joint, and some on both sides.
The heater worked fine today which was great except for one small problem. It warmed up today above freezing and with the heater bringing the temperature up inside it really started raining. :-( Took about an hour before it quit and it was quite the circus while I ran around with cups and towels trying to keep the puddles down.
Anyways, here's a ton of photos of todays progress.
There's the two joints for the bulkhead to the hull and a couple inside the cuddy to finish. I need to epoxy a nailer to that vertical piece in the picture above (it may be a little tall too) and I need to put a layer of fiberglass in the bottom of all the storage areas. That work is for tomorrow.
5 Hours
All the pieces from yesterday were installed today with fillets and fiberglass on almost every joint, and some on both sides.
The heater worked fine today which was great except for one small problem. It warmed up today above freezing and with the heater bringing the temperature up inside it really started raining. :-( Took about an hour before it quit and it was quite the circus while I ran around with cups and towels trying to keep the puddles down.
Anyways, here's a ton of photos of todays progress.
There's the two joints for the bulkhead to the hull and a couple inside the cuddy to finish. I need to epoxy a nailer to that vertical piece in the picture above (it may be a little tall too) and I need to put a layer of fiberglass in the bottom of all the storage areas. That work is for tomorrow.
5 Hours
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Day 113 - Cuddy progress
and propane frustration.
First off, here's the pictures from the other night with the additional foam installed.
So I picked up the propane tank yesterday, hauled it into the shed, installed the burners and fired it up. Right away I knew something was wrong as the burners were spitting and flaring and just acting weird. Then they started to die and when I looked at the regulator and hose they were frozen over.
Now in a space that's at 30% humidity that just doesn't make any sense. A little Internet research pointed out two probabilities; one the tank wasn't purged before they filled it (and that's pretty likely as the purge sticker is still there) and thus the tank is way over pressure and thus there's no room in the tank for the liquid to boil to gas and what's coming through the regulator and lines is liquid. That's further borne out by what happens when the tank valve is shut off, the burner continues to run for about a minute when it should go out immediately. Arrggh.
So I didn't get any work done yesterday, but got right after it today. I've got two burners now, a single and a double, so when one would freeze up I switch to the other. What a pain.
It was clear the time off allowed my subconscious to figure out what I needed to do to get the cuddy laid out. I started by cutting a pattern out of cardboard for the port side.
It got pieced together because of that transition over the chine. It was just easier to do that way. I transferred the pattern to the 1/2" plywood, cut, and laid it in. A couple adjustments and the port side was done.
I was able to take the same pattern, flip it over and use it for the starboard side. It wasn't an exact fit, but it was a good starting point, and with some minor trimming I soon had the starboard side done.
You may be wondering why these got installed as two pieces. Well, three reasons. One, it was easier. :-) Two, the area to cover was more that four feet in both directions so it would have been impossible without scarfing. And three, because of the way the pieces in the cuddy will eventually jigsaw puzzle together, there was no other way to do it.
Sides panels were next and they were simple rectangles with the corners notched for the nailers.
And finally the port side space was split with a vertical piece scribed to fit the hull and the starboard side got a simple support beam. The starboard side is where the fishing poles (and other long items) will go. This will leave me with four storage lockers forward.
After getting everything put in place it was time to take it all apart again so I could paint the bilge areas with Bilgekote. I also epoxied the bottom of the deck pieces, the front and back of the main vertical blocking piece, epoxied and clamped 1/2" nailers to the side pieces and epoxied the saddle to the hull and the saddle to the side that holds the 2x3 support beam in place.
All of this will be reinstalled tomorrow and epoxy and fiberglassed into place. Bunk decking needs to be built with the appropriate hatches cut and the inside of the lockers will be painted with white enamel. Plus I've got to figure out how to install the all important porta-potty!
10 Hours
First off, here's the pictures from the other night with the additional foam installed.
So I picked up the propane tank yesterday, hauled it into the shed, installed the burners and fired it up. Right away I knew something was wrong as the burners were spitting and flaring and just acting weird. Then they started to die and when I looked at the regulator and hose they were frozen over.
Now in a space that's at 30% humidity that just doesn't make any sense. A little Internet research pointed out two probabilities; one the tank wasn't purged before they filled it (and that's pretty likely as the purge sticker is still there) and thus the tank is way over pressure and thus there's no room in the tank for the liquid to boil to gas and what's coming through the regulator and lines is liquid. That's further borne out by what happens when the tank valve is shut off, the burner continues to run for about a minute when it should go out immediately. Arrggh.
So I didn't get any work done yesterday, but got right after it today. I've got two burners now, a single and a double, so when one would freeze up I switch to the other. What a pain.
It was clear the time off allowed my subconscious to figure out what I needed to do to get the cuddy laid out. I started by cutting a pattern out of cardboard for the port side.
It got pieced together because of that transition over the chine. It was just easier to do that way. I transferred the pattern to the 1/2" plywood, cut, and laid it in. A couple adjustments and the port side was done.
I was able to take the same pattern, flip it over and use it for the starboard side. It wasn't an exact fit, but it was a good starting point, and with some minor trimming I soon had the starboard side done.
You may be wondering why these got installed as two pieces. Well, three reasons. One, it was easier. :-) Two, the area to cover was more that four feet in both directions so it would have been impossible without scarfing. And three, because of the way the pieces in the cuddy will eventually jigsaw puzzle together, there was no other way to do it.
Sides panels were next and they were simple rectangles with the corners notched for the nailers.
And finally the port side space was split with a vertical piece scribed to fit the hull and the starboard side got a simple support beam. The starboard side is where the fishing poles (and other long items) will go. This will leave me with four storage lockers forward.
After getting everything put in place it was time to take it all apart again so I could paint the bilge areas with Bilgekote. I also epoxied the bottom of the deck pieces, the front and back of the main vertical blocking piece, epoxied and clamped 1/2" nailers to the side pieces and epoxied the saddle to the hull and the saddle to the side that holds the 2x3 support beam in place.
All of this will be reinstalled tomorrow and epoxy and fiberglassed into place. Bunk decking needs to be built with the appropriate hatches cut and the inside of the lockers will be painted with white enamel. Plus I've got to figure out how to install the all important porta-potty!
10 Hours
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