Blue Moon 2

[The Q]

Yep another thread about Blue Moon..
Why??

Because page 2 of the thread "Blue Moon" has gone walkabout. There is nothing I can do to make it reappear, anything I post to it disappears too. I've tried contacting Moderators / Admin and any suggestions haven't worked..
So I'm adding this thread..
I Do have some of the posts that are now missing posted elsewhere and will try to recover them.. But for the moment.. you'll have to carry on from where we are now, if you're not too bored.

So the next post will appear shortly.

[The Q]

January 23rd I moved the keel out , it didn't get far, the ground is too soft, even with the board beneath. So I've parked it where it is until I get a couple of thicker boards .
And a couple of photos..
someone insisted in being in shot..
20210123_135246533.thumb.jpeg.9186a16a1c52679f19f543e680602bb6.jpg20210123_135348251.thumb.jpeg.65569261969c4cee6538834c6f9250e3.jpg

[The Q]

February 8th.
Over the last couple of weekends the board, which will be come part of the underside of the hull, to spread the weight of the keel, has been glassfibred and sanded ready. However it's been blowing 50mph with snow out there. So it ain't going to be fitted yet.


So I started cutting the old flat bed that sat on the trailer, then a section was taken into the workshop, I was going to start further work on that section, but found the noise of the angle grinder on hollow metal tube way too loud indoors and my ear defenders have hidden themselves somewhere.. A new pair has been ordered, but no deliveries at the moment due to the snow,,


Two more smaller pieces need cutting from the old flat bed, all three will then need trimming to shape, de rusting , zinc paint and topcoat painting, then assembling together as the new bed to rest the keel on, on the trailer..

[The Q]

February 16th,

With New ear defenders on, the piece of flat bed already cut off was trimmed to shape, wire brushed down (wire brush in angle grinder) painted with Zinc paint, then top coat. another top coat still to do..
last weekend was -3C 45mph winds not a weekend to be outside, next weekend is forecast to be 10mph Winds +17C so if that happens the rest of the flat bed will be butchered up for bits..

Some time ago when I started looking at rebuilding Blue Moon, I found a handicap calculator that gives rough figures from the sizes of sails and hull. It's used on the PRHF (Performance Handicap Racing Fleet) in some areas of the USA.. (found here, http://www.capedory.org/phrf.html ).

After butchering the formulas to remove things like inboard outboard options as they don't apply to Dinghies and small keel boats. Then using their fiddle factor column which they used to adjust for type of course, I used it to change the final results from the USA 3 digit PRHF handicap Number to the 4 digit UK RYA Portsmouth Handicap number.
I then put in the details of every Dinghy and keel boat including Blue Moon, that I could find the dimensions for to produce a graph..
That produced a reasonably straight line except for a few of the most extreme boats. The graph was plotted Portsmouth Number against Norfolk Handicap Number. They should correlate, and for the most part do..


Anyway I searched for the spreadsheet on the computer and found it.. It claims I last used it 2005!!! So I suspect that it's an early version.. I've updated it with the latest figures from Blue Moon and it shows it to be faster than first thought. I'm not sure I believe that, but won't know till she sets sail..

There should be a second spreadsheet of generated handicaps / issued handicaps but that's missing, So I'll have to regenerate it.

IIRC That too wasn't too bad a line, Oddities were boats which can plane easily, especially at the extremely fast end of the spectrum and those favoured by the Olympics and Hot shots.. Which shows the average level of skill pushes up the handicap..

Further research and adjustments will, be made to the spreadsheet.

[The Q]

February 22nd.
This weekend, more metal bashing, two pieces were cut off the old flat bed for use. The rest of the flat bed was cut into useable pieces for the might come in handy pile.

The smaller piece goes between the sides of the previously processed section, it will spread the weight of the boat onto the axle. That piece has now been trimmed to size and cleaned up for painting.

The larger piece goes at the front end of the section that will have the keel resting on it. It goes from side to side transferring the weight onto the A frame of the Trailer, 40 inches forward of the Axle. It's been trimmed roughly, and dry fitted. It just needs a little fettling, then derusting, before painting with the little piece.

I was going to weight the trailer but the bathroom scales failed.. They are 30 years old plus .. A new set has been ordered.

The trailer needs to be raised up to work on it, I'm going to get some foundation blocks this week for the purpose, they will be used later to raise up the boat to fit the keel..

More playing with the PRHF spread sheet seems to indicate a Norfolk Handicap of about 13%, that's slightly faster than an Enterprise but slower than a Laser. I need to do more work on the spreadsheet though to add more information.


4 MDF sheets were demolished into sections for shelving and uprights in the library
Three more shelves were installed, as were two uprights for the next section of shelving.

[The Q]

February 28th.
New scales arrived so I weighed the trailer, 16.2kg on each wheel, 59.7kg on the coupling, 92 kg. Somewhat lighter than I expected, add the various pieces that I have to go on the trailer and it totals , roughly 145kg. That leaves 155kg for keel guides and various other bits and pieces much more than enough.
This weekends work,
Two more bits zinc coated, and top coated. Various brackets fitted to those pieces. One of those pieces now bolted to the future flat bed.
Next week start modifying the trailer to take the bits I've made, and to start derusting the trailer.

[The Q]

March 8th,
This weekend's trailer work..

Went to remove old axle, hubs in the way, try to remove Castle nuts.. No chance , heat, hammering, long arms on the socket.. Nothing would move them.. Then I realize I'm not using them again.. Out with the angle grinder, two 1mm thick cutting disks later on each castle nut and off they came..
After that it was an easy job.

Then turned trailer over much easier without the old axle on board..

I then placed the New Axle in place and....

Cogitated... for some time, Measured, cogitated, measured again... and thought about it.

Conclusion, put the axle in the place of the old one, don't move it forward by 3ft ish so I can tow the boat bow forward, it would cause to many other problems and of course an IVA..

Positioned new axle, measured, adjusted, measured, adjusted, wandered off did something else, came back and remeasured.. Yep it's in the right place, marked up new axle for the new bolt holes, checked the markings again... and again.
Took axle inside and drilled holes, working my way up to 16mm in two steps.. A new set of quality drill bits made life a lot easier..

After that it was wire brush in the angle grinder, and start derusting the trailer... 1.5 hours later 2/3rds of the bottom and sides of the tubes done. Back beginning to complain.. So stopped at that point and coated what was done with zinc paint..

Meanwhile on the main road 3 miles from me this went past from the builders to the south coast..
STARBOARD!!!
xxx-abnormal-load-a140.jpg.cbbd4594959b1437580237535c3f3789.jpg

[The Q]

and todays post for the weekend..

Well this weekend trailer work didn't get much done, mostly due to 50mph winds and horizonal rain.. So no work done on the Saturday.


The holes were drilled for the new axle, then I offered up the bolts... Yes they did go in, But, I've not allowed enough for the thickness of the washers (2X 2mm) So I've ordered, the next length up. Should arrive today.
Then the forward bit of the triangle plus the coupling arm was derusted, painted in zinc and the rest of the trailer was given it's second coat. I've taped over the holes in the chassis to keep the rain out until next week. I also ordered some plastic caps for the end of the axle tube to permanently keep rain and mud out.


Meanwhile thought have been going on about the rudder MK3, the one I have is MK2.
MK 1, was way to short and with the boat pitching in the sea left very little in the water. Whilst it kept control it was only just, so I built MK2


Since MK2 was built, I've learnt a lot more about rudders, I've probably gone too far the other way. The length is correct but the width and span to big..


The MK2 rudder shaft is a piece of scaffolding pole, that's all I had available at the time, the whole rudder is very heavy. But it will be used for the first season at least to see how I feel about it's control of the boat.
So I've been searching through what I've got, and..
There is some 30mm 3mm wall Stainless tube, that will allow a significant reduction in width.
There is glassfibre, lots of..
There is stiff Extruded Foam resistant to resin..


So all the makings are there.. design has been started for MK3..
I came across "tubercles" which is an interesting Idea and am considering their relevance to how this boat will sail..
That is:
Generally smooth water,
With Blue Moon being so narrow often at a good heel,
Max speed 6 mph,
A lot of tacking on narrow rivers..

[The Q]

During the week I overdosed on aerodynamics and hydrodynamics. Amazing amount of wing and tail devices used on aircraft over the years that would not necessarily work on boats and even less likely to work on Blue Moon.
I did come across three very useful articles in Proboat magazine issues 98, 99 and 100. (Available online) This gave a series of formula which I entered into a spreadsheet, they are useful.

So the Rudder should be 2.5 square feet. That's 2% of sail area and or 5% of the block area side view of the boat underwater.
The shaft works out to be just over 20mm of 2mm side wall stainless.

So MK 2 rudder is approximately 50% over size, the shaft is well over 200% over size and 400% over strength.

The 30mm shaft would be 100% over strength and 50% over width.

As for shape, draft limitations mean a long elegant rudder is impossible, instead the starting point will be a 1ft by 2ft 6inch a fin, with limited shaping. Hopefully something like a Kucheman tip, but without carrots.
As for its aerofoil a plain NACA 00 series will be used, , I've seen recommendations anywhere from 0009 up to 0025!! I will however choose somewhere around 12 or 15%.

And so to this weekends work,
The new axle, was fitted with sealant between axle bolts and chassis. The forward triangle of the trailer received its second coat of zinc paint. The coupling was greased.

After that the keel progressed from outside the workshop down to the boat, where it will sit for a couple of weeks before, the boat is lifted another couple of feet to get the keel under.
I needed a rest after that .

Then the great parts search took place, all the various pieces of trailer were collected together, I eventually found the hubs in a box containing blocks cleats etc.. I know I didn't put them in there.

I also found the Makita 1/2 sheet sander I'd been looking for for ages, it would have made sanding the keel much quicker.. Still it's found now, so it will be useful for the final rub down before anti fouling.

In other things, another shelving unit was fitted in the house, and a pile of blanks for the shelves of the next two units.

[The Q]

Morning All,
Not a huge amount of work done on the trailer,
Axle bolted up tight,
Trailer turned over,
Top surfaces de rusted and given one coat of Zinc paint,
Bent over to do one area on the back of the trailer which uses C section steelwork, while trying to get at the inside to derust, my back went..
That ended work on the trailer for the weekend,
Except for one small piece that was done on the work bench on Sunday, a section of tube was cut to size derusted and painted with zinc, this will reinforce the "table" that the keel will sit on.

More overdosing on rudder and keel hydrodynamics during the week, led me to model boats and aircraft. Seemingly a model Aircraft wing operates from an Re of 20,000 up to, flat out down hill, Re 500,000, just what I'm looking for. So I've found a university paper on model Aircraft wings.. It compares the wings in a wind tunnel in the USA and from results from one in Germany, there are 60 wings discussed unfortunately without showing their foil shape, So I'll have to look each one up and dismiss any that are asymmetric. Then consider the results.

En-route to that, I found an interesting discussion on the MA 15s /MA 12s (as used on the Extra 300 aerobatic aircraft) aerofoil verses the J5012 foil.
They are very different,
The MS15 having it's widest point just 18% from the leading edge, then straight back to the aft end.
The J5012 having it's widest point at 35% but otherwise a more normal hydrodynamic shape..
From all accounts the MA 15S is a better foil shape for lift, but more drag until the flow separates, then it loses all lift suddenly, the J5012 is not quite as good as the MA 15S for lift, but has less drag and a much more gradual separation.
The J5012 having a much better Drag coefficient than a NACA 0009...

The MA 15s seems to recover from a stall more rapidly. That would be good for Blue Moon with the amount of tacking she will do, especially on the river there are always more throw the rudder over occurrences, than sea sailing /racing. On the other hand The J5012 might be more controllable the rest of the time..

Still a lot more to research, when I have the time.

[The Q]

Just an example of our sailing area, as in a club advert, the average windspeed in the area is 15mph, so most of these shots are below that, but we do have to cope with wind coming through trees or houses when it's nor from the normal direction of straight down river towards the corner the club is on.
There can be at spring tides, a 2to 3 mph flow down river or a 1 to 2 mph flow upriver..
https://youtu.be/6Lm75BEMQHo

I hate to say it But I am in shot at one point..

[The Q]

Well another weekend with more trailer work, some of which during a 50mph gale plus hailstones!!!

Rudder plans drawn Up, MA 15S foil discarded, just to risky to use a shape that lets go too quickly.

The flat top frame is now secured.
Then the chequer plate top, was derusted and screwed to that.
Both suspension units are fitted, hubs fitted to that, then wheels.
The trailer is now sitting on two wheels at the back and still on a block at the front.

Hit a major problem, I don't know what steel the builder used for the main chassis tubes, but it's eating my drill bits. Now on order a set of quality cobalt steel bits (1-13mm), so I can drill through to fit the jockey wheel.

Left to do on trailer,
Fit sides and front to flat top, to keep keel from wandering during transport.
Fit boat supports, which won't be done till boat is on crane, but weight on flat top.
Fit mud guards,
Weigh the lot.. with and without boat on trailer.
Make new trailer weight plates and fit.

[The Q]

Time for an advert,
Navigators & General Three Rivers Race 2015 in videos on Vimeo

If you race, The 60th 3 Rivers Race will be going ahead 5/6th June 2021 Start time at Horning 11:00 for the first fleet. 50ish Miles, 3 bridges to go under (twice) 24 hours to do it in, Boats from 14ft to 40ft, 2 person or more. The record is about 8 hours the worst year only 13 boats finished. Normally there are around 100 entries but up to 150 allowed..

There are about a dozen guardships around the course to which you report as you sail past, each has rescue boat crew and a rescue boat..

You have 1 month left to get your applications in.. http://www.3rr.uk/3RRapplicationform.html

[The Q]

Not a huge amount to report, shelf building duties took much of the time this weekend.

I had a crisis of confidence during the week and started working out modifications to the hull, if she's too heavy for her buoyancy.


A new set of Cobalt drill bits arrived and were put into use, straight through the chassis no problem, so the trailer now stands on it's own three wheels.

The flat top of the trailer received it's sides and front cross bar to stop the keel going for a wander in transport. They have had one coat of zinc paint so far.

Some cogitation on installation of Mudguards has lead to metal brackets being ordered and a planned slight change to the trailer, a full width cross beam of thinner metal tube will be fitted to help hold the mudguards and the lighting board.

Next week I hope to lift the boat.

[The Q]

Morning All,

The first task this weekend was to remove the block timber and tie down ropes holding the plastic cover on the boat... It's amazing how much dirt accumulates under the cover, then four 17 kg foundation blocks were carried down from the trailer Park to the boat, the lifting slings attached , arranged to lift one end only and the crane raised to it's maximum height. The Boat was raised, two foundation blocks lifted to chest high put onto the pile then the boat lowered.. After rearrangement to lift the other end of the boat, that end was raised two more blocks inserted and the boat lowered..

The keel was lifted from the trolley, then with much levering placed under the boat but not yet in the middle, as I need access to fit the weight spreading beam first.

After that the first stage of a general clear up of the area, removing various bits of timber etc no longer needed..

On Sunday the task was to put the roof on the marquee, this was a bit of a struggle because A, it's heavy and B, a winter crunched up meant lots of creases to stretch out. This included wandering around on deck hauling the Marquee roof over the top... So I know the boats stable, though I left the crane hooked up just in case..

Some more clearing up was done, but I've been thinking since and a rearrangement of what's where will be needed before work recommences on the boat..

The first task on recommencing boat building will be that weight spreader plank, that will need more bonding compound, which I'll order tomorrow, along with what I hope will be the finial tin of resin to complete the rebuild.. Unfortunately resin products in the UK have gone up by about 30% since Christmas..

[The Q]

Well, this weekend, I restarted work on the boat,
First was a wipe down of the hull to clean off the dirt accumulated over the winter.

2nd, pencil mark the water line, one side is done. I'm intending to antifoul to the loaded water line, knowing when I'm not on board, that's 1/5 th less weight, so the antifoul will then be above the waterline.

3rd, I climbed in, measured, marked up , measured again, went away came back and measured again...
Then I drilled the pilot hole for the reference keel bolt, part way through it hit the remains of a brass screw and deviated slightly. On getting underneath it was out (sideways) by 2mm . Luckily as it was just the pilot hole that can be corrected.

4th a temporary bolt was dropped through, to act as a guide for the weight spreading plank., Then I tried to place the plank in place.. ah problem. The boat is too far forward on the support frame..

So the boat and frame was lifted by the crane, all supporting concrete blocks moved forward by a foot.
The boat was then lowered but with small piles of planks, to support the boat on the blocks.
Then the straps removed, and reinserted, but round the boat only. Boat lifted up again, support frame moved , then the boat lowered again.
Straps then removed and put round the frame, boat and frame lifted, small piles of wood removed.
Boat and frame placed back in correct position.

The weight plank was offered up, fits ok, three screws put in place to temporarily hold the weight plank. That has been drawn round. Next weekend I'll drill through from below the remaining 5 keel bolt pilot holes, remove paint from inside drawn oblong. Before fitting the plank properly.

And so a couple of pictures,
Blue Moon just before leveling into her current position, framed by the crane in its lowered state. The chair is facing south....
IMG_20210425_123228_1.jpg

and from the stern with a new coat of varnish over the lettering
IMG_20210425_123247_1.jpg

[The Q]

Well, that's it folk's, entries are now closed for the 3 Rivers Race 2021, except for a few in the post or you're really good a grovelling to those in charge.
105 Entries approved so far..

[The Q]

Morning all,
This weekends work was the weight spreader board for the underside of the hull.

First job was pilot holes, Drilled from beneath using the weight board as a pattern..
Some small ones for the screws that will hold the board in place, and some larger ones for the keel boats.
Some keel bolt ones went through fibreglass skin, ply hull, resin, oak bearers, the centre line holes didn't go all the way through due to the hog.
Clambering inside I then drilled through the marked positions for the center line holes, I'm glad to report hole met holes and well within future hole full size straight..

Then it was pain time, lying beneath the hull, wooly hat, goggles, proper half face mask, gloves , overall, done up to the neck, Angle grinder in hand , removing paint and filler where the bearer board will it.. Arms up in the air , blood draining out, trying not to damage the glassfibre cloth skin.
Tea break.
Once done, the half sheet sander was deployed removing anything left, and using a 40 grit paper to ensure there was grip for the resin..
tea break.
Guesstimated I'd need about 3/4 ltr of thickened resin, this was mixed, then slathered over the weight board, held up to the boat (one temporary keel bolt in place to guide it)..
Stiction of the resin helped hold the board on while I was adjusted it to exact position and then screwed it up. Gratifyingly resin squeezed out all round, but not to much.. That was filleted to a certain extent, but a sand and proper fillet will be required..

Next week, lower the boat onto the keel, and bolt it up. This joint will use a sealant so the keel can be removed if necessary, Which I must order today, to ensure it arrives on time..

[The Q]

OK Folks if any of you are interested in the waffle I've been typing.. I need a little help please....
At some point I'll need to get a handicap for Blue Moon, so I've got a couple of spread sheets made up. Eventually to put to the club handicapper..
The one I'm working on at the moment is based on the Falmouth Area Yardstick , a formula developed by Professor Linda Wolstenholme, she's a professor of Statistics.. See here http://www.flushingsailingclub.co.uk/pdf/fay.pdf
It's for displacement keel boats, so that's a reasonable start.


Now The classes I've found of a similar type to Blue Moon are:
Defender 12,
Deception,
International 2.4mR
Illusion
Millimeter.

Of those I've got an PY for the Illusion and 2.4mR and a D-PN for the Illusion and Millimeter.
Does anyone know of a D-PN for the Defender 12 , Deception and 2.4mR?
I'm comparing the FAY results with D-PN and PY handicaps , the two I can do so far show some agreement.
Just to complicate things once I've got the PY, I then have to convert that to a BH... Broads handicap, which is a percentage handicap..

To see Broads Handicaps go to here http://www.thegreenbook.org.uk/ click on Green book on the left, then scroll down to Allcomers Handicaps..

[The Q]

This weekends work,
Saturday was a washout, 50mph winds bucketing with rain..
Sunday,
First shuffle the keel into the correct place, much levering , not easy on your knees..
Humidity awful, with all that rain yesterday, warm and sunny today ..

Then lift the boat which means going up the step ladder to reach the chain hoist, the chains hanging down into the boat, and remove the first blocks. Then up the ladder and lower, a little more shuffling of keel.
Then up the ladder, lift down the ladder remove the next blocks and up the ladder lower.
Keel bolts wouldn't go in. More shuffling a little still wouldn't go in.. more shuffling a little, still wouldn't go in.


Then I remembered, while the keel plank has the correct size holes , this idiot still had to open up the pilot holes through the hull..
Up the ladder, Lift hull a little, get drill and correct size bit drill through.

Up the step ladder to the chain hoist, hanging over boat, Lower hull... Yippee keel bolts going through.
Take off another layer of 3inch blocks and up the ladder to lower.
The boat is now sitting on the blocks with all keel bolt poking through and about 2 inches of gap between hull and keel.
At that point I ran out of time and energy having been up and down that step ladder so many times.

So next week,
I shall lift the hull and keel by way of eye nuts attached to the top of the keel bolts. Each bolt is more than strong enough to lift the combined weight. But an eye bolt is just above its SWL but below its breaking strain. So I will be using 3 lifting points.
Not quite sure which 3, but I will best guess.
Once happy that's the right 3 and everything else is OK, I'll lower, then slather the top of the keel with sealant . Then lift again 200kg + of hull should compress the sealant ok. After cleaning of the excess, It'll be into the boat and temporarily do up the nuts on the spare keel bolts .
Some blocks will be put under the keel, the boat lowered into the blocks, boat propped into position and left to set.

[The Q]

Afternoon All,
Saturday.. scattered shower light winds, very humid when the sun came out.
Lifted boat using strops round boat and support frame,
Removed a layer of blocks either end,
Climb up step ladder to reach chain hoist over boat,
Lowered boat.. keel not quite lined up.
Climb up ladder to chain hoist Lift boat,
while kneeling below boat, try to move keel using various bits of wood as levers.
Climb up ladder to chain hoist, Lower boat,
Aft end not quite right,
Climb up ladder to chain hoist, Lift boat , move keel,
Climb up ladder to chain hoist, Lower boat, keel bolts go into holes on keel plank.
But no further,
Lift and lower a couple of time ....
Then I remember...
This idiot has only drilled the pilot holes through the hull..


Go get drill and bit..
Lift boat clear of keel, drill through with large drill bit.
Clamber out,
But stay on ladder to reach chain hoist,
Lower boat, drops straight onto keel yippee..
Day light visible, there appears to be lumps on the keel stopping the keel sitting correctly..
Attach eyenuts to keel bolts and lift to see if balance right, a couple of lifts an lowers and it's set for attaching the keel tomorrow.
The Balance point with keel appears to be about six inches forward of the centre of the boat, but that's without the steering gear and Rudder fitted.
But fixing the keel can wait till Sunday I'm knackered..
I should say I had the Pfizer 2.0 jab late Thursday, a light headache slowly developed over Friday to Saturday, and I was feeling alternately hot or cold and knackered..



Sunday, no headache, still feeling weak. More sunny, till much later when thunder and heavy down pours arrived.
Climb ladder to chain hoist,
lift boat, find the lumps stopping the boat sitting correctly is the swarf from drilling the holes through. Clean keel top, did a trial lower to make sure..
cover keel top with sealant, 2.5 tubes used.
Lower boat, clean off squeezed out sealant.
Climb ladder into boat remove lifting gear, drop several washers down each keel bolt then wind down a lock nut.
Climb out, remove squeezed out sealant. Do some moving of stuff for SWMBO.
Climb back in, run a normal nut down each keel bolt, when it hits keel bolt. Wind back several turns. Cut off excess keel bolt above nut, repeat for each keel bolt.
TIghten each keel bolt, put eye nut back on the keel bolts , each now sit nicely with the required amount of thread showing through.
Climb out of boat remove a small amount more of squeezed out sealant.
Lower boat onto blocks, weight now on keel, prop boat into position.



I've decided to make a lifting bracket, this will be a triangular plate, very wide and short. Shackle for the hook on top, three shackles below to the eye bolts. This will give a safer straight lift than the bodged rope and bolts to the eye nuts I was using.


Also to be made, three steel plates that will go across the keel bearers, two holes in each for keel bolts.
When each is fitted, I'll remove the old washers, and locknut. Run resin into the oversize keel bolt holes. Put the steel plate on, then a single washer, the lock nut, and then an eye nut.

[Canoe]

Hello "Q",

I feel your pain with all the climbing! it can be really frustrating when you realize the clambering could of been avoided!.....Story of my life.....

Thanks for documenting your project and sharing with us, I almost feel like I`m standing next to you looking over your shoulder, sorry I can`t hand you up the equipment you need but my arms are too short to reach the aprox 1500 Km. from southern Germany to Norfolk!!

Wishing you good health and continued progress with your Blue Moon.

Alan - River Neckar sailer.

[The Q]

Thanks.
I'll give my knees a break next week and just tidy up the hull / keel join or more likely make the metal bits mentioned in the workshop, we have a gale forecast for next weekend...
Luckily my job mostly involves sitting in a temperature controlled lab measuring electronics, so I have a week to recover..

Just looked up the River Necker... Big Barge traffic and hills / mountains to deflect the winds.. Must be interesting..

[Canoe]

Good to hear you can recuperate at your job :-)

The River Neckar is really best navigated under power, there are very few places where you get clear air from any one direction and strength to sail a dinghy for any length of time without getting sore muscles!!....keeps you on your toes and is certainly "interesting"

Stay safe, greetings from Germany

Alan
Mirror Dinghy
Neptun 27
Micro Magic

[The Q]

There didn't seem to be a lot done this weekend though I spent the same time doing it.

Metal bashing,
The metal lifting bracket was cut from a piece of 3/8 steel, 5 20mm holes drilled through it, then a little trimming done. It now needs the sharp bits grinding off, before trying out. If that's ok derusting and painting will follow.

Three pieces of 1/8th steel 1ft by 1.5 inches were cut and derusted. Two holes drilled in each for the keel bolts. They need another coat of paint before being installed inside the hull to spread the weight of the keel onto the bearers.

As we have possible guests arriving next weekend , part of the model railway was moved to the gardening shed out of the mobile home, that was made easier by cutting the grass short en-route. Also more shelving for the house was cut to size and painted. If the guests don't turn up I'll be assembling them next week too.

[The Q]

While researching something completely different , on boats I came across the boat pictured below.


The GOS 16 keelboat. A Spanish design,
3.jpg


The GOS 16 is 4.95M LOA, 1.02M beam, 0.93M draft displacement 275Kg +2 crew say 475 Kg

Blue Moon is 4.87M LOA, 1.2M beam, 0.965M Draft.displacement 400Kg + 1 crew say 500Kg, If BM was still for two crew I'd have had to reduce the ballast by the required amount.

Both have a near vertical bow, both have a retrousee stern.
I designed Blue Moon in 1996, the GOS 16 date is 2004...
I think BM has about twice the sail area, but she'll need that to sail on tree lined Broads.

Very similar.

[The Q]

And to Boat building, I wasn't expecting to do any, as we had visitors, but then they arrived late and left early..

SO..
Saturday Morning, tried lifting bracket.. a failure not in metal but it was "on the HUH" has they say hare in Norfuk, very tilted to the stern. I had put the top hole for the lifting hook in the middle , forgetting the balance point was 2 inches aft of that..
New hole drilled, tried the bracket.. Success, it lifts straight and level.
Sometime, I'll trim off more excess metal and tidy it up.

Monday
Sitting, kneeling, lying awkwardly under the boat to tidy up the keel - hull joint much scraping off of excess sealant and sanding.. Then batch of Filler was mixed up to fillet and smooth off the joint.
Good news I had some left over, so the joint was pretty good in the first place, Bad news I wasted some filler.
Next time give that a final sand and paint over.

I noticed that the step ladder had again been knocked against the hull (by me) not good, So I want to fit the fendering. This is a white rubber C strip which you screw on with then insert a Blue rubber D in the C which covers the screws. It's 27mm wide and stands proud 16mm, and wasn't anywhere near the price now, as when I bought 12 Metres of it.. It's now £16 a metre!!! from Ebay.



But first a light sand of the hull followed by a top coat above the waterline as I don't want paint on the fendering.. More blue added as the previous coat was still too light once it had dried..
Of drying, it was so warm, I had trouble keeping a wet edge it was going sticky so quickly yesterday, if another coat is needed more white spirit will be needed.

[The Q]

Saturday 08:00 arrive at Hickling sailing club.
Sunday 07:00 leave Hickling sailing club,
In-between count the 57 boats of the 116 entries that managed to reach us in the 2021 60th 3 Rivers Race. Of those 33 made it to the finish line within their allotted 24hours . It was a very light wind race, choice of route was very important.

As for the boat. Not surprisingly I've had today off, so a little work was done, the keel joint sanded and the forward port quarter of the hull.
The keel was painted with the paint as was, I then added a good dollop of white spirit to the paint. It was too thick for a fine finish.
That quarter was then given another coat of paint.. a couple of hours later it was touch dry and a much better finish than the previous coat.
So the first coat of paint on the keel has shown, up various points at the joint that require further sanding. The rest of the hull needs sanding and then painting again.

[The Q]

It's too darn hot, 30C and a very high humidity..

So not too much done, however.
The keel nuts were removed 2 at a time, the threaded rods checked for being straight, then resin was poured in up to the top of the holes.
The steel load spreading plate was put in place, a big washer , then the nuts replaced then tightened up.
That was repeated 3 times, I'm glad to report no leaks of resin occurred down the keel.

Another quarter of the hull port aft ,was then prepared for painting, slightly more than a quarter, as I went past the centre line, so the old keel band screw holes were filled, and any left over sealant removed before sanding .
Once tack ragged, the hull was painted, trouble keeping a wet edge due to the heat..

Having been like a snowman with the dust, then light blue spattered with paint much scrubbing required after.

[The Q]

And to this weekends work, not as much as I would have liked it was bucketing down with rain for a lot of it..
Even under the marquee rain was coming in the sides, because the side canvases aren't fitted the rain would have flowed across the ground anyway, it was very heavy..

So another quarter of the hull was sanded , unfortunately the previous layer hadn't stuck properly in some places I've no ideas why it was treated the same as the Portside, which sanded well.. That clogged up all the fine sand paper I had for the palm sander, so that was why the rest of the starboard side wasn't sanded.
So I got a rotary flap wheel on the hand drill and went over the hull - keel joint, that cleared a lot of minor bumps and lumps that were showing after the first paint on the joint.

Both bits of sanding were then painted I'll see how that stays on next weekend.

Then the fendering inner layer was screwed into place on the port side, slightly worrying is the sound of creaking of the teak style decking as the screws went in..
It's on but it was a bit of a wrestling match, the weather being much colder than last week, the fendering was a lot less flexible. I'm hoping it will relax a bit more on the next hot day..

[The Q]

Morning
Yet another weekend over and not enough work done on the boat.
The last quarter of the boat was sanded and painted. I'm still not happy with the adherence of the paint, but it will have to do for this year. I'll just have to see how it does for a season.

The fendering / gunnel round the edge of the boat was fitted to the starboard side, no creaking this time, bigger pilot holes.. That was after fitting the forestay plate, it seems a long time ago I took it off, and a big step forward putting it back.. The fendering wraps round the forestay plate in one piece, avoiding an awkward shaped join, it just needed a little trimming on the inside to allow it to bend.. Just the aft ends need trimming to shape now.

I've taken some pictures but they are not on this computer so they'll appear when I have time.

During the week I spent many more hours working on the Handicap Spreadsheets, There are now 4 formula in the mix, Falmouth Area Yardsticks 10A, 10B, 14A and the basic PRHF formula.Surprisingly similar results, they mostly come out with with just the odd strange handicap where an odd boats dimensions seems to throw a weird result.
Just 5 boats don't have their exact sail P,I, E J on the spreadsheet, but that's because they are gaffers, though very close to gunter in some cases and they are all local further investigation will be required on them.. I haven't even managed to get the separate SA of main and jib, it's just not online.
Currently the handicap average of the 4 formula comes out at 1172 RYA PY For Blue Moon.

[The Q]

As for those pictures,
IMG_20210627_124444.jpgIMG_20210627_124434_1.jpg

[The Q]

And this weekends work.

The holder for the rudder stock was measured in length, and the rudder stock marked up,
The Jib Club was cut to length,
The holder for the rudder stock was measured in length, the measurements on the rudder stock were checked.. All good, rudder stock cut to length. Then two holes were drilled across the top of the rudder stock for the T bar which will be connected to the control lines..

After a little filing of the bottom of the hull / rudder stock hole junction, the rudder stock was pushed into the hole, it with much waggling it got just over halfway before stopping, mean while the boat is hanging from the crane waving about as I lie under there at an awkward angle pushing.
Rudder stock withdrawn bringing with it a load of crud.. I'd forgotten there was old grease in there, and that had collected lots of dust and rubbish from other work. Hole cleaned with white spirits and a small brush on a stick.

Rudder stock re inserted and it slid up quite easily, T bar at top inserted without the top bearing to stop rudder falling out, that allowed the rudder to drop about an inch so..

I painted the rudder including it's top edge, then I painted the bottom of the keel.

After that the rubber gunnel was trimmed at the stern, I don't like the finish, but there aren't endcaps for this size rubber unlike the larger sizes. So I shall furtle around in my railway modelling tool box for some plasticard to make a couple of caps..

The eyes on the bow were sanded and given their first coat of paint they look quite good, the paint colour I mixed up is very similar to the blue insert in the gunnel.

Then the Dog was taken for his long walk, He had to stop and lie down in the shade several times as the humidity on Sunday was very high and he's an old man..

On return the boat was lowered onto foam pads that's keel and hull, then the rudder was given a second coat of paint.

Then I sat with a can of cider and had a codgitate, the boat won't be ready for regatta week there's just too much left to do. So I've booked on the rescue boat revision course and will do rescue boat for the whole of regatta week again.

So what's left,
Hatches, there are two that sail with the boat, two that don't sail with the boat that all need repair and painting, a third non sailing small hatch needs manufacturing.
The steering gear needs installation, some parts I have from the previous installation, some parts need making,
The seat needs final installation (its removeable anyway,) and varnishing.
Then the marquee needs to come down, the crane raised to max height, the boat lifted up and the trailer inserted below.. The trailer boat support arms need fitting.
Fit the mast, rigging, control lines, jammers and cleats.
A trial raise of the sails, a sit inside and check everything is OK.

Then take it all down, wrap the boat up for winter, as she won't get launched till the start of the summer season Next March.

Meanwhile..
We have a 50mph gale forecast for overnight today so when I get home it's tie everything down time..

[The Q]

Having spent hours and hours designing a new rudder for Blue Moon, you know the high aspect as I can go modern shape, I'm now worrying..
Reading reports of more and more weed on the rivers and broads as they clean the rivers the amount of weed is increasing..
I am beginning to wonder if a traditional rudder as shown below had a purpose in shedding weed, it would of course be aerofoiled not a flat plate welded onto the rudder bars..
Anyone got any thoughts?
resize20180402-8802-pkbofh.jpg

[John Meachen]

Try a scythe blade as a tip foil-the advantage increases with each passing race and the handicappers will only be looking at the initial results......