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Website started 24th February 2000

Battening Main Cabin Outer Sides. Laying 2nd layer plywood on sides and aft deck. July/August 1993.

3/7/93

Arrived 23:30pm to discover a strange caravan in the field. Early hours of the morning realised it was friends of John H in a jaguar, and they hitched up the caravan and off they went. We calculated we needed 11 lattes each side of the main cabin side, of 7’ (84") in length. Could be we need new timber here. Going to need at least two cubic feet. John H crept up the steps for a chat. He is happy a caravan has stopped and is hoping if weather stays like this – the grass will not need so much cutting. After studying the plans we decided the mahogany covering board need only be 3" wide. We had allowed 5" on the lengths of timber. With the circular saw set out to cut 3 x 19’ lengths + 1 x 16’ length into 3" wide lengths with almost 2" left over. This done tried to plane the ‘sawn’ edges with the big planer. Because of the lengths only did it once on each length because of the possibility of twisting and lifting. Then ran the router down all edges. This was a job and half. 19’ of timber over two tressles, and a router that was heavy. Like a see-saw at times. It was whilst doing the second sides, after having to march outside with the planks to turn them around, the grain was playing havoc. Fortunately only few places did it almost split badly, until that is, we were on the last piece. You would not believe it, but suddenly a bad crack, and chunking, and the grain split, the split traveled nearly a foot and subsequently the router veered into the timber. Very, very annoying. Had to jigsaw about 18" of the timber out. Hopefully this piece was for the after deck covering board in which case there will be just enough left in one piece. Now need to router out to fit over the deck ply now fitted, then to see if we can bend it. 20:30pm now. Lance has caught up on an hours kip, whilst Ruth wrote up the diary. Then set to planing down the lengths of timber down to 71mm wide. Then  assessed the situation with the shortest length on the forward deck. 

Having Cut, planed, now routering the Covering Board lengths of Mahogany		close-up of Covering Board end. The underside routered to seat over the 2nd layer deck ply, the upper outer edge rounded.

4/7/93

Another very warm start. As needed to router the long lengths outside today, started to scythe the shrubbery alongside the bench. Lance scythed, Ruth collected it up. Both got stung, and pricked galore. John H turned up amidst things, and offered to finish it with his strimmer. We had routered , with one of our new bits, a curved corner on the outmost top edge of the covering boards. All ok, except a small split on the last piece (a different last piece though), need to be extra careful with this particular edge, and indeed all of the underneath edges now. In all the five lengths of covering board had been routered three times in all. 1 to round the corner, and twice to make the rebate on the underside. Bench is not long enough and because of using the guide on the router, it is stop and start, moving the wood along. Depressing in a sense after all the work we are doing to the timber, come to fit it and it may yet split, even after steaming. After tea break, plus cool down, routered all lengths again i.e. the rebate area. Grain of mahogany does not help matters, skill is needed against the router running away in the wrong direction. We have both lost a stone in sweat. Cleaned up and hoovered up.

During the week Lance, with a junior hacksaw , cut up some lengths of stainless steel bar for the extra frame work of the rudder. 

11/7/93

Need to somehow get another 19’ (or at least 14’) length of covering board, because of the one that was split last weekend. Need to try and achieve as few as scarf’s as possible. Cut up the last of the thick mahogany lumber into 3" & 4" strips and planed these down to about 21/22 mm. Problems with these , as a split right in the middle, woodworm at one end, and because cut from near surface of the tree, shading of colour is very light. No-one has bothered us at all today – yet. Bliss. Seen the pheasant and the grey squirrel today, plus all the rabbits. They do not mind us – they carry on oblivious to all the noise. We have really made some sawdust today. Whilst planer blades are still good and cutting we are planing as much lumber as is practical. Still at it at 18:15pm. Now for another Tea-break. Many pieces now planed down to 17mm, plus a few larger pieces. Two and a half bags of sawdust made today. Visited a Marina tonight for beers and eats. Makes a change from the local at times, and also to look at other Yachts in the Marina.

Cut up then planed as much left lumber as possible. Note the wearing of Masks!.		Planed up the best sizes we could from the lumber

12/7/93

Cut up one of the three last boards of mahogany, into 8" strips (two of them), ready for planing. Need to work on these timbers, remove any bad areas etc so it is ready for utilising once cut to size. All the cut. planed bits of mahogany were taken outside, and the backside of the workshop brushed down and hoovered up. We had seen a woodpecker today, and Bullfinches. Tea-time again. Then as one thing leads to another – all the boxes of timber where shifted – areas brushed down – timber re-sorted and re-stacked. Does it good anyway – in case the roof is leaking or bugs attack. Who knows. By 16:15pm ready for cup of tea again, and things did not stop. Decided over tea to wash the room window frames – change the curtains, hoover up and better arrange some furniture. It is now 17:15pm and all done in time for tea break. Whilst making tea, a wren crept up the boards outside the van to have a look then flew away. More planing up done with the smaller off-cuts of todays cutting up of the three mahogany boards down to 17mm. It does get one’s legs planing in long spells – get to feeling like a robot and wood will not go through fast enough. The masks are excellent – but sawdust still gets in ones eyes. Optrex is high on the list of requisites. During tea had to de-mahoganise our eyes then hoover the workshop again. We had finished for today – lifted all the timber we had stacked on the outside bench back into the workshop – after hoovered up. Looks like more timber now, even though it is the same amount – if not less – minus the sawdust. We have been lucky so far – no active woodworm. 

17/7/93

Stacked up all the planed timber properly on the floor, the larger pieces resting on battens, and cut into , and planed up the decent parts out of the last plank, that had the most woodworm. Got two decent timbers out of it, 4 1/8" x 1 1/2" x 9' approx. They will be useful for something. Outer pieces are too dry, and lots of old woodworm holes. John H here till lunchtime then back in the afternoon, cutting the grass and working on the big mower, and he seemed upset and left without speaking. Decision time for us, as to how to get the 22 x 72" battens , plus 20 x22"battons for the main cabin side, out of the darkest mahogany. We are down to the last bits, plenty of light mahogany. Had just decided how to get enough battens when realised one plank (left over from the cockpit back) was 32mm at one side but only 30mm the other. Oh dear. 2 Battens x 12mm = 24mm + 3mm saw cut + 4/5mm plane - can we do it or not ?. Problem was the circular saw keeping it at 90 degrees on such narrow pieces of timber. Had idea of gripping to it a larger piece of timber which was the same thickness - to keep the saw at 90 degrees. It was a hit and miss. Either saw 15mm strip and use leftover 10/11mm, or try cutting 13mm pieces and plane off the last 1mm. Here goes we tried it, and it worked. Fantastic - no waste, and we have ended up with what could be 20 x 22mm + 4 x 72mm pieces.

18/7/93

Lance depressed, Ruth irritable, weather mankey. Nothing could inspire enthusiasm today. Too much like hard work. Many, many cups of tea later - discovered the tin of boiled linseed oil - so tried mixing some 50/50 with white spirit, as suggested in Practical Boat Owner as alternative to Teak Oil. Soaks more into Iroko than mahogany. Will try planing these two test pieces next week.

25/7/93

Sun shone for two minutes, then came on damp, rain showers etc. After clearing ourselves out at both ends this morning, following the chinese last night, and six cups of tea later, we were ready for work. Rain stopped, sun shining really feels like get-going time. Tools and timber set up outside for cutting and fixing upright lattes portside. Cut, planed and screwed into place portside five upright lats. Need to decide about the cabin side aft end as well, to do uprights or not?. By 14:30pm eight lattes now cut , planed and screwed into place. Many tea's later, plus a afternoon nap and the ninth latte in place, plus the first forward/aft lat. Dreading having to shape it to the deck, but in the end it was not too bad, no shaping needed for the deck, and used four screws, and medium hand pressure. This latte butted up to the cockpit side corner piece and then second piece cut, shaped and screwed into place. Very cold tonight - both of us slept with sweatshirts on.

Cut, planed, shaped and screwed into place the upright latts on cabin side portside		Portside upright latts all made up and also the first two for'd/aft latts fitted bottom of the cabin side itself

26/7/93

Weather very mixed, intermittent showers. Grass is long, not been cut for over a week now. It is wild grass afterall. Cut up, and planed up the remaining timber set aside for the cabin side lattes. Suggestions of maybe do a herringbone design with the rest of the cabin side lattes, it we have enough of the timber. Wore some glasses this time whilst using the planer - better late than never. Very irritating to get an unexpected shower of mahogany in the eye. 

31/7/93

Cut , shaped and fitted the third portside lat. Then latte no 4 & 5 cut, shaped and fitted into place. It is surprising, it takes at least half an hour per latte, cutting, planing, routering up each piece - not to mention many trips up and down off the boat during fitting, at least four times per lat. Fitted up latte no 6, then 7and by 18:30pm the 8th latte was fitted, This piece slightly more complex because it needed to be shaped to fit over the cockpit side front piece. It fitted perfect once cut though. It is 20:15pm now and lattes no 9,10 & 11 now fitted. Last one is short piece, very tapered but this cannot be completed until Cabin/Companionway Hatch outer beam in place. Having now covered the original cabin sides – a total transformation had taken place. It does look quite a spectacle. Pity there is not more of the same timber left. We have enough to repeat the starboard cabin side only. The rest is a lighter mahogany. Been a good day today – it feels like it. Only snag is all the lattes need epoxying – which will be a job and half. It is like mountaineering. Get to the top of one hill , and see the next hill to climb more clearly. Grass is very long. Not been cropped now for three weeks. We forgot again to bring the hovver to do around the van/workshop.

1/8/93

All portside main cabin lattes removed, and sanded down the main cabin side. Contemplating about the cockpit frontage corner pieces and beams. How can the area be best done. 120+ plugs made up using drill and special cutter, all epoxy gear at the ready, camera set up, and time for a cup of tea. By 14:50 we had epoxied on the 9 upright lattes. What a carry on too – first mixing too much, and the pot almost went up in flames. Chucked it onto the grass. The fumes were astronomical. Very overpowering. We carried on though mixing smaller quantities, and got through all but the last two cut lattes. Need to sort out the cockpit /companionway beam first. Anyway that was a job and half done. Mild weather today, just perfect for the epoxy, but not for us. It was a fast cycle, mixing epoxy, spreading the epoxy, screwing up, plugging screw holes and cleaning pot and brush ready for the next batch. Everywhere gets tacky. Even the posts we swing around at the top of the steps were gunged up. It is difficult to keep atop cleaning things because we need to watch acetone usage – so as not to waste too much, yet the slightest bit of epoxy in the acetone leaves a small film of epoxy on whatever.

Portside for'd/aft latts all tooled and screwed into place , all but the very topmost one.		Portside upright and for'd/aft lats epoxied into place and all screw holes plugged. Lots of sanding here once epoxy cured

7/8/93

We arrived mid-day. Brought out hovver and cut the area around the van/workshop front. 

8/8/93

Utilising the Belt sander sanded down the main cabin side lattes (Portside). Both of us had masks on. Epoxy and Mahogany dust everywhere – Poison. !. 11:15am and just over half the side sanded. Tea-breaks needed and brushing down sessions. Actually have not seen John H since the day he happened to be cutting the grass at the foot of the workshops steps and Ruth walked out at exactly the same time brushing herself down having just done some planing. Dust everywhere. Cough , splutter. Both Ruth and John H surprised each other. !. John H had said that he would not cut the grass etc if it was too difficult. It has almost not been cut since!.  By 13:00pm cabin side sanded all but a strip adjacent to cockpit side frontage. Sanded port cockpit side deck where sikaflex remaining after ply inserts fixed in. Now need to work how best to do the Cabin/Companionway Hatch outer beams etc either side of the companionway hatch area. Made up a pattern for the next starboard deck ply section. Making the most of the ply we have got and easier to make a pattern and then as little ply is wasted as possible. Weather has been mixed, we have been mixed feelings, but now we have cut and shaped and fitted two pieces for the portside deck. Once fixed the deck will be 2nd plyed almost up to the cockpit. It is 20:00pm now and we have cracked on. The next piece of ply is now fitted around the cockpit side front corner piece. Again a pattern was made in two pieces – because of the workshop post in the way!. Clean up now and off to the pub to swill away the dust with beer.

Portside latts and plugs being sanded down. Not easy perched on the side deck		Continuing with Porrtside 2nd layer deck ply now cabin side latts are in place

9/8/93

Sanded starboard main cabin side. Continued belt sanding the after deck for fitting ply. 13:00pm and pattern and ply section have now been cut and shaped for portside cockpit deck area. 14:00pm. Ply now fitted and screwed down. Tidy up now and call it a day.

11/8/93

Finally got around to boil testing the 1" ply wood we had bought. Boiled it for 30mins, then dried it in the ships cooker for 30 minutes, boiled it again for 30 minutes and dried it in the oven again. It did not de-laminate, if anything part of the wood itself split. Wondered if to put it in the freezer (the wood) to test the extremes of temperature.

14/8/93

Sunny morning and by 11:00pm we were ready for business. Begun with the next section of portside, after side deck plywood. Cut, shaped and planed it up. What a lovely day it is. Warm and sunny with a slight breeze. No flies !. Wondering how on earth a bronze lining was put into the stainless steel rudder tube !. Could do with a fitting for it, to enable grease lubricating. Sun gave us inspiration for filming the afterdeck area under construction – open wide the workshop window and stand camera and tripod on the workshop bench. Could then use the electricity power for film animation that way. Piece of plywood aft of the cockpit back is awkward because of the corner angles are less than 90 degrees and also the rudder shaft protrudes the deck. Pattern has now been made up of the corners – ready to cut the plywood. The plywood piece now cut, scribed to the cockpit sides and the back and hole cut out and routered on the underside to accommodate the rudder shaft. It goes in without much trouble at all. 16:30pm now, and the plywood section is now placed in position., with all the beams and king plank marked out on it – ready for fixing into position. We have marked up all the beams etc on this 2nd layer of ply to simplify the screwing down of the teak decking. At 17:50pm the plywood section now screwed down in place. The cockpit area, and the afterdeck are done out in 12mm ply inserts pieces – now over laid with 9mm ply. Rest of the deck inserts are 8mm, over laid with 9mm ply. The most aft plywood section had been cut, planed and scribed and screwed in to place. 19:45pm and after many, many games of twister on deck, it is a draw. The headroom on the aft deck is only 4' between deck and shed ceiling. 

2nd layer ply decking being fitted onto the Aft deck. Note the headroom here is only 4' from deck		Fitting into place the aft most piece of 2nd deck ply

15/8/93

Started on the next piece of ply on the starboard side deck. Needed belt-sanding first. Ply section now cut , shaped and planed, and  screwed down. And by 13:30pm the next starboard side deck ply piece cut and screwed down. It is easier when we have got the patterns from the portside. Need more 1 Ό screws. It took a good 36 x 1 Ό screws for the afterdeck two pieces of ply. Ruth needs to be up early tomorrow for another Interview therefore packing up now and set off back home.

22/8/93

Slow start this morning. It had been a cold damp night with rain showers. Had fire on in workshop to warm up. After preparing tools etc made a proper start about 13:00pm,and by 16:00pm had cut , shaped and planed and drilled then screwed into place the nine upright lattes on the starboard main cabin side. Next to do the horizontal ones , to match the portside. Had a rest/sleep then by 19:30pm the first two horizontal lattes had been cut ,planed and screwed into place. It has been overcast today, and quite considerably cool. The coldest it has been for some time now. Too cold to continue so called it a day.

23/8/93

Very cold tonight it was, coupled with rain showers. By 10:30am sun was shining, tools somehow got themselves into place, so suggesting we had best to start work. By mid-day two and ½ horizontal lattes starboard in place. The ½ is a latte half cut and not yet screwed into place. Each horizontal latte incurs at least four trips up and down off the boat. By 14:00pm up to and including latte number 7 in place horizontally. Then time for tea-break. All the lattes except the very upper most one now cut and screwed into place. Problem was routering the forward angled edges. The wheel of the router bit was very difficult to control. It is cooling quite rapid now as the sun sets. Too cold to epoxy, and we are feeling cold now. Ruth got another Interview tomorrow, so called it a day for now.

Starboard upright and for'd/aft latts now tooled and screwed into place		Continuing with starboard 2nd layer deck ply now cabin side latts are in place

26/8/93

Good News today !. Success !. Ruth has been offered not just one job, but two !. Spent time considering which was the best one to take. Made the choice. Then spent most of today house hunting in the area. Worn out by time arrived at the boat but managed to visit a marina for a celebratory beer.

27/8/93

Spent last night house dreaming. All we need is a successful quick house move and then we will be happy. Early start today, cancelled our papers order at the local Post Office.

Got a problem on the boat at the moment. Birds are getting in , perching on the shed structure, and after having feasted on presumably elderberries, they deposit the remains splat on the deck etc. Made a start on cutting to shape the remaining starboard deck ply pieces. By 12:30pm this deck ply piece screwed into place. Only two more pieces to go. The screws 1 Ό" are A2 temporary – until more A4 purchased. The last two pieces were then cut and shaped. Unfortunately we have one full sheet of Luan ply and several off-cuts and each off-cut was just too narrow for the last ply. Had to cut into the last full sheet of ply. We need more anyway to finish the main cabin coach roof. 15:30pm and the last two deck ply pieces screwed into place. By 17:00pm progress being made now on the cockpit/companionway beams i.e. to put two lengths of beam either side of the companionway hatch area, but on the outside, butted up to which will be the main cabin coachroof deck ply. It is quite a complex joint, which needs a lot of careful thought before rushing too far in to it. 

Much thought needed on how best to put two short beams either side of the companionway area. Complex joints here

28/8/93

Woke early , 6:00am this morning. Two cups of tea, quick sleep, then up and working by 10:00am. Forecast very warm today. 0% chance of rain. Cut and shaped a piece of 1" ply to fit behind the cockpit front corner piece. Several pieces are needed to completely build up and box in this area both portside and starboard. By mid day noon a second piece of 1" ply cut, shaped and planed to marry up with the previous piece. 13:45pm and we were struggling to shape the main-cabin side which protrudes into the cockpit area, to the angle of the newly placed ply sections behind the corner joint of the cockpit side. We knew it would be awkward, now the time had come to do it. Then a pattern cut and shaped for a piece of diagonally fitted ply to cover recently cut 1" ply inserts. A piece of Thames ply 8mm cut and planed to fit into place. Decision now how best to complete the corner of cabin side and cockpit frontage. Strength is main factor – to help against the strain of the winch. Decided to use more of the 1" ply and 1^st piece cut and fitted into place. It is 20:00pm now – called it a day and went for a drink.

Portside inside the forward corner joint where cockpit side meets cabin side. This needs building up and packing. More of this at a later stage.

29/8/93

Bank Holiday spent house hunting.

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