Team RAF videos

Here's some videos that I had forgot about that I found on google video.

Team RAF's very first sea trail in a homebuilt sailing canoe rented from the school for 8 bucks and my windsurfer rig plus a sunfish board for leeway and a paddle to steer. 4 guys in a tub, blub, blub, blub.

Also, Mike, Matt and I out on the hobie 18 on Jordan lake ripping it up.

Wish we had time to go sailing. School is such a party pooper.

Back to school....mumble..grrrrr.. mumble

Yesterday we got the forward, lower cabin and side bulkheads glued in and today we installed the diagonal stringers in the bow and the straight stringers behind the forward bulkhead. We also finalized the location of the side wall in the cabin floor. Dad is going to install the middle cabin bulkhead tomorrow and then we will be ready to size cut and install the cockpit and cabin seat sides and seat longerons. Then we will be ready for a few more coats of epoxy and then painting of the closed off areas before gluing on seat tops and working on the hatches. Soon enough we'll be flipping the hull over for some fiberglassing and painting.

You probably knew that cats don't like water but did you know that they like boats. Sailors have taken ships cats on board for years. My cat has never been on a boat but she would probably be a pretty good ships cat. She sleeps so much she probably wouldn't know the difference.

Thanksgiving update

Happy day after thanksgiving. We had a fun day visiting with family today. It was nice to see everyone again. We got some more progress made on the boat this evening and plan to continue working on Sat. afternoon and Sunday. I have to get some homework done too though.

The fiberglass tape came in on Wed. (Hooray) and we got to work immediately and glassed the port seam and installed the aft bulkhead that will support the rear seat. Then Thurs. we removed the temporary bulkhead, fitted the side bulkheads for gluing and made some final decisions concerning the cuddy cabin. We decided on the seat height inside the cabin as well as where the entryway bulkhead should go.

We played with the idea of extending the cabin door bulkhead to the center thwart giving a LOT of cabin space. But maybe too much. And the cabin door would have to be offset to one side (probably opposite the centerboard) because of the mizzen mast location and other problems as well such as the sail getting in the way of the cabin door when running downwind. We decided on a location that leaves 7ft of horizontal room inside the cabin for laying down. We also decided that the narrow width inside the cabin around the centerboard was too small to warrant feet room on both sides of the keel batten (thing that runs down the middle of the boat) so there will only be foot space on the port side of the cabin. Thus the starboard seat top inside the cabin will be wider than the port seat top. A board will be made such that the gap between the centerboard trunk and the port seat top can be closed when in "sleeping" mode so that there will be ample sleeping space for two persons. This picture gives you an idea of the space there will be, i.e. not much. But enough to change cloths and get out of the elements. There should be enough room for 2 people to sit side by side. Also, I am sitting the wrong way for what I just described since there would be no foot room on the starboard side. Also the centerboard is offset to starboard by about 3 inches due to the main mast. This has a negligible effect on sailing performance and makes the keel stronger since the keel batten does not have to be split by the board.

This picture is as of tonight (firday night) and you can see (from the bow back) the tabernacle bulkhead, shortened forward bulkhead, the lower half of the cabin entry bulkhead and the side bulkheads. None of which are glued in yet (thats for tomorrow). The sticks are representative of the cabin entry bulkhead. The top stick is 48 inches above the keel batten which we decided was a "comfortable" height for a sitting person. The cabin roof will curve forward and down meeting the bow deck at the location of the forward bulkhead. The tabernacle bulkhead is the furthest vertical wall inside the cabin. There will be a 8 to 12 inch wide (not sure yet) rail around the cabin side for walking forward to the main mast. We are planning another bulkhead between the forward bulkhead and the entry bulkhead that will end the foot well in the cabin. There will be storage under the cabin seats on port and starboard as well as under the forward seat.

This picture shows the cabin entry bulkhead and centerboard stuck in. It is not in the correct position (it's way too far forward) but you get the idea. We fiberglassed the centerboard trunk sides today as well and hope to get the trunk installed this weekend as well. The trunk will be installed first then the lower cabin door bulkhead will be installed around it. We are planning to sink the trunk sides through the hull and butt the king posts against and bottom and trim the trunk sides off when we flip the hull over. This will make more sense with pictures later. If we get the side bulkheads in tomorrow we can also start on the vertical cockpit seat sides and hardwood longerons and we also need to finish up the hardwood on the transom that goes across the top and the vertical piece plus the aft seat support stringer across the middle of the transom. Aaaand we need still need to glue in the bottom stringers that support the 1/4inch forward bottom panels under all those cabin seat bulkheads.

With any luck, we will be ready for epoxy paint after this weekend because we will be ready to close up the cockpit seats with seat tops!!! Ok maybe we won't get thaaaat far but you have to think BIG. Hey dad, better order the epoxy paint.

Thanksgiving approaches

Last weekend we finished shaping the centerboard and got the tabernacle bulkhead cut out and made a pattern for the forward bulkhead. With fiberglass tape on its way we hope to get a LOT done over Thanksgiving. I took the centerboard back to school to do some final touches on it with a joiner. We also got out sprit booms roughed out and just need to shape them. I'll try to get some pics of the centerboard up soon. Meanwhile off to class.

Here's a funny picture I found.

Put on some lifejackets people!

The training continues

Out for a ride after class this morning NORSA members Adam and Mike and I enjoy a 12mile bike ride around west raleigh to umstead. Brrrr cold and getting colder. Adam and I continue our training for the Ironman Louisville in 08. Going home this weekend for some more boat work. (Oops sorry bout the pics 11-18-07)

Good sesh!

"Your building a WHAT? Can you do that?"

More progress on the boat this weekend. We filleted and glassed the starboard seam before we ran out of fiberglass tape but still managed to: Get the keel Batten glued in and the side bulkheads made as well as the partial aft bulkhead which will support the rear bench seat (in place of the optional aft deck). We also made some initial measurements to figure out where the mizzen mast, center thwart and tabernacle bulkhead will go and got the centerboard trunk sides cut out as well as glued together the strips that make up the centerboard itself.

Lately around town while running errands and such we run into people that my dad knows from work or wherever and after I am introduced, my dad says, "yeah, were just picking up some tools (or whatever), were building a sailboat together." Pretty much without fail there is a double take involved from the other person followed by something like: "Aaaaa Ooooo very nice"....or.... "Is this something that you do a lot?"....or my personal favorite...."Really!?...Can you do that?"

I always loved working with wood and remember building stuff with my dad when I was really little like little wood chests, benches, birdhouses and stuff but I have really started to remember how much fun woodworking is since we have started the boat. In case you haven't caught on yet, boat building is definitely high on my "practical skills to know" list. How about you?

Note to self...hard to eat pizza with dust mask on.

Messing Around With Boats

Finally I got a chance to post a weekend update. Saturday was a great day of racing on Jordan Lake. We had 13 Hobie 16 show up for the first annual "SWEET SIXTEEN REGATTA". Prizes and swag was provided by hobie and sunjammers sunglasses. Race committee consisted of NORSA's own Adam Domanski and some NC State Sailing club groupies. We got in 5 races and had some great wind.

After an awesome 2nd place finish in the first race John Cathcart (my weekend crew) and I were stoked but with a string of poor starts and a couple of starboard port incidents at A mark soon made us ready for a hotdog or two and we settled with 6th place overall. We had a great time. Good wind, a boat that didn't break (too much) and we didn't get wet. Can't do much better than that. (Click the picture for more regatta photos. Thanks Jana)

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better than this, I saw a Yellow Cat Ketch sailboat launching from Vista and starting to sail around carefully avoiding our race course. No Way, I thought. Could it be a Core Sound? Yup, sure enough I sailed over (which nearly cost us a start..oops) and said hey to Ken Potts who I had not met until that day but who is an active contributor to the B and B yachts forum on http://www.messing-about.com/ and was actually already following my Dad and I's build of our CS20 on the site. Actually he was the first to reply to the thread I started. Anyway, after we hit the beach I went over and we talked boats and the EC for a while before parting ways. Ken is out on Jordan Lake almost every other weekend with his recently finished CS17 "Southbound" and I've got an open sailing invitation and a... summer job offer. COOL. Thanks Ken. Great to meet you. I hope you don't mind I posted a picture of your boat. It looks GREAT.

That evening we got the Inwales dry fitted and trimmed them to length. We also got the transom wired in and checked that everything was square and symmetric. Sunday we got the Inwales glued in and had just enough time to get the entire center seam down the keel line filleted and glassed.

It took us a while to figure out just how to go about this because it was impossible to reach the seam at the bow from the side of the boat. We ended up with a mission impossiblesque hanging stretcher that I laid on while I glassed the seam starting at the bow and worked back. Since the boat was on wheels, we thought we would just roll it forward as we worked. It ended up being a little harder than that but it got the job done.

If you are familiar with the boat plans you may notice that we are missing the forward bulkhead. We are working on incorporating a cuddy cabin in the design of the boat that will be based a lot on the design of the EC22 (especially from a structural standpoint). Since the boat will be used for week long getaways and weekend camping cruises, we thought a cabin would be a great addition to the design. It will also be really nice to have a place to sit up or stretch out that is out of the wind or rain during the EC.

Hull #103 is born

Well, this weekend we made much progress and a lot of things went together just right.

On Thursday we cut the keel batten, Inwales and stringers from a honk'n 1"x12"x22' and cut the side panels to their final shape using a long thing strip of wood to spline the final edges for fair curves. We spent a lot of time making sure our curves were fair and correct which is very important to beautiful lines on the boat. We are working in a pretty small space and it is a challenge figuring out how to maneuver the long pieces around the room.

Friday, I made it back home after school to find that my Dad had went all out on some new tools including a new plane, Jigsaw, random orbital sander, new Carpenters square (a BIG ONE) and a bunch of clamps. The new Bosch Jig Saw is SWEET. 10 bucks cheaper than the nicer DeWalt Model, a lot easier to use AND more precise of a cut.

We glued the stringers to the side panels fastening them with drywall screws while the epoxy set up and got to work marking and cutting the final shape of the bottom panels. This went pretty fast having practiced on the sides and soon after, we removed the screws from the stringers as the epoxy had mostly set. The next step was to plane a taper into the bow end of the stringer on the inside to allow the hull to bend at the bow and then attach the side panels to the bottom panels at the bows in preparation for opening the hull. We finished up late and decided to sleep in since our epoxy would be drying anyway.

Saturday morning begun with another trip to our local Lowe's warehouse for some 2x6s and some more drywall screws in order to construct what would become our hull support cradles that we will assemble the hull on top of. We decided to go with a modified I-beam design for the cradle which uses two 2x6s running the full length of the cradle screwed to each other in an upside down "T" shape which holds the lower board in tension when loaded and prevents the top edge from bending. We used a cheap laser leveling device to align the frames on the beam and check that they were level with each other. In this picture the bottom and side panels are visible on the far left leaning up against the wall supported in the middle to keep the sides from falling down and breaking the bow joint.

The actual hull cradle stations are attached to this center beam and to 3 legs that extend perpendicularly out at the ends and the middle. Our temporary bulkhead is made of cheap 3/4" oriented strand board which is about 6 bucks for a 4x8 sheet. We made the cradles from the leftover OSB after cutting out the temporary center bulkhead.

After constructing the cradle, we laid the now joined hull panels which are sandwiched together in mirror image fashion onto sawhorses to complete the bow profile and stitch the keel line with brass wire to hold the panels together while opening. Here the bow is shown "wired up"

The next sequence of events from this step involves wrestling the flat hull sides out and into their final position onto the hull cradles into what looks something like a boat when you are done. This is the part that gives this method of construction its name, the "butterfly technique". We were a little worried because all the pictures of this step that we have seen elsewhere seemed to include 10 or so other "helpers" (insert nervous chuckle) to stand around the edges and support the sides into their final position. While this would have been nice, it was just us so instead we devised a support system of 2x4s that angle out away from the cradles and guided the side panels down and in where they would end up. It worked very well.

That said, the next step is still best explained visually but in order to help you with your mental images, the dialog between Dad and I went something like this...

Ok, lets try moving it this...err uhh, wait wait no no no thats bad...ok how about we. Ok now go over there. Yeah hold that.....ok now down, ok wait wait just stop there... "IT'S HEAVY"!.... ok thats good. Little more, no too far........(more of the same)....

(Click for larger/better picture)

Insert HARD PART here

And POOF, it's a boat. It's all downhill from here right? More to come.

Nice Butt....Joints

Dad got some work done at home today on the panels that we left to layup last weekend. The butt joins look great from what I can see. I am planning a trip home after class tomorrow to get some more done before the weekend. We are hoping to get the side panel stringers glued on and the bow joint made in preparation for "opening the book" on the hull using the butterfly-like method of creating the hull shape.

We move steadily forward.

My Old Man and the EC

The Everglades Challenge 2007 was an experience that I will never forget and as Mike, Matt, Chris and I returned home from Florida I was already thinking about next year. These past months, visions of solo Kruger adventures and wild class 4 boats danced in my head daily and filled the margins of my class notebooks. I though I might go solo and build a Sandflea or maybe just a Matt Layden design after seeing Wizard yet again amaze everyone or maybe a faster trimaran to compete with the Tridarka and the Adventure Tri. The new Holopuni OC3 Mark 2 would be awesome 2 up but price and distance make it impractical. more drawing and dreaming....

Then I remembered how much fun it was to have company on the race and I started thinking that another team might be possible. Mike wants to do it again and I have also sparked interests in Tim and Adam. Tim is now interested in the UM in a sea kayak and Adam is hoping to enter the EC in a Laser dinghy/sculling conversion. Anyone else who is thinking about doing the race for the first time or just not sure it they will have the time, all I can say to you is DO IT!

So...... After a suggestion from my mom (Sandybottom) and some quick research, I proposed that my Dad and I should build a Graham Byrnes designed Core Sound 20 and race together in 2008. Hazaaaa!

My Dad (who is not an old man) was reluctant at first. He has acted as land crew for my Mom during every Watertribe event and Team RAF's as well last year and has always said he liked it better on that side of this race. But it just seemed to fit. I need a boat and a sailing partner and he wants a boat (especially a Byrnes design) and I want him to sail with me. Anyway, we already started so now he has to do it.

On a side note, RidgeRunner and GreyBeard (also EC vets) are also going to be racing in a CS-20 so double the fun! Doug has been working on his for a while though and is quite a bit farther along. We will be pressed for time to get the boat done for March. Boy does that sound familiar.

Some background:
Graham Byrnes, owner of B and B yatch designs is a naval architect and passionate expereinced sailor who is a three time Everglades Challenge veteran and took home the win for class 4 in 2007 with his super fast EC-22 finishing in 2 days and 8 hours and 56 min. Graham took my Dad (DancesWithSandyBottom), Wizard and I out for a sail after the race in Key Largo and we got to see just what his boat was made of (fast stuff).
His Cat Ketch rigged designs are efficient, easy to rig, easy to sail and easy to reef. Its a wonder they are not seen more often. My Dad fell in love with the EC-22 which is really a souped up version of the Core Sound 20 with all the go fast mods for weight reduction and maximum sail area. After shooting Graham a few emails, he was excited to help us in any way he could and we were excited to be building such a well designed boat.

Progress to Date:
The very next weekend (last Saturday) we visited Graham and his wife Carla at their shop in Vandermere, NC where we got to talk to him more about his design, see his workshop and...pick up some supplies. Thanks for a great visit Graham (nice dock!). We returned home to a cleaned out basement which we had prepared the weekend before and started work immediately so as to maximize the time we were both at home since I am still studying full time in Raleigh, a 40 min. drive away. Here are some shots of our progress from 1 weekend! As my GrandPop would say..."I don't mess around". I like to think this is a phrase shared by all of the Stewarts.

"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats".

-Kenneth Graham