Stalled

Well the project is well and truly stalled but I haven't given up. Life's just got in the way a bit the main goal now is to repair the garage so I have a dry working area for the boat. It didn't happen last year because the bathroom needed decorating. Again one of those jobs that starts out as a bit of tiling and some painting and turns into a bit of brick laying; plastering and plumbing as you uncover all the bodges and dodgy DIY that has been covered up over the years. I hadn't sorted it I would have been sleeping on the sofa for the next few weeks.

Its always been my ambition to have a good workshop for my projects so I'm going to sort this out during this summer leave. Unfortunately the garage was probably build by the same goon that did the bathroom so its not straight forward.

Originally I thought I would only have to replace the roof sheet's but the wall plates and joists are rotten and I'm worried if may fall on the boat. The joists are rotten because they have been cemented into the walls not bird mouthed and nailed to the wall plates as they should have been.

I will post my progress one the garage/workshop on my house blog.

I haven't given up guys its just when you are only home two days out of seven there's a limit to what you can get done.

Still KBO

More Sanding

Hi Folks,

I finaly got a chance to do some work to the boat today. It was only some sanding on the keel to remove the epoxy that pool arround the molds. Its a bit of an endless job but cost nothing apart from sandpaper. I would post a photo but it doesn't look any different.

Still I am back doing something, a small step at a time and I'll be finished in no time I hope.

KBO.

Yes I'm still here

Hi Guy's,

well not much going on with the boat still working away but I am looking for jobs locally so I can come home. I should have more time to finish the boat. The cottage is taking up a lot of my time at the moment.

I found a couple of photo's from last year from when I moved the boat. My work mates were winding me up about moving the boat and that I couldn't get it out of the building I build it in. It was an old AR1 airfield radar building with a single door. They were away working so I sent the photo's as proof that I managed it. It was a shame they were away they could have helped it was a bit heavy moving it on my own. Putting it on top of the car wasn't my idea Uffa Fox used to move his boat the same way on top of his Austin Cambridge.

That's all Guy's

KBO

More Sanding

Hi Guys


Now the tapes off I have to get back to sanding of all the excess glue from the keel and the interior veneers. I used a mouse sander and a long board to fair up.

As promised here are a couple of photos.

KBO

PS

I had a look round a bigger boat probably the last time I'll ever see it.

Finally Got Rid of That Tape

Hi Folks,

Sorry I haven't posted for a long time this working away and commuting home ate the weekend makes it hard to get anything done. I have had a week of for easier and have got a couple of days work o the boat. This entailed using a scraper and a Palm sander to finally remove the tape that has been so hard to remove. Now I need to sand down the inside of the boat with a long board just as I did on the outside. I will take and post some photos tomorrow.

KBO

Disaster

Hi Guy's


Bit of a disaster this week the roof on the garage has been leaking. I knew this but what i didn't know was that the tarpaulin on the boat was leaking so the boat got full of water. I need to keep the moisture content of the timber below 15% to epoxy coat the boat.

Hopefully it will dry out I have tarpaulined the roof of the garage and rerigged the tarpaulin over the boat like a tent flysheet so it will shed the water.

KBO

Springing Leaks

Hi Guy's

No the boat isn't leaking but my garage is. The roof is made of wiggly tin with polycarbinate roof lights. The tin is rusting and the plastic is UV damaged so it's leaking everywhere. Two tarpaulins some battens and rope later the worst of the leaks are stopped. So no work on the boat, there's always something that gets in the way of finishing at the moment. Its a shame as I don't really have much left to do to finish it.

Still its MOT time for my car which is always a bit of a pain as it always needs work.

Hopefully I can get some work don in March.

KBO

Some New Photos

Hi Folks,

I have been doing a bit of work to the boat, mainly scraping and sanding off the tape I put onto the veneers to stop to much glue getting on them. This was a mistake the tape is harder to get of than the glue and it doesn't sand off as well as the glue.

I have also taken a couple of photo's of the support cradle to show how it conforms to the shape of the boat. This was achieved by transferring the contour to the cradle frame using a 3mm thick marking and removing the waste with a spokeshave.

Then marking again and removing more waste until the final contour is achieved.

The sanding is just to remove the tape and excess glue, I will use a long board to final fair the interior after a bit of final fettling of the cradle frames.

That's about it guys.

KBO.

More painting.

Well I finished painting the walls in the garage which has really cut down the dust, so hopefully I can get on with the boat this week.

I have some final shaping to do to the cradle to make sure the boat sits right and is fully supported by all the frames. At the moment the inner of the two rear frames is not touching the bottom of the boat.

The gap is only 2 to 3 mm but to get it to sit down I have mark of the front frames with a marking block and a pencil and take of a small amount of timber at a time with a spoke shave until all the frames make contact. This should cut down the flex went I'm sanding down the inside of the boat.

I'll try to put some photo's on this weekend.

KBO.

Painting

Hi Folks,

I'm gradually sorting out the garage to get a bit more space to work. It has bare breeze block walls and a bare concrete floor that makes a bit of dust. To stop this I'm painting the walls with the cheapest emulsion paint I can find which is magnolia. After living in MQs for years I said I would never paint any building, I owned, this colour but it is cheap. The blocks are soaking up the paint like a sponge but it is cutting down the dust and making the place lighter.

The roofs leaking so I'm keeping the boat under the tarpaulin for now. I really have to get down to sanding out the inside of the hull then fit the deck beams . This should hold the hull in shape.

I'm mainly only working at weekends now because I work away from home during the week. There seems to be a mountain of jobs that stack up in the week which wait until I get home.

My work home life balance is all wrong at the moment , my goal is to sort this out this year one way or another. There is no point earning a good living and providing a good home for your family if your never there to share it with them.

Anyway KBO

Steve.

Cradle

Hi Folks

Haven't done a lot have new job now work away from home during week and only home at weekends. Its a bit pants but had no choice I was posted on promotion. Still I can't complain to much I still have a job.

I drafted a drawing of a support cradle from the main profile plan for the boat in CAD.

It has support frames at mold stations 3; 4; 7 and 8. I built it this week.

I have designed it so that I can remove some boards from my inspection pit and slot the frame into the gaps. This will allow me to work under the boat just like I do with my car. Also I plan to fit casters to the bottom of the frame the idea being the frame will sit firmly in the pit with the casters hanging free and if I need to move the boat I can lift it out onto the casters and just roll it out of the garage.

Stripping

Hi Guy's sorry I haven't posted for a while I have been sorting the work shop out. I have just started stripping the tape I put on the inner veneers.

I put this on to stop the glue spreading over the veneer to make it easier to sand down the interior of the boat, however the tape is a bit persistent its harder to remove than the epoxy.

I think the solution will be a heat gun on a low setting and a very sharp scraper.

Somewhat Distracted.

What can I say I'm not making much progress with the boat just now.
I did have just the one project the boat but now we have bought the house that's turned into a project too. Its a hundred year old miners cottage with a large garage workshop, ideal for the boat. The roof on the garage leaks so I'll have to fix that so that when I turn the boat over it doesn't turn into a giant bath tub.

Incidentally I recon I'd love to have a bath tub made of this material or a hot tub maybe that will be my next project?????? No I don't need another project got distracted see what I mean?

Back from overseas

Well I'm back from working overseas so it's time to get on with the boat.

The next tasks I have to do are:

1. Build a support cradle to hold the boat in shape while I fit out the inside.
2. Strip all the tape off and rough sand the inside of the boat.
3. Fit the three deck beams.
4. Make and fit the plate case.
5. Made the framework for the buoyancy tanks.
6. Fit the deck.
7. Apply final coats of epoxy.
8. Source and fit hardware.
9. Source spar, boom and sails.

Not a long list then.
Better get started.

PS. Hello to the Byron Boys days to do.

That's about guys bye.

All Safely stowed Away

Hi Folks

As you can see it was a bit of a project to stow the boat and get the car in so that they are both tucked away for the winter but all done now.

See you all in the spring.

Don't try this at home.

Hi Guy's

Sorry I haven't posted for a while this house buying game is long winded and expensive especially in Cornwall. Any way I have sorted out my new garage to accept the boat. I had problems with access to my old workshop but finally moved my boat today.

I had to build a special frame to fit my roof bars to hold the boat even so there was quite an overhang at either end of the car which made the 15 mile trip to my new place interesting I know Vauxhall Astras are a bit run of the mill but if you can carry what I have on top of one today then it must be a good car.

Unfortunately I had to destroy the mold to get the boat off as it was stuck to it. This is as far as it goes for now my job is taking me abroad for a few months but I will be back home in March and then I' ll see if I can finish and be on the water for the summer.

All Change.

Hi Folk's

Sorry I haven't posted for a long long time mainly because I haven't done anything to the boat. My new Job has been very busy and we have also bought a house and moved in the last month. This has basically taken up all my free time recently. There is a good out come thought my new place a a large garage and workshop which will mean the boat will be at the bottom of the garden not seven miles away. Much easier to nip down and do some work when I have to odd spare hour here and there. Hopely I'll have some photo's soon.

Still Not Getting Much Done.

Hi Guy's

Apologies for not posting in a while but not much to write, the new job is pretty full on with lots of time away. I have started to make templates to make a support cradle to sit the boat in while I fit out the inside. Money has been tight as both my cars failed their MOTs and cost a bundle to fix I did all the work myself as I am to tight to pay somebody else to do work I can do myself.

Also I am in the process of buying a house not a cheap undertaking when you live in Cornwall but the place has a large garage/workshop which may possibly be larger than the house. This is good as I will probable spend most of my time in there.

Anyway I should be able to make some progress with the boat being at the bottom of the garden instead of ten miles away even if I do have a morgage the size of the debt of a small 3rd world country.

Well thats all folks.

Not getting much done.

Hi Folk's

not really getting much done this month. I have just started a new job not not working shifts anymore so have less spare time now. I managed to get a sheet of 8' by 4' by 3/4'' ply to use as one part of a cradle. I will probably need two more sheets.

Just been giving some thought as to how I can make a template to get the hull profile so I can lay it off on the cradle.

Anyway my car needs a fair bit of work for the MOT so my cash is going in that direction at the moment so I probably won't make too much progess this month.

Christmass.

Hi Folks

sorry no photo's to day I haven't been on for a while mainly because I'm not getting much done this month with the run up to Christmass. I mixed up some filler to give the hull a quick skim to fill some areas of coarse grain but with the cold weather the resin isn't curing fully and my sand paper is just clogging up when I try to knock it back so Ive called it a day until the new year.

I will have to find a new workshop I can't stay in this one past February but at least I can move the hull now.

Job for the new year mot the car and build a cradle to support the boat so I can fit out the inside.

Well that's about it really
Have a good Christmass

Steve.