Blue Moon

[The Q]

I've had the week off work and was hoping to spend a considerable time working on the boat, in the end I only got two days.

In that I gave the cockpit edges a blue primer coat, the deck was light sanded twice with varnish coats between, and that battered looking hull upper works was sanded, filled, sanded and given a first thin coat of paint.

The varnish had set well, which meant no soft bits when sanding, it helps going through a 30C heat wave, though it's not nice all masked up.

The blue cockpit edges revealed more filling and sanding needed, before the next coat. The same applies to the hull but to a much  lesser extent.

Also the seat was reinstalled, and I sat there taking measurements for the installation of steering gear, and the mainsheet traveller. Both of which will depend on separate stainless steel cross bar tubes mounted across the cockpit though the below decks part of the cockpit combing.

The aft  one was easy measuring just taking the boom placing it at the correct position on deck horizontally.  That tube will be just 3 inches in from the back of the cockpit.

The  steering gear was more difficult as it's a compromise between having it far enough forward so I can get out in a hurry, but not so far forward the tiller is so long it's swing is limited by the cockpit edges.. For the steering gear, correct position worked out to be 17 inches from the front of the cockpit, so when I stand up, I just pull my feet to behind it, grab the tube and pull myself upright.

Oh  I've decided to fit hand steering, because I need to reach it  when approaching the quay while sitting on the deck to get off to moor.

After sanding  /  filling and painting next week I hope to get you more pictures...

[The Q]

For the next few weeks, it's a four day week as due to covid, I have to use half my leave up before the end of August..

So Friday , the cockpit combing combing was given a heavy duty sanding before filling.

The hull upper foot was sanded down and then cleaned up before painting.

Doesn't sound much but it took six hours in 34C  wearing overalls and a face mask.. it was not pleasant.

Saturday , household duties repairing the eaves of the mobile home still 30 +C and it sits in a sun trap..

Sunday, Much better temperatures but raining not that that matters in the marquee.

Cockpit combing given second sanding , odd bits of filler  spread on where required.

Deck and stern varnish given inter-coat sanding, wiped off, wiped off again with a damp with white spirit rag, muggacoffee to let the dust more time to settle, surfaces gone over with tack cloths..

Deck and Stern varnished again..

[The Q]

The Registration Number arrived, 1260A (Z was last years suffix or so it seems). This was compared to the templates I'd printed out on paper for the boat name.. I need to print the name out much bigger..
This weekends work comprised of a considerable time modifying  the combing capping to fit, and adjusting to length the "wooden fillets" that go between the cockpit combing and the deck.
 Just one "fillet " has been fitted to the boat, but the others are ready for next weekend .
I've made a small board for the forward registration Numbers , not strictly required on a boat my size, but it will be more "Broads style"  Photo below of a Broads sailing Cruiser with Number plate hanging below the Bowsprit, I'll hang Blue Moon's below the forward extension of the jib club.
The hull was sanded again and repainted, I wanted it to be white with a Hint of blue, I added the tiniest bit of blue to the white and now have a baby blue hull.. I need more white paint anyway, so I'll pick that up during the week, and add more to the mixed tin to dilute the blue more..

The picture  is of a boat available to hire … https://www.norfolkbroads.com/link/swallowtail-boatyard-in-ludham-1452/

[The Q]

This long weekend I've been putting on the cockpit combing capping  and a quarter circle fillet in the corner of deck and combing.

The combing is about 10 foot long,  the longest capping and quarter circle,  I could get was 8 foot and the last 5 foot slopes.  So some bodgery was required carving bits of wood to fit. There were also two pieces for across the front and rear ends of the cockpit . The forward one needing carving to a shape like a pair of spreaders.  One quarter circle piece took a two days to set,  we had 50+ mph overnight northerly winds Heavy rain , and a severe over night drop in temperature.

As it is, the boat now looks like a porcupine with all the clamps sticking up,  they'll now stay till next weekend.

[The Q]

The following weekend was a bit of a disaster, with some newly clamped up bits coming adrift  once I started sanding, something went wrong with the bonding mix though I have no idea what..
So some bits were removed cleaned off and re-attached paying particular attention to the mix... and clamped up.

This weekend everything was securely attached, the cockpit combing was sanded and varnished. I'm not to happy with the colour of the wood, a bit white, so some wood dye is to be bought and applied after the next sanding..
The deck was lightly sanded and varnished OK.
The Hull was sanded and painted with the new mix, it looks a lot better, probably just one coat more I think.

[The Q]

This weekends work has been,  

Sanded and dyed the cockpit combing,  the dye hasn't taken well,  I suspect the varnish coat I tried, had soaked into the mouldings in places and is giving patchy results.  Quite what I'll do about that I don't know.

The inside of the combing was given a coat of blue paint,  that's revealed more sanding required...

Deck and hull given a light intercoat sanding then recoated with varnish or paint.

Stencils applied to stern and paint stippled through,  stencils then removed.  A good representation of what I want. Next week I'll get a artists brush and apply more paint when the stippling has dried and I can't smudge it. .

[The Q]

Some of you may have noticed the storm Friday Saturday,
Well here in Norfolk it's been an unnoticed by main TV Major event..

I came home Friday dodging broken branches and flooded roads, and the odd tree across the road ..
on arrival, the marquee was up at an angle minus canvas, which was wrapped round one post trussed up by SWMBO ..
The Marquee had moved side ways by 4 ft then come down on the work bench bending the poles that end. The roof had come partly off  and was flapping around when SWMBO noticed it she wrestled it down and tied it up. the wind displaced half a ton of sandbags holding the marquee down....
Hopefully it's just attachment bungies have broken, it was too windy to lay things out to sort it all out, and the forecast for next weekend is another storm.

SWMBO rescued the power equipment, and what she could, I cleared the rest Saturday, put a plastic cover over the boat weighed down and roped down.

Also a big oak tree in the garden just 50ft from the boat, lost healthy branches  up to 18 inches in diameter they were pining the triple twisted insulated mains supply to the top of a 6 ft high wall. this was in direct line from the wind to over the marquee to the tree I suspect it was the same blast did the damage.. it snapped next doors telephone wire, and ours is working, but hanging loose so needs reattaching to the wall properly.

While in the house having a coffee, before getting togged up for going outside, something flashed by the front window.. So when prepared, I went for an inspection to find the flash was the guttering taken down by 3 leading edge roof tiles.. Later another 3 came off.. only one tile has survived the impact...  guttering removed from the road but the tile pieces were to small to worry about..

So I cleared the boat area of anything valuable / damageable by rain,  removed spare wood and mouldings to the wood shed, covered the boat in plastic weighed down and roped down. There's about an inch of water in the bottom of the boat...

Later I went to the model railway club, which was an adventure including reversing up a dark single track lane to bypass a fallen tree, and putting the landrover into a farm entrance to let an ambulance through.
The asbestos roof of the club started coming off, and crashing down behind, at the boat builders (Haines) in front of the club, large Items were heard crashing to the ground....

Saturday more clearance of stuff from the boat area, too windy to remove the canvas cover, removed some lower branches to uncover the cess pit tops.. Large plant pots were placed on the covers so UK Power networks didn't put a Hiab in the cess pits..

Sunday
UK power networks arrived... From Sussex, in two hours they removed the branches, while I took the twiggy stuff to the bonfire, they put the thicker branches on a pile for me.. There a couple that might provide some oak planks on the bandsaw, the rest might make a bowl or something on the lathe, a lot of it is so bent it's only good for firewood..
Later another team turn up lost.. they were from wales, after a conversation I established they wanted  farm 400 yards further on down the lane..

20:00 the telephone people arrived supposedly just to survey the damage, however when I went out this morning I tripped over a wire, I think they've put in temporarily for the neighbour who is vulnerable medically speaking (cancer) ..

This morning the road in Wroxham is flooded across the carpark from the river to and including the main road, a couple of hundred yards further on a Hiab was in use sorting a telegraph pole up top..

Any way boat works are suspended for the moment unless it's indoors.. there is another storm forecast for next Friday / Saturday so even if the tiles have arrived by then I won't be able to fix that..


...

[inwe]

You said that the boat had water in it - so did the hull leak? Good luck with the clearances .

Richard

[Alan]

I was in Brundall for a holiday in a waterside shack/cottage and left on the weekend of that storm.  In answer to my question when we arrived the owner said "no, it never floods here"....
I had to wade through ankle deep water to load the car when we left, that was bad enough but rowing and freelance sailing with just me as the sail to reach the slipway was something else!

[The Q]

No the hull didn't leak, it might do soon,  as the next job is to install a weight spreader plank onto the bottom of the hull. That already has the keel bolt holes drilled in it, which will guide me for the great event of drilling through the hull.

I doubt anywhere on the edge of the rivers or broads never floods.   Last weekend was an extremely windy with a northerly blowing the North Sea towards us.  In 1912 there were huge floods across Norfolk,  railway lines cut for 6 weeks,  In Horstead the other side of the river from Coltishall,  there are flood markers 4 ft up the wall of a house, the main Thorpe Railway Station in Norwich was flooded,  and I'm guessing that chalet in Brundall would have been well under water.

This weekend we have the wonderful combination of an easterly,  blowing the North Sea to our coast,  Spring tides,  and having had a month's worth of rain last weekend in September ,  we are now reaching a month's worth of rain and we are only 4 days into October.
I suspect the holiday chalet will be deeper in the water this weekend.
This link is the cameras at Potter heigham https://www.herbertwoods.co.uk/norfolk-broads/webcam/ as I speak the water is just below the bank edges and it's low tide....


Yesterday I spent some time in the rain,  hoisting up the boat, moving and piling up breeze and foundation blocks.  It was a bit of a wrestling job as the wind wanted to twist the boat, I was very tired after that.  The bottom of the hull is now 32inches above ground level, the top edge of the cockpit combing is approximately the same above that,  so that's 5ft4in up.

With a little digging,  I should be able to fit the keel at that height, so the boat should stay in that position until it's time to hoist it onto a trailer. I need to use a step ladder to get up to the decks though..

[The Q]

Well I've managed to get a coat of varnish over the painted name on the stern .. Just before it started raining hopefully the propped up cover has kept it off..
I must remember to do a post from the tablet.. that's got the pictures on it.

So with rain or drizzle I retired to the garage..
The shelves to the right of the pedestrian entrance were extended by 8 to nine inches in width in line with the door frame, the end was given a part sheet OSB to A, reinforce it, and B, keep the wood shavings off as the other side of the OSB will be the wood lathe.

Now those shelves have been rebuilt, much of the rescued stuff from the marquee that was occupying the work bench has been sorted onto the shelves..

The bench now being clear, except for the keel, it's intended I'll finally get round to bonding the lead lump to the bottom of the keel next weekend.

Another shelf was installed to the right and above the workbench. it nicely fits SWMBOs ghetto blaster. which has been donated to the garage, as she now has something small, light and digital..

Then it was time to sort out more "cowboys are us" cockups.
First was to install a modern distribution unit, the alteration of the shelves by the entrance, had by cutting short the top shelf blocking the way, allowed me access to the old wire fuse distribution unit, .
The taller shelf space below the unit now gives a good place for the fire extinguishers..

The new distribution unit led to a new cable for mains power, allowing the removal of the power sockets in the lighting circuit...
During this I found one of those old sockets had no earth connected!!! a good 1/2 inch between wire and terminal.. it can never have been connected..

So as well as the keel next weekend , more wiring is needed.
 
A bank of sockets for a charging station, so many battery powered tools these days..
That will lead on to a double socket by the lathe, and in future on to the workshop store room.

Going the other way,
4 sockets by the work bench, one is for the ghetto blaster and includes a USB charging socket .
That will lead on the the garage for another pair of Sockets then back to the workshop storeroom to make the ring..
Also ordered but may not arrive in time, are 4 4ft LED batten lights.. one each, for over the lathe and work bench, the other two general lighting in the workshop, I also have 3 low power fluorescent units (second hand from work) which will give  general lighting to the garage and storeroom

Workshop store room? Yes as well as partitioning off the garage side from the workshop , I've decided to partition off the back half of the workshop half.  
So,
A, There is only a smaller area to heat,
B, I've only got to insulate the roof of a 1/4 of the garage, and
C, it keeps the dust generated into a smaller area, not all over everything..

[The Q]

Mooring All...

No work on the boat done this weekend, life got in the way..

What should have been in the way, is the Tri-Icicle race, which is 20 mile ish round trip of three legs, on the Norfolk broads. Anything can enter from little Dinghies to 45ft broads cruisers.. Only the second time I've missed it in 20 years.

My normal sailing compatriot was in a motorcycle crash 14 months ago, and only about a month ago had some Meccano changed in his thigh so he's still barely mobile..

Looks to have been a good race, and there are 4  Yeoman class in the top 10, which we would have raced. Numbers were a bit down this year probably due to covid..

Pictures on facebook here.. https://www.facebook.com/SnowflakesSailingClub/posts/1639313466221777

Results below for those who don't go on facefart.

 

[The Q]

Well it's been a few weeks since the last update, nothing happened to the boat until this weekend..
Last weekend I should have been lowering the flags at the sailing club for the 2 minutes Silence on Rememberance Sunday, but of course we were Covided off.. First time I've not lowered the flags in 20 years...

That day should have also been the Yeoman Class Nationals, at the club, but that has been put off until, 05/06 Dec..

So what have I been doing? mostly continuing building the workshop in the garage, the shelves are up, doors to the future storeroom and the garage half have been made and installed, though they still need handles and catches.
There is a built in seat in the corner, and the mains power wiring is 3/4 the way round the room, the last quarter cant be done 'Cos there's a keel in the way and so..

I wound off the keel bolts , filled the gap between lead lump and stub keel with thick Bonding resin, then wound the bolts back on again.. The keel is on it's side so the top surface has had a fillet formed between lump and stub keel.  The bottom surface has just been wiped clear of excess where I could get at it..

Next week the adventure of getting 150KG of awkward weight off the bench and onto the floor so I can do  the other side, before fibreglassing the lot together..

[The Q]

The adventure of lowering the keel from work bench to the floor was carried out, I think the workbench sighed in relief..
it wasn't elegant and had a few problems, but was achieved without damage to keel , me or anything else.

Of course the fittings I was waiting for, arrived the day after it was lowered, so it was just ropes and blocks to a roof beam.., I've decided for comfort, It needs another reduction in load on the operator, so this week I'll see if I can work out a method to add another turn round a block or two..

There is a proper mounting rail for the lifting tackle now fitted to the roof beams with load spread between them and reinforced. I've put my weight on it and there wasn't even a creak from anything..

More wiring was carried out so 2 of the 3 LED battens are now working from their switches in their correct places, one has still to be fitted, but I haven't fitted that part of the ceiling yet, about 1/2 of the ceiling is now clad and insulated with fibreglass.. I've run out of OSB, and with the Land rover in for an engine repair, I can't carry full sheets. So because the DIY sheds are also not cutting timber at the moment, that's on hold..

So the keel was then moved on the floor, I can "Walk" It by moving one end at a time, It's sitting nicely on it's bottom even though the keel bolts are still sticking out a little more than they should. The second side was filleted between Stub keel and lead lump.

Next week I should clean that up and then start fibreglassing it all. It only needs a couple for water protection of the wood, but several to join the wood to the lead lump to make sure cracks don't appear under load..


The Yeoman Nationals have been moved to 5/6th December At Snowflake Sailing Club at Horning Sailing Club... Boris and Covid Permitting..

[The Q]

Morning All,
This weekend was just a two day affair, and I had various aches and pains which reduced my efforts..

So the workshop had some handles made and installed on the doors, nothing fancy just 2X1 spacers and a 2X1 pull bar across the top, I've not even sanded them yet.

The ring main was completed, while doing that I noticed the consumer unit was wet, then my head my head touched the underside of the roof and that was wet too... Condensation, the results of many years of leaks inside the garage.. Anyway wet and electrics don't mix, so I cobbled together some left over bits of OSB to make a ceiling over that area, installed that and stuffed some insulation in the gap. The area was dry the next morning.

A hoover has been purlioned from the stock, we had 5.. ours and inherited.. This will form part of the built in dust extraction system, I bought a cyclone unit and have used an old 20litre resin can as the bucket. So the cyclone unit is now bolted to the lid.. It awaits more piping which I hope to get this week.

4 pieces of beam were extracted from the used pile , screws which refused to come out, met the angle grinder, and the beams cut to length. They will be part of the frame work for the table saw trolley.
The Table saw was extracted from storage power up and.... Nothing...
Checked, the plug and fuse.. OK,
Checked the built in resetable fuse OK
Checked the on off Switch OK.
Then thought plug in somewhere else.. Lots of noise as it powered up...
Yep an old extension cable that doesn't like modern plugs with half insulated pins..



After some sanding and preparation work, the keel was then laid on it's side and sand / keyed on the bottom. The angle grinder was then deployed cutting off the excess threaded rod sticking out from the bottom of the keel only, about an inch on each rod... it sits on it's base better now.
A length of glassfibre was cut, luckily the width of the roll is just over the size of top of keel, down the side, then across the bottom, handily economic. The glass was then resined into place.
Next week sand that down, cut off the small amount of excess, then turn it over and do the other side.

[Paul H (admin)]

Q,

Solidarity about the aches and pains. Keep plodding on.

Where did you get the tubing from?

I know Timmo uses (cheap) 110mm drainage pipe for the backbone of his extraction system.

For the dodgy socket, take it apart, dry it and clean the brass contacts - mine had corroded slightly. Squeeze them tighter for a better grip.
Reassemble and test. If one socket is still iffy, repeat the process.

You can buy IP rated consumer units. Used plastic units on ebay, but only if the garage is not connected to the main dwelling. (Regs demand metal units if there is a fire risk to the dwelling).

Slightly bs in my opinion, plastic is safer in a damp environment.

Paul

[The Q]

Yes my piping will be drainpipe, just been sketching the layout and working out how many bends I need, I'm trying to keep the number down, they always cause trouble. I'll add I'm qualified on Airtubes. I used to service the cash tube equipment and tubes that sends money across Tesco stores in pods.....  Tescos use Very big curves!!

The consumer unit is metal, because I got a good deal on it.. Though since the garage is 50ft from the main house, it's not a problem either way. Now I've insulated that part of the ceiling, I don't think the dampness  will be a problem again. Hopefully with the end of lockdown the DIY sheds will allow use of their cutting machines again and I can get the wood cut to fit in the car and on the ceiling to complete the insulation..

It's not dodgy sockets as such, just a very old extension cable that doesn't like the half insulated pins on modern plugs. I have a couple of main sockets in the house that are the same, I must got round to changing them, They just grip too far up the pins..

[The Q]

Well certainly our DIY shed still hasn't got their wood cutter working again after lockdown..

Another weekend over, and just a little more progress..

First there was the adventure of turning the keel round, whilst I can walk it by lifting each end alternately, that didn't give me clearance to turn it round. In the end I lifted onto 2x4 beams on their edges, then pushed the keel so the beams toppled over, by doing so I moved the keel 2 inches backwards which after 3 repeats, gave enough clearance for the Dillet to pass by the workbench.

Once turned round, and shuffled to one side of the workshop, it was just tip it over, trim off any excess fibreglass round the edges then cover this side of the keel with glassfibre.

 Next week I have the fore and aft edges to cover  for reinforcement, and maybe the top.

The fun starts after that, getting the keel turned upside down,  in order to put several layers of reinforcement on the bottom..

Other work, in the workshop, I was donated an old small cupboard from SWMBO, 20 inches by 15 inches by 2 ft tall, including the drawer on top. That, She / Her mother has had it for over 50 years and it was secondhand back then. It fitted nicely over the workbench at the back, attached to the wall about 18 inches above the work surface.. Temporarily I'm keeping my tins of La Tonkinois in it, off the uninsulated concrete floor and a bit more insulated than being on a shelf in the open workshop area next to a concrete wall..

 The LED light battens were causing some interference on the radio, So I've fitted some Ferrite rings to the mains cables as the leave the LED units. That seems to have fixed the problem..

[The Q]

Not much done on the keel this weekend, After I had finished cladding the ceiling and inserting fibreglass insulation. My back was screaming enough!!!. So I sat down, cleaned off the top of the keel, and fibreglassed that..
After that rest I did try out moving the keel with the altered block and tackle arrangement.. It's easier, but not as easy as I'd like, some more bits have been ordered to make the task easier..

The interest in improving the lifting tackle also because I've had a diet change! Thanks to covid, I wasn't getting the routine medical checks from the doctors for sugar levels (though they've now called me in tomorrow.)
So I bought my own diabetes testing kit...
After some experimentation it showed I reacted badly to bread of all sorts, rice, and mashed potatoes. Removing them from my diet and my weight is dropping dramatically. Even though I've replaced mashed spuds with chips or baked spuds.

If I were to drop to my required by the RAF weight for someone of 6ft (admittedly 35 years ago) of 11.5 stone (161 lbs)(73Kg) Then I'd have another 30 KG to add to the keel..

[Paul H (admin)]

Q,

Search around for the 800 calorie diet, by Dr Michael Mosley.

He is convinced about triggering Ketosis, which might get you heading towards the RAF weight.

I know someone who lost 10kg in as many weeks, following Dr Moseley's advice.

Most of the foods you have already removed, are cut out in his diet....which eventually migrates to a Mediterranean lifestyle diet.

Occasional fish and chips do taste good though ha ha.

Paul