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.