Last day of May. I have a month on the self-imposed clock! Again it was hot today. In the eighties. I got the tillers glued up first thing this morning and will leave them until tomorrow late before I pull the clamps. Hopefully the bends will remain and hopefully they will fill. I made them snug as I didn't want slop in the tiller to rudder connection. The last part of the rudders will be installing the cheeks that the tillers rest on. I likely will need to get some more wood for these as I'm running out of useful scraps.

The other big project today was gluing up the cockpit box. I added a cant strip around the interior bottom edge so there are no corners to hold sand and the like. I'll fair over this strip to get a clean look. My plan at the moment is to permanently attach seat boxes for storage such that the cockpit sides double as one side of the seat box. I've made the cockpit wider than the plans call for at 52 inches which leaves 13 inches per side for the seat boxes. The top of the boxes will have operable lids so that you can store stuff here.

How time flys. With today's heat, I started early. 5 am early and then I finished late 11 pm. That's a solid days work. I got all the beam pads cleaned up except I forgot one, which I had hoped to coat tonight so now I'll have to tomorrow. I got the tillers fitted and the pieces cut out already to glue. I was going to do it tonight when I discovered that the deck I had the tillers clamped to, to work a bend into them, was flexing. Oh well there is always tomorrow. Early this morning I coated the insides of the cockpit panels so this evening I stiched everything together and glued the sides to the bottom. Onwards. My plan is to use cant strips around the base on the inside with a fillet to finish this off. The inside bottom is glassed as will the outside (all of it) be. I finished the extra aft beam which will sit on the rear deck and be the aft end of the aft tramp. I don't know what else I did. It was a long day!

Does that really say 11:07 pm!


Late night epoxy work. The temperature in the shade hit 85 today.


I took the time to clean tools and misc stuff off the hulls. It didn't last long.


Fitting tillers

At this point of the project, it has become an activity management puzzle. There are so many things going on. When you are building a hull you are focused. Now it's easy to get lost. Today for example I set up measured for and cut the components for the cockpit. I went and got the necessary doug fir for the cockpit too as I was out of stock. I cleaned up and glued in place the last two beam pads, I glassed to sole (topside) of the cockpit. I coated the mast seat and beam end cleats. I lashed on the rudders and began to mill the spacers for the tillers. On top of that I did some general clean up, moving stuff around and dealt with the heat so I had to time when I did any epoxy work.

I now have a little less than five weeks to launch. The push is to be ready for paint in two weeks. There are lots of little things to get ready. These are decks, hatches, beams, tillers and rudders. ....and I think I'm going to be ready! Ya right!!!


Rudders temporarily mounted with electrical wire.


The aft tramp beam with the mandrel still in place.


Gluing beam pads in place.


The cockpit sole.

I am hard at work trying to finish all the miscellaneous details that need to be done to get this boat ready for launch. It took most of yesterday to cut and fit the beam pads where the beams sit on the deck. While I was at that I also finished turning the aftermost extra beam (round) out of some extra Sitka Spruce I had. I used the same Hole Hawg lathe that I used to make the mast. It went off without a hitch. After cutting the beam with a saw and a power planer to a 16 sided cross-section I used a 24 grit sanding belt cut open and attached with spring clamps to an eight pound dive weight. This took the load off me and I could focus on getting the shape consistent. I also cut a 1/3 circle into a 2x4 of the final size plus a bit that I set on top of the sanding belt. When it lay flush all the way the beam was at the final size. I still have finish sanding to do but a I have a good looking round stick of wood. Other things I made, as you can see in the photos below were the mast seat and beam end cleats.

Today I will continue to install the beam seats but the big job for the day is starting the cockpit. Most likely I'll try to lash the rudders on too so I can finish the tillers. These I cut out all the pieces for months ago but have yet to start their assembly and shaping.

Gluing on the flange to the forward beam.


Set up to start shaping the aft extra beam. Hole Hawg attached to treehouse support.


Forward beam pads installed.


Mast seat with guide and knee which will all be installed once the flange is on.


Beam end cleats shaped.

A boat appears from under the tarp!

Blogger is misbehaving this morning. I can't upload photos. No giant steps yesterday as I only got to work for a few hours. I started turning the aft (extra) beam which will support a rear trampoline. Otherwise I continued work on the beam blocks and finishing the forward beam. Much to do yet but I will keep at it until I'm done.

TIKI 26 - ARIKI

I'm starting to put on weight. No not me, the boat. I'll try to post a good picture later but as I start to assemble all the parts, I am getting the sense of the mass of a Tiki 26. Ok so it's much lighter than say my former Westsail 28 which had a displacement of 9500 lbs plus with 3500 lbs of that a big chunk of lead at the bottom of the keel but the finished T26 won't be something you can throw your shoulder against when it's sitting in the sand and you move it. Maybe if it's balanced on some rollers but not otherwise. I guess I've just gotten use to being able to push the whole thing around on my own. I may need to rethink launch day!

Yesterday, My friend Carter came by to check out my progress. I don't think he'd been by since I started H2. He was like a boy with a new toy - wide eyed and darting around. He did point out an interesting thing about the keel-skeg design; on a sandy grounding you'd be ok but if you bounced over a rock and then caught the skeg the outcome could be serious as in tearing off a skeg and rudder. I've seen photos from Matjaž Chvatal web site on his T26 the Ariki http://ariki.zalozba-turistika.si/2005/modif/index.htm that fills in the space between the lowest keel point and the skeg. My concern would be with the extra water resistance to course change but maybe it is minor. A solution, if there even is a problem would bw to add a section of stainless angle or channel bolted through the skeg and running forward to the keel where the flange(s) could be cut off and the web then attached to the hull with a flush screw. While on the topic of modifications, I've been wondering if anyone has played around with adding wings off the skeg as a way of dampening the hobby-horse motion that is suppose to be an issue with canoe sterned cats. They could act like the stabilizer fins often added to offshore power boats to dampen the rolling motion such vessels experince.

On the list of activities today are cockpit construction and starting on an extra beam for the stern trampoline. I've already glued up a 4 inch square of Sitka for this so next is cutting down to its finished size and then turning it to get a round section.

My job now is to finish the boat. the key tasks are finish the beams and the tillers and build the cockpit. I can worry about paint and fitting out later. To make this happen I flipped the hulls upright. This takes me max ten minutes per hull now from upside down on my own. I've got the beams in place and the boats level and square. My immediate goal is to get the lashing plates positioned so I can measure for the cockpit and get it started. I'll be temporarily mounting the rudders so I can figure out the tillers. Everything is cut for them the bits just need to be glued and shaped.

I fit the bow hatch I'm using in the forward compartment in H2. If you've been following my blog you'll know that I added a sub deck about 14 inches down from the main deck and that the space below that is full of two part expansion foam. I plan on using the accessible space for spare rope, heave to gear, mooring lines and an anchor set up. Not totally sure how I'll set up the anchor gear but I'm thinking a webbing bridle that clips into an eye at the bow at each hull. At the apex of the bridle there will be a float and a jam cleat through which the anchor line runs. The bitter end of the anchor line can then be attached to a cleat on the forward beam.

One thing I need to add in the upper bow compartments are drainage holes if I end up using them as wet lockers.

Dilling the hole for the jig saw


Starting the cut.


Half way around!


Hatch set in hole. When I mount it permanently I'll install it so the hatch lide flips out boards not towards the bow.

Here are a couple of photos of the UHMW Polyethylene strips I've attached to the keel as a rub strip. As nothing really will adhere to this material I routed a semi-circular groove in the underside, bedded the material in Sika caulk and screwed the whole thing on one foot centers. Hopefully it will stay in place. It did well today when I flipped the hulls over.

Dare I say it! All I did today was sand. Rudders, hatches and the mast. It took all day. Oh I also attached strips of UHMW Polyethene to the keels as rubbing strips. Hopefully they will protect the keel during beach landings.

It is coming down to managing many details and completeing as many of them as each day allows. The exterior of the hatches are ready for primer. I still need to add stiffners and fillets to the inside of the hatches. I'll get to these details once the hulls are flipped and I can mount the hatch coamings. All these things need to be coordinated. The mast too is nearing completion. I have to finish sanding it, then give it a final thin coat of epoxy before I prime it for paint. No clear coat for me, it is for those who love to do brightwork.

Like slabs of beef, I hung the freshly epoxy coated rudders to cure in the garage. One last light sand and then primer before I install them.

I don't own a TV so I make instead of watch!

It rained steadily here all day and temperatures dropped into the forties. I did a bit of work mainly finishing up odd tasks. The rudder hinges are now all cut ready to be sealed with resin. I prepped lashing blocks and cleaned up the shed. Not a big day. Tomorrow the weather is suppose to be better. Productivity is definitely related to the weather and this is no time for the cold rain to return.

I didn't feel like hanging around watching paint (primer) dry so I went kite flying with my daughter. There was a good wind blowind so there were many people out at of of the local hills that's a popular spot. It would have been a brisk day for sailing requiring a reef or two.

After dinner I got back to work on things. I temporarily mounted one rudder, made a drilling jig and drilled holes for the rudder hinge. I also enjoyed a beer and applied a coat of epoxy to the mast. I'm staying up for awhile so I can turn it so I don't get epoxy bumps on the underside.

MILEHIGH - I left you a message after your comment.


Night view with light coming out from the shop.


Rudder temporarily mounted.


Drilling Jig


Drilled holes


Mast head looking shiny.

I sprayed two coats of primer on the hulls this morning. I'm going to let this cure, give it a light sand then shoot a final coat of primer before I turn the hulls right side up. Meanwhile I plan to finish epoxy coating the mast and mill a slight curve in the UHMW Polyethylene stips that I'll be mounting to the keel.

I am done sanding the bottom of the boat. All the bits and pieces have been attached that need to go on before I can prime. Everything has been sealed, glassed and sanded. I cleaned up the shed this evening. Done with that. My plan is to prime the hull upside down but paint right side up. After I prime the hulls, I'll attach the UHMW polyethylene strips that I'm using in lieu of metal strip down the keel suggested in the plans.

I prototyped the hinges I'm thinking of using today. The material, at 1/8 inch thich may be too stiff. It is also uhmw Polyethylene/ What I need to do is mount the actual rudder to hull and see if it works. This at a minimum means routing 1/8 inch kerfs into a rudder and a stern and mounting these. Then I'll need to see how it works with the tillers which are only cut out but not assembled. More on this as I work it out. I may just go with the laced hinges. Those who use them seem to think them fine.


Main Hatches with a second coat of resin. Tomorrow I'll fair them and then do a final coat of resin. There is more work to be done on the inside of these still.


7/16 thick UHMW Polyethelene strips for the keels.


Fairing a lashing doubler.

I went shopping this morning for supplies. How quickly you eat up epoxy, cloth, brushes, squeegees etc. I hope I now have enough to finish the project. On a very cool note I went to get some UHMW Polyethylene from a place called Laird Plastics. The sales rep was totally helpful and gave me what I needed for free! Life is good. I may still need to buy some more material from them but how cool was that! I got some 1/8 inch sheet material that I am going to test out as rudder hinges. This stuff is extremely tough, flexible enough to serve as a hinge and should bear the brunt of the service it needs to provide. More detail later.

Other than shopping the main tasks today were Glassing the second main hatch and locating the beams on the hull so I could locate the stringer doubler, shape these to take the hull curve and epoxy them in place. I'm still up as I waiting for epoxy to kick so I can remove the tape I masked the attachment area with.

I'm impressed by how tough the hulls are. I'm purposefully handling them a little roughly at this point as I want to get a sense of their toughness. At 400 plus pounds I can still turn them over by hand alone, lift one end to reposition stands etc. Also the more times I do this the better I'm getting at it. I can now flip them in about ten minutes. My cut out barrel works great and by using two reefing hooks and a snatch block with line run through the handle at the stern I can lift and pull the barrel in from the bow until it is in position mid-hull.

Today was the first time that I got a sense of how big this boat is. It is really wide. It will be awesome once it is floating, what a platform. I'll need to figure out where to store it in the water. A mooring would be best but not sure I can make that happen close to home. I'm not super keen on keeping alongside a dock. But that is something I'll figure out when I'm confident I'm ready to go to water.


My backyard get swallowed up.


A new challenge, fitting all the bits. I hope it's all right!


Late night glassing


Back upside down gluing lashing doublers on.

Glass composite plywood Boatbuilding defined - the art/drudgery of sandings for days in a row, sanding sanding and more sanding. Is it smooth enough yet? What else is there to sand? The bottoms of H1 and H2 are now faired and sanded. Quick get some primer on to stop the sanding but wait I'll be sanding the primer too before I paint. Oh good that means I get to sand more. No pictures today all I did for six hours was sand. I hate sanding!

I moved H1 several times today and made a nifty stand for it ot of some Mountain Dew syrup barrels that I recovered after they rolled out the back of a truck sans syrup. You never know when stuff you find will come in handy. It was fun seeing the hull lying on its side on the ground. At the current weight (400 lbs) I can still lift and flip one hull by hand on my own. The bottom is now sanded for paint though that won't come for a while. First I need to add the flange for the seat box. To do this I need to figure out the beams and their attachment. Stay tuned.

Being silly after I "dropped" the hull while flipping it.


Mountain Dew crushed!


Ready for sanding.


Perfectly propped!


Moved for cleaning the work space, note single 2x4 prop. I'll carry a few of these when I sail I case of dissasembly need.

Jury-rigged - rigged for emergency or temporary use. I think this defines my mast making methods perfectly besides there are many in the larger nautical community out there who think Wharram's boats insane. Afterall they are tied together. Who in their right mind would so much as contemplate leaving the dock on such a vessel. In this case the mast met the same principle. By allowing the whole thing the freedom to move around, it worked better. Jungle-better!

Below are some new pictures. As conduit for cabling in the mast I used press fitted irrigation tubing. At each end are male garden hose connectors. This way I can continue the wiring to the electrical panel/radio through garden hoses. Perfectly flexible/waterproof and cheap.


Mast bottom.


Mast top. Note block with epoxied on studs for mounting tri-light.


The gaff takes shape.


The first hatch. Circles drawn on top are for future 18" plexiglass dome.


Dust on a well sanded deck.

No pictures today unless I posted some of dust! You may have noticed that I added a new photo link to my Flickr site. You can see all my construction photos here. I sanded the day away basically though I did fit the standing rigging cleats to the mast. These I am through bolting instead of using screws as Wharram shows in the plans. Andy Vanags, who taught me material sciences in school once told me a story of a sailor boat builder who had fastened his boat with screws. As this sailor sailed on the screws slowly worked their way loose. Bolts with nuts could be tightened but not screws. Screws have their place just not in high stress locations as the mast top rigging cleats. Therefore I bolt!

I'm interested in why no one commented on my video of mast making - no one out their thought me crazy or ingenious. I wish I had footage of when the mast got loose and was bouncing all over the shed and I quickly retreated under the overturned hull or when the strap got wraped around itself and the boom ended up at the top of shed roof! Hole hawgs are a powerful tool.

Workwise I'm not done for the day just a break for a beer and some dinner then back at it to glass a hatch and seal the bottom of the mast.

To Tommy who commented on Sunday's post, what part of the world are you in? How do you plan on using your T26? There are a number of us who email ideas back and forth. Join in if you'd like.

Not truely being able to stay out of the shed, I flipped H2 over so the last hull side could get a final resin coat last night. The decks are next then a final sanding before primer and paint.

I am at that crossroad that eventually rears its head on all expeditions; planning started a little late, the mountain is larger and knarlier than it looked from a distance and you are wearing thin from the approach. Though you trudge on, the goal seems to never get closer and the window of opportunity is rapidly closing on you. In my case the goal is arbitary, the desire to be on the water by July 1st - I have all the time in the world. Mañana!

I can be positive or negative about this. It is my choice. I made two "new lists" of tasks to be completed this morning; one with more detail than the one I was working from. It is longer, it goes on forever! The other list just says have fun finishing the boat - no worries. Yes there are many things almost done. Everything is started. This is not because I am disorganized but because all these things need to be fitted together. I can have fun or I can start to dread the project. I can wish for a larger work space - a thirty by forty foot hangar would do nicely or I can play along with the jungle clearing -tude of my backyard. It all comes down to attitude. I think I need to chill. I've been working seven days a week for sometime now. Eventually this "overtime" becomes anti-productive; you make mistakes, over-look things, injure yourself and worst of all start hating the thing. It's good to voice all this as it helps figure out how to move on - morale is down the team is slogging - it's time for a pep talk and team meeting to refocus the effort. A nice big beach party would do nicely!

Fifty days to go. There's plenty of work to start and finish if I'm launching on July One. The mast is now round and to size with the exception of the top and bottom; those areas I'll do by hand. I've puttied up all my screw holes and any small voids in the joints. Hopefully I can sand these fills tomorrow. The mast looks good. I put in about two hours on sanding it today starting with 24 grit and working my way up to 120 grit. I used belt sander belts cut open to do the sanding. When I started out the square box mast weighed 105 lbs. It now weighs 80 lbs.

The other big task of the day was sanding and fairing the hull of H2. I'd done one side but needed to "fix" the keel where I'd applied 12 oz biaxial cloth and do all of the inboard side. After another sanding, I'll give everything a last epoxy coating and then a last sanding before primer and paint though I still need to mount the lashing doublers and plates at the beam locations.

Hole saw mandrel for turning the mast. Close up of mandrel. I attached it to the mast with 3" screws.


Webbing loop.


Detail of webbing loop and black from which I suspended the mast.


Filling screw holes and joint voids on the mast.


Final coat of fairing compound on bottom of H2.

View This!

By the running clock I have on the right hand column of the blog, I have fifty days to go if I'm going to launch on the 1st of July. Things are starting to feel like this photo!

The gaff coming right along curing in the warmth of the sun.

None of the epoxy I'd done last night was cured enough to sand so I jumped in on the mast. (I suppose I could have sanded the deck and cabin of H1 but I'd rather play with wood. I let the mast out of its bondage gear and made some 45 degree chocks to sit it in. Getting the mast to eight sides was pretty fast. I took my worm drive saw down the lines I'd scribed and knocked the corners off. Then I made a 45 degree guide for my power planer, hot glue and duct taped it on and promptly cut the mast to 16 sides. Next I free handed it to 32 sides. It looks pretty good now. Most of my glue joints are totally closed up and the mast is only slightly over sized. Time to start the long road towards a five inch diameter round stick!


Free but in the square.


Scribbing the cut lines


Worm drive to eight sides.


Some of the jigs I'm using to make the mast.


Round in the rough! -- Lunch time!

I got so into advancing work yesterday that I forgot to take any photos. The day was actually a blurr as it was broken up by a 2 pm teaching gig I had. I worked till the last moment, rushed to the class, then back to boat work. Funny thing was the lesson went better than when I fuss and fret over these things. Subconsciously I'd obviously thought about the lesson but not the delivery. Sometimes it's better to not come at things directly.

I managed to get the gaff finish ready. It has its first coat of resin on it. It was a good exercise to take the gaff from a square stick to a round stick. Next step will be rounding the mast. Other things I worked on were the hatch and coaming for H1, fairing the hull of H2 (I sort of messed up not doing the final strip of 12 oz biaxial glass on the keel on H2). I have a fair amount of sanding to get the hulls ready for their last coat of epoxy and then primer and paint -- oh but wait! I still need to figure out how the cockpit seat boxes go on the hulls! ... So much to do and only one pair of hands and 24 hrs in a day.

Here are some of the things I worked on today. I continued work on one hatch. I removed clamps from the gaff and replaced these with zip ties. I'll return to working on the gaff tomorrow. I sanded the deck and house of H2 for about two hours. It needs some fairing but it's looking really good. I flipped H2 over and sanded one side. I thought I'd get to fairing this one side but the day is only so long! UPS delivered a stack of parcels; roller furling, a gennaker and all the soft goods for making the trampolines, sail covers and interior pockets for storing stuff. .......this is a huge project!

I worked on many things today and I worked a really long day. Because of the warm temperatures, I did my epoxy work early and late. I coated the cabin on H1 starting at 6 am and I work until about 1120 pm gluing up the mast. It took a great deal of work to get glue everywhere and the whole thing fitted together well. Then checking that it was not curved was another task but I think it's pretty good. I've got it set up on a perfectly level and plane surface so it should be good. I used a string line to check it but you never know. I won't really know until I take it out of the significant restriants I have holding it all together.

Fitting the last pieces


Dry-clamped


Clamp madness from the bottom


Clamp madness from the top. I've also got rope would around it and then further tightened with wedges of every sort.


Serious mast bondage!

The temperature hit 85 F in the shed yesterday. Needless to say I didn't try epoxying during this heat. I did some small gluing tasks but waited until this morning to give the cabin on H1 its second coat of resin. I started some new projects yesterday too. I started work on the first hatch. I'm not sure how deep I want it so I made it deeper than needed. I've started using hot glue to temporarily tack things together. It works well. I also glued up all the bits I'd made that are the boom. This was difficult even though I had dry fitted everything. At one point I thought I was going to loose out as it took so long to get everything aligned that I was expecting the glue to set.


Mast heel glued in place.


Conduit run up through the mast for wires.


My daughter crumples tin foil into the mast to increase the boats radar signal.


Mast head assembly now glued in place. Note block added below jib sheet guides.


The boom dry fitted.

The temperature hit 85 F in the shed yesterday. Needless to say I didn't try epoxying during this heat. I did some small gluing tasks but waited until this morning to give the cabin on H1 its second coat of resin. I started some new projects yesterday too. I started work on the first hatch. I'm not sure how deep I want it so I made it deeper than needed. I've started using hot glue to temporarily tack things together. It works well. I also glued up all the bits I'd made that are the boom. This was difficult even though I had dry fitted everything. At one point I thought I was going to loose out as it took so long to get everything aligned that I was expecting the glue to set.


Mast heel glued in place.


Conduit run up through the mast for wires.


My daughter crumples tin foil into the mast to increase the boats radar signal.


Mast head assembly now glued in place. Note block added below jib sheet guides.


The boom dry fitted.

I don't know where Scott Williams learned the making tape method of finishing the edge of glass but I think it's brilliant. You get an increadibly clean edge to your work. The other great thing is that you don't need a whole bunch of different glass products as you can make your own from a roll of cloth. If nothing else came of this project, I'm happy to have learned this technique. If I could I'd go back and do all the glass work over using this method with the exception of the 12 oz biaxial tape I used on the keel. I'd use the 12 oz again but not the 6 oz. The 6 oz is skitish stuff.
For the final glassing of the cabin top I only did a small overlap as I had already taped the edges. This means that the vertical seams, cabin corners have one layer of 6 oz biaxial and two 6 oz woven cloth and the cabin top seams have two layers of 6 oz cloth. Hopefully this will be enoughto keep the cabin from flying off!


Note short section of rope I'm using to keep glass in place as I smooth it out dry. This worked really well. I held it to the gunnels with spring clamps as I worked the folds out of the glass.


Tape detail.


Another tape detail.

I reached a significant milestone yesterday. I now have two fully glassed hulls. I need to get all the exterior surfaces paint ready but my focus can now switch to assembly of a boat. Oh sure there are a few details like building a cockpit and finishing all the bits and pieces I have started!

Mad mast work continues! The cants are now all glued as are the bottom cheeks. I laid out the masthead light an LED unit that was spendy but uses very little power and comes with integrated anchor light and strobe. The plan is to let this work cure before I do more on the mast. After coffee I'll work on glassing the cabin tops using the Scott Williams' invisible seam tape method. I want to get the hulls faired sanded and painted.


Masthead light positioned on my layout drawing. I do these right in the plan set.


Masthead pieces and foot.


Channeled top blocks


Hardwood bits for mast including the dplfin striker.

I got a comment earlier today from someone (David) interested in my blog. He asked a couple of questions; 1. why did I coat the plywood in epoxy and 2. what is my experience level? Here are my answers

1. You use epoxy for everything. As a water sealant/rot proofer, glue, strengthening agent and for glassing. Without it you couldn't really build this boat, not one that would hold up. The reason I paint whole sheets of plywood is it's faster and you get a better overall coat thickness, no thick/thin coats at the edges.
2. As to my experience; I've been fool enough to stick with wood for almost my whole life. I thought of building this boat in aluminum but didn't partly because of expense, lack of good welding skills and the boat would be cold in cold water and warm/hot in warm water. Maybe one day! As for woodworking skills, I think I started hammering and sawing before I could crawl. I've done plenty of boat repair for myself, build a driftboat and a couple of kayaks, many a treefort, some houses and furniture. I'm not highly skilled but have been at it for a bunch of decades.

Does that answer your question? If not you can find my email hidden in my blog.

Thomas

Mast building continues. There are many parts to make in many different materials in all sorts of thicknesses. This is one place where you don't want to start gluing until everythind has been dry fitted. And you need to make sure this long round stick stays straight as you build. Tightlines are key. Do the wood sheave for the jib halyards actually work? Any current Wharram sailors please pitch in before I go down this road. Thanks For that matter what about flying a gennaker - any good ideas about attaching it at the head.

I'm busy making mast and gaff parts. I checked my stock of hard woods but had nothing suitable thicker than 5/4's rough so here I am gluing up two layers of this to make the mast foot, gaff slider mast cleats etc. Note the two 1" dowels on top of the glue sculpture. These I made from an old but good broom handle - handle good, broom bad - you never know when all that junk you keep will come in handy and it still works as a broom! How I drilled the 1/4 inch center hole, over drilled to 5/16th, is a story. First I tried free hand. That was no good. Not having a drill press I "made" one. The broom handle section fit inside of a plumber's hole saw I have, the kind with a separate center point drill that goes all the way through. So I stuck the dowel in the holesaw and then spun it in a drill to make shure it was square - no wobble. Then I took this set up out of the drill, put the 1/4 inch bit in the drill and drilled through the holesaw and therefore the dowel - perfect job! I then over sized the hole for epoxy with a 5/16 bit. I love the creative solutions that drinking coffee all day makes you think off.

Lunch time so I thought I'd show the mornings work. I have now made all the Sitka Spruce parts of the mast. Next I'll make the plywood and hardwood bits. I set up my long "workbench" for ripping the mast cant strips and the two 3 1/2 inch sides. This involved the removal of a pane of glass to my basement windo. Luckily I hadn't replaced the glass pane yet. I still have the plywood plug in. The Sitka Spruce is remarkable wood, light, flexible and strong. I can't wait to see how it performs as a box beam/mast.

Setting up the ripping workbench.


It starts to rain - coffee time.


All the long bits made!

Once again I am deviating from the plans. Really, I'm just making things my way. The boat is to dimension. With the cabin top I added wood cant strips to the inside of the cabin sides. To these and the bulkhead stringers I glued the cabin top. As the joints had cured, I removed the screws and clamps and then cut the top flush with the cabin sides and ends. I then rounded the edges in preparation of glassing the tops. But that is for another day.

As soon as The new bench was complete I sorted the six 24 foot long pieces of Sitka Spruce I have been seasoning for the mast. I'm using the best sectionsfor the long runs of the mast and the others for the boom and the scarfed on pieces. I cut the scarfs so none would line up and they took advantage of the wood where it is best. Studying the plans this morning I determined that I wouldn't have to splice sections for the triangular sections of the mast. These I'll cut tomorrow. Making the scarfs was fairly easy. I pre-cut the angle plane it to near the line and then finished up with a belt sander. To keep the saw at the right angle I screwed a piece of the same wood to the bottom of the saw. This works well when you need to cut from both sides. To join the scarfs, I made Sitka Spruce flour using a flour sifter to sift the belt sanding dust. This I mixed with epoxy. I separated everything with wax paper, spread the epoxy paste, lined up the joints and screwed and clamped everything together.

I started work on the mast and boom today. My first task was to build a long level and straight work bench on which to build the mast. This I wedged into my shed between the two hulls. The photos below show the process.