Decked!

A long time coming but the deck is now bonded on with Plexus. The deck was weighed down with animal food, 60lbs worth and some weights for a total of 140lbs. It's on well and the main foil pictured is actually off of the ground. A little break over Xmas and then back to it next week as I tackle the racks and begin the finish work.

Warm and comfortable

It has become too cold to continue working in the garage so the boat has come inside (it was actually my wife's idea so I'd get this project done). I set this up tonight and will be working on the deck tomorrow and Saturday in preparation for bonding the deck on.

Trunk images

A couple of images of the trunk in its new home with a secondary fat fillet having been applied. The tabbing has already been laid in as well and the hull is ready for the deck. Now I need to do the last couple of elements to get the deck ready.

I'll get a picture up shortly but a couple of things happened over the weekend. I bonded the trunk in at a forward rake of 5deg, taking lots of time to level the boat to make sure that the main foil was laterally centered as well. It's looking good, we'll see if it's fast later. I also clear-coated the prodder base area one more time and shorted the post on the mast base (and the spare mast base) by 1cm as they were too long. The mast is 5 minutes away from being complete and ready for rigging day in the Spring.

This week will be about reinforcing the trunk and prepping the deck for bonding. The deck should be on before next weekend and then I'll begin the racks as I also start to do finish work on the deck/hull joint.

Truncated

Tonight I was able to wrap up the upper section of the mast and nearly the lower section. If it wasn't for my need for perfection then I'd be wrapping it up now too but there was a drip on the aft side that I tried to remove while it was gelling and it stuck around. Nothing a quick sand and touch up won't cure. I also spent the night cutting the main foil bulkhead and hull to fit the trunk. I'll have the trunk bonded in shortly, within the next 48 hours or so.

Magic Wands

In the quickest turn-around for projects so far, I built and finished the wands for the bow this weekend. The two different sizes are intentional, I wanted a couple of options for wands to experiment with so they're about an inch different in length from each other but the same width. The carbon plate was laid up a couple of weeks ago and put aside while the carbon rods showed up this past Monday. A quick slot cut in the rod and bond the plates in followed by a layer of carbon on either side for strength and looks and the job was nearly done. Finished off with some UV inhibitor based resin. I also coated the prodder base with the UV resin and now the lower mast is done and ready for the first rigging day in the driveway. I can't wait for that day.

Idiot Stick

A little side project was making two tillers(aka idiot sticks) for the 110 class sailboat. It was a fun little project and now that both they're done along with a '95 Laser I was rehabing, it's back to work on the moth.

"Decked"

The foredeck is now bonded with plexus and while not yet a thing of beauty, it will hopefully be a lot prettier in the coming couple of weeks with fairing and tabbing to be started shortly. The deck is following soon and then we'll begin the finishing work and the racks.

Boom

The boom is now complete. A spliced vang strop and mainsheet as well as the mainsheet ratchet are now on. This will be tossed into the boom bag and stored until rigging day in the Spring.

Bad idea

Even with earplugs, a respirator, glasses and work gloves on, it doesn't mean you'll be safe from carbon dust. After taking everything but the gloves off I felt the urge to scratch the itch by my eye and this is what resulted...sweet. Next time I'll have to make sure to take the gloves off before I get any more bright ideas.

Foredeck outer skin

Luckily the cooler weather somewhat broke to allow the outer skin to be laminated today. That's done and a little more time in the sun tomorrow to post-cure should be just the ticket. The second picture is of two fittings, the fitting for the shrouds on the upper mast section and the fitting on the boom for the mainsheet. Both were bagged together on the layup table and should be ready for some clear-coating tomorrow.

New foredeck

The inner skin and core under the vacuum bag still after spending some time post-curing in the sun and clouds of Park City today. Unusual to have clouds and of course they had to show up on the day I needed some backing sun but oh well.

Due to the slow to cure resin today I have to postpone the outer skin of the foredeck but the plan is to do it later this week or next weekend for sure. In the meantime I'll likely start to install the main foil trunk and the tube for the wand rod to pass through in preparation for the foredeck to go on.

Work weekend continues

Last night we pulled the main foil trunk off the vertical with some difficulty. The trunk is built like a brick ___ house and is so stiff that it wouldn't budge well. With some wood wedges and a lot of work the trunk is off, looks great and fits snugly when the plastic is off the vertical. This picture is of it untrimmed and overlength. There's also a picture of the foredeck area of the boat. It's ready for the inner skin and core to be laminated this morning.

When skiing and sailing mix

My wife thought of the ski bench that is the perfect way to hold the main foil horizontal and upright so that we could lay up the trunk. What a nice feature to have the right ski tools that make it easier to accomplish the task for the sailboat. The pump is still running as I write and the trunk should be built and ready to be shaped by the end of the day. Lots of layers on this trunk in order to make it strong enough, especially near the top where the pin goes through the foil.

Main Foil bulkhead (part two)

Sometimes it's hard to explain the "madness" of why you're making changes to the build but I had to try to explain my way out of this one, building and installing a new main foil bulkhead when there was a perfectly good one installed already. Long story short, it's done, there's two now and the aft one (to the right in the picture) is coming out later today. I've moved the main foil bulkhead about 15cm further forward. Next up today is to finish the layup of the main foil trunk followed a few hours later by the inner skin and core of the foredeck.

Foredeck male mold

Not having a deck mold has made things a bit more challenging so this is the result. A male mold made of 1.5mm plywood that's been steam bent to make the radius is what is needed. A little more finish work to create the nose piece and we'll start to skin it later today, October 2nd.

Dolly

A picture of the dolly with the hull in it. I hadn't tried the hull out in the dolly before, it appears to fit pretty well. Now the hull is back in the garage and I'm working on the foredeck.

Forward beam

The beam to take the load from the mast stump to the bow. Installed and now we're ready to make a foredeck and to close this area up.

Dolly and foredeck

I finally finished the dolly last night, it makes a big difference when you have the right tools. I highly recommend an oscillating spindle sander, it made the work so much easier. The pro-grip is in and it's ready for a finished boat...now where's the boat?

Last night I laid up the foredeck beam which will share the load from the mast gate/mast stump through to the bow of the boat. I got the foam core from Sam in Colorado who is doing a mega-moth build. He also sourced the honeycomb core for me. The beam just needs some cleaning up and install which will happen next week and then the foredeck will be laid up and I'll build out the whole foredeck area including the pass-through tube for the wand mechanism and then off to the rack assembly.

A couple of images of the final product as it cures.

Laying up the deck

A bunch of prep over Friday and Saturday and then this Sunday morning a team of us gathered in the garage to lay up the deck. About 1.5 hours of layup work followed by popsicles as we watched the vacuum pump do its work was the order of the day. So far so good as the deck bakes in the heat with the pump continuing to hold the laminate. Thanks to the team who helped out on the build today; my wife Brie, neighbor John, friend with his family Robert, Kam, Katie, Eric, Rachel and Leah. We had a good team and everybody got involved with getting this large piece done. Only the foredeck and main foil trunk are left to be laid up and those will be done soon.

Deck layup prep

1.7oz Kevlar laid out on the floor just prior to cutting to prep for the deck layup tomorrow. The bag, peel-ply and breather fabric are just off camera to the right.

Guts of the boat

Today was final preparations for the deck layup which included installing the new main foil bulkhead, sans the main foil trunk which will be installed later when completed. The foredeck bulkhead is also in and everything is now dry. Tonight we cut the deck core to shape and the carbon, the other materials; vacuum bag, peel ply, breather fabric and kevlar are all cut and ready.

Foredeck bulkhead

Keeping the momentum going tonight Brie and I laid up the foredeck bulkhead. It was quick work after the practice with the main foil bulkhead and it's curing in the garage at the moment. So nice to have such warm weather to be able to knock off these projects. Next layup project is the deck, followed by the foredeck.

Big Progress

The mental hump of all of the daunting work left to be done on the Moth has been crested and I'm starting to roll down the other side quickly. With some nice, warm weather here (a little too warm) I've spent most of the weekend in the garage working on the Moth and parts. Things accomplished; fwd dolly bunk is complete and awaiting paint and installation this week, old main foil trunk and bulkhead is removed, rudder gusset is installed from scrap bulkhead, mast base frame has been shaped and awaits installation, two Laser centerboards repaired (side project), my brother's mainsheet keeper for his 505 boom is done and ready for shipping (side project) and the gentle hum of the vacuum pump is going on right now as the new bulkhead for the main foil trunk is curing. Tomorrow I'll lay up the forward bulkhead for the foredeck and then start to prep and install both bulkheads in preparation for laying up the deck next weekend. If I'm lucky, maybe even the foredeck too.

Moth work resumes

After some time off to get supplies in for the Moth work and to finish off some home projects, Moth work has resumed. I installed the backing plates both internally and externally for the rudder gantry. Next is to shape the bulkheads to accept a concave deck and then lay up the deck and foredeck.

Side Project

A little work on a side project of a 110 tiller. I had enough wood to make two so I figured why not. So a few pics of 110 tillers in production. Started them yesterday morning and they look like the last picture on the floor now.