C rig

I almost finished completing the C rig this morning. I did however attach the mainsail to the mast and boom. I need to connect the wire headstay to the mast, but require a second set of hands to do this properly. This will have to wait until Al gets back from racing Victoria's in San Antonio.

Thursday I drilled out 2 more holes in the lead bulb in order to reduce the weight of the keel/bulb. These holes were filled with Styrofoam peanuts and then epoxied over. This morning I sanded off the excess epoxy. The keel/blade now just needs the 'once over' from Al and then some touch up paint and final sanding and polishing.

Dave ordered some more parts from Mid-west Model Yachting and I ordered some extra parts and pieces for the boat. The order should be here next week. I ordered some bowsies, some silicon drain plugs, block to replace the one I 'borrowed' from Al and the auto ease Cunningham rings. I also order extra boom slides with hooks that i will use for my downhauls. I think I prefer this method over a bowsie as it is easier to adjust, just requiring an allen wrench.

BOW BUMPER & SILICON DRAIN PLUG

Home made silicon drain plug

Bow bumper mold on the bow of the boat

Bow bumper stuck in the mold.

Untrimmed bow bumber out of the mold.

Bow bumper attached to the boat.

I went by the boat yard this morning and checked on the silicon bow bumper made yesterday. It had set up and as i tried to pull the mold off the boat, the bumper came off inside the mold. I pulled the mold off, cleaned up the edges and then mixed up a small amount of the A & B silicon material to smear on the both the stem of the boat and on the bumper itself. I then attached the bumper to the boat and taped it in place. I hope this will hold the bumper securely to the boat.

I also made a drain plug from the pink silicon stuff and this pulled out of its mold pretty good, as you can see from the photos.

Re doing the silicon bow bumper

Smooth-On "Dragon Skin" two part silicon product.
Material mixed up with a few drops of pink added.

The pink silicon in the mold on the boat.

I went to New Orleans today to pick up some of the silicon product used to make the bow bumper. Then went by the boat yard and mixed up some of this stuff and added a few drops of pink and then poured it in to the mold. I also made an attempt to make a colored drain plug too, will see how this turns out tomorrow.

Finding the leak - Part II

The epoxy set up that we used to fill in the area at the top of the keel trunk overnight. Before i re drilled the hole for the keel bot to exit the keel truck, I decided to test the keel truck again with some air pressure. Low and behold! Another air leak was noted in about the same area as the one we thought we plugged last night. Anyway, mixed up some more 5 minute epoxy, thinned it with acetone and then poured it into the keel trunk. I will test it again tomorrow and see it if this cures the leak. Finger crossed!

Bow Bumper

Well, seems the bow bumper material (A & B) were not compatable. Ended up making some pink mush. I cleaned it all up this afternoon and found a source for this moldable silicon across the lake in New Orleans and i will pick some up tomorrow. I will make the bow bumper on Friday.

Finding the leak

Al and i did some investigating this evening and we think we found where the water was entering the hull. It is on the keel box, near the deck, or so we think. I mixed up some 5 minute epoxy and placed it carefully in this area. Hopefully this is the leak and we fixed it. Will find out next time I take her sailing.

I ahve also done some homework on batteries. I think I will go with a NiMH 2300 millamp battery packs. I found them at All-Batteries dot com for about $9 each. These are 6 volt batteries and i can also use them on my Victoria.

Bow Bumper

Tonight we tried to make the silicon bow bumper. Hew had some 2 part silocn and a mold from his VEKTOR. I mixed it up added a few drops of the pink paint and then poured it in the mold. I will check on it tomorrow, it should be set up by then.

Some of Hew's Photos

Sailing Tonight

Al, Hew and I ventured to the lakefront tonight and got in a few hours of sailing. I have a lot to learn about sailing this boat. An IOM is much different than the Victoria, the other class boat that we sail.

The wind was light so no water was taken over the bow, but yet she took on some water. I will need to find where the water is coming in, probably on the keel trunk, and then come up with a fix.

Also found a few other items that need attention. I still need to complete installing the C sails on the C rig. That shoudl not take too long.

Eventually I will need to come up with a way to cart all of this gear around in the back of a truck.

Hew took some more photos tonight and I hope he posts them soon to his flicker account as the boat looked fantastic in the sunshine! It is very crisp, with white against the pink. The pink certainly does have some shine to it too!

I am very pleased with how this project turned out.

B Rig

After the attempt at sea trials on Sunday, I went back to work on completing the B rig. It was raining and too windy to sail with the A rig and the Saints we playing. Al has the boat loft wired for cable TV! I completed putting together the B rig after I drained the water out of the hull from the sea trails. After draining and mopping the water out the hull, I wiped down the keel/bulb and rudder and the rest of the boat.

I got to say, I think she looks real nice out in the water.

Sea Trials?

Well an attempt was made on Sunday to take her out for sea trials. The weather was lousy and the wind was up to 12 to 15 or better, near the top of the A rig range. At the time all I had completed was the a rig! With Al, Hew and Dave there to watch, the pink boat was launched! It was not a successful sail, as the wind was strong, I did not have my shrouds tight and the pot was not sealed up. Needless to say the hull was full of water when she got back to the dock. Hew sailed his boat with the B rig effortlessly! Not a drop of water in his Vektor! Anyway, the rain was fast approaching so I packed it up and went back to the boat loft to continue the work on the other sails/rigs. Hew took some fantastic photos of this outing and posted them on his flickr site. The link is below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hew_hamilton/sets/72157622515167832/

I also borrowed a few of his shots and posted them here. together with some other shots.

More shots of the hull

Here she is on the scale. Looks like the keel/bulb is about 6 grams too heavy. I hope sanding and polishing the paint will reduce the weight these 6 grams. According to class rules, the keel/bulb shall not exceed 2500 grams.

I think the boat in sailing condition will be a tad heavy, class rules specify a minimum weight of 4000 grams. I think she will weigh in at 4160 grams. I will eventually get lighter batteries and this should help get it down to minimum weight.

Stepping the mast and bending on the sails

WOW! Finally got the sails bent on the rig and attached to the servos. Tomorrow she will go on her maiden voyage!

Keel/bulb and rudder painted white

Here are a few shots of the rudder and keel/bulb painted white. I used an appliance type epoxy paint for these 2 items for the durability of this paint. I hope it will help protect this items from dings and dents. We will see

Miainsail Headboard Swivel

Here I had to fabricate the headboard swivel for the mainsail. Took a stainless rod and pushed through the hole in the mast head fitting and then put a series of bends in the rod to hold the sail. You will see this better when i take some photos of the sails bent on the rigs.

Cockpit

Here are a few shots of how the cockpit is rigged. You can see the pot in the cockpit, this si where the batteries and the reciever will go and they will remain dry, I hope!

Sail Servo and running rigging

Here are some shots of the Sail Servo showing how it is rigged.