A First...

A first for me and Gardens! I climbed into Gardens for the first time ever and surveyed the work to be done. There is a lot of work to be done but it was exciting to actually be inside Gardens. A new step stool for the shop facilitates getting in and out of the hull.

The current view from on board:


The "Before" photos of the interior.



The foreward cockpit deck stringers in place (but not installed - this is just for show).


Sanding doesn't show up very well in photos but I made dust and mess enough today to vacuum the hull out twice - when I began and when I finished for the day. It'll be like that for awhile but I can see, in my mind's eye, the decking and seats are not far off.

Interior Work Begins

Having done just about all I can with the first four spars (main boom, main yard, mizzen boom and boomkin) short of varnishing, I began fitting out the interior today.

The foreward cockpit deck stringers were fit but not installed. Since I was having such a good time with the planking last fall (not really but I was on a roll), I didn't fit the deck stringers or the deck before installing the third and fourth planks. So, I have to fit and install the stringers and the deck from inside the boat. That means I will need to be better organized than usual - making sure I have tools and supplies in the boat with me (climbing in and out of the boat in the shop is not going to be easy).

But, before I have to worry about fitting the decks, I have to finish (sand, vacuum, epoxy seal and paint the bilges below the decks. Yes, I began that process early in the winter but did not progress very far.

As for the spars, well, I will be varnishing them - but watching varnish dry isn't much fun and watching photos of successive coats of varnish being applied is even less fun. I'll share photos of the spars as the varnishing is completed.

As for the interior work, I will share photos as the work progresses. I forgot my camera today but didn't get too much done… Tomorrow's photo will be close enough to a "Before" shot.

Spars and Main Mast Step

The spars are beginning to pile up while waiting for varnish. The Mizzen Boom, Main Boom and Main Yard are pretty much ready for varnishing. Milling and assembly of the Mizzen and Main Masts will wait until I get a new router table with router lift up and running.

The Main Yard has been tapered, its edges rounded over and the whole spar has been sanded. It weighs 7lbs (3.17kg). This is heavier than the hollow-box yard I built for Karen Ann, but this yard is, much to my surprise, stiffer. Supported at its ends, the yard deflected 16mm when 22lbs (10kg) of weight was hung from the spar's mid-point. Karen Ann's yard deflected 28mm. The difference between my gut reaction (thinking the new yard would not be stiff enough) and the data (suggesting is is) probably explains why I'm not a boat designer...

Other items being worked on:

I am building a hollow-box square cross-section blank for another new yard. This blank will be shaped to a rounded cross-section. Another yard isn't strictly necessary but there is a degree of experimentation going on in the GIS community so, while I'm at it, I'm building an extra yard for comparing different designs and techniques.

Main Mast Step: The other day I began assembling the main mast step. The photos and my description probably did little to illustrate what I was doing. Here is a photo of the mast step blank all glued up and trimmed to rough shape.


The step still needs sanding and shaping before being coated with epoxy and varnished.

Tuesday's Spar Work

Main Boom: Edges were cut to shape with a trim router. I think the flush cut bit wants to be more than a flush trim bit, the bit needs replacing or my technique needs improving. Here's how the top and bottom of the boom looked after the sides were trimmed to shape.



The those cutting marks on the top and bottom were sanded out and the edges were rounded over today. The butt joins still need fairing but the yard is shaping up nicely.



This is a "monster" boom weighing 4.55 kg (10 pounds). Compared to the Karen Ann's boom (similar dimensions and construction but with lighter materials) at 2.18 kg (4.8 pounds), the new boom is quite heavy. It is also quite stiff. A 10kg weight suspended at the mid-point of the boom caused a 6mm deflection in the vertical dimension.

Boomkin Mount: Finally assembled. The outer most blocks are being used for clamping pressure and are not part of the mount.



Main Mast Step: Assembly of the main mast step began today with the gluing of the middle staves. These two photos show the middle section of the step glued up in two parts. When spaced properly and sandwiched between the two outer sections, these two components will create the square hole for the mast to sit in. Not much to look at now but in a day or two these pieces will be part of the larger whole.

Spars... continuing

Boomkin: The shaping of the boomkin - by way of a block plane, rasp, grinder, ROS and hand sanding - continues. This is one of those projects that I can only spend a few minutes on at a time, so the progress is slow.

Main Yard: The tapers have been cut. The more wood I take out of this blank, the looser it becomes. By "looser" I mean it is less stiff. I plan to measure the stiffness - probably tomorrow - to see if what I think I see is supported by the data.

On the other hand, I also plan to build two other yards using different building methods in a search for a light, stiff yard that is simple to build and doesn't cost a fortune. I've already mentioned plans for a birds-mouth spar of appropriate dimensions. Also on tap is something I jokingly call a "four-sided birds-mouth" spar: four identically sized pieces (say, 19mm x 44mm) cut to the proper length and lap joined to create a 63mm square cross-section. This can then be planed to a 53mm (or smaller) square cross-section with 15mm (or less) thick walls or shaped into a round spar.

Main Boom: The 9mm sides have been glued to the frame and cut/trimmed to shape using a trim router with a flush cut bit.



The edges need rounding over; the plywood butt joins need some sanding and fairing; and the entire boom needs sanding before it will be ready for varnish. This boom feels significantly heavier to me than the boom I did for Karen Ann (my Goat Island Skiff). That boom has 6mm plywood sides. I will weigh the new boom and measure its stiffness once it is ready for varnish.

Main and Mizzen Mast Steps and the Boomkin Mount are slowly progressing toward completion.

Spars and Related Bits

Work continues on the spars and related bits:

Boomkin: The boomkin has been cut to its rough shape. The band saw did a good job cutting the tapers - the minor irregularities of the cuts are due to operator error. The spar gauge was put to work lining off the boomkin for rounding or, more accurately, ovaling (pretty sure that's not a real word) since the boomkin has a rectangle cross-section.

Main Yard: Two 1x3s (19mm x 89mm) were ripped and planed to 19mm x 70mm. These will be glued together to form the blank for the main yard. The plans specify a 30mm x 65mm cross-section, tapered a bit on both ends, for the yard but I may not take the blank down to 30mm. I'm a bit concerned about the stiffness of this yard. My experiences with yards for the Goat Island Skiff have me thinking this yard will not be stiff enough. Since I am planning to experiment with birds-mouth spars, my first attempt will be an alternate yard. I'll have the as-drawn yard ready for varnish before I am able to experiment with a birds-mouth spar.

Main Boom: The 9mm plywood sides for the main boom have been butt joined using thickened epoxy. Once the epoxy cures, the sides will be glued to the frame.

Boomkin Mount: I fabricated the pieces for the mount this past winter but, because I damaged one piece, hadn't assembled it. Today I cut out a replacement piece, drilled an oversized hole for the mounting pin and filled the hole with thickened epoxy. Once that cures, I'll line up and drill out the proper sized hole for the pin and assemble the mount.

Main and Mizzen Mast Steps: This evening I am reviewing the drawings for the mast steps and checking my wood supplies for the hardwood needed to make the mast steps.

Working on the Boomkin

Today was a good day: sunny skies with temperatures in the low 50s brightened everyone's mood and outlook.

The boomkin blank was milled from 50mm x 90mm to 45mm x 75mm. I could have trimmed part of that 90mm on the band saw but for some reason, the saw wouldn't track to the cut line on another piece I cut. I used the thickness planer to take the blank down to size.





The centerline gauge I threw together yesterday:



Using the centerline gauge, I marked off the centerline on all four sides of the blank. Then I measured and lined off the shape of the boomkin shown in the plans.



Here is the rough cut foreward end of the boomkin, which will be pinned to the boomkin mount on the starboard cockpit seat. This will be cleaned up and the edges eased a bit.



The problem with the band saw was the tension. I didn't set it high enough the other day when I installed the new tires and guide blocks. That didn't occur to me until the end of the day - well, early enough to re-set the tension and cut a test piece (it worked!) - so I'll have to cut the boomkin to shape tomorrow.