Sunday 19 April 2020

28 Days Later.




Its 28 Days since the Lockdown began. 

The Bluebells are out. 




The countryside is refreshed after a particularly wet winter and the fields are turning green with new grass. 



The tracks and paths have dried out. 


The weather has been dry and sunny with nothing but blue skies as far as you can see. 










The Cherry and Apple Blossoms are on the bough. 







The Great British Public is pretty much doing what it's been told to do and staying home. 

Except for their daily exercise of course.

Nature isn't bothered, its just getting on with what it does. 






We can expect at least three more weeks of this and then hopefully a slow, well managed, reduction in restrictions.  

We wait to see what the new "Normal" looks like. 

Strange Days indeed, stay safe everyone. 

Monday 13 April 2020

Groundhog Day, Again.








There are only so many photographs of a half built boat anyone wants to see in their lifetime. So while I spend most of my confinement  working away in the garage making slow but steady progress I might throw in the odd reminder of why I'm building the thing in the first place and the sense of freedom and adventure those thoughts bring.  Oh to be chasing the foaming white tops over the waves with the white sail taught against an azure sky.  Dream on Kiddo, we will return. 

 We consider ourselves very fortunate. We are both retired and living in a nice house in a pleasant neighbourhood. We don't actually have to go out other than for the odd bit of shopping, and so far we are getting along quite nicely greatly helped by the fact that we have enough room and enough interests and hobbies to keep us occupied without being under each other's feet all the time.
Our days, considered one at a time are no different from some we would enjoy in "normal" ties. Its just that they are usually broken up with days out cycling, walking on the beach, going for a wander round town or having a coffee. Its just that every day seems very like the last and the one before that. 
So, nothing much to complain about really and a damn sight better than what many less fortunate than us are having to endure.

So its back out to the workshop for you my lad and get that nose to the grindstone.  
Last  time we had just turned the boat right side up and could gaze in wonderment at the inside of the hull.  




Thanks to Francois' clever design and hard work with the CAD, quite a bit of work has been done already. The three permanent bulkheads are in place along with the seat/buoyancy tank fronts.
Various other parts are already cut out including the seat tops, foredeck, centreboard case etc. So this shouldn't take long, just a matter of gluing all the bits together yes?   

Ha!

I had cut the holes for the inspection hatches "on the bench" before I started assembly.  I thought t would be easier than trying to do it once the hull was built.  Obviously I had bought the hatches in advance so that I knew I was making the holes the right size, so that was sensible wasn't it? 

I used the circular hole cutting facility on my router, a sort of beam compass arrangement,  to produce these perfect holes. Neat!   

Much later I was to reconsider my choice of hatches, which I must admit were chosen on the basis of cost more than anything, and up grade them, which of course meant the holes were just a little too tight. Hmmmmm ! anyway its all been sorted now. 


 





So Next Stages; Filleting, Filleting and more Filleting, Seat Risers, Centreboard case. 

Glue Glue, Barney McGrew. I must admit sticking things together with Epoxy is the least enjoyable part of the build process for me. But needs must so we don the Nitrile Gloves and feel slightly guilty that some nurse somewhere needs them more than I do. 

  

Fitting the centreboard case saw a critical moment of the build. The first time I actually climbed inside the boat. The Slot in the garboard is deliberately cut too small and needs to be widened, so with a bit of trepidation and some ominous creaks only some of which came from my knees I got in there with the router. 


At the risk of stating the bleedin' obvious the CB case needs to be positioned correctly in three planes; It needs to be aligned  along the centre-line of the boat, laterally and vertically. It also a major tick if the top of the case is level with the side benches as this is where the main thwart will sit.   Sufficient to say, it was close enough. 

The sash cramps are pulling the case down onto the garboard as well as positioning it laterally  against either end of the slot and the plank is ensuring the whole thing is vertical. 

Enough for now.

Stay Safe.  Dream On.