Morbic 12

[Port-Na-Storm]

I wish to formally and solemnly declare that I have started another build.

I have purchased a kit for a Francois Vivier Morbic 12 from Alec Jordan.
This will come as no surprise to anyone who has heard me prattling on about building one for the past few years.


The Kit is extremely comprehensive and includes the building frame as well as all the plywood parts.




As usual you can watch the fun at port-na-storm

[Timmo]

Nice boat.

And you'll be finished before me, despite starting years later!

Vivier's kits are an engineering marvel. Suggest you read ALL the instructions before assembling. On the Ilur I found several places where a page referred to battens having fitted earlier when there had been no mention of them before. All solvable, but would have been easier if I'd read ahead better.

Can get a real sense of satisfaction when you turn her over and see how much of the interior is already in place.

Enjoy.

On 12 Oct 2018, at 20:31, Port-Na-Storm [via UK HBBR Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

I wish to formally and solemnly declare that I have started another build.

I have purchased a kit for a Francois Vivier Morbic 12 from Alec Jordan.
This will come as no surprise to anyone who has heard me prattling on about building one for the past few years.


The Kit is extremely comprehensive and includes the building frame as well as all the plywood parts.




As usual you can watch the fun at port-na-storm

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NAML

[inwe]

Fantastic progress Graham, I only wish my progress was a fraction of yours. Brilliant.

Richard

[Port-Na-Storm]

Its great to see some activity on the forum, I was beginning to give up hope.
It seems to be true confession time so I'll admit progress on the Morbic 12 has been non existent for the best part of this year.  I've been far too busy goofing off and enjoying myself.  

The the pile of bits shown previously has somehow managed to turn it's-self into a three dimensional hull shape, but that's as far as things have got.    



I managed to punch a hole in the bottom of Katie Beardie on the way to the Thames Raid this year, thankfully Roger was at hand with a big role of Gaffer Tape and we made it to the end without getting the sandwiches wet.



I hadn't got round to fixing her when I decided to have a day sail in The Heron  in Chichester Harbour to review the DCA fleet. I noticed there was a bit of water in her when  launched, and by the time I was half way to East Head there was an awful lot more, enough in fact to make me turn tail and run for home.
Turns out the bucket containing the anchor and chain had managed to find a very soft spot in the planking on the journey there. I wanted the boat for Cobnor so set-to with repairs. It reminded me of digging out rusty sills with a screw driver on my first cars. Just keep poking until you hit solid ground.



I managed to stop at the keelson and a handy bilge runner then square it off at a frame and the transom. A bit of joggling and some of the spare Robbins Elite from the Morbic and we were back in business.



Hooray!
I managed to get to Cobnor with a serviceable boat and had a fantastic time sailing on my own and was joined by my very enthusiastic crew for the second week.





It'll be a few weeks before I can get back to the Morbic, more goofing off, Oh yes and Katie Beardie still has a hole in her bottom,  hope its a mild winter.

Graham

 

[Port-Na-Storm]

Progress of a sort.
Fill, Sand, Paint, Sand, Fill, Paint,  repeat until bored.    





There is a chance I might get her turned over this weekend.
Don't hold your breath.
G.

[inwe]

Nice colour Graham. I second the boredom . Just got primer and first coat all over. More paint needed. But you have a lovely finish on her. I did wonder two days ago why I was feeling so light headed for about three days, it only dawned on me this morning - spending the whole day with your head inside the hull painting.  Duuur !  Can't wait to see her turned over.


Richard

[Timmo]

Really moving on there! Must move along with Ruzvaen or you'll be launched before me!

On 15 Nov 2019, at 17:44, Port-Na-Storm [via UK HBBR Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Progress of a sort.
Fill, Sand, Paint, Sand, Fill, Paint,  repeat until bored.    





There is a chance I might get her turned over this weekend.
Don't hold your breath.
G.

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NAML

[Paul H (admin)]

Well done Graham, that finish is what I expected from you - as superb as your boat at the first HBBR rally in 2006 (or was it 2008?)

Paul

[Port-Na-Storm]

Thank you all for your comments.
It is now over 14 years since I painted "Caitlin" and age has had its effect on my eyesight.
Bright lighting and a grainy photo from a phone can look amazing on t'internet. Up close she will need a final rubdown and a feather light touch.

The family came over scavenging for food today so I pressed them into service.










So here she is, the right way up and ready for the next stage.



The main bulkheads and seat fronts are already glued in.
The seat tops, deck, centreboard case etc are ready cut as part of the kit.

I now have a set of Morbic12 moulds available should anybody be interested.

Graham.  



   

[inwe]

Brilliant Graham. Well done.
Richard

[Timmo]

Nearly finished!?

Tim 

On 17 Nov 2019, at 20:49, Port-Na-Storm [via UK HBBR Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Thank you all for your comments.
It is now over 14 years since I painted "Caitlin" and age has had its effect on my eyesight.
Bright lighting and a grainy photo from a phone can look amazing on t'internet. Up close she will need a final rubdown and a feather light touch.

The family came over scavenging for food today so I pressed them into service.










So here she is, the right way up and ready for the next stage.



The main bulkheads and seat fronts are already glued in.
The seat tops, deck, centreboard case etc are ready cut as part of the kit.

I now have a set of Morbic12 moulds available should anybody be interested.

Graham.  



   

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NAML

[Port-Na-Storm]

So, since turning the boat over I have been North to the Land of the Midnight Scone to tuck the relatives in for the long dark night of winter.
On returning home I have discovered that my Epoxy has almost solidified.
It has crystalized to the consistency of thick Slush Puppy and well beyond the point I would be happy to use it until remedial action has been taken.
I'm using MAS epoxy instead of my usual stuff from UK epoxy and haven't had this problem before.

I read that I need to heat it up in what chef's call a Bain Marie and you and I might call a pot of water until it reaches approx. 120f.  Agitating all the while. I'm good at that.
Right now it's basking in the warmth of the airing cupboard.
Any hints and tips welcome, unless they involve the microwave.

Meanwhile I need some timber for the fit-out and it would seem prudent to order up the stuff for the spars at the same time to save on delivery charges.
I'm thinking of my usual Douglas Fir for the spars and the few bits of trim.
The rest will be "Workboat" finish as I'm a bit hard on my possessions and have definitely decided to leave the varnish in the tin.

Where do you folks source your timber?

The end result will hopefully look a bit like this photoshopped version.





 

[Paul H (admin)]

Graham,

I fix crystallised resin by placing it in a bowl, filling the bowl with hot water until the resin container just floats. Wait about 10-20 minutes, when the resin heats up the crystallisation will melt and disappear.

I've done it a few times with easy success. I now keep the resin indoors in a special cupboard to avoid these problems, along with paint that must be kept frost free.

-Paul

[LASER41420]

Hi,

I solved the same problem with some old epoxy of the same brand by standing on a radiator until it liquefied, a few seconds in the microwave worked as well (plenty of old free ones available).

Trim timber on my canoe/skiff came from an old mahogany shelf rescued from the sailing club bonfire. More recently scrap window frames from a nearby UPVC fitting business have provided loads more mahogany and piranha pine. Feel free to drop in if you are nearby anytime.

Steve

[Timmo]

Re the choice of Douglas Fir...

I'm in the process of working on spars for my Ilur. Am regretting the decision to use Douglas Fir (sourced from a timber yard near Deddington, Oxfordshire) for mast boom and gaff.

As an aside... the wood stove over which the rudder blade is hanging is not lit!

I think it's the combination of Douglas Fir's wonderful propensity to create splinters and the fact I've used the birdsmouth approach The mast is monstrous compared with my previous builds and a solid one would have weighed a ton. Because I've reversed the staves in the birdsmouth and mixed the grain around for strength i'm now at the stage where whichever way I plane it the plane digs in at some point grabbing a big chunk and making a hole. It's going to be sanding marathon instead. 

Wish I'd gone with Sitka Spruce.

I did experiment:

But it was a bad idea for many reasons. Main one being that the roller steadies in the middle and far end require the spar to be perfectly round or the spar just bounces around. And I could not get them sufficiently perfectly round.

But if the spar's going to be solid... Douglas Fir if knot free (reference Richard's experience of mast breakage.)

Back in the UK again now so they'll be no more work on her till after Christmas.

As ever the prizes for progress go to Graham and Richard.

On 30 Nov 2019, at 18:07, Port-Na-Storm [via UK HBBR Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

So, since turning the boat over I have been North to the Land of the Midnight Scone to tuck the relatives in for the long dark night of winter.
On returning home I have discovered that my Epoxy has almost solidified.
It has crystalized to the consistency of thick Slush Puppy and well beyond the point I would be happy to use it until remedial action has been taken.
I'm using MAS epoxy instead of my usual stuff from UK epoxy and haven't had this problem before.

I read that I need to heat it up in what chef's call a Bain Marie and you and I might call a pot of water until it reaches approx. 120f.  Agitating all the while. I'm good at that.
Right now it's basking in the warmth of the airing cupboard.
Any hints and tips welcome, unless they involve the microwave.

Meanwhile I need some timber for the fit-out and it would seem prudent to order up the stuff for the spars at the same time to save on delivery charges.
I'm thinking of my usual Douglas Fir for the spars and the few bits of trim.
The rest will be "Workboat" finish as I'm a bit hard on my possessions and have definitely decided to leave the varnish in the tin.

Where do you folks source your timber?

The end result will hopefully look a bit like this photoshopped version.





 

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NAML

[Chris Waite]

I'm seriously unkind to my epoxy and other such, so can't help there, Grum

But I would say that your colour scheme is lovely.  It blends in better than my light military grey; in fact you need to be careful, or fashionable governments all over the planet will be taking to such colours for their military fleets.

Maybe that's why they call it French Navy?

CW

(Thinking further regarding the epoxy, even stored for years prior to use and then applied under less than perfect conditions, it still seems the answer to a bodger's prayer.  I have not had any 'go off', or [if used reasonably lavishly], any serious failure that wasn't probably the wood.  The only thing it just doesn't like is sunshine....

Every time I ask such questions there is a deafening silence, despite all the tosh about how carefully it should be mixed, or which sort of micro-widgets should be used for what sort of joint.  Speak up brave hearts - tell us your tales of woe)

[alopenboat]

On 1 Dec 2019 at 3:38, Chris Waite [via UK HBBR Forum] wrote:

>
>
> I'm seriously unkind to my epoxy and other such, so can't help there,
> Grum
>
> (Thinking further regarding the epoxy, even stored for years prior to
> use and then applied under less than perfect conditions, it still
> seems the answer to a bodger's prayer.  I have not had any 'go off',
> or [if used reasonably lavishly], any serious failure that wasn't
> probably the wood. The only thing it just doesn't like is sunshine....
>

I have a few litres bought around 2001 to finish my build. It has
gone crystalline in the bottom, but still seems to go hard and stick
things together when I want it to.

Wonderful stuff.

--
Sail when you can, row when you must, motor only
when you have to be at work in the morning.

Alastair Law
Yeovil, England.
<http://www.little.jim.freeuk.com>

[inwe]

Timmo, The reason that it bounces around the steadies is that you have only two rollers. A lathe steady has three rollers equally spaced. The fixed centre at the free end is solid but the TRAVELLING steady steadies the work at the point of cut so preventing 'bounce'. The is why so many don't use the lathe approach to rounding off. It means a vast lathe structure. Even Jeremy at Collars planes them.

Richard

[Paul H (admin)]

Timmo,

Try the dead centre approach on the tail stock. The point angle is 60 degrees on metal cutting lathes:



Dead centre means it does not revolve, live centres have bearings to reduce metal friction.

Plug the end of the mast temporarily, then screw some hardwood to the plug with large holes for wiggle room. Without a centre, a rod of steel running in a hole in the hardwood could support the mast firmly - adjust the screws to align it with the mast axis. Use veggie oil to lubricate the rod.

There are fancy live centres with rotating teeth for wood lathes, but for this one-off job a steel rod is cheap and cheerful.

I've seen people use electric planers on revolving wood with a clever jig, but a sanding belt of 40 grit looped around the mast can be very effective.

-Paul

[Port-Na-Storm]

I can report that after a night snuggled up in the airing cupboard my epoxy is now running freer than The Silvery Tay in spate. I now have a special place for it beside the radiator under my desk.

I feel your pain Timmo, both of my previous masts were made from Douglas Fir and I had similar problems with the grain breaking out in local areas where it gets a bit wavy.
After roughing out the octagon with the electric planer then taking it down to sixteen sides by hand, I used my low angle block plane, changing direction where necessary, always working towards the breakout, finishing off with the sander.
My finger can detect lumps and bumps far better than my eyes these days so I finish off with a long sanding block and some P120.

Have you kept the mast to the design dimensions or have you made it oversized? I'm not sure what the procedure is when you use the birds-mouth technique. I imagine the mast on the Ilur is fairly substantial.

I would have considered going the same route but I don't have the tooling, although I have wondered whether it would be worth routing out a hollow channel before gluing the two halves together to save weight.
Alternatively I might get a quote for Sitka Spruce but I don't know if I'm brave enough.

G.