Slow Going But Plugging Along

I've been working on Mist a little at a time. The interior bow is finished off.  I've decided against the roller furler and have installed a simple chainplate.

The side shroud chanplates are installed.  The chaiplates are made of three G-10 tubes mounted vertically in a 3/4" thick piece of sitka spruce, sandwiched between 1/4" thick okoume plywood, with a uni carbon fiber wrap.   I've decided to mount them flush against bulkhead 110 to increase the glue bonding areas.

A loop of 5mm Dynek Dux passes through the center of the G-10 tube and a stop-knot on the lower end of the tube will securely hold the side shroud.  The G-10 tubes are sticking up above the chainplate to accommodate for the thickness of the deck.  They'll be finished flush with the deck at a later time.  I hope finish coating the interior and have the foredeck installed soon.

Progress Update

It has been awhile since I updated this blog.  I have kept involved in the construction of Mist when time allows.  Work and family have gained much of my attention and that has been rewarding.  I had the fortunate experience of traveling to Portland, OR for work in April.  I met up with Eric and the PDX folks on a few occasions and was able to sail on boat PDX #1.  Eric and the North Sails Rep. Kerry explained many of the ins-n-outs of sailing an assym spin.

Off we go in my first ride on an i550.  Thanks Eric and Kerry!

In late June I was able to pick-up with building Mist.  I've completed deck installation from bulkhead 110 aft.

Foam deck with cedar strips on rolled edges.

I'm currently working on the the sprit installation and finishing all tasks for the foredeck install.

Tornado Through Home Port

I was able to survey the Hampton Yacht Club this am.  It truly is amazing that no one was injured.  The first evening of post race parties of the Southern Bay Race was happening at 8:15 when event staff and yacht club management directed everybody in the surrounding area to get into the hallway of the yacht club.  Event staff hurriedly carried one disabled volunteer to safety and moments later the storm's path crossed right through the small boat storage area.  The many small boats of the junior sailing program were thrown in a direct path to where everyone was just partying.  Great thinking by the event staff and HYC management!

Three of the four building of the club have severe damage.  The lower floor of the main building lost a majority of the front pane windows.  The lounge area is completely open to the weather.  The administration building lost two-thirds of its roof.  The adjacent rental property suffered roof damage and is missing its front doors.

All keel boats that were in dry storage where knocked over off of their trailers.  The only damage I noticed to boats in the water was from unfurled jib sails.  My boat was spared from damage.

 Damage to the front of the club's lounge.

The tumblers and burgees are still in-place.

 Where the small boats belong.

Where the Southern Bay Race Week party was happening.

The small boats passed through the party tent area. What remains of 

this Opti's stern is entangled in the club's railing.

 All trailer large boats were displaced from their trailers.

 Minimal damage to the floating boats.

'7' and '8' were meant to be together!

Mist is to Have a Foam Core Deck

The kids really are working under there, not resting. They're marking the frames and stringers so we know where to place glue and clamping screws.

 

I've performed a few tests to determine deck stiffness, toughness, and weight of various deck combinations.  I chose to compare 1/4" Okoume w/ one side laminated 10oz cloth, 3/8" Corecell a500 w/ topside 10oz underside 6oz, and 1/2" Corecell a500 w/ topside 10oz underside 6oz.  The 3/8" thick sandwich weighed half that of the 1/4" Okoume and was approx the same stiffness.  The 1/2" thick sandwich weighed 25% less then the 1/4" Okoume and was twice the stiffness.   As far as toughness is concerned, I dropped a 3 1/2# round weight for 3 foot high onto the samples.  The weight went right through the Okoume and bounced off the 1/2" foam core.  It took several drops of the weight to show a significant damage to the foam.   Cost and labor is significantly higher for the foam lay-up and installation and the areas where hardware mounts will need reinforcement.  I plan to use the 1/2" foam combination on the deck and the remaining sheet of 3/8" foam on the cabin top.

Keel Box Finished

Keel box is completed and the last portion of the bunk is installed.

I suppose the photo below is the last one to show the shiny interior.  Next project is the cockpit floor.

My daughters are getting a kick out of removing the peel-ply from the cockpit floor material (1/2" foam, 6 oz cloth on the underside and 10 oz cloth on the top side).  This panel is quite rigid!

Keel Box Installed

The keel sleeve is fabricated and reinforced with cedar strips.  The keel was the template for fabricating the keel sleeve (three layers of 6 oz carbon cloth).  After much contemplation I simply wrapped the keel with several layers of plastic sheet and began the keel sleeve lay-up.  I ended up with approximately 3/32" gap all the way around between the keel and the keel sleeve.

The keel box is installed. I measured several times from many prospectives to achieve the position I felt most comfortable with.  First, I verified the boat was level (from bow to stern and port and starboard chines).  Next, I suspended a string down the centerline of the boat (top photo) at a height above all of the frames. I verified the string was in the center at many points along the length of the boat by measuring from the string to the interior chine on both sides of the boat.  I've discovered the boat to be very straight and symmetrical.  Additionally, the suspended string was centered.  Then I hang to small weights (second photo) from the fore and aft string, 1/2" from the leading and trailing edges of the keel box location and used the keel template to mark were there keel slot belongs.  Once the slot was cut through the hull bottom I clamped the keel box in place, verified it was straight in all directions, and started gluing.  Next step is to glass and finish bunk supports.

Mist's mast arrived!

Check out the rig I used to get the 30 foot M20 mast home from the shipping terminal.

I'll tell you, it was and exciting family affair.  Between having difficulty finding the place, wondering how we were to strap this thing on the roof of the mini van, and patiently wating for the folks at the terminal to clean-up an unrelated haz-mat spill my daughters couldn't contain themselves.  The older one, and the book worm of the family, blurted out "This is Mast Confusion".  We all lost it.

The new mast and boom made it home safely.

I have goofy daughters!

The keel is coming along too!  I'm so tired of this part of the project, an enormous amount of hand sanding.  Maybe I'll finish it this weekend and move on to the keel box.