50 Hour Service I got Gongoozled

I did the first 50 hour service today at 54.7 hours.  This required engine oil and filter change and three diesel filters. I havent needed to top up the engine oil in the first 50 hours so it seems its not using any. :-)

This was the water and gunk collected from the 2 pre-filters.

Not actually a great amount so thats pleasing.  The service book says to do it at 125 hours then every 125 hours but I think I will stick with doing it ever 50 hours.  Its easy to do anyway

The alternator belts needed adjusting the lower one more than the upper one.  I run out of time today and have still to do the tappets but the engine sounds pretty quiet, indeed more so after the oil and filter change. The oil was in very good condition just a very light charcol colour.

Engine mountings we checked and found to be tight and a general check of the engine found nothing loose.

I checked and toped up the oil in the generator.   This is using a bit of oil, but it runs a lot more than the engine and a lot faster, 3000rpm where as the engine seldom goes over 1200rpm.

All that done I needed to empty the toilet tank and fill with water so it was time to take the boat out solo.  A quick blast up the river to turn around and then off to the services area.

Avalon on the service point

Mission accomplished!  It takes a little over 2 hours to fill the tank, so I set it filling after doing the pump out which takes 10 minutes. 

I decided to moor on the town moorings instead of going back to the home mooring.  Inspired by my new found confidence I  decided to see if I could moor in between a NB and plastic cruiser a gap of about 70.  As usual this sort of manoeuvre attracts an audience.  A very slow and careful approach saw me in to a round of applause from the on lookers.  So now I have officially been Gongoozled.

Read More..

A Kind Of Hush

I wouldnt say our engine is particularly noisy, indeed as its getting a few hours on it it seems to be getting a bit quieter.  We had no soundproofing under the 18mm deck floor.  We have a local firm  

who specialise in acoustic and thermal insulation.  Ive know the owner for many years and contacted him for some advice.  He offered a 43mm laminated foam panel with 10kg man made lead type core wrapped in heat reflective foil as a solution.

The process started a few weeks ago with me making and supplying templates as TAP will make to exact size rather than just buying it in slabs as is the norm from chandlers.

 Starboard floorboard underside

Last week I got a call to say the panels were ready and today I fixed them under the floors.  The backing is self adhesive but I decided to add some mechanical fixing too.

Engine hatch before

Engine hatch after

I did some dB checks with the trusty iPhone db meter yesterday while we were on the move and will do some more tomorrow when we move again.  I have to say though just with the engine on tick over there is a noticeable difference.  Of course the engine is not the only noise source, a fair amount of prop against water is present too so a static test is not really valid.

On another noise note Ive had an annoying metallic buzz at 1050rmp and again at 1900rpm which can be heard in this video.

I think Ive now solved it.  Theres a plate covering the turbo and I think this is the cause of the problem.

I have put it back with a few dollops of high temperature silicone in the hope this will stop the vibration.

RESULTS

First off the vibration has stopped, so thats cured.

I wish I had done some more noise comparison tests at different RPM as the difference on general cruise RPM is measurably better:-

Before

After

But this really isnt the whole story as I later found out.  The sound proofing actually works better the louder the engine gets, so as the RPM and prop noise builds, the sound insulation damps more of it out, so its much much quieter when the RPM is higher and the prop thrashing more.  Now its much quieter when its working harder something I didnt expect.


Another test I never considered measuring was the generator.  The genny is already cocooned but with the new under deck sound insulation the difference is very noticeable.  I will be going back to TAP to see if they can help with quieting then Mikuni CH boiler.


So in conclusion:-  Well worth installing.

 

Read More..

The 1500 Hour Mark

March and April helped Richard feel closer to the end of some of the physically brutal aspects of hull construction, and a little closer to our "Rolling Party". The rather monotonous planking, veneering, and fairing will soon be a thing of the past. He can see why this is the apprentices job in the boat shop.

The outer stem that had been previously bent to shape was readied for application.

The ends of the strip planking are visible at the bow, under the veneer layers, prior to the outer stem being epoxied in place.

There was quite a bit of head scratching while trying to figure out how the outer stem should be shaped and how the fairing of the stem would ultimately flow into the keel. We searched on-line for pictures of the bows from traditional boats. Unfortunately, there are very few frontal pics of the bow up near the sprit, since a boat generally needs to be on-the-hard to get that view. We even took a "field trip" down to local sailboat yard. Of course, most modern glass boats dont even have an obvious outer stem, but we did get a few ideas.

We decided that a large chamfer on each side should roll into a traditional cove shape at the top, giving some meat to the squared off area under the future bow sprit. As Richard started the shaping, he realized that the chamfer was actually a continuation of the faired hull, thus as he brought the line of the hull forward, the leading edge of the outer stem worked out to be exactly as wide as specd in the plans. All that head scratching for nothing! The coves were shaped free hand and the proportions turned out very sweet in my opinion.

The fairing continued......this time, this final fairing must be as perfect as possible, to prevent dips and ridges in the final smooth "glass" finish of the hull. Finally he is getting down to the very visual aspects of construction.

The long board with 40 grit paper is known as the "torture board" for good reason.

It is a flexible board that is swept across the hull in long arcs, with enough of pressure applied to actually "cut" into any high spots.

To ensure a very smooth glass surface, the entire hull was lovingly stroked with wide arm movements and marked so that every dip and high spot could be removed with filling and/or sanding. This was humorous to watch, as Richard and his friends would close their eyes to better "visualize" the surface.

The meticulous fairing of the project at each stage of construction, from the frames and strip planking to veneering really paid off. The hull is very smooth and appears to be right on the offsets provided in the plans.

Then one sunny day....we decided to see if she would actually make it out of the "boat barn". This aspect of the build had always been rather theoretical. The hull was rigid enough at this point that Richard had placed large casters under the previously floor-mounted strong back. There was no risk of torquing the hull out of shape now, so we figured we would give it a try. We both had secretly worried that there would be some wall removal involved in her extrication.

We moved the stern far to her starboard side....

That lined her up to be pushed forward into the garage area.

Looking pretty tight....

She made it into the garage....

And her nose had to tuck up very tight against the cabinets in the corner.

Looking good...here comes the critical part...

Now her stern must clear the exterior wall on the right....

Looking good...

Yahoo! The wall does not need to be removed...

But to me, the height looks pretty questionable.....especially since the deadwood (keel) needs to be applied prior to removal. Richard measured the height using a level, etc and assures me there is an inch and a half to spare....of course we always have the option of lowering the cradle...

The whale tail appearance of the transom will be gone with the addition of the bulwarks, and the taffrail which is the rail around the stern.

Richard then started to lay up and shape the forward deadwood. The deadwood is the wood buildup area in front and behind the lead ballast, shaped to create the keel and to hold the lead ballast in place.

The joint where the outer stem meets the deadwood has potential for needing to handle a jarring with any kind of grounding.

The back end of the forward deadwood is shaped to receive the lead ballast.

Once the laminating was done, the deadwood needed to be planed done to the right width with a hand and power plane.

Richard marked the width of the keel and the rabbets from the offsets and then worked them in to the flow.

Work it...check it...rework it...

A little here, a little there....

Then to the other side to even it up.

A sharp hand plane is indispensable.

A little radius is put on the edges.

I think a little more work is needed to remove the lump where the outer stem turns into the deadwood.

The 1500 build hour mark has been reached. Richard has kept close records on his WoodenBoat calendar, with what has been accomplished each day.

Read More..

The 1000 Hour Mark

The end of November 2009 brought about the 1000 hour mark for actual time spent on the build.




She is really starting to show her shape.


Scaffolding was applied to each side as needed.


Screws with washers were used at the ends of planks to pull the shape in, and create the slight concave shape at the bow.

The strips of red cedar are very colorful and make us want to finish her "bright". She is very beautiful at this point.

Any excess epoxy will be removed during the fairing process.

Some strips were left long during the planking process.

The scaffolding creates a little more room on the port side.

Its still a tight fit.

The strips were reduced from 1 1/16" in height to 13/16" to help make the turn up toward the keel easier. The narrower the strip, the less sharp edges and flat surfaces will need to be shaped in the fairing process, but the slower the planking process.

Only about 5 rows could be applied each day, taking over 1 hour per strip. This included staggering any joints, slathering unthickened epoxy on all surfaces, reslathering thickened epoxy on the strip already on the boat, nailing the new strip to the existing strip with plastic nails and ring shank nails in any areas that did not want to cooperate. Then excess epoxy was scraped from the squeeze lines. The scaffolding also had to be adjusted intermittently.

The planking at the bow will need to be trimmed back to accept the outer stem.

Read More..