I’m taking the evening to take care of some well needed items around the house (like paying bills). Back soon.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our friends at Amigos Drysuit Repair. They’re supporting our Team Seacats effort underway. I found these guys through word-of-mouth a couple of years ago and sent them a drysuit to have a neck seal replaced. As evidence on this website shows, I’m a pretty hardcore do-it-selfer and although I’ve considered replacing my own gaskets on my drysuits, my research (and experience watching others) showed that it can be a pretty tricky task.  Drysuits are not cheap and not something you want to mess up!  I sent my suit to Charlie and gang at Amigos last year and the installation of the gasket was nothing short of astonishing.  It was totally undectable and not much more expensive than doing it myself. Their work and customer service get a solid A+ in my book and we’re excited to have such talent on board with Team Seacats.

I brought the new trailer boxes home this afternoon. Brian, welder extraordinaire, did a great job tig welding the aluminum boxes. I spent a bit getting things sorted out so I can deliver the extra boxes to North Carolina soon (it’s a long story).  I remounted the original matching stainless box to the trailer and will stack the one aluminum box on these two for delivery.  That leaves us with one of the aluminum boxes that I just built.

I did get some work done on the boat…nothing groundbreaking - just more sanding.  I also ground out the daggerboard well cracks on the starboard hull.  They weren’t anywhere as deep or long as on the port hull.  I thought it might be warm enough to get some filler applied but it was a little too cold. More warm weather is on the way!

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

In color that is! I had a pretty good day today even though it was pretty cool outside. The starboard hull has all the shaping completed. After finish sanding with 120 grit paper and my long board, I put one thin layer of filler in some pin holes and some areas that didn’t quite get enough in the first round. I’m pretty proud of the results thus far - but I need to stay focused. Everyone keeps reminding me how much time I have left (I also put an automated count down thing under the “about us” text to the right). Bonnie helped me swap hulls on my saw horses and after examining them without the hull on them, I began to feel like I was asking a bit much of my saw horses. The continuous back and forth motion from the sanding was not making them happy. I took a few minutes and sawed up a 2×4 to make some bracing on the horses. They’re very happy now. I went after the port hull with the long board and it is sanded enough to clearly identify the low spots. This hull is in worse shape and I have a bit more sanding to do with 100 grit to get through most of the deep scratches. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm again (why not on the weekends!?) so the trip to the gym will be EARLY so I can get in to work early and get out a little early too.

The aluminum boxes are supposed to be welded up and ready for me to bring them home tomorrow (one for us - one for a friend). I took one of the two I20 boxes off it’s trailer so I can bring home the aluminum boxes one by one. Because we’re going to have just one box on the trailer, I made it as wide as possible and I can’t fit two side by side on this trailer.  I remembered that some of the trailer lights weren’t working and since I’ll be getting out considerably before sunrise tomorrow, I traced a problem with the trailer lights.  Ultimately I found a couple of wires that were connected incorrectly. Although the sidemarkers are suffering from poor grounding, both back lights work fine now. It should be good enough to get around town.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

I should have known by how the forecast was changing daily for this weekend that there were no guarantees. Yesterday they said it was supposed to be 57 degrees and partly cloudy with rain and cooler temperatures settling in late evening. I got up this morning and started sanding on the hull and making great progress. I had some issues with my kerosene heater in the shop and by the time I located a replacement wick for it and got home the temperature had dropped 9 degrees and it was drizzling….great. On the upside it’s no longer supposed to rain tomorrow!

I’ve reached the turn around point on this hull. We’re filling and smoothing now. The warm streak continues here in Greenville, SC with temps again brushing 60 degrees. I had planned to do a lot of hull work this weekend but apparently the weather people are having difficulty figuring out what each day will bring. The forecast for this weekend was warm and partly cloudy. Now they’re saying cold and wet and I’m sure they’ll find something to blame it on. At any rate, I again took advantage of another warmish evening to sand the low spots and apply filler to the bottom of the hull. Previously I had mentioned how I was concerned about finding the low spots after I sanded them for the filler…making them match the rest of the hull and all. I decided to sand the low spots in a straight pattern whereas the rest of the hull is in a circular pattern. It worked well and I was able to come back and locate the low spots easily. I filled most of the low spots and will sand them smooth this weekend. Hopefully later this weekend I’ll apply a thin coat of filler to the entire bottom and sand smooth again. Then it will be time to move on to the other hull.

I also got the plug removed from the rudder I vacuum bagged. Thankfully, the epoxy did not adhere to the nylon plug at all. A little trimming and it popped right out. I’m taking the rudders to work tomorrow where I can clamp them in a milling machine and ream the holes to precisely .75 in and square.

Also of note is that I’m building a 10′ aluminum storage box for the trailer and one other for a friend. The aluminum came in to work the other day and I spent lunch shearing the aluminum to size and had a friend help me bend it on a large brake this afternoon. I’m pulling another string with a welder friend who will TIG weld the boxes together. I’ll show some pictures of that equipment if you guys are interested.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

The trampoline came back from E/P tonight and they did a terrific job. The stitching is impeccable. For this modification, they fold back (or cut away) several inches of the side of the trampoline and sandwich in several loops of heavy duty nylon webbing ever 4 inches or so. Then they supply this bolt rope to slide into the slot in the hull with several more nylon webbing loops that will slide up and down the bolt rope to align themselves with the webbing sewn in the trampoline. In addition to the regular front to back tensioning we could do with this trampoline, we can also tension it side to side. Since the rear of the trampoline usually sits closer to the water, there is speculation that this lacing will ventilate the airflow under the trampoline resulting in less drag (hand down technology from the Olympic Tornado class). All I know is that it serves as a terrific hand hold when things get windy and bumpy and a good spot to plant your heel when pushing out on the trapeze. My F18 has a trampoline similar to this and I’ve really grown to like it. That’s our dog, Gunther, in the photo trying to garner a little attention.

I also had a few minutes before it started raining to shape up the repair to the hull this evening (some photos over at flikr - click photo below). I used an angle grinder with a sanding disk to take down the edges of the repair area…it’s a dangerous tool to get close to a hull like that but if you’re careful it can yield quick results. I still have some shaping to do with a straight edge, palm sander, and my long board but it shouldn’t take long. The weather forecast is also significantly different now and they’re calling for 62 degrees tomorrow and upper 50’s throughout the weekend without any rain. I’m planning on going in early tomorrow so I can get home to take some advantage of the warmer conditions and hope to get some of the imperfections on this starboard hull filled in. We’re getting a LOT of photos over there at flikr…I’m going to have to see if I can setup sub-categories to keep them organized.

I was supposed to be away on a business trip starting this afternoon but the customer couldn’t get all the details together so I cancelled at the last minute. When I got home from work, it was almost 60 degrees. A quick check of the weather revealed that it was going to stay warm and the temperature would only start to drop off sharply after 9pm. It will be raining for days after today. I quickly changed clothes and darted outside to get some composite work put in on the underbelly of the boat at the daggerboard wells. Shown here is the repair after I’ve laid up several layers of 7oz woven cloth. I used woven cloth because without a large time investment (which I didn’t have because of the time left in the day) I couldn’t seal off and setup a full on vacuum bagging operation. The woven cloth does not require pressure like the Knytex cloth because it doesn’t ‘balloon’ up absorbing resin almost endlessly. I started with small squares in the center of the repair area alternating between 90 degree and 45 degree weave patterns on each layer and growing each layer outward in the repair. I built it up a bit past the original height so I can sand it back to shape later. It wastes a bit of cloth when you’re trimming out the 45 degree batches but it really helps the strength of the repair. At any rate, the light is keeping the layup warm and it’s nearly reached a full cure - it looks great. As usual there’s more detail and a series of photos on this repair - click on the photo below to go there.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

I made a minor blunder with the site last night while trying to move the blogging files up to the main www.teamseacats.com directory. The main page is loading fine but clicking on the categories or details come back with a server error. Looks like I’ll have to reinstall everything to make the directory change - please bear with me. I’ll get it working correctly soon.

2/21 - got it…it’s all workin’ now!

I reinforced the other rudder today and choose to vacuum bag this rudder instead of using the electrical tape trick hoping for a cleaner finish. Previously, I had only used vacuum bagging to construct completely new parts but hadn’t yet used it to reinforce or repair existing parts. It was most certainly cleaner and not only yielded another strong repair but required less work after the repair was completed. In the picture below you can see the rudder head while it’s under vacuum pressure. I use a Vaccon vacuum generator that uses air from my air compressor to pull a vacuum (venturi). It’s really economical and effective…but probably requires a little more energy than a mechanical vacuum pump. There’s more detail about the layup process at Flikr (where the images are hosted).

I also ground out the crack on the back of the daggerboard well on the hull and found that the crack penetrated about 2/3 the way through the hull. I was surprised that it didn’t go all the way through - but it still needed to be repaired because it would only get worse. I’ve ordered ports to install into the decks so I can reinforce the well from the inside too…I’ll post pictures of that when I really get into that repair later. I’m either going to have to wait for another warm spell to do the composite work or build some sort of hull-fitting heat box with my infrared heat light to keep the repair warm while it cools. Unlike these rudder repairs, the hull repair will have to be done with polyester resin because I intend to gelcoat the hull after all the fairing and repairing are complete and Gelcoat will not adhere as well to epoxy.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

Not much going on tonight - I’ve been pushing pretty hard in the gym in the mornings this week (down to 169lbs from 178 four weeks ago!) and in the evenings working pretty seriously on the boat - I need a night to recharge. I took a little bit and cleaned the shop, set three rivets in the other rudder head casting, and called it a night. The trampoline should be arriving back from Elliot / Pattison early next week. I’m pretty excited to see the side lacing modification and the snuffer grommet although it will be a little while before I get to actually lace it up.
Although the outdoor temp almost achieved 70 degrees today (!?) this weekend is supposed to be cold and wet … possibly icy. It will be another indoor weekend - perhaps an opportunity to start on sail graphics or maybe some website work. Have a happy President’s day weekend and may your winds be fair for the weekend!

Originally uploaded by Number Six.

What is it about boats? When you are in the ocean, especially in foul weather, they can never be BIG enough - but the second you approach it with a piece of sandpaper….

I ran to the hardware store and picked up a roll of sticky-back 80 grit sandpaper for the long board. That went better and I got some pretty serious work done on the hull. You can clearly see in the photo below some of the dents and dings that are in the hull. Next, I have to mark the perimeter of their location somehow, then sand the inside of the dings so fairing compound will have a good surface to bond to. I’m afraid that after that sanding, that I won’t be able to find them again! Anyway, after filling those, then I’ll put a thin layer over the entire bottom and get back to sanding again.

I also worked on the rudder arms going into the castings. I came up with an idea to snug the fit up quickly and easily. The problem is that the casting hole is considerably larger than the diameter of the aluminum tube that goes into them. The could be glued in place with epoxy but if you ever broke one, replacement would be nearly impossible. The three rivets normally keep out the play for a little while. The arm really takes a beating when unlocking and locking the rudders. I decided to try coating the end of the aluminum tube with a layer of epoxy and microballoons to match it more closely to the hole in the casting. I rotated it over a heat source to keep the coating even and quickly set the epoxy, sanded it lightly to get a good fit, and riveted it back in place. I really don’t know if that will make it last longer but the new rivets should keep out the play for quite a while anyway.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

I got a short opportunity to try out the sanding board and it works great. It really shows clearly the imperfections in the hull bottoms. I only purchased 120 grit sandpaper for the board and I think it’s not quite aggressive enough so I’ll get another roll of something with a little more bite. There are some hairline cracks at the front and back of the daggerboard slot so I did some exploration with a dremel to see if the cracks were only in the gel coat. I was pretty amazed at how thick the gel coat is in spots and might be able to remove a majority of the scratches and blemishes by just removing gel coat. However, there are some thin spots too and I saw fiberglass in one spot after about 3 passes. I’ve got another decision to make with the cracks from the daggerboard well because it does get into the structural glass. By no means is it a show stopper and I’m quite sure that these wouldn’t present a problem for another run up the coast. At this point however, it kind of comes down to time –as in; do I have enough to deal with it? A couple of topside ports really need to be added so I can reinforce the daggerboard well from the inside. I’ll try to evaluate all that this weekend. Meanwhile, the weather looks like it’s warming up for Saturday and Sunday and I might actually be able to work with some fairing compound outside.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

Also note that I finally got the SailMax.biz logo up on the site. I can’t tell you how much these guys are in tune with catsailing. Mike Krantz is the owner (you’ve most certainly heard of him from previous Tybee racing) and, in addition to being able to get your factory boats (even Reynolds 33!), components, and hardware, has lined SailMax up with just about every major high end equipment manufacturer you can imagine. Kokatat, Harken, Ronstan, and many more. They even have a couple of individual companies creating custom composite components and rigging specific to our general needs. Do you want a super lightweight carbon fiber hotstick for about the same you would pay for a fiberglass one? How about a spliced spectra spinnaker pole bridle for an F18 catamaran? Call them - they’ve got it and got it right. Please help support us by supporting SailMax the next time you need anything or need help with something specific like selecting the perfect swivel and cleat for a cutting edge self tacking jib system.

Being Valentine’s Day and all, Bonnie and I went out for an incredible sushi dinner. Dinner and the conversation were great and in yet another fine example of the incredible woman I’ve snared, she was fine with me sneaking away for a few minutes to get another task knocked off the boat work list between dinner and settling in front of the wide screen. So I built a long board for the hull fairing to come. These things are ridiculously expensive in the store but a quick trip to the scrap bin, a trip to Lowe’s for a roll of sticky back sandpaper, and a few minutes on the drill press yielded everything I needed. The comments on the pictures hosted at flikr will give a little more detail but it’s as simple as a somewhat flexible sanding board that will allow for the natural contour in the bottom of the hull but not the dents and dings or molding issues that are inherited with any fiberglass boat that’s been utilized.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

I’m still working on a new template for the website. However, my patience for PHP script is less than my composite work patience at the moment. Photos are still hosted at flickr but we’ll get them moved to the site eventually.

The weather turned pretty cold here lately so I’ve been reduced to working in the shop. I started in on rebuilding the rudder system. One rudder head is rebuilt and the second is getting started soon. I probably should have done both of these at the same time but I wanted one stock to use to compare the shape after adding the reinforcement. It came out really well so far and is currently curing with a top coat of epoxy and micro-balloons to fill it in smoothly. Later, after touching up the leading edges, both will receive a coat of System Three two part paint. It’s going pretty well…feel free to browse the photos at flikr.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.