Today was a great big day. I shifted H2 further apart from H1 so that I would have enough room to glass the hatch side of both hulls without rubbing up against the hulls. This shifting of the hulls was also in anticipation of starting the mast tomorrow. I had been hopeful that I would be done with the basics of each hull by today but no such luck. I'll have to continue on the hulls while I build the mast. I am however done attaching hull panels. I glued the cabin tops on tonigh, in fact I just quit working minutes ago, 1030 pm PDT or so. I did a number of various tasks today including making doublers for where the beams and rigging go, ordering a furling unit and a gennaker, coming up with a material list for soft goods including the trampolines and finish coating the shelf edges clear. I learned a good trick the other day. Cut foam rollers first into a 1.2 to 2 " roll then divide the roll in three. These sections make way better foam brushes than the ones you can buy. Use them as they are of glue a handle onto the cardboard side of the roller.


H2 shifted about one foot south to make room for building the mast.


Cloth hung for glassing hatch/cockpit side of hulls.


Section of foam brush


Using the foam brush I made to tip air bubbles left from rolling epoxy onto the shelf edging.


My new exterior "office" - no good now as it decided to rain!

Another busy day. I fitted half round strips of oak on the underside of the cabin roof to stiffen the roof and to add a little wood on the inside of the cabin. I went with half rounds as they were the easiest to install now that the inside is painted. I made a cutting jig which I used to guide a 1" hole saw normally used in plumbing. These work great when run backwards. They don't chew up your work that way and make a very cleqan cut. Once the cut outs were made in the Doug Fir 1x2's at the tops of the bulkheads, I laid in the half rounds and dropped the cabin top on to them. Then I drilled and screwed them in place. This way I could remove them and have them in the right spot. I pulled the screws added glue, after scraping away the paint and refastened them. By this evening I was able to give them their final coat of epoxy to give them a bright finish. At the same time I coated the decks with a second coat of resin to fill in the cloth weave. I had light sanded this earier in the day so that any bumps were smooth off. It's looking pretty good. I can't wait to get the roof fastened in place.

I started fitting the hatch coaming and the hinge I will use to mount the main hatch. Here are a couple of photos.

A perfect place to hang out and play!!

This sequence is of glassing the bow of hull 2. The job turned out well with only one small area where the glass lifted from the plywood because of excess resin. This happens when the resin starts to kick and it floats the cloth.

Hull sanded and cleaned with isopropyl alcohol ready for cloth.


Cloth draped over hull.


Cloth smoothed out ready for resin.


Partially completed resin impregnation of cloth with only the edges to finish.


Cloth folded up ready for brushing on resin onto wood prior to wetting out the cloth.

Tips: 1. Cut the bristles on white chip brushes down to one half their length. They work better this way. 2. In between glassing stages, if you are using a brush to work resin into the cloth, store the brush in a plastic bag in your freezer. The resin won't cure and you can use the brush over multiple days.

I just had a nap in the boat. Something I've been wanting to do for a long time. It felt really good. It will be even better once she is afloat. I wasn't slacking; I've been glassing since 5am. Lying in the hull gave me ideas about how I want to fit storage pockets. I'm going to take it slow on outfitting the interior. I need to figure out what I need and what works before I start making stuff.

TIKI 26 - Tsunamichaser

TIKI 26 - Tsunamichaser

What I listen to while I work....... http://kexp-mp3-1.cac.washington.edu:8000/listen.pls

I found this article on The Shapers Tree. It's an interesting view of cats. I like the cockpit in the hull, especially the hatch design tucked in under. It reminds me of the hull cockpit that the Tiki 31 has and of how hatches are being done on Open 60's

http://theshaperstree.com/tales/coastal_cat.asp

I now have one deck glassed. To get to this point took some preparation. I had to clear the hulls of all the things I had stored on top of the decks. The first step was to remove masking from the inside of the hulls, vaccum out the holds and install the bunk hatches. I also had to go on a shopping trip to get enough materials to carry me through the weekend. While I was out buying stuff I got materials for building the 27 foot long table on which I will be building the mast. That starts next week. To get ready for glassing the decks I needed to do a fair amount of sanding. The shear strake fillet and screw hole plugs all needed to be sanded out. As did the decks. I detailed the edges and joints at the cabins and the hull ends. The fillets I'd made the night before turned out nicely. For the first time however I ran into some un-cured epoxy. It was pretty minor as it was just at one screw hole. The reason was that when I was plugging the holes I was running low on material and was scraping the very last material out of the mixing container from the joint at the bottom. Easily fixed but a lesson learned.

Detail view of the deck joint. I've held the rail down slightly to give the deck a more detailed look.


I left this sticker on the plywood from the manufacturer. I did'nt get the masking tape sealed perfectly so I will need to detail the edge.


Ready for glass!

I didn't post anything last night as I worked late having started a sequence of work I wanted to get finished. I don't like being ahead on one hull as it feels like it adds a day to the work. I have crossed a major threshold however. The inside of the boat is now all painted. My ability to operate a spray gun is still on a steep learning curve. It's hard not to get drips in corners where you might spray from several angles. I got a couple yesterday but I back brush them right away and once the coat is dry I mist the entire surface with a light coat to make it consistent.

The big job yesterday was getting the rub rail instalation completed. They are screwed on 1 foot centers and glued and will have bolts at beam and rigging points with the hardwood doublers. I am very happy with how this turned out though it wasn't the simplest way of doing things. With a drip on the underside of the strake and the deck glassed to the hull side panels I hope to avoid the rot issues some have experineced at this area. The reason I work so late yesterday was to not only get the inside paint and strake installation completed but to get a fillet laid down along the top of the strake and the screw holes plugged so I can start glassing the decks today. I still need to glue the cabin tops on, another task for today, but with some hard work over the next few days I'll have all the fiberglassing work on the hull completed by the end of the month. I need to start the mast ASAP.


I feel like this when I work in my tiny shed. I have to plan the sequence of every move so I have everything in the right place and know my methods will work when I try to do two person tasks alone. Note rail resting on clamps between boat and shed supports in a space about 4 inches wide at its narrowest.


The inside painted!

I am no professional painter! That is the challenge of DIY, (Do It Yourself). The skill set you need to aquire is enormous. Plan reader, material estimator, lofter, carpenter, epoxy and glassing EXPERT, painter, mast maker, electronics guy and on and on. But what fun it is!!! I'm not building a yacht afterall - all spit shined and polished. I'm building a Wharram for the love of adventure and I'm doing the best I can with the skill, tools and physical facilities I have. The learning curve is steep! Today I discovered painter's disaster. And I discovered that you can recover, if you think and act fast. I have two spray guns. The one I've been using for primer had been acting up so I thought I'd try the other one. Wrong decision. I created a mess. I was mopping up paint with a sponge brush. I didn't have runs, I had spring break-up! Quick thinking got all the paint squeegee'd up. I then smoothed out the catastrope with another sponge brush. I got it looking neat, no runs or sags. The System Three polyurethane paint I'm using cures fast, even at 65% humidity and temperatures in the mid-fifties. I finished all four hull ends with a brush. It looked inconsistent. I fired up my other spray gun. This one, which had baulked at doing a consistent job with the primer laid down the paint very consistently. I went over my brush work, misting the surface to get it to a consistent look. It worked! By day's end I had all four ends nicely painted and the foot wells and hatches done too. They weren't on my list! I had some extra time so I glued one of the rub rails on. I save all my sanding dust. This is what I use to make special pastes for gluing, when the premixed stuff from System Three isn't what I need. One rail glued and screwed, three to go!


H1 stern cabin compartment


Looking aft in H1. Only the furthest compartment is painted the rest have only been primed


Painted hatches stored on the front deck of H1. All flat surfaces become tables for something!


More and different stuff stored on a hull deck!


The shed is filling up to overflowing. How will I ever build my mast in this space?

LISTS! This project has come down to being about making lists and working my way through them. It's a lot of fun. I can almost smell launch day though there is so much to do. Working through the lists keeps me going.


The master list of all the things I know I need to get done to have a whole boat with all its components.


A list on the side of H2. All the things I need to do to get the hulls to the point where I can flip them upside down and finish the bottoms. Letters are interior, number exterior on the hulls.


Today's list. I got some of it done including tasks not on the list!


An abandoned done list with one lone item remaining not crosed off though it has been done.

I worked on a couple of things today though my day was interrupted by a visit from one of my brothers. He was flying through on his way to Europe. We had lunch together, caught up and continued on our way.

I masked and did a first coat of primer on the cabin top and the insides of the cabin sides. It was about 55 F and 70% humidity so I was glad I am using a water-based, epoxy modified primer/paint. It will take a couple of days to cure but warmer drier weather should help this along. I picked up more fasteners for the attaching of the shear strake and some acrylic discs I plan to use to mount my solar powered cabin light below. These are cool as they have both white and red LED lights and are not very expensive, $16 each from Solight.

I may be adding stiffeners under the deck in the forward raised cabin area.

Cabin top with first coat of primer.

Solight (http://www.sollight.com/products/lightship.cfm) in white mode. Blue disc is protected acrylic disc.

Solight (http://www.sollight.com/products/lightship.cfm) in red mode. Blue disc is protected acrylic disc.

The morning was spent with seven first graders on a wetlands field trip. The aquatic plants are just starting to emerge and life in the local wetlands emerging. It was great to get out on a sunny morning and muck around looking at plants, the signs of beaver chewing on trees, turtles sunning themselves on a floating log and a catfish stirring up the bottom as it was feeding in the shallows. I look forward to further exploration of this type from my Tiki. It's about the awesome experiences that this planet holds if you take a look around that motivate me.

I got back to work a little after noon. I had set myself a list of tasks and got after them right after having a bite of lunch. I sanded the back of the cabin tops cut out the hatch opening, routed the edge and coated the exposed wood. I drilled the remaining holes in the rub rails, removed them, cut them to length and routed a larger chamfer on the upper edge and coat these too. I sanded the remaining parts of the cabin interiors in preparation for priming and vaccumed the hulls in prepartation for priming. With any luck I may be able to start painting the interior of the hulls this week. That would be a milestone!

I got a good long day of work in today. After finishing glassing the edge of the second hull first thing in the morning, I switched to getting the shear strake ready for installation. I routed in a drip groove on the underside using the jig I made. It worked like a charm. Instead of pushing the wood over the router I ran the jig with the router attached along the wood with the wood held in two braces. I sanded everything, layed out the screw holes drilled everything and dryfitted it. The next piece is to figure out how to finish up the ends. It'll be simple, no fancy carvings. ...but then again I might carve some kinf of figure into the ends. Tomorrow I'll try to get the ends done so I can make sure everything fits before I glue it all up and fillet the deck seam, then I'll be ready to glass the decks and cabin

Test piece with groove routed into it.

Router jig

Another view if the jig

Jig sitting on actual piece

Shear/rub strake dry fitted

Here are additional photos from finishing the deck to hull edge. After the epoxy has had a chance to start to set up but before it is hard, I cut the edge of the cloth with a straight edge razor and then peel up the tape. I've also included one image of how I'm glassing the deck at the bow and stern handles. The edge tape overlaps and then I add an additional piece of cloth through the handle.

In preparation for the installation of the shear rail, I edge taped the deck and cabin to the hull. This took longer than expected. I still have one more hull to do in fact. First I sanded the deck (wood) and the hull (glass and fairing compound) then cleared all the sanding dust and did a wipe down with rubbing alcohol. As I wanted a clean consistent line, I taped the cloth in place just along its edge. I'm using 4" wide glass tape. As it was laying down over the curved edge very nicely without any modifications I began wetting it out starting from the blue tape edge and working towards the free edge with a 3" wide rubber squeegee and a 2" chip brush which I cut the bristles down to half lenght. This worked great. It was warm yesterday so I had to work with small batches of resin. In all it took a couple of hours to complete the one hull. My plan is to do the other one this morning.

The epoxy I used to fill screw holes in the decks and make shelf fillets with hadn't cured overnight to where I could sand it so I spent the morning on various catch up tasks. First thing was to make a list of things to do over the next week plus on the hulls. Next was to create templates for the seat box bracket that I will add to the inboard side of each hull. With a little ingenuity, some custom made jigs and a hot glue gun I pushed on. I made the templates out of scrap 6mm plywood but likely will use 9mm ply to make the actual brackets. Hot glue was a great way to temprarily attach the brackets. I've now cut all the hull components out so what remains of full sheets of plywood is 3 5x10 foot sheets of 9 mm and 2 4x8 sheets of 6 mm plus some full length partial width scraps. These will go into making, amongst other odds and ends, four seat boxes that can be bolted to the seat brackets I templated. Two boxes will be bolted together end to end and then bolted to the bracket. A flange will be attached to the inboard bottom edge of the boxes to which either a trampoline style floor or a hard floor can be attached. That's the plan anyway!