Fitting the keel blade

Had some trouble fitting the keel blade to the keel trunk. Hew came over last night and helped Al & I work on this problem. Seems some how that something inside the trunk is not allowing the keel blade to fit properly. We sanded and filed the blade and we could not get it to fit properly, it rocked back and forth.

Eventually we mixed up some thickened epoxy and put it at the top of the keel truck, after wrapping the keel blade with plastic wrap so it won't stick.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see if this fix works!

Here are a few pictures of the keel blade in the truck on the hull.

A, B & C rigs

I installed the gooseneck fittings on the A & B rigs yesterday, also cutting the masts to the proper length. The sides of the gooseneck fitting had to be cut on both sides for the mast ram to fit properly.

The mast head fitting, with cap, crane and shrouds shown being attached.

The gooseneck fittings attached to the masts, you can see the notch cut for the mast ram to fit.

All three rigs next to each other - you can note the difference in size for each rig.

Gooseneck fittings

On Sunday, I put attached the gooseneck fitting to the C rig and measured and cut the base of the mast to have the desired length of the mast. I can use the same measurements on the B and A rigs. Attaching the gooseneck fitting involved measuring the location of the boom from the lower ring on the mast and then aligning the fitting so it is @ 90 degrees from the shroud holes so the boom will be centered fore and aft on the mast. I will take some photos of the C rig later this week and post. The A rig uses a spreader, so this was also constructed.

We also put the keel blade into the hull and sanded it down to fit, as some clear coat was over sprayed into the keel slot and caused the fit to be a bit tight.

The eye bolts for the jib attachment points were installed and i also installed the eyes for the shroud attachment point and the back stay attachment. The aft turning block was also installed.

This week I will complete rigging the shrouds and back stay on the B rig. I will also install the gooseneck fittings on the A and B rig. I will also do some final fitting of the keel blade into the slot and then put some paint on the keel blade and the rudder. For the keel blade and the rudder I will use some appliance paint, as it should cover in fewer coats than if I painted it white and then put clear coat on it. It is best to minimize any added thickness to the keel and rudder foil shape.

The boat is coming along real fast now! I have to think about where to install the fair leads in the cockpit where the control line exit into the cockpit. A turning block needs to be installed at the forward end of the cockpit and this needs to be thought out so the lines do not hit the boom vang. The lead bulb will need to be attached to the keel blade, and the keel blade cut to length. Sails need to be made too. Most of the remaining items to complete the boat are tedious and time consuming, but i hope to have her in the water by May 1st, all going well.

Building the masts

While the clear coat is setting up, I started building the masts. There are 3 sets of rigs for this class boat, an A rig, a B rig and a C rig for different wind ranges.

The rigs are made of 12mm aluminum tubes and need holes drilled in them for the shrouds, the head stay attachment and adjustment holes for the jib halyard. I drilled these holes on Saturday and went through 2 drill bits as the aluminum dulls the drill bit very fast. Drilling all of these holes is not as easy as it looks, I marked the holes 1st with a pencil on some blue tape. The holes were then scored with an Exacto knife to make a point for the drill bit to start.

I also ran the shrouds and back stay on the A rig with un-coated 60 pound test stainless steel leader wire. I ran out of this wire so I have to buy some more to finish rigging the B rig. I used some 90 pound test un-coated stainless steel wire for the C rig - I want this rig to be pretty strong.

Clear coat on the deck

Saturday was also a good day for applying clear coat - So after the white pain on the deck set up, a few coats of clear coat was sprayed on the deck.

Painting the deck white

After the clear coat on the hull set, I taped up the edge of the hull/deck so I could spray the white paint on the deck. You will note 'plugs' in the predrilled holes for the shroud attachement, backstay and turning block, also a plug in the mainsheet tube. This is to prevent excess paint from getting into these holes.

I used a blow dryer to help the paint dry between coats of white paint. I put on about 6 coats of white paint, it covered the grey primer real even.

Here is the hull with 6 coats of white and the tape still on.

Scotch

Scotch has been a great help during the project!

Hull with Clear Coat

Here are two shots of the hull after I finished spraying on the clear coat.

Clear Coating the hull

On Friday I finally had the time and the weather was right for spraying on a coat of Clear coat on the hull. Below is a photo of the hull prior to the clear coat being applied.

Below, I am spraying the clear coat on the hull. With Al's guidance I think my 1st time spraying this product came out pretty well! I only had two places where the clear coat ran. I have a lot of sanding to do to smooth the hull nice and shiny so these drips or runs will be sanded down.

Clear Coat!

Well, after another series of out of town jobs I finally got a chance this afternoon to spray on some clear coat! I got home this afternoon from a gig in Mobile and called Al to see if he would be around to help me put some clear coat on the hull. He was available and so we did! I will get around to posting some photos later this weekend. She looks real good, the pink really sparkles in the sun! On Saturday I will paint the deck of the boat and the rudder and the keel blade. In the afternoon I should be able to spray some clear coat on the deck. After this gets accomplished I need to build my masts and sails. Install my deck hardware and then mount the keel bulb to the blade. Then I should be ready for sea trials! Stay tuned!

Travelling

I have been travelling lately, just got home Seward, Alaska yesterday afternoon and leaving today to Port Arthur, TX. Hope to get some time on the IOM build next week. I need to clear coat the hull and paint the rudder and keel and deck and clear coat same.