Not really an excuse for a year between posts but priorities - construction followed by thirst quenching drinks has not left the mind in any state for blogging. O.K. Maybe they are not really thirst quenching......
I wanted to get pictures of the hull being turned but Ray did not have the patience to wait until I got back from work. Luckily he did not damage it in the absense of my expert supervision.........
After turning the lee hull over we put in permanent bulkheads and glassed them.
The rainy season arrived so time to move inside and make the beams. These proved a lot more time consuming than expected especially laminating over 90 layers of carbon
and glass for the triangular carbon rods in the corners. Cutting the triangle shapes could only be done a millimetre or so at a time.
At this point Ray started to get rashes around his wrists and a swollen eye. We figured the rashes might be due to direct contact with epoxy but he swore he didn't rub his eyes so maybe the fumes from curing? Anyway, he now had to take more precautions and generally avoid epoxy work for a while.
Weather cleared up in March so it was back to outside work with the lid being put on the lee hull mostly by Ed due to Ray's allergy, while Ray worked mainly at planking the windward hull which went much quicker now that they were practised at doing this stuff.
It was now time to move the lee hull because there was not enough space to turn over the windward hull.
It was now time to move the lee hull because there was not enough space to turn over the windward hull.
Hence the picture of a crane lifting the lee hull into the adjacent field. The crane logged the weight at 1750 kg. Reckon the hull is pretty rigid as there was nary a squeak or creak as she was raised. Rob's estimate for foam was 1300 kg so cedar is pretty close considering we put in so much extra strengthening outside and inside the hull at the 'keel' and used plywood bulkheads. Definitely a 'no brainer'.
I feel like a major step has been made. It is difficult to access the place with a large crane and we had been contemplating a variety of complex alternatives, so it was a relief to see the operation go smoothly. Even though logic told me the strapping was plenty strong enough for a 1.75 ton load, the mind was not quite accepting it when the load was 15 metres in the air......
I feel like a major step has been made. It is difficult to access the place with a large crane and we had been contemplating a variety of complex alternatives, so it was a relief to see the operation go smoothly. Even though logic told me the strapping was plenty strong enough for a 1.75 ton load, the mind was not quite accepting it when the load was 15 metres in the air......
