Minggu, 30 Oktober 2016

Varnish Sand x



After a 5 coats of clear epoxy it was time for varnish of the deck and sides. I have completed 4 coats of varnish and the amber tint has given a nice ivory color to the white stripes and toned them down a bit. Looks better I think. As stated on the varnish can (Epifanes), the first coat was thinned 50% with mineral spirits. I used a foam trim roller to put it on quickly and a wide foam brush to tip it off. The first couple of coats were sanded with 220, but I could see scratches, so I have now been using 320 and then 400 between coats. Thinning is about 25%. I have been rolling on half of the forward deck and then tipping off, then do the same on the other side. If there is any imperfection, I have learned to ignor it because there is no going back, it only makes an issue worse. I was hoping to be done after 4 coats, but there were a couple of dry/missed spots so Im on for at least 5. I hope to be done before the boating season is over.
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Tidying Up Day

I tidied up some wiring today.  I enclosed in flexi trunking the remote start cable for the generator, the output cable and the power cable for the bilge pump, and connected the immersion heater wiring and a few other little jobs.

 The end of the run

Once done I fired up the generator with the shore power still plugged in and the auto switch over worked both in and out seamlessly.  I still have to install the bilge pump but the wire is there now.

I finally got the remainder of the plinth for the bathroom so installed that and while in there I siliconed the toilet in as well

I put the recessed fender mounts in on the port side and have been doing some work on the rudder.

 
I also filled and calibrated the water and waste tank gauges.  Well the waste water one was manufacture calibrated as it was matched to the depth of the tank, but I filled the tank to check it.  The water did need calibrating whic was simple following the manufacturers instructions.  

The waste tank is showing just over half now as I also got to test the self pump out system, which as you can see as the level is down works.



Another little job thats been hanging around is the fitting of the handles and locks for the gas and kit lockers on the stern of the boat.

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Sabtu, 29 Oktober 2016

Clean up after yourself google

There is a widespread belief that technology creates energy.  It enables the delivery of energy but it does not produce it.  You cant use technology to create energy.  Energy exists of its own accord.  Technology helps with the delivery.  Thats all. Obviously there is a lot of technology involved in the delivery of energy, and the two, energy and technology are so closely intermeshed that it seems hard to tell which came first, an instance of the chicken or egg first question.
Broken widgets.  I think they used to have different pictures in them.  Now they all say lets fight hunger together.  They should say instead, If you break it, you should fix it.  But thats my point.  Technology needs a constant input of energy to keep working.  In this case, I think I will just get rid of the broken widgets, once I get enough spare energy to do it.  Clean up after yourself Google.  Thats what I would say if Google was my kids.
Anyway, I dont care about this argument.  The only reason I brought it up is that some of the google widgets I put on the sidebar of this blog have stopped working.  Google informed me that they would by way of an email.  And sure enough, they have stopped working.  But now, I have to expend energy to fix the technology.  so thats my point.  Technology eats up energy.
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Almost Forgot

I almost forgot to post some pictures on the water.





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Senin, 24 Oktober 2016

The 41st Waterfowl Festival Easton Maryland November 11th 13th 2011


We do a lot of shows during the year, generally around a dozen, or so. Shows that weve done cover many parts of the U.S: East to West, from the Chesapeake Bay to Lake Tahoe and North to South from Upstate New York to Florida and many places in between. Weve even been invited to shows in Scandinavia, Germany, England and Australia. Such invitations make us go "Wow!", but doing them has not been feasible, as of yet.

Weve learned a lot of things on the "show circuit". Such trivia as that there are more boats registered in the state of Michigan than in any other state. Which state did you think it was? Weve also learned where Thousand Islands Dressing was invented and a lot of places where excellent Barbecue can be found. One of the things that we like to do, whenever were a ways from home, is to take a visit to the local supermarket. We like to eat and every place has its own specialties. Moon Pies in the South; River Rat Cheese in the North, etc..

Being in the "Boating Industry", we are particularly aware of seafood centers. We came from Boston, home of the best seafood in the world, to, The Chesapeake Bay, home of the best seafood in the world. We like to visit San Francisco, home of the best seafood in the world, The Gulf Coast, home of the best seafood in the world, Callabash, N.C., certainly home of the best seafood in the world and The Pacific Northwest Coast, home of the best seafood in the world, especially smoked sturgeon... Every one of these places has the best seafood. They really do, period.

Best, but different. Each one has its array of signature dishes and I love them all. The shows that we go to are different and "the best" in a similar way. Our next show "The Waterfowl Festival" is in Easton, Maryland. My understanding is that it started strictly as a "decoy show", with just bird carvers. Its grown in its forty one year lifespan into one of the most respected wildlife art shows in the country and, indeed, it draws artists from all over the globe. Among the arts are paintings, bronze sculptures and the highest forms of the art of carving birds. This is a vast under-representation of what youll find.

In fact, this show has grown into many interesting venues throughout the city of Easton and also attracts spectators from around the world. As always, we will be at the show with our models in the Artists Emporium (normally the Easton Middle School). There, you will also find several great bird carvers; metal sculpture wizard, Paul Lockhart; Courtney Design, creators of amazing wildlife jewelry; Donnie Thornton, famous Chincoteague feather painter and several other great artists and artisans, as well as some suppliers of special tools and supplies for carving and other related arts.

Although weve been doing this show for years, this is the first time that we will have our book "Fundamentals of Model Boat Building" with us. It was a four year project. Youll understand why when you get to see it.

Weve really come to enjoy spending time with our friends from Schiffer Publishing Ltd. at recent book signings in Baltimore, Solomons Island and Oxford and I think that were going to miss them as we return to our traditional model display. It was certainly nice to have someone else set everything up and to be able to just "show up". We will have our full array of models, our photos, our mini workbench and our computer with us in Easton. Please be sure to come see us.

Even though we wont be sharing a booth, Schiffer Publishing will also be at The Waterfowl Festival at a different location. We cant tell you exactly where yet, but we will keep you posted. If you are a connoisseur of the carving arts, you may be familiar with books by William Veasey, Tom Wolfe or Steve Rogers. They are all Schiffer authors and just a small representation of a great publishing house. If you are a connoisseur of reading, you will find something that youll love with over 4,500 interesting titles available on all kinds of subjects. http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=9780764331053

The 41st Waterfowl Festival is being held on Friday, November 11th, through Sunday, November 13th, in locations throughout the city of Easton, Maryland. Check their website for more information: http://waterfowlfestival.org
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Minggu, 23 Oktober 2016

Progress finally

15th December 07

Well finally our busy week is nearly over, on Friday 14th, the guys managed to finish tackwelding FR 12 and F13 to the hull floor. Also the stiffeners on FR 1-3 lower sections were fitted having been sitting there for a week waiting to get fitted.

Today Saturday, I managed to finish the last big frame, No 14. (below)



Side stringers laid into approx positions. Bottom Stringers (longitudionals ) all in there correct place and level to the floor. We did have a major kink to work around on the LSH where the sheets are joined. The centre beam ahead of the last frame is also fitted to allow FR 14 to get placed.
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Ranked No 22

I joined UK Waterways web ring type ting last week. Im really pleased that Im in at No. 22. Thanks everyone for reading.
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Kamis, 20 Oktober 2016

Its Been A While

We have been away for a week wild camping in the motorhome down to Cornwall and the west country.  This is wild camping at its best. 

 Cheddar Gorge

In line with our love of canals a visit to the famous Caen Flight of locks was on the agenda.

This is my picture of the site.



Before we went I ordered a load of stuff which has now started to arrive.

So far delivered and collected are:- New battery box fiberglassed, kitchen and bathroom taps, bathroom sink, hob, integral microwave comi oven, washing machine, fridge freezer, the TV unit, the internal door handles, door glass,  and the power cables for the.

So I will be getting on with installing all this new kit in the next few days.



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Advanced Alternator Regulator

To finish the alternator modification I have added to the house battery system an advanced alternator regulator made by Sterling Power Products  I chose the ProD model.


Unit on the right.  The left is the MPPT

The first thing to do was to connect 2 wires to the inside of the alternator.  Only one of these wires is used but it need to be determined which.


These wires go to the brushes in the alternator.

Cap back on and wires out of a convenient hole.

With the alternator running normally its necessary to identify which type of alternator sensing you have.  Mine is a Negative sensing.
Once the right wire is found simply snip the unused one off.

This explains what they do but in a nutshell it changes the charge profile of the original regulator in the alternator without modifying it. It will fail safe to the alternators own regulator if it encounters any number of possible problems protecting the alternator and batteries from themselves as it makes the alternator & batteries and connecting cables work much harder for longer.  The full manual is here. http://www.shop.sterling-power.com/acatalog/pdar.pdf

The additional load on the alternator started to cause the belt to slip on engine start up as the ProD loaded the alternator.  I could have added more tension to the belt but this just adds extra loading the the engine front bearing and the alternator bearing. To overcome this I applied some Belt Dressing which has done the trick.


While out this week the engine clocked up 200 hours.


Its very noticeable how much quieter the engine is becoming as time goes on, and since the alternator modification how much smoother it feels.  I can offer no explanation for this tough.

I have decided to change the central heating boiler and have ordered a Hurricane CH25


The Mikuni MX60 has been and continues to be great, its done sterling service for 2 winters but I want the greater flexibility the Hurricane offers with its zoning, hot water only and the added feature of being able, with the use of an additional heat exchanger, use the the engines waste heat to heat the radiators.

More on this soon.

Another modification on the horizon:-   I have ordered a new propeller.  The current one is 21 x 16 and I shall be replacing it with a 21 x 21.  I should get this in a few weeks and have a slot booked on a local crane day but I might try to do it in the water.  I looking into the feasibility of this.

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Toilet Talk

Its a fact, when a group of boaters get together its not long before the talk turns to one of several subjects and pretty much every time toilets will crop up.

Another topic is voltage drop, cable thickness, etc.  Well this bog blog post covers both.

It was my intention to have all essential services on the boat running on 12v.  These I figured were water pump, lights, central heating and toilet.  

Since being on the water we have had problems with the toilet back flowing into the bowl about 1 in 5 times this of course is more noticeable on "longer" visits.  Initially I thought it was the non return valve being faulty or damaged, but having serviced this and the macerator unit the problem still existed.  

As winter drew on I noticed that when the toilet flushed the lights would dim significantly on the initial start start of the flush cycle.  As the batteries are working harder this time of year the charge will drop to 80% overnight with the fridge freezer running.  It was noticeable that when I am on the boat alone the problem was less frequent as I dont bother with the fridge for a couple of days at a time which keeps the batteries up to 90+% overnight.  Also it eventually became apparent the problem was worse in the mornings where the batteries are at their lowest, so my thoughts turned to the performance of the macerator and in particular with all the clues the likely cause being voltage drop.

I tested the voltage after a good charge. At the main 12v distribution board 12.83v, which showed 12.37v at the toilet no load.  On start up the voltage dropped to 8.5v rising to 10.5v for the rest of the flush.  This was a water only test and of course would take less power to macerate than a "full" load.  This combined with the run being about 2/3 of the maximum recommended put the system under great strain.

Clearly this was less than ideal although I had used wire gauge theoretically ample to cope with the run distance and load.  My next idea was to run another wire of the same gauge which I did as a temporary.  This had very little effect, improving voltage by about .5v.  I then connected a well charged battery right next to the toilet with a cable run of the same gauge but only about 600mm long.  This proved highly successful with over to 12v being delivered right from the start of the cycle.

I was faced with 2 options, run a massive pair of cables to the toilet which would cause problems because I didnt have room for them without some major carpentry or abandon my original remit and use 230v for the toilet.  The latter choice won out.  OK, I know we are reliant on the inverter being on to flush the loo and if this went west we couldnt flush but in reality if the inverter packed up we still have the generator.  I have further made future emergency provision by using a standard 3pin plug and socket so I can if necessary connect a small inverter to the original 12v supply and simply plug it in to there.

The fitting of the new 230v toilet has necessitated some butchery of my original neat installation.

This is what it looked like from behind before, 3 nice neat holes through the wall.


This is what it looks like now. Power was easily available from the sockets that supply the AV equipment.

Not quite so neat but effective

And with the new toilet all fitted.  No sight of the hole now.

Technical details

Initial tests are encouraging!  Certainly the flush is much more powerful.  The flush is now by a button on the side of the toilet which is not what I expected from the details.  I still have the 12v toilet panel just visible at the top of the photo.  Im going to see if this can be connected to the control in the toilet as its more convenient and I wont have to devise a cover for the panel & hole.

Once Im happy with it all I will bolt it down securely although as it is its pretty stable and usable.



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Henry B Bigelow





Having an absolutely amazing time out here-- sighted many whale species (just saw two blue whales a few hours ago), lots of dolphins, and mola molas. On June 19th, dozens of dolphins surrounded the ship. Miniature dolphin calves swam next to their protective mothers while the others had a hell of a time jumping and dancing with each other. Just lovely. I went down to the weatherdecks and listened to them chattering.

You can track us in real-time here--just select Henry B. Bigelow as the ship.

My "official" NOAA blog is up and running! Find it here.
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Rabu, 19 Oktober 2016

Joining Plywood Scarph Joints

This is the first of a series of posts about the methods of joining plywood. It is not a course to teach how to do this work but a basic explanation of how it is made and the benefits and drawbacks. Refer to that excellent book "The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction" to see various methods for making joints on plywood and solid timber.

I am starting with my preferred method first, only because this has been the subject of discussion between me and a couple of other people recently. This is the scarph (or scarf) joint, more technically known as a feathered scarph because the slope tapers off to a "feathered" edge.

Most amateurs have a fear of making scarph joints that fits anywhere between mild trepidation and total panic. In reality a scarph on plywood is relatively simple work to do. If you can handle a hand plane with reasonable accuracy then you can scarph plywood. A scarph joint is no more than a sloping butt joint between the ends of two sheets or lengths of timber, generally sloped at between 6:1 and 10:1. The 1 is in the thickness of the timber and the other number is in the length of the timber. For scarphing plywood I would generally use about 8:1 slope. So, in 6mm plywood it would be 48mm and 12mm plywood would be 96mm. These numbers are not finite rules, so they can be rounded off to 50mm and 100mm respectively for simplicity as long as both halves are planed to the same angle. In imperial measurements an 8:1 scarph on 1/4 plywood will be 2" wide and 4" on 1/2" plywood.

The Anatomy of an 8:1 Scarph Joint on 12mm Plywood

It needs only a tape measure, straight edge and pencil to mark the scarph, in addition to the plane. Once you have the plywood panel cut to required shape to fit the boat, you will measure in from the edge that will be scarphed by the width of the scarph. Do this at three or more places along the edge, which will show up any errors in your measurement if the straight edge does not touch all points. Draw a pencil line with the straight edge to define the edge of the slope.

If you have a hand power plane, this will make short work of removing the excess material but dont try to get up close to the line or you will risk messing up. Stop at least 3mm above your line then use a sharp jack plane to take it down to the finished surface. The closer you get to the finished surface the finer the plane must be set. Remember that you are working to create a feathered edge right at the edge of the board, so you dont want to remove any material that will destroy that edge. Clamping your board to another sheet of plywood or a firm table, with the edges aligned, will support the feathered edge so that it doesnt move away from the plane when you work.

I cant emphasise "sharp" strongly enough for the plane blade. It must be as sharp as you can get it and you should hone the plane blade again before each scarph is planed. You will be planing across the end grain of alternate layers, which will rip instead of being sliced if the plane is blunt, ruining the accuracy.

Use the edge of your plane or a straight edge to check that your slopes are straight. If you can see light under the straight edge then the surface is not straight. If the surface is concave then the middle of the joint will be hollow. If convex then the feathered edge will not lie against the other sheet so you will have gaps .

If you dont have a hand plane but have a skill saw, you can buy a "SCARFFER" attachment that bolts to the base plate to set the slope. You can see this attachment in use in the Gougeon book mentioned above. I did the same by cutting a block of wood to the required angle and bolting that to the base of my skill saw.

If you have neither a power plane nor a skill saw then you can still do it all by hand. Start with the plane set coarse until you are nearing the line, then sharpen the plane and set it more fine for the final finishing.

Be careful not to make the most common error, which I have done a few times. That is to plane both slopes onto the same side of the plywood instead of onto opposite sides. You dont realise your error until you bring the two pieces together and they dont match.

Is it a problem if your scarphs are not entirely true? That depends on how big the error as well as what glue you are using. Epoxy has better gap-filling properties than resorcinol and also gives a stronger joint if there is a film of epoxy between the two surfaces that are being glued. Resorcinol gives maximum joint strength when there is wood-to-wood contact, so epoxy is more tolerant of bad joints than resorcinol. Still, dont use the fact that you are using epoxy adhesives as an excuse to accept shoddy workmanship from your own hands.

When gluing the joint, remember that end grain is thirsty and will suck glue out of the joint, so dont skimp on the glue. Let the glue lie on the surface for a few minutes so that it can soak in, then apply some more if needed.

Scarph joints on plywood are a lot stronger than the wood that is being glued, so there is a natural safety factor. Also, you will generally be attaching the panels to a wood structure that has stringers and other longitudinal timbers crossing the joint and reinforcing it. You are very unlikely to ever break that scarph once the panels are glued onto the boat.

Making scarph joints is satisfying work once you get the hang of it. It produces a nice smooth surface both inside and outside, much nicer if your boat will not have hull liners covering up all of your handiwork. Scarph joints are neat, strong and can be made by hand. I cant think of any disadvantages to this joint, aside from the unnecessary fear of making them.
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Selasa, 18 Oktober 2016

Moving forward

29th Nov 2007

The lower side stringers upto frame 8 are fitted each side


The front frames from 9 trough 15 need the backing strips fitted before we can tack them in forming the front of the boat.
today we managed to get 6 frames completed and 4 frames remain.


Backing strips welded to the inside of the frames.
there is a radius of 150mm approx.. we used the gas bottle to form it perfectly...!


Frame 13 assembled (in darkness) ready for the backing strip
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To Paint or Not to Paint

Last week the builder of one of my boats asked me about painting the interior of his boat, what should he paint and what shouldnt he paint? I had not really thought of it before, that there are different thoughts about what to paint and why. Before I answer, I will tell you of my experiences on a wide range of boats, those built by me and those built by others.

On all of the big boats that I have built (they were all for my own use), people who visited the boats or sailed with us often commented about how fresh they were down below compared with their own boats or others on which they had sailed. I had observed this as well. There was never any diesel smell, never any dank, damp odour and never any need for air fresheners on my own boats. In contrast, many of the other boats were oppressive as soon as I went below, with some rather bad smells.

Most of these boats had been owner-built or owner-completed and they all had large areas of plywood that were unpainted, left as raw timber, under berths, in the bilges etc. My own boats had no exposed timber, not inside lockers, under cabin soles, inside the lazarette, under berths, not anywhere.

So, how does this make such a difference? A boat lives in a wet environment and most are closed up the majority of the time. When the sun is shining, the inside of a boat is much warmer than outside and that warm air soaks up moisture from any water that is in the bilge or elsewhere. Humidity builds up and creates an ideal atmosphere for mould to grow. Mould spores are in the air all around us and waiting to proliferate.

When the air cools in the evening the moisture is wrung out of the air again. It settles as condensation on hull, deck and joinery surfaces throughout the boat. It doesnt care whether they are exposed surfaces that you see whenever you are on the boat or hidden ones that you seldom see. The humidity is everywhere in the boat when it is hot, so condensation settles everywhere when it cools.

The unpainted wood surfaces absorb some of this moisture and hold onto it. It becomes that ideal environment for the mould spores to settle and grow. Once it starts, if left unchecked, the mould will spread throughout the boat and can also be the start of rot problems.

Mould inside the boat can be difficult to kill off. It needs to be killed everywhere and the surfaces must be thoroughly dried then sealed with epoxy or paint so that the cycle doesnt start again. It would have been so much easier to have just painted everywhere when the boat was being built. Sure, painting everything will have added a few weeks to the build time but it will have been worth the extra effort to save the hassles of the future.

The same principle applies to preventing diesel smells. Every big boat has a diesel or oil spill or two in its life.That liquid will soak into any raw timber that it contacts. Once into the surface it is impossible to remove and it will result in diesel or oil smells inside the boat for the rest of its life. If those surfaces had been painted then the problem would never have arisen.

So, what coatings should you use? All surfaces of the hull and deck skins, as well as all associated timber framing (stringers, backbone, beams, sheer clamps etc) must be protected by three coats of epoxy. This should include the perimeter of bulkheads against hull and deck but you may prefer to coat all bulkhead surfaces as well. The epoxy needs to be protected from the attack of UV (even below decks) so I recommend painting over the epoxy with a prime coat, followed by undercoat and finishing coat of paint.

Elsewhere, coat with primer, undercoat and finish coat. That means every timber surface, whether you will see it again or not. If it is a sealed compartment, e.g. inside a swim platform, dont leave it unpainted either. These sealed compartments must be coated inside with three coats of epoxy but you dont need to paint them.

Aside from mould, smell and rot prevention, there are other reasons to paint everywhere. 
  • Painted surfaces are very easy to clean. You can throw a bucket of water in the bilge or a locker, swill it around and then pump it out, no harm done. Or you can wipe it down with a damp cloth or sponge rinsed in a bucket, very easy.
  • Light-coloured paint reflects light, unlike raw timber that absorbs it. The painted compartments are bright and make it easier to find things that have gone astray. A fully painted lazarette is not a dungeon that swallows up tools and other things that will not be seen again until you build up the courage to dive into that dark place in search of lost treasures. That also applies to cabins in the ends of the boat, which are much more bright and habitable if painted in light colours. Clear-finished okoume plywood becomes quite dark, has uninteresting grain patterns and is not as attractive as you might imagine, not by a long way.
This problem is not limited to owner-built plywood boats either. I have seen this regularly when poking around inside boats displayed on boat shows in London, Annapolis and other places. Many production builders dont bother to protect the timber surfaces inside lockers, lazarettes, berths or the bilge. It costs them labour and materials to do so and it costs the owner down the line to sort it out or live with the results.

So, dont bother to argue with yourself over which surfaces to paint and which to leave raw, just get down to it and paint them all. You can thank yourself later when you reap the benefits.

Allied to this is the need for good ventilation. Strategically positioned ventilators will help to keep the air fresh inside your boat, removing excess moisture and making it a much more pleasant environment for people instead of mould.

Dudley Dix
Dudley Dix Yacht Design
http://dixdesign.com/
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Senin, 17 Oktober 2016

Tumarayulit Kayaks able to repair themselves



In Paitarkiutenka, My Legacy to You, Frank Andrews tells of kayaks able to repair themselves. On page 311 he says, "And some kayaks were endowed with supernatural attributes in the past.  At present, kayaks no longer have these qualities."
Apparently, some builders were able to build these kinds of kayaks. Andrews reports that it is said that the kayaks got this protection from destruction from the predecessors of the builders.
He tells of one instance where a builders young son was angry at his father and attacked his fathers kayak with an ax but was not able to hurt it even though it was only covered in painted canvas.
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Jumat, 14 Oktober 2016

A Job That Well Remember




You probably havent noticed that Ive been away for a while. Writing time has been scarce, because among the many things going on here, weve been in the final stages of several projects. Our projects tend to be especially time and labor intensive during their final construction, and soon we will be posting photos of some things that have been in the works for a long time.

Among these, we have just finished one of the largest models that we have ever done. I cant really say much about it, because it is in a conspicuous location and we must wait for our client to make their own official announcements. What I can say is that it is in New York City and that our customer is in the business of making some of the finest things in the world. They are dedicated to beauty and precision. While it would be wonderful to be able to say exactly where and what I am talking about, I cant - yet.

Every model that we make has the aspect of being a learning experience. This was certainly no exception. Boats and their usage can always be classified in a number of ways and this one is extreme in that sense. The subject is a work of art, but also represents scientific "state of the art" at the highest level. The subject is in the worlds headlines as we speak, but that is all the clue I can allow.

When the models home is finally open, you will see that it is in a state of the art "place" containing many, many things that will make people say "wow!" The windows there are covered over for now, but when those covers are removed, everyone will be able to see in and it is exciting to know that our model will be among those things that people will see. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people pass by these windows on a daily basis. Its certainly an honor for us and, of course, we are waiting for the time that those covers will come down.

The materials we used in this project include machinable foam, steel, brass, silver, gator-foam, various kinds of wood, as well as rip-stop fabric andother things. It was necessary to make modifications to equipment that was never designed to handle the size of parts that we needed and to come up with some "unusual" methods of working specific only to this project. It could only be built in segments here. In New York, it all came together. I can tell you about the transportation logistics another time.

As with many of our models, there was a period of time when it was truly ugly. When its shape was rough or when it or its constituent parts were unfinished and/or full of putty. Sometimes it seems that the uglier a model is in its construction phases, the more beautiful it turns out in the end. There are times when I prefer that people do not see our models during construction for this and a host of other reasons. Its a funny thing. When seeing other works of art or things of beauty, I dont ever think of them as ever having been anything but beautiful.

When we installed this model, the room that we installed it in was going through the same thing. It was comforting to remember that other things that are truly beautiful must also have their "less than pretty" phases leading up to that beauty, when they are in apparent disarray, dirty, and to anyone who doesnt understand what is involved in making something special come together, it could easily appear to just be an aimless mess. Some people might have interpreted the rooms that we were in to be such. How wrong they would be!

If you know what you are looking at, you recognize that these are necessary stages in the construction of a beautiful place. The work involved is tremendous, fast and furious. There is noise, there is dirt and there are pieces of things everywhere. One can not stay in any one spot for more than a moment or you find yourself in the way. It is really a symphony, seemingly cacaphonous, but the finale will be spectacularly beautiful and those that enter this room after that point will be given no clue as to what it took to make it what it is.

I need to say some things about the team that is building this place. They include masters from several disciplines such as carpenters, electricians and others. The pride that they take, not only in their work, but in the fact that they are among the best in their fields and especially so in the City of New York, is well earned and it was an honor to work with them. I would love to list some of their other previous accomplishments, but to do so might give too many clues as to the place of which I am speaking. (Added 4/29/12 - Now that the IWC Flagship Boutique has opened in New York, I can say that those stores include Gucci, Armani, Tiffany and others of the type.)

They are focused, they are disciplined and they are knowledgable. They also showed us a certain kind of respect that comes from a knowledge of what it takes to make unusual things. I am very bad with names, so I wont attempt to use any here for fear of getting them wrong or omitting someone that I shouldnt. But our thanks to everyone that worked there at every level.

It is a complicated project. The number of things coming together at one time is staggering. People walking by right now may not even know that there are people inside the place. When its done, most people will have no awareness of how it became the collection of great things that they experience. How it became will be forgotten, except by anyone who had any part in its coming to be. I know that this has been the kind of experience that I will long remember.
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Kamis, 13 Oktober 2016

Kitchen Appliances

The kitchen appliances arrived so it was down to fitting them. Well temporarily anyway for the washing machine and microwave combi oven.  The oven housing needed a small amount of alteration as originally we were going to have a gas oven*.  I also have the hob but thats not shown here.  All of these have been set up to enable the placement of of the power and gas feeds.  There will also be a final fitment of the templates fore the granite worktops.

The washing machine will have a door fitted

*  It was after a bit more thourght that we decided to change the oven.  Some might question having an electric oven combi unit on  boat, especially as we do have gas availiable.  Our reason is this.  At home we have a main oven and a microwave combi.  We hardly ever use the main oven accept probably Christmas.  Most of the time we use the smaller combi especially as it can perfectly roast a decent size chicken in about 35 minutes.  I cant see us cooking xmas dinner for 8 on the boat!  Also with an oven we would still need a microwave which would take up worktop space. So in retrospect it seemd the best solution.  Powering it will also be no issue as it has a maximum draw in combi mode of 3000w the same as output as the inverter and our battery bank will cope with a roast chicken, or if need be the generator can be deployed, or cooking can be done when the main engine is supplying charge to the batteries. 
Of course if we are on shore power this could be used as at home if it is 16amp, but if its less the inverter through the additional controler can use whats on the post and suppliment the amperage from the batteries without tripping the shore power.
The 3rd one down
Full explantion here

I know some will think this mad and gas is the answer, but if you think about it, fuel has to be used so why not the diesel in the generator instead of LPG?

This is the fridge freezer.  



This model was chosen because it has a big top fridge and small bottom freezer and it has an A+ energy rating.    As the unit housing it is not as tall as one in a house, the choice was very limited, but I am pleased with it.  Supprisingly its made by Liebherr more often associated with 600 ton dump trucks and earth movers.

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Rabu, 12 Oktober 2016

Quilting Techniques for Amateur Boatbuilders

Most of us learn boatbuilding techniques and tricks as boys, from our fathers. Michael Vermeersch, builder the Didi 950 prototype, sent me this tip that he learned from his mother. Her hobby was quilting, a pastime that I had never considered to bear any relationship to building boats.

The methods that quilters use to cut through multiple layers of fabrics can be useful for cutting fibreglass fabrics.

The Didi 950 has a structural grid in the bottom of the hull, to carry mast, rigging and keel loads. This grid is an egg-crate layout of plywood members comprising backbone and transverse framing that interlock with each other and are encapsulated in multiple layers of fibreglass. Covering these members involves cutting many pieces of fibreglass fabric to odd shapes and for multiple layers. Mike recognised this as being very similar to what his mother used to do when practicing her hobby.

Quilters rotary cutter and cutting board, with glass fabric and template.
In Mikes own words. "The cutter has a replaceable sharp steel wheel.  The mat has a "self healing " rubber surface that the wheel can penetrate for a clean cut.  This setup is typically used by quilters who need to cut a large number of precise fabric pieces.

I tried it with the 25 oz glass tape as well as the 12 oz 0/90 cloth.  It seems to work well.  There are repetitive pieces in the structural grid.  I made patterns out of rosin paper (used under hardwood flooring, available at Lowes and cheap).  I then stacked layers of the 12 oz and cut multiple pieces in one shot.

It worked with up to 4 layers of 12 oz, probably would work with more.  It leaves a cleaner edge with less unraveling than a shears or scissors.  Since the cutter rolls it doesnt pull strands like a knife."


Having myself cut many yards of fibreglass fabrics and mats, I have experience of the difficulties in getting nice clean edges that dont unravel or drag out of shape. Following this technique from the ladies might make all the difference to the neatness of your glasswork.

To see more about all of our designs, visit http://dixdesign.com/
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Senin, 10 Oktober 2016

Perhaps I shouldnt discuss Politics

...but I will to this extent...


Learn all you can.

Think for yourself.

Vote.
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Mud Box Mods

I was not overly happy at the arrangements for the cooling water intake.  Its done through whats known as a Mud Box.

The primary strainers on the hull had no way of being unblocked without getting wet.  

 Original strainer inlet

I asked on a Canal Forum and it emerged theres a better way which enables the primary strainer to be cleared from inside the mud box.

This meant cutting out a larger single hole in the hull.

 Hole cut, viewed form inside the mud box

Then to make the internal strainer.

First a template

Then a 4mm plate cut to the template

Then several hundred 5mm holes

This strainer fits where its shown above.  There will be some guides to locate it ans it will be removable for easy clearing.

So thanks for the discussion on The Canal World Forum for this modification.
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Minggu, 09 Oktober 2016

IWC NYC The Half Hull on The Wall





Any photos here are copyright their respective owners. Let me know and I will remove anything objectionable.

I apologize for obsessing. We have models all over the world and in some very special places, for example, The St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco or the one in Dubai. There is something about this setting and the quality of the surroundings that make this a particularly special place to have a model. It is in New York City in the place that people go to buy the finest things in the world. Indeed, IWC Schaffhausen is known for making some of the very finest watches in the world.

This is clearly an honor for us and its also been fun to see the parade of Champion Boxers, Fashion Models and Movie Stars who have had their photos taken in front of our "little boat" as they attended the Opening Gala of the brand new IWC Boutique at 535 Madison Avenue which was dedicated to the Great Muhammed Ali.

The whole thing started when we were approached with a rendering of a room and asked if we could make the model in the image - with a few modifications. The model in the image is a full-hull model and we would be making a half-hull and the backing panel that fits within the frame, but not the frame. We were asked to work up a proposal, not aware of who the customer was and received quick approval. As the project progressed, we learned more and more about what we were really getting into.

We then had to design the model according to the specifications of a design team in Switzerland. Our plans and samples of materials to be used were all submitted to New York, from where they were sent on to Switzerland for approval. The model needed to be relatively lightweight, but would clearly be much larger than most model boats of the class. It was to be of a particular raceboat that is a prominent contender in the Volvo Ocean Race, which is a grueling race around the world involving 70 sailboats that are as "state of the art" as anything currently made by human beings.

Unusual for us was that both the boat and the backing board had to be pure white. In fact, a color that is classified under the European RAL system of colors: RAL 9016 - Traffic White. It was unclear whether or not this kind of paint would be available to us, but we found an expert in European colors at the Annapolis Paint Store in Easton, Md. who was able to create both water-based and lacquer paints for the job.

We were not able to procure drawings of the boat, so we used photogrammetry to develop the lines. You will find that they are quite accurate. The hull body was to be a little over 48" LOA (53" with bowsprit and radar arch). We decided to cut the hull from machinable foam, a material that is epoxy based with additional constituents to give it a density between pine and maple wood. It is preferable to machining wood because it is infinitely stable and there is no grain, which tends to cause print-through and does not take details as well. We have a small CNC machine that can cut a piece of material to a maximum length of 12". In order to cut the hull, we thought that we would have to farm the job out to someone with a much larger machine than ours.

We found that, for too many good reasons to elaborate on here, most CNC cutting companies did not want our job. Thus, we had to cut it ourselves with our small machine. This is actually good, because it allowed us to adhere to our rule of making every single part of the model ourselves.

We accomplished this by splitting the hull form into 3 two inch thick parts, divided along the buttock lines. The longest; the one closest to the centerline, required 5 operations in which an area was cut and then, using special alignment pins, the adjoining area was cut. In all, the hull body alone took 14 separate operations involving 64 hours of cutting. In order to keep the machine from binding an elaborate counterweight system was used. The hull could have been ruined at any stage for a variety of reasons, but we were able to keep problems under control. In order to reduce weight further, large holes were drilled into the hidden parts of the hull in much the same way as is done in the construction of aircraft parts. The 3 long parts were laminated with very slow epoxy and filled with a phenolic balloon/epoxy compound. When the surface was ready, it was finished with spray lacquer.

The mast and boom are steel. The majority of other parts are made from brass. The sails from rip-stop. Metal to metal connections were all made using hard silver solder.


From the deck to the top of the antenna at the masthead is 611", thus if you could stand on the deck, except for a very few people in the world, that point would be well over your head. The keel extends down from the hull by about 10 1/2". From the bottom of the hull to the top of the antenna is 82".

The backing board presented a different set of problems to overcome. In the interest of keeping weight down, it was decided to make the backing board from two 1/2" thick layers of Gatorfoam, a material that consists of a light foam core sandwiched between hard facings. The resulting one inch thick backing board might seem very sturdy until you understand that the panel is 54.73" wide by 121.65" tall or a little over 101" tall. Rigidity was enhanced by using cherry and baltic birch plywood in strategic locations so that they not only strengthen the backing board, but they strengthen the model structure and provide a hanging mechanism as well. Thus, the face of the backing board is only 1" proud of the wall.
Getting such a large piece from the Chesapeake Bay to 535 Madison Ave. looked like a logistical nightmare, but with over a week put into the creation of a very special container and good freight handlers, it made the trip in great shape.

We drove to New York with the models components and assembled it on-site, at times with the assitance of others working on their part of the Boutique. What the site looked like when we got there was very different from what is being shown all over the Internet in recent days, but we knew the kind of place that was being built. We left the store as a protective cover was being placed over our model.

Its hard to explain the feelings when one leaves a model like that. We dont know exactly when we will get to see it in its full glory, but were looking forward to our next trip to New York.

Take a trip to http://IWC.com and check out the forums forums for more...

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