Mast Carrier Morphs back to Whisper Trailer

Whisper is a gaff rigged 18 foot Cape Dory Typhon knock-off.  She also sank in Hurricane Ike. Since we are varnishing Rose spars and topsides daily we spread a bit on Whisper. The gel coat responded well to compounding, polish and wax. 

Whisper's trailer has returned from temporary mast carrier sevice.

 

We have pulled Rose out from under the big top another couple of feet so we can install the boom glallows stanchions.  The boom and gaff have 12 coats of varnish. The mast has 4 on and 8 to go. 

 



It's the Little Things

Progress is not quite as obvious as in the early stages but certainly more fun as equipment and systems fire up. Last week we started the Beta Marine engine.  Runs like a sewing machine;  it does'nt shimmy and shake at low RPM like the Yamar used to do.

Compass is in, lazerette locker complete, Climma AC and Technautics refrigerator both up and running. The instrutment panel over the chart table is close to completion. The left panel houses the computer monitor. Mounted on the center panel  are battery monitor display, AIS, barometer, Maretron NMEA 2000 display, AC and refrigerator control/display panels and the ipod player.   On the right side the SSB, VHF and computer will mount on three shelves. 

Interior paint and cabinetry work is 90 per cent complete.

 

 

  

The mast is back from major surgery. An error during orginal construction had the mast 13 inches shorter than called for on the spar plan. Simon Hameka used  a clothes pin scarf on the mast base to add 19 inches of length. We will make the final cut with a 2 inch tenon after we step the mast. We will step it once where she sits on the hard and then finally after we launch at Seabrook Shipyard.  Whisper (the baby gaffer) is looking pretty smart as well.

 

 

 

Road Trip

 As I dicussed in an earlier entry the spars were built in Port Townsend, Washington.   At one point I considered hauling the boat to PT to marry it with the spars there, but in the end I decided to finish the project here in on the Gulf Coast. So with the help of a close friend we organized a road trip and hauled the sticks back home.  The return leg took 73 hours, 49 of which were on the road.

In retrospect I should have built the spars here in Texas even if it meant importing the talent. I was too far out of position to supervise construction. 

As a result it took twice as long as originally quoted and because of a misinterpretaion of the drawing or a breakdown in communication the mast is 13 inches shorter than the designed length.  May not seem like much, but trust me, it's huge. 

Some thought was given to re-drawing the sail plan to fit the shorter mast.  That was certainly an option but not a very good one. The sail plan as drawn  is the best one for the vessel.  So having essentially started from scratch and come this far without any major design compromises, why accept less than optimum. The plan
now is to add the 13 inches of length needed to get to
the  45 foot designed length using a  clothespin
 scarf ( Page 214 of "How to Build a Wooden Boat").  I found two 6 foot long 7 x 4 inch Sitka Spruce boards in Maryland and a local shipwright with mast building experience. So we are back  in business.

Getting closer.  I'm now predicting a January splash.     

Mainsheet Traveler Track Modified

The Harken mains'l traveller track is bent horizontally to conform to the shape of the taffrail. This allows the track to be mounted on the aft trailing edge of the taffrail leaving room for the center single swivel ratchet block with cam cleat to be fix mounted on the taffrail centerline in front of the track.  But the taffrail is also concave which makes the ends of the track lower than the center.  In fact the track ends should be bent upwards so that the mains'l leech does not tighten when the traveler car is released to run downhill. In the photos below you can see the long radius wedges that have been bolted and glued to the taffrail to give the track the proper vertical shape.
  

Dingy Aboard

The nesting dinghy is a bit too tall to stow on the house top but she fits nicely up forward.  The bow section fits over the scuttle hatch bow facing forward and then the stern section goes on top.  There's enough deck space to go forward on either tack and room to handle head sails or ground tackle.  Grab rails on the dinghy bottom will make for a safer the trip forward.

The Dinghy's name is "Bud"

In an effort to build a bigger little boat we added head room in the main salon by dropping the cabin sole 3 inches.  A small microwave and 2 burner Wallas diesel fired cooktop replaced the Force 10 propane oven and stove opening up valuable real estate at the foot of the mast where the propane lockers used to live. The Technautics refrigeration system, specifically the compressor, is smaller and lighter than the Glacier Bay model formerly mounted in the lazerette. Moving the head off centerline and replacing the sampson posts with a deck mounted bronze equivalent opens up the forward cabin and sail and anchor lockers.  

Stowing a big dinghy on a small boat is a challenge.  Nestaway is an English company specializing in nesting prams and stem dinghys that respond very effectively to that challenge.  The one I bought is 9 foot long with a 4 ft 3 inch beam.  Nested the footprint is 5 x 4.25 feet.  "Bud" just arrived and she is a very cool big little dinghy.

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