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Website started 24th February 2000

Fixing in place the New Main Cabin Front. Making up New Main Cabin Coachroof Beams. September 1992.

19/9/92

Dashed off to try and find the Propeller places open - but no joy. Drove around to try find anywhere else, but no success. Got some gripfast 3" nails from the chandlery. Got some Pie, Peas & Chips. Went back to the van, and polished them off, then fell asleep for two hours, exhausted. 

Gave the maststep beam a final plane/sand, then with the orbital sander cleaned the faces. Fitted it and decided that this is the last fitting, and now to trim the over-hanging ends, take a little off the underside side edges, then prepare for fixing.

Approximately 18:00pm now. Holes all pre-drilled for gripfast nails (14 x 3" ones) and countersunk. Using Sikaflex around the edge to prevent excessive drips of epoxy - also using the microfibres (West 400) to thicken the Epoxy. By about 19:30pm, the camera was on tripod ready for the action, plus extra lights rigged up, and all tools and materials were at the ready. Off we go.

First Brushed the area down. Applied Sikaflex along the bottom edge of glue line, then painted epoxy on the BulkHead....	after painting the coachroof edge with epoxy, offered it up in place against the bulkhead.	Clamped it up. Nailed it in with Gripfast. Wiped up the excess Epoxy, and drips.

Sikaflex proved a problem at coming out of the tube!. The Epoxy was already mixed so no time could be wasted. Ruth kept stirring the Epoxy - whilst Lance battled to manage the Sikaflex. Peppy appeared at the wrong moment, sniffing around - just like him to stick his nose in the Sikaflex. Cracked on epoxying, fitting, fixing, nailing, hammering, wiping up etc. It was a race against time. First the maststep beam was epoxied, and nailed in, then before this had gone off, had to fix in the main cabin front. Need another brush, need another pot, where is the rag, here hold this clamp, quick hold this, where is fresh acetone. Quick sit on the cabin front whilst Lance knocked nails in. No clamps could be used there so needed as much pressure as possible. The camera battery must have run out - filming has stopped. How annoying. Quick wipe down the drips of Epoxy, plus the Epoxy footprints accumulating. Someone has put their foot right in it. 

Main Cabin Front fixed in place	Main Cabin Front meeting the Cabin Sides. Joints yet to be completed.	Main Cabin Front viewed from within Main Cabin looking forward.

It was 22:15pm when we finally completed mixing and filling the upper deck gaps with Epoxy etc., and all tools had been wiped down with acetone, and the steps to the boat also. Too late now to go to the pub - so got the cans out and had our first drink on board. Polished off all the beers - dated May92, Jul92 etc. - goodness knows where they had been stored all this time. Still tastes good though. Placed the new coach roof beams in position - and it really is looking striking. Need some red leather for the maststep beam inside etc., and maybe even batten the main bulk-head yet. We will have to see.

20/9/92

The maststep beam plus the cabin frontage was planed, sanded and trimmed up . Lots of dust. Hoovered the boat twice, and had a good clear up. By 15:00pm we were tidying up and loading up the van. We had had a good week. We had achieved what we wanted to do this week i.e. the maststep beam plus the cabin front to fix in, and make up the new main cabin coach roof beams. Left for home about 18:00pm.

Planing down the Maststep Beam removing excess epoxy	Further planing of the maststep beam	Main Cabin Front and Mast Step beam after sanding. Main Cabin Beams in position.

25/9/92

During the week, spent all night, every night looking through all our boat books - trying to work out our propeller size. None of the figures seem to tally - books were contradicting one another about speed/length ratio. Combined with what we had been told at the boat show, it was a nightmare unfolding. Could we modify the rudder to give more space.?. Could the bar in the rudder be bent just where the shaft is to pass ?. The propeller aperture was painstakingly drawn out. Then the inner bearing was drawn out with all the dimensions marked up. On the computer typed up all the facts and figures needed for the propeller calculation - got photocopies of the boat leaflets and the engine leaflets ready to send off for quotations. On Thursday though, we rang to Power Propellers Ltd. The chap was not available, but would ring back, which he did later on Friday afternoon. Had a long chat with him, he took the details, and would be at his office between 10-12am on Saturday morning.

26/9/92

Restless night. both of us going down with Flu. After we got up and dressed, we shot off to Power Propellers place. Chap was there waiting. We had a long pleasant, detailed chat with him. He seemed very helpful, and gave a comprehensive leaflet about electrolysis and anodes etc., We decided on having a shaft tapered at both ends - so it could be used twice. Propeller to be 14", and will take up to three weeks to make up. We ordered Propeller, and a 1 metre shaft, flexible coupling, plus tapered coupling. £297 in total. We showed the chap the sterntube gear we had and mentioned about the missing grub screws. He only had metric ones, but he let us have four and he would ream out the holes again. He showed us around the workshop, and the foundry - that is where the grub screws were - and took time to explain to us just how the propeller is made. We were very grateful to the time he took to answer our questions as best he could, and he pointed out things to be careful with, especially against electrolysis. It turned out we were on the right lines with our propeller calculations. He was using marine slide rule though, he did not trust the computer as 100%.

Arrived back at base 12:45pm. We talked over the propeller situation, and come up with some questions which would need to be followed up, with the chap. Also we started discussing about skin fittings. Nylon or bronze. Bronze would need anode/earthing protection. Discussing also toilet, sink and cockpit drainage.  With the engine there are water filters fitted above water level, but need some mechanism especially for sink drainage. Either a plug-hole which could be screwed down to shut off, or utilize a holding tank set-up which could be shut-off, but have a manual pump. As we said if only things would happen as fast as one talks about it. After building up some ego - decided what to do next.

We decided on fitting in the coach roof beams. At least one, today anyway. It is about 17:30pm now. Whilst marking up so that the coach roof beams would be in line with the deck beams. The first beam forward was fitted. 

27/9/92

Not bad day Sunday. Sun shone and temperature into mid 70's. Amidst sneezing, coughing and flinging tissues all around the workshop, Flu bug really taking hold,  Lance managed to fit in another two beams. Each coachroof beam was taking up to half hour to fit. Packed up and left about 19:00pm, but heavy traffic on roads meant arriving back home at 22:15pm. 

Half Dovetail joint done both ends of each Main Coachroof Beam	Half Dovetail Joints in Cabin Sides for Main Coachroof Beams	Four Main Coachroof beams now fitted.

During week, we pondered deeply over the engine. Ideally need to take engine with us one weekend and try fitting it. Wedged it up to 10degrees angle on the trolley. The new bracket which had previously been made up to accommodate better the bolsan cables, plus reposition the fuel filter, was welded together this week, such that once the engine installed at 10degrees, the fuel filter will be vertical, to avoid spillage's upon removal. Flushed out with clean water the heat exchange unit. Small fragments of metal came out - leftover from the workshop machining no doubt. Rather get them out now than let the impeller shunt them about. Welding, grinding - you name it - it all happens in our living room/workshop.

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