A Trip Up The Cam Time Lapse

We took the boat out for a jaunt up the River Cam last weekend. Enjoy

Click here for the video 

Is that that No Problem with us.  I think it is. Thanks for the company Sue & Vic

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Front Locker Seats

Another of those jobs thats been hanging around is the fitting, or more precisely the securing of the bow lockers.

The lids have been loosely laid on top which looked fine but was not very safe if you stepped on them going forward as they would slip.  They were cut from templates I made then scanned into a CNC router by the same firm that did the rear decks. See here.  They also routed a bull nose so now the edges wont dig into the underside of our legs.

I have placed some wooden blocks on the under side that locate against the rim of the locker then to add some security I have set in a latch in each.

Not that anything of great value is kept in them, just I had 2 left over from doing the rear deck after changing the way I secured them down.

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Finished raised floor

Part of an update,
Pics taken 11th March 09.

Finished new floor height



Centre Girders back in place



New Cut in 1st step to aft cabin, now there will be 4 steps instead of 3 and will be better



Aft Bulkhead getting reinforcing box to carry aft wall

Other side.

Once this was in I re -attached new 50mm angles to the aft wall and cut out the lower origional ones

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The conception of our project

In February 2008, while we were walking along the north shore of Flathead Lake, my husband Richard commented that he wanted to build a wooden sailboat and sail away into retirement. How else do travel junkies afford their habit, but take their house with them?

As the winters tend to get rather gloomy here in the Flathead, a long term project sounded great. We toyed with buying and refurbishing an older boat. A 30 year old hull, however, is still a 30 year old hull with its inherent weaknesses and problems after almost as much financial outlay to repair and update it. Besides the challenge of the building process, and the intimate knowledge of every aspect of our boat was something that appealed to us. The next hurdle was deciding what and where to build.

As Richard owns a custom cabinet shop, and has been working with wood for over 30 years, he really wanted to build a modern wooden sailboat, but with traditional appeal. After a lot of research he decided on the strip plank-cold mold method of construction. He wanted to build a vessel large enough to live on, but small enough to be a realistic goal financially and in terms build time. We also wanted a boat that could be easily handled by a couple, with shallow enough draft for poking around remote areas, but designed for bluewater and passagemaking.

The lengthy process of picking plans began....

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Nose Cone Bow sprit

I showed this picture ages ago as it is the marked out sheet for the cone.
Some Good people at Eurofab Technologies Ltd. are to bend it on a press brake.

www.eurofab.ie

There was a smaller test piece also marked up for the setup



12th Feb we get a clear hour to do the bend as the factory is usually busy doing lots of repeat work.



First test piece 90 % correct.
We also did a piece only 2mm thick to get the bend radius correct.



Final piece ready to get bent. I had the sheet marked at 22 degree intervals, we decided that more hits at 11 degrees would give a better shape.



All setup to go. 1 piece and 1 go. !!!
The Boys werent worried.....


Naturally the piece is 100% perfect. 270 mm Dia at the top and 110mm at the bottom.
Better than I expected.

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J 111 Review

Now that the Honcho is up for sale, were beginning to look for another boat and another adventure. Ive always liked J Boats, so I couldnt wait to see the new J/111, which we thought might be a fun high performance cruiser that would suit our needs. Well, after checking one out, we decided to keep looking because its not quite big enough for the voyages we are contemplating. But that doesnt mean its not a great boat. In fact, I think its one of the better boats J Boats has produced.

J/111 Outboard Profile

The J/111 is, in my opinion, a continuation of the J/35 theme...A fast, seaworthy boat that is offshore capable, but is most comfortable as a racer that a couple could easily spend a week at the island aboard. This is a type that J Boats excels at, so I though it would be fun to do a review of this design. A few years ago I spent some time cruising aboard a similar boat, an Aerodyne 38  called "Matador" and really enjoyed sailing across the southern reach of the Sea of Cortez from Cabo to Mazatlan aboard her. In 2003 we won our class in the Newport - Ensenada race in the same boat. Ill add some photos of both boats for your viewing pleasure, and Ill take this opportunity to credit Yachtworld.com for all of photos of both boats. I also encourage you to visit www.rodgermartindesign.com if youre interested in learning more about the A/38.

J/111

The J/111 reflects the state of the art in boats of this genre. With its plumb bow, long waterline, near vertical transom and bulb keel, the hull looks fast and its PHRF base rating of 42 looks about right to me. Interestingly, the Aerodyne 38 rates the same.

Aerodyne 38

Both boats have a deep bulb keel with a vertical leading edge and the all-important kelp cutter. This keel shape is one I have used in my own designs and it really is more efficient than, say, the keel on the Honcho.

J/111 Keel
The Aerodynes keel has a more torpedo-shaped bulb than this.

Both the J/111 and Aerodyne 38 have deep carbon fiber rudders and wheel steering. The wide sterns of these boats demand deep rudders to keep them from stalling when the boat is heeled at speed. Rudders on boats of this type are usually large relative to the keel as they not only steer the boat but help generate lift to weather as well.

I really like the aesthetics of both boats. The 111 looks more modern but that is to be expected. The cockpits are large and incorporate seating forward and wide open space aft. This is efficient for racing, but makes for a surprisingly friendly place to be if youre cruising, provided that the seats are long enough for an occasional snooze.

J/111 accommodations

Going below, the basic layout of the J/111 looks lightweight and efficient for racing. For cruising it would be snug. Notice that the head and V-berth are in the same cabin space. Id remove the cushions and relegate the V-berth to storage only. The quarterberths might be big enough for two and the settees in the main cabin would make reasonably good sea-berths if they were fitted with lee cloths. The galley is small, but probably adequate for short cruises and fixing simple meals for a racing crew. I like the nav station. Its big and has plenty of storage space.

J/111 interior
Light and open spaces abound

Aerodyne 38 main cabin
Engine is under the sinks

The Aerodyne, by contrast is oriented more for offshore racing or cruising. The layout incorporates a head aft to port and large quarterberth to starboard. The galley has plenty of counter space, with the Yanmar engine under the double sinks. The forward cabin is spacious and has a berth big enough for two.

The sailplans of both boats are similar. Big main, non-overlapping jibs, asymmetrical spinnakers on retractable poles, carbon fiber mast. Whats not to like here?

Aerodyne 38
High speed cruising

J/111 Under sail
Sweet!

I have not yet had an opportunity to sail the J/111 so I can only speculate on how the boat handles, but it is similar enough to some of my own designs and to the Aerodyne 38, which I have sailed, to expect that it will be very quick, with a light helm and fast acceleration out of tacks. The deep, high aspect ratio keel and fine bow combined with the lightweight and efficient sailplan will make it fast upwind. The high sail area/displacement ratio means it will be quick to heel in puffs and will require close attention to sail trim in windy conditions, but it will reward you with high speeds downwind. Overall, an exciting boat to sail. I can say the same for the Aerodyne, athough it will be a slightly more comfortable ride. My guess is that the J/111 will be slightly quicker in light air buoy racing and downwind racing. The Aerodyne would likely be a better choice for the longer downwind races like the Transpac.

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Morbihan 2011

This video was made by Voiles et Voiliers in 2010 after my visit there to meet and sail with my friend Francois Vivier. 
We sailed from Pornichet to the Gulf of Morbihan in his 25 gaff-sloop called Pen Hir  
and for 3 days sailed in company with thousands of boats during Semaine du Gulfe Morbihan. It
is an experience I will never forget and I cannot wait to return. 

Enjoy! You will see me at about 4:00. I dont remember what I said; if you speak French you can remind me!

You will notice all the Vivier boats sailing everywhere. That was not staged...there were simply so many Vivier 

boats that we were able to see the entire design catalog sailing and rowing, from 12 dinghies to 50 traditional

yachts! 

I have had a few complaints that the video did not load, but it seems to work. Give it time or check your connection.

Voiles et Voiliers 

La voile-aviron expliquée par François Vivier by voilesetvoiliers

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Blue Is The Colour

Sam, the canopy maker, is coming in a couple of days so this is what has spured on the final spraying of the stern area.  Theres quite a lot of fittings that need to go on and its better that its painted first instead of masking up loads of little fittings after.

I have never used 2pac paint before this weekend.  I was impressed with how the primer went on and cured off.  Today I spent a couple of hours rubbing down then it was time for the top coat.

I have to say I am pretty pleased with my efforts.

 

Whos that handsome devil in the reflection?

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Orange Boat

I’ve written about this fast cruiser on Burlesdon Blog a while ago and was very taken by the design when we first saw her in the Mediterranian. Designed by French Naval Architect Jean-Pierre Villenave she is a Turbo 950.



France is one of the most exciting centers of yacht design where many small scale designers are applying lessons and technologies from racing yachts to produce fast and capable cruisers. The Turbo 9.5 is one such design, built with strip plank construction, she is light, fast and from the look of her a blast to sail.

The pilot house design and flush deck is rightly popular and highly practical for cruising combining as it does low wind-age forward with a spacious deck space for working, especially useful when at anchor.

Details like the swivel seats at the transom are a practical response to the wide stern hull shapes which gives the yacht its planning ability and speed. Compared with the complication and cost involved with the twin wheels which are so often seen on modern yachts, a comfortable outboard seat with a tiller extension is a very refreshing, not to mention low cost, low maintenance solution, something many of us strive for in a cruising boat.



We know from fellow blogger Robert Wise on Boat Bits that the Orange Boat has left the Mediterranean and arrived safely in the Caribbean after crossing the Atlantic.



Jean-Pierre has designed a range of yachts many for amateur construction using ply wood as well as his smaller version the Turbo 650 meter which is a fast, low cost cruiser which would get a young family on the water and having a lot of fun.

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Leaving Purgatory

Trailer update: I am pleased to announce that I have left corroded screw purgatory and am now in renovation heaven. The trailer, on the other hand, looks like shes been to hell and back:

Dont trust your children to me.

Shes very close to getting a coat of fresh white paint!

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Videos Showing Details of Phoenix III Balance Lug Rig

During a recent visit from Paul Hernes (builder of the first Phoenix III) I was able to take a number of still and video shots of the details of the balance lug rig on Pauls Phoenix III.

This was my first ever attempt at video filming and editing, so please be patient with the results. However, you may find some of the clips to be worthwhile as they do show how well the boat has been developed by Paul over the years. Here they are: -

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DDYD Mobile Website

Last night we went live with a new section of our website, optimised for mobile devices. You can access it via a link to it on our desktop home page or via the direct address http://dixdesign.com/mobile.

Screenshot of mobile website

This new site is fast and compact, to load pages and information as quickly as possible on mobile systems. It has most of the functionality of our desktop site, from researching designs through to placing an order through our secure order system.

It also gives fast access to our blogs, videos on Youtube, image albums on Flickr and to our social media pages on Facebook and Google Plus.

The boat design links for more information currently go to the design pages on our desktop site, which are best viewed in landscape mode if on a smartphone. Over coming weeks I will build compact pages for all of our designs, for better viewing of core info on mobile devices and linking to the desktop site for more detailed info.

Please visit http://dixdesign.com/mobile and cruise the new site. If you want to offer feedback on it, feel free to email your comments to me via the email links on one of our contact pages. Thanks for visiting.

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Melon Seed Nancy Lee

Roger Rodibaugh of Lafayette, Indiana kindly sent us pictures of his delightful Melon Seed skiff Nancy Lee named after Rogers wife. The Mellon Seed has been a favourite ever since I first discovered the lines in Howard Chappelles book American Small Craft.



Roger tells the story - In the 1880s, in the bays and backwaters of New Jersey (USA), there developed a shapely gunning skiff called a Melon Seed. H.I. Chapelle imortalized the type in his American Small Sailing Craft. He and other historians suggest that the Melon Seed was a developmental improvement on the Sneakbox, better able to handle the open, choppy waters of the Jersey Bays by virtue of its more complex shape. Others argue that the Sneakbox, being easier to build, and therefore less costly, came after the Melon Seed. Whichever the case, it remains indisputable that this little skiff is a right virtuous craft, suitable today for easy singlehanding or a crew of two and a picnic.





Roger Crawford builds a version of the Chapelle skiff in fiberglass and teak in his two-man shop. Largely thanks to him and the over 450 boats he has built, the type has become more widely known. http://www.melonseed.com/ There are also a number of professional and amateur builders who have built carvel, plywood lapstrake, and strip plank boats to various plans.



I have sailed a Crawford Melonseed for nearly 20 years and can attest to her virtues. I live 50 miles from my sailing waters, so easy trailering and quick rigging are important to me. The 235 pound boat is effortless to trailer, and the sprit rig sets up instantly. She relishes a breeze, but takes well to the oars in a calm. Her diminutive size belies her toughness -- shes very capable, and seems to know just how to step through a chop -- and the side decks keep the green water out. All this, and pretty, too, with her hollow bow and saucy sheer.



Melonseed particulars:

length overall: 138"
beam 43"
draft 6" to 26"
displacement 235 lbs.
sail area 62 sq. ft.

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Electrifying the Galley Woodstove

www.fatscostoves.com

I found one of these little cuties on eBay for around 50 bucks several years ago-- long before I ever thought Id be in a position to build a boat. I bought it rather hopefully anyway. Lugging it to various apartments year after year as I finished college, I dreamed of the day I would warm my hands around its tiny crackling fire while moored in a Norwegian fjord. 

In January 2010, when I finally mustered the guts to get going on the boat project, I dragged it out of its box and found that it was completely encrusted in rust. The tiny door even broke off in my hand when I tried to open it. A major restoration was needed.

I decided that old-fashioned elbow grease and a wire brush were for the birds on this project. I was going to zap the rust off that thing. More technically, it is possible to electrolytically remove the rust by reducing the iron oxide Fe₂O₃ (aka red rust) to Fe₃O₄ (aka black rust), which detaches from the underlying iron and flakes off really easily. My brother Logan was visiting at the time, so we figured that if one of us got electrocuted, at least the other was there to make the drive to the county hospital. 

Basically, you get a trickle battery charger, attach the positive lead to a sacrificial anode and the negative lead to your rusted piece. This needs to be done in an electrolyte bath--- "Arm and Hammer All Natural Super Washing Soda" works best for this. Make SURE that the alligator clip attached to your anode doesnt get in the bath, because itll rust the clip pretty badly.

This site describes the process in detail. 

The setup. Note the black clip is attached to the artifact to be cleaned and the red clip is attached to a sacrificial anode. The anode should be plain steel-- not galvanized, and definitely NOT STAINLESS as this will leach toxic chromium compounds into your electrolyte solution.

Note that the alligator clip on the sacrificial anode is up and out of the electrolyte solution. You dont want to sacrifice your clip, too.

The anode is getting pretty rusty at this point. Its a good idea to take the artifact out of the solution once in a while, rub it a bit with a Scotch Brite pad to get the black rust off and put it back in a different position than it was in before. You can see all the bubbles created as water is being broken down into hydrogen and oxygen gas.

After all of that my little Fatsco stove looked pretty good. I applied some stove polish and burned a little wood fire in it. Ill include photos of the finished restoration when I receive the replacement door, latch, and hinges.

The little brother suggested we "capture the hydrogen and blow it up." I nixed that idea.

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A Month in Banderas Bay

Banderas Bay Sunrise

Finisterra has been in Banderas Bay for about a month, and it looks like well be here a few more weeks. Weve decided to spend the season cruising in Mexico instead of hurrying south to Panama this spring. Reasons for this are multiple, but the primary cause is that we had planned to leave California in November but were delayed a couple of months due to health issues. We considered various schedules for getting to Panama before the wet season starts, but they all would leave us without enough time to explore southern Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica. So instead, well hang out here a bit longer, then head north into the beautiful Sea of Cortez. When hurricane season begins in late spring, Finisterra will be safely tucked into a slip in La Cruz and well go back to the States for a couple of months.

In the meantime, life here could scarcely be more relaxing and tranquil. We loved having guests aboard Finisterra and enjoy the friendly hustle and bustle of life ashore, but out here on the hook we have time to relax. You might think cruising in Mexico is one big vacation, but believe it or not, there is always work to be done, people to see, and places to go. But here in the anchorage on a peaceful morning all of that seems faraway, at least for a while. Here is typical morning aboard Finisterra:

I woke up around 6:00am. Sunrise isnt until well after 7:00. I fix a cup of coffee and go on deck and look around. The first streaks of dawn appear over the mountains to the east and I settle down in the cockpit to watch the show. The boat is gently rocking and the only sound is a few gulls in the distance. A few minutes pass and the sky is brightening, sending streaks of light through the morning clouds that are reflected in the water. I hear what sounds like a sigh and look over to see a couple of dolphins lazily passing by less than 40 feet away. Off in the distance I hear the sound of an outboard motor and see a panga with a couple of fishermen heading out for a day of fishing. By now the sun is about to burst over the mountains and the dinghy traffic begins as people aboard the sixty or so boats in the anchorage head for shore. A few minutes later, Lisa emerges on deck with a plate full of sliced fruit, and the day is in full swing.

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Aft Seat

Aft Seat has the reverse design to the gas container.




Using a 30mm plumbing pipe to create the radius on the top of the seat.



Its tacked so once its welded it will be smooth

seat supports to be fitted and a centre support yet to be fitted

I will fill in the corners to be uniform.

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