H28 "Larrikin" rebuild

[Whameller]

It's looking really good Greg !

[Larks]

These 6 ton (each) rated trolleys have turned out to be a terrific purchase at $56.99 each and a few minor mods to my cradle/trolley means that, with a $23.00 1 tonne rated come-along, I can now move the boat in and out from under my loft quickly and conveniently any time that I like.

With this set up I easily rolled the boat back and forward four times today while trying to work on the stem fitting and dodging rain squalls (I usually have about 60mm clearance between the stern and the shed door so with the boat rolled back the stern sits outside the shed - in the weather)

I had originally built the cradle matching the one that was used to truck the boat up here on the back of a tilt tray and, using heavier grade steel than that one, I had expected mine to be able to support the weight of the boat between the wheels. I was quite wrong and I ended up placing a couple of pine sleepers under the central beam to keep the steel off the ground and I had to skull drag the whole thing into the shed with a Turfor when I first parked it there. The outboard wheels didn’t do much more than provide stability.

But with the shed loft only about 6" to 8” over the cabin top I really want to be able to drag the boat back in order to fit the second layer of ply to the cabin top and then to glass the whole lot.

This shot shows the cabin location under the loft with the boat rolled back part way for me to work on the stem fitting, I can still go back another 1200mm or so to clear the loft completely:

[IMG]IMG_4127 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]IMG_4125 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]IMG_4123 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_4100 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[brucemoffatt]

I love it when all the planning and preparation pays off.

Love ya work Greg. Looking very good.


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[Hugh MacD]

Brilliant! Nice low profile...gotta love that!

[Larks]

I had some photos lined up to post but wanted to do another video for my mum to see what’s going on so you may as well have that instead:
https://youtu.be/lb2HE2BzMAU

[auscruisertom]

Great to see your progress and innovation.
Regarding those come alongs Despite looking and being cheap to buy they will also stand up to more than a ton, as I found when I got my Hilux totally bogged front and back in quick****e mud on the Island.

[Larks]

Great to see your progress and innovation.
Regarding those come alongs Despite looking and being cheap to buy they will also stand up to more than a ton, as I found when I got my Hilux totally bogged front and back in quick****e mud on the Island.

Yes, they’re amazingly strong for the price ($23.00) but the cable is so short that I’d have to reset it twice each time I moved the boat until I found that it moved easily enough with just a rope and a couple of sail blocks.

[Andrew Donald]

Thanks for the video Greg. A video gives a much better sense of scale, your mum will be happy. Things are coming along very nicely. I wish I had some of your finesse with details but as you know a long project you get to a point where you just want it over. What holds the Huon panel in front of GPS?
well done

[Mike1902]

Great vid Greg. Some fancy editing skills on show there.

Down below is looking good, especially with that mood lighting going on
It's all starting to blend.

Cheers,
Mike.

[Larks]

Thanks Andrew and Mike, I really appreciate the comments guys.

[Steamboat]

It is amazing what one can do with basic tools like a couple of pulleys and a bit of rope. Nice progress and great video.

[Boatsbgood]

Thank you for the video Greg, its interesting to me how the sense of the boat come through more clearly than in stills, appreciate the effort!. I dont usually have anything of substance to add here, so mostly stay quiet, but I'm sure there are many like me, following and enjoying, learning. Neat to see her coming along, despite your claim that nothing much has changed!
Brian

[Larks]

Thankyou Steamboat and Brian, your responses really are appreciated and do make a difference, it’s always nice to know that someone is getting something from photos and videos posted on the forum - not just by me but on everyones threads throughout the forum. It can honestly sometimes feel like your just posting stuff off into a hollow void....

[Larks]

I know he hasn’t been active on the forum for a long time and I have no idea how his health is but I would really like to think that Jay Greer might be checking in on this thread .

[Mike1902]

It can honestly sometimes feel like your just posting stuff off into a hollow void....

Sounds of whistling winds and rustling tumble weeds...

[Hallam]

Fantastic work Greg! I often check in on your build thread to get some inspiration but don’t often comment. I always get a push on for my own project with Warana when I see how you get things done! Thanks

[brucemoffatt]

Thanks for the video Greg. It's really looking good. I'm not on the forum as often as I used to be and it's a treat to see your updates when I do log in.


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[Larks]

Fantastic work Greg! I often check in on your build thread to get some inspiration but don’t often comment. I always get a push on for my own project with Warana when I see how you get things done! Thanks

That's really nice to know mate, always good to see a little progress on Warana - I expect that ripper new engine will be an even more motivation to crack on with her.

[Larks]

Thanks for the video Greg. It's really looking good. I'm not on the forum as often as I used to be and it's a treat to see your updates when I do log in.


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And it's always a treat to see that you've been looking in Bruce, I hope you're well mate.

[willin woodworks]

Great video. Thanks for posting!

[Larks]

Fairing really isn’t my forte, there must be a trick to it that I’m not aware of but it seems to be coming good. I’ve been fairing the cabin top and aft deck so that I can get some more pieces in place such as companionway hatch runners and cockpit coamings.

After tediously trying to get a perfect coat in one or two layers I eventually worked out that the fastest, easiest and best result (that I can come up with anyway) needs three layers:
1st - a generous application to fill the weave, without tediously trying to go back and clean up “ridges” or lumps of filler left over by the edge of the squeegee;
2nd - after sanding down the ridges and bumps with an orbital sander, another generous layer to build up more of a skin above the weave and fill any areas that might have been “dragged” off too deeply in the first layer. Again not bothering to try to clean up the "ridges";
3rd - again after sanding off the ridges with the orbi', to fill any valleys left during the second layer.

Final sanding to get a level finish is with a flexible torture board.

I’m using Kinetix epoxy with Epiglass lightweight filler powder along with @10-20% Epiglass High Strength glue powder. The addition of the glue powder was suggested by a boat builder mate - it helps the mix “stand up” (?) better when it goes down - in that I can get a reasonably thick mix that I can build up where I need it without it running off the deck or pooling and flattening out.

Trying to do that with just the filler powder results in too dry a mix that leaves air pockets when it goes down.

[IMG]IMG_4188 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


First coat:

[IMG]IMG_4230 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


It’s not quite Summer here yet but the temp on deck in the shed was around 38degC (100 F) the day that I started prepping for this job so I’ve upgraded my roof insulation to include some foil board insulation. It helps........a bit

[IMG]IMG_4231 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


Fairing the final coat:

[IMG]IMG_4239 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


I also discovered 3M Cubitron sandpaper and sanding discs. I’d been using mostly the green 3M paper that seems to last much better than anything else that I’d ever found but this stuff blitzes even that.

It’s more than twice the price - (@$150.00 for 25metres of the 3M green stuff V $90.00 for 12 metres of this stuff) but it is promoted as lasting five times longer, so I bit the bullet to give it a go.

And I can absolutely confirm that it does last much, much longer than anything else that I’ve every tried, including the green stuff. I used only two 80 grit discs on the top deck over the three layers and this is the same strip of 80 grit paper that I started with on the torture board, after about two to three hours of pretty heavy handed sanding (and after running the vac’ over it quickly) this strip of paper is still as sharp as when I started.

[IMG]IMG_4245 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


Happy with the result:


[IMG]IMG_4247 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Geftb]

I’ve always had trouble finding a half decent sand paper. Thanks for the info, I will definitely get some!
boats looking lovely and solid there mate.

[Hugh MacD]

X2 on the 3M purple stuff and many times more than that on the "looking good" bit!

[Larks]

I’ve been cogitating over a design for my main companionway hatch for quite a while and have finally, rightly or wrongly, committed to building it using some Harken track cars and 22mm track instead of brass flat bar as the slide.

I was gifted six x 3 metre lengths of Harken track along with about 30 track cars (worth about $300.00 each) years ago and this seems like a good use for four of the cars. But building the hatch to be watertight around them is quite a challenge in itself and may prove my undoing.

Here are a couple of very rough (and not yet fully resolved) mock ups of how they should come together:

It may not make much sense in the pic’s but it represents the top corner of the left hand side of the companionway opening with washboard in place (bottom right of the piece on the left) and the front edge of the sliding hatch in place over the top of the whole lot........(it makes sense to me.....). The seperate piece to the right is how the main part of the hatch would fit on and around the track cars. The screws into the track cars will be covered by (probably) teak decking. (The alternative could be gloss finished Huon Pine ...???)





[IMG]IMG_4240 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]IMG_4242 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_4241 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]



The result of that mess though is that I have worked out that my idea is actually doable.....with a lot of refinement...... so I took 20mm off of the height of my already prepared hatch rails, to be replaced by the Harken track, and fixed it in place.

These rails are glued against three different faces - the deck, the Huon Pine companionway sides and the scented rosewood deck framing below, so naturally the glue-up took three different colours of epoxy glue mix:

[IMG]IMG_4256 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


Everything was carefully measured and okayed out half a dozen times and then varnished before the glue-up as the epoxy seams to leave a red stain where it soaks into untreated Huon Pine. It may be a reaction with the oil in the pine but I clean the surface carefully with acetone before gluing.

[IMG]IMG_4257 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


And I still managed to STUFF IT UP!!!!!

I had been thinking the night before about how best to cleanly cut the limber holes through the rails prior to laying them down and I completely forgot about it until after I had them glued and screwed down.

In hindsight - when too late - I should have lifted them up and cleaned off all of the epoxy, worn the wastage and redone them after cutting the limber holes........but I didn’t so I now have to come up with a way of cutting them in situ.

I’ll have four to cut through, the existing face of the companionway rear edge needs to be raised to match the rail and a second water stop rail (?) will sit about 50mm in front of that. Limber holes will need to be cut immediately in front of each.

I’m thinking a very narrow multi tool blade may do the job but I may have a challenge preserving the fibreglass on the deck while doing it:

[IMG]IMG_4258 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Larks]

I’ve always had trouble finding a half decent sand paper. Thanks for the info, I will definitely get some!
boats looking lovely and solid there mate.

X2 on the 3M purple stuff and many times more than that on the "looking good" bit!

Thanks Steve and Hugh. Yes fortunately this paper does represent a case of you get what you pay for.

The discs are interesting, they have a series of small holes in a spiral pattern instead of the larger six hole pattern that suits my sander but they seem to work much better at clearing the dust with a vac’ attached to the sander:

[brucemoffatt]

Thanks for the info on the finishing method and the sanding gear.

The photos are good. Very good illustration of the post. I don't see the photos inline on the forum but I get an alert email when you post so I get a link to each photo.

You seem to be making terrific progress lately.


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[Mike1902]

Great progress, Greg.
Regarding those limber holes, how about welding a drill bit to a length of rod that extends beyond the edge of the cabin.
Looking good.

Cheers,
Mike.

[Larks]

Great progress, Greg.
Regarding those limber holes, how about welding a drill bit to a length of rod that extends beyond the edge of the cabin.
Looking good.

Cheers,
Mike.

Thanks Mike - and good idea, I can run it through a bit of tube to both protect the cabin top and guide the bit

[Larks]

I don’t know how interesting these videos might really be for everyone but my mum and other family remembers enjoy them and have been encouraging me to make some more for them to see some of the work on the boat.

Anyway - here’s The Tale of Two Coamings:

[gray duck]

your hatch with cars is intriguing. My first reaction was: will it move too fast and too easy? Most hatches I've used move with a little shove and then stay there until pulled back. Not trying to be a debbie downer just a .02 comment. love your boat and thread.

[Larks]

your hatch with cars is intriguing. My first reaction was: will it move too fast and too easy? Most hatches I've used move with a little shove and then stay there until pulled back. Not trying to be a debbie downer just a .02 comment. love your boat and thread.

I’d (briefly) wondered much the same GD but I’m not too worried about the ease of movement, I figure that can be easily managed. After all, it’s all about the learning experience

[Larks]

And for anyone without the time or patience to watch the vid’:

I applied a few coats of varnish before fixing the coamings to the deck because the Huon Pine sometime takes up a pink stain from the epoxy, no matter what type of epoxy I use, something to do with the oil in the timber I suspect.

NB: headsail winch bases are yet to be added to the outboard side of the coamings - you might be able to see where their under deck blocks are marked in the fourth pic’ down below. They’ll be fastened to the coamings and down through the under deck blocks, further fixing the coamings to the deck.

[IMG]IMG_4310 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]IMG_4319 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_4323 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]IMG_4328 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]IMG_4334 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_4330 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Larks]

[IMG]IMG_4339 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]IMG_4338 by Greg Larkin, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Mike1902]

Great vid Greg.
That pre bend certainly helped.
The solid blocking forward looks great, as does the whole coaming.
You made it look easy, nice job.

Cheers,
Mike.

[PeterWidders]

Very nicely done Greg. No time to watch the video yet ...but it's on the list!
Kudos.