Sitting on Log Sled, awaiting Launch
OCB guards have been added since these photos
Latest on WAYWARD
Again, my apologies. Updates have been pretty scarce, this year, as internet hasn't been readily available.
We got back to Tyee in early May, and moved aboard. I know, I know. We swore on a stack of Kama Sutras that we'd never do that again. Slow learners = slow builders.
After a winter in the open, the exterior looked fine, aside from bleed-through the latex house paint. This is good news on the TiteBond III we used to lay our acrylic deck sheathing... still looking good as of this writing in spite of heavy, gravel tread traffic.
Aside from a spot or two, the cabin was dry and mildew free, including the new cushions, for which we were very thankful.
The holds were another matter.
Neither had been painted nor insulated. Water got in via the unfinished vent holes (thanks to a mis-communication on their temporary raingear), and the walls and panels were pretty much solid mold.
After elbow greasing ithe joint, we tried out an ozone generator.Ozone (O3) breaks down to O2 + O. That free oxygen atom, in large numbers lethally oxidizes living beings, including fungal spores. It's used to sterilize hospital operating rooms. I can't swear that it killed our mildew, but the musty smell disappeared at once, and we've seen no spread.
Just for good measure, we stomped on its grave with a liberal coat of borates in glycol.
Only downside was, the borates react with TBIII (the glue we'd been using for insulation), curdling it on contact. So we switched to tar, and soldiered on. It is all successfully contained behind the inboard face of 1/4in plywood, but is a pain to apply.
Overall, we doubt we'd choose ply-foam-ply to insulate the hull walls (decks, yes; walls, no). Inch and a quarter, double ply walls were cozy on Andy Stoner's MARY ELISABETH, even without double pane windows, and built in a tenth the time. No internal framing necessary where fastening through (as at bulkheads) or mounting cleats or hardware. Ply-foam-ply - after our second try - counters a fair bit of the Triloboat quick-and-dirty advantage. Sigh.
We got our wood range in, recently, and are loving the warmth and cooking on a fire.
We're ready to launch when our host is available to do so. All that's left is last spring's final paint job, rigging and odds and ends. With luck, we'll be sailing in two months. Without luck? Well...
At this point, we figure we've got nine solid months in the build (albeit stretched over three seasons). That gives us three to go on our 'probable case scenario' of one year. Surprisingly, that puts us ahead, in project time. In fact - given that much more of the interior is finished than we'd initially planned for this year - we're a long ways ahead.
But, y'know, looking out at that water every day...
...It feels kinda draggy.
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| Not the best shot. But lovin it! |
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| Fire on the beach every dry evening... How we suffer! New dory in the foreground. |
So sorry to hear about that mold! Sounds like you have it taken care of though. We are keeping all spaces on Autarkia open to the boat's interior, including under the side, fore and aft decks. No deck hatches, and any ventilators I may put in later will be doraded. Mold can be a really big issue here too. We are going to count on our woodstove to keep things dry too.
ReplyDeleteLove that dory! Keep plugging away, and post when you can. We love to see how it is going and hope that luck stays on your side. Wayward is looking great!
Hi Alan,
DeleteSpore Wars roll on! But the Force (and a few, select toxins) are with us.
Thanks for the kind words, and back at'cha! AUTARKIA is looking beautiful... almost hate to cover up that deck fabric print. 8)
Dave Z
How did the walls on ME go, a laminate of two ply sheets, or with air space between? Also, what was the final on your chimney? Those big round wooden skegs should help protect the bottom, but it doesn't look as shoal draft as I expected:)
ReplyDeleteHi Dennis,
DeleteME's sides were laminated 1/2in + 3/4in = 1 1/4in, overlapped by half a sheet. No air space.
We noticed on LUNA that we got lots of condensation on 1/2in ply walls, but little to none at the buttstraps, which doubled thickness to 1in. In ME's case, the walls are for the most part below windows and generally low in the hull. Warm, moist air rises above them, further helping reduce condensation.
The logs under WAYWARD are temporary. Our host is a heavy power equipment operator par excellance, and he REALLY wants to launch us. So the logs for the launching sled.
He'll drag us down to below the tideline, where we'll remove the cross beams. Once floating, we'll roll the logs out from under us.
What could go wrong? 8)
Dave Z
PS. We're hoping for a draft of 1ft, but can take 16in in stride. After that, we'll start dragging our aft transom corners when heeled. But its about 11K @ 1ft and about 17K at 16in! Big diff!
I worked out the R value of 1 1/4 plywood to be about 1.5, while a 1/2"ply/1.5"foam/1/4"ply sandwich should be about R8.5. Do you see any other benefits other than lack of condensation on the better insulated walls? I forgot to put the sarcasm tag around the skeg comment, you actually explained it pretty good in the write up. I am interested in how you did the deck iron for your chimney though.
ReplyDeleteHi Dennis,
DeleteYes, the foam is a LOT more efficient. Most of the year it's not needed where we are... any fire kept us plenty warm on LUNA (1/2in walls) except for a handful of days below about 20degF (-5C or so), when we'd stoke it up.
What tipped the decision for us was that, in older age, getting wood in will likely be more of a challenge. Being able to tick the fire over on the coldest days will save fuel when we need it most. But our winter on ME should have clued us that foam is luxurious overkill... not wasted, once in, but hard to pay for the construction time.
In SLACKTIDE, we built the sides all at once, with foam framed, foamed and faced before erecting as hull. In WAYWARD, we hoped it would be quicker/easier to back-fill the spaces. In some ways, it was, but the savings were slight.
Overall, I think I'd rather lay in that extra wood, now and then, and get sailing now!
Ah... sarcasm. Hard to be sure, sometimes, so I over-explain by default. Treat every question as serious. Bad habit, Anke says. 8)
The deck 'iron' is cast bronze salvage; a gift from our host. It had been brazed to a steel column. We built the outer stack/cap from copper off-cuts from the sides (lotsa uses for that stuff!). The inner stack runs to the inner top of the bronze casting, snugly fit under a cuff of flashing that then folds over the bronze rim. The outer fits over both. Smoke, then has no chance to blow back down through any gaps, a problem we've had on other installations.
May I just say that POP RIVETS ARE THE BOMB! Can even get 'em in copper!
So far this is the best system we've managed, though I'd like to do a better job with the fold at a real sheet metal shop.
If I get back to posting, I'll be doing one on this whole bit.
Dave Z
Well there is one other benefit to the foam. I was reading some regulations about minimum flotation required in home built boats, and realized that the foam made boat the buoyant enough to prevent sinking even if holed. Not that I want to be holed, but it is nice to know the ship won't be going straight to the bottom if something happens.
DeleteYep. Positive buoyancy is great insurance, but like most, we don't want to be in a position to collect!
DeleteShoal form stable boats get away with a lot lower ballast totals, too, which really helps.
BTW, In terms of R value, our ply/foam/ply decks have been 2 1/4in thick with 1 1/2in foam between cedar 2x framing. Dew or frost quickly evaporate off the framing, and quite a while before off the foamed areas. Pretty dramatic demonstration!
Dave Z