Month: February 2021

The part I’ve most been looking forward to for sure. I’ve been keen to fit a sea toilet from the get go, as I’ve little motivation for a bucket. They are really very compact and only 4kg. I got one and test fitted it in the forward compartment. It certainly fits under the boarding for the bed. I need some more 9mm marine ply then I’ll cut out the covering. I’ll make a few slats that are easy to remove with a cushion system also easy to move aside when needed. Even seems to be enough head room when on the throne. Phew!

Cockpit sheets from the kit are brilliant and little little fettling to get into place. I’m making two locker lids and will have a couple storage openings. more to come on that. What I will say is the cockpit feels much bigger than I expected. Lots of room for 4 people.

The inside in the main cabin is roomy as well, not lots of headroom, but enough to sit comfortably. I have copied Dan’s idea of nav station cut out for feet. A great idea, I’m glad I saw that on his blog. It is all very rough cut at the moment. I have the electrical panel to make up before committing much more. Not sure exactly where to locate that yet. Batteries are going under the bunks, one each side. Campervan sink ordered with pump from 10l bottle. Jetboil and gimball ordered for cooking. Once I have those I can commit to the galley layout.

I have gone for Gebo hatches, they should arrive soon and I can get going with the bulkhead cutout and companionway cut out. Feeling more confident I’ll be ready for after easter now if the sails and rigging are available.

Glued in the chain plate backers and glassed in the keel timbers, a bit overkill but at the time I was putting the batteries between them. Since changed that.

Front crash box installed and glassed in. Confident that can take a significant hit now.

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Just a few photos of the inside of the hull. I have started sanding and getting ready to begin fitting out. I will start in the bow and work back. Sea toilet it gong in the front cabin under the bed. Hopefully it will fit! The hatches will be ordered this week. Most of the electronics are purchased and can be dry fitted in a weeks, looking forward to that. In the meantime lots of sanding and making it all look neat and tidy. I was over zealous with the epoxy filleting and in hindsight should have tidied it up better when originally applying it.

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The boat will have a trailer, yet to be ordered. To mount it on the trailer I wanted to make a custom cradle, whilst the boat was upside-down the opportunity presented itself. I got some advise from the boatyard on how to make it and went for it. Basically was strips of glass matting as below laid on the hull to get a perfect shape. Astroturf is the contact point between the cradle and hull.

600g chopped strand

600g chopped strand

450g biaxle

600g chopped strand

600g chopped strand

foam core

600g chopped strand

600g chopped strand

450g biaxle

600g chopped strand

600g chopped strand

All bonded with vinylester resin.

I used marine play for the support, 2 layers of 12mm ply laminated together with epoxy. The glassed to the cradle with 2 layers of 450g biaxle and 2 layers of 600g chopped strand. A coat of gel coat to cover.

These will be mounted to a trailer shortly.

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The long boarding and the long boarding and the long boarding are finished. The hull is now as smooth as I can get it. It has been 3 applications of high build primer and plenty of epoxy filler to get it right. The time spent has been close to two months, albeit a couple weeks lost over Xmas and some busy work periods.

Very satisfying to get the last application of 3 coats of high build primer on, this will provide an excellent barrier coat to the epoxy filler and glass matting. Everything has been done using epoxy resin, but the filler is less impervious to water than the primer. Of course there will be undercoat and top coat paint then antifoul, so we are making a very well protected structure.

I have been looking forward to turning the hull over for a few months. Been thinking through the process and basically came up with a new idea a week before. Originally a frame over the boat or using the roof joists to form a strap system and turn it over, but on closer inspection a spit roast idea formed. Scaffold pole at the front and back, then a small A frame pivot either end and roll it over?

The timber need for the spit roast would be minimal and providing I can make it secure what can go wrong?

I used the drain holes on the transom and attached a 2×6 plank either side with carpet to protect the boat. A couple of big bolts and a 30cm section of scaffold pole drilled into the 2×6 and one end done. The bow was a bit trickier, building a “cup” to go over the bow section and secured onto the boat with some ropes going aft. Lots of carpet to protect the hull.

The pivot point put the boat quite high and even higher when turned. The wood assembly creaked but the lads came through and a collective team made it happen. In the excitement I forgot to take and photos, so the timelapse is all I have. It took 2 hours to do this in the 29 seconds below 😉