The bulk of the galley completed.

I'm sorry that I haven't posted for so long.  I went away to Nelson for a week and it took me two weeks to catch up on all the things I neglected to do in Nelson.  (I'd gone with good intentions of sitting at my computer, writing emails, doing tasks that I had neglected as Chair of the JRA, editing articles for the magazine.  Instead, I chatted with my friends, loafed in the sun, pottered around and did a lot of reading.)

I came back full of energy and good intentions, but although I have certainly been putting in the hours, life and hordes of visitors have slowed down progress.  However, I love seeing my friends and if it means that boat is launched a few weeks later than would otherwise be the case, well so be it.  But there are many times when I wish either that there were a few more hours in the day, or that I didn't need to spend quite so much time in bed!

 The next- indeed, tigerwood apart, the final - big job in the galley was making and fitting all the doors.  My technique, now, is to use Gorilla polyurethane glue for the initial glue up, and then let the epoxy coating finish the job.  This allows me to put the doors together more quickly and with less mess, one at a time.

 Any gaps where the panelling meets the frame are filled with neat epoxy, which also percolates between the plank edges.  The result is a very stiff, very light and very attractive door.  I should like to take credit for this wonderful concept, but in truth, they are exactly the same as the doors we fitted to Badger and China Moon.  The only difference is that this time I'm allowed to make the frame, as well as fit the panels!

 I fitted the slats for the vegetable locker, which, I hope,will help keep it dry.

 And remembered that the end of the counter still had to be cut and fitted.  So that was duly done and glued down over the cutlery drawer.

 The shelves being painted and the slats being coated, finally everything could be glued into place.

 One of the very good things about epoxy is that it doesn't require any pressure to set.  The little lead weights were quite sufficient to ensure a good joint.  The slats simply required pushing into place - and at the last moment I remembered not to glue in the final one, so that I could get my hand underneath for cleaning.

 I made up a tray for the second shelf down.  This is to hold my glasses, some of which are Waterford crystal, bought for 5 bucks each from the market.  Well, why not?

 This was made in exactly the same way as the shelf fiddles and, once again, I relied on the coating epoxy to finish off the gluing job.  It is surprisingly robust, considering how flimsy the materials are.

 Four more doors yet to make, so I set up a sort of production line.  This is the one from the veg locker.

 And these are the frames for the lockers under the cooker.  Made in this fashion, I can be sure that they will fit.  I wouldn't trust my measurements to make them 'on the bench'.

I dry fitted them into place before coating them and then facing the agony of fitting the hinges.

 The 'door' at the back is actually going to be fixed in place.

The only thing more heart-stoppingly expensive than barrel bolts, are hinges.  Some time ago I bought a length of brass piano hinge and I used this to make the hinges for the cabinet.  (This was Paul Marine's brilliant idea!)

 Cutting the rebates on the door was the easier of the two to cut, but I find it very difficult judging the correct depth.  My perusal of You Tube didn't help much (what's 1/32 of an inch in real measurements, for heaven's sake?)  For a start, they all assumed that I'd had the sense to plan the hinges before I assembled the cabinets.  Yeah right.

And then, due to a distraction, I drilled the finger hole on the wrong side of the aftermost (right hand) door, which meant that the hinge had to be fitted on a piece of wood that extended beyond the door.  I won't tell you how long it took me to get from the coated doors, to this stage, where they are sanded and fitted.

 But then, they all had to come off again so that the rebates could be coated.  I debated this, but some of the screw holes had been refilled with so many slivers of wood, that the doors and frames looked as though they'd been attacked by woodworm.  I lived to regret it: another distraction caused me to fit a couple of hinges to the wrong frames (having carefully set them down so that they went back where they came from.)  Because the hinges are individually made - 'crafted', I should say!- they were all slightly different.  But not different enough to be noticeable until I tried to shut the door.  It took all day to put the never-sufficiently-to-be-cursed hinges on the correct rebates.

However, the final result is rather splendid don't you think?

So now, I have a bit of trim and a spice rack to make, the portholes to install and I need to machine up a heap of tigerwood for the galley counter, the cabin sole and the saloon table.  Then I can fit the deckliner and call the accommodation finished.

I had been hoping to complete it by the end of they year.  Ah well, nothing wrong with hoping.

First, some musings

Well, this is a blog.  But if you are only interested in the boatbuilding part of it, then go down the page until you see 'Back to Boatbuilding' in big, friendly letters.

I heard a programme on the radio recently where the interviewee was pointing out the difference between being a materialist and being a consumer.  They are, in fact, antithetical because a materialist loves things and a consumer loves buying things.  So, a materialist hangs on to her beloved 10-year old boots, a consumer dumps them for new ones.  Materialists cherish their possessions, consumers only enjoy their newness.  His point was that we need to appreciate the difference so that we can live in a prosperous world, with a lively economy, but without using too many resources.  I guess his point was that the service economy makes the world - ie the money - go round without significantly depleting our wonderful planet.  I found this interesting and I also like the concept of being able to use the word materialist without any pejorative overtones.  One has a lot of time to fret about the future, building a boat.

New Zealand is a magic country, in many ways, and considering our latitude, we get the opportunity of enjoying things that many people have to travel great distances to encounter.  We have glaciers; sailing up here in N North Island I have seen Giant Petrels and Sooty Albatross - birds I associate with South Georgia.  Equally I can buy locally-grown bananas and avocados, and even sugar cane, should I so desire.  Recently, those of us at Norsand had an unexpected treat.  A young Leopard Seal decided to pay us a visit.

 Now the last time I recall seeing a Leopard Seal was in the South Orkney Islands, so you could say that this youngster was a bit out of his range.  I was quite impressed that all the lads in the yard instantly identified it, until I heard that apparently it had been hauled out on one of the pontoons in the Whangarei Town Basin, to the consternation of the Powers That Be, who had closed the pontoon off so that people wouldn't get hurt.  The media had enjoyed the story.

To be fair, it was but a baby - no more than 6 ft long, but it has to be said that even at this age its teeth were pretty impressive.  For sure, the yard cats were sensible in keeping well away from it.  And even the slipway team was a little reluctant to shoo it away when they needed to use the slip.  They resorted to turning a hose on it, but it seemed thoroughly to enjoy the fresh water all over it, its smile getting bigger as it was sprayed.  Finally the pressure was turned up high enough that it decided that this was no longer fun and, somewhat reluctantly, abandoned its sunbathing and swam away.  Sadly, it hasn't returned.  But what a privilege to get a visit from one of these magnificent animals.

BACK TO BOATBUILDING

 OK, now where were we?  Well, actually, 'we've' taken a week off to go and visit my old friends Katie and Maurice in Nelson.  I love Nelson - such a lovely little city, with a view of the snow-topped mountains (a little had just fallen when the plane landed!) and lapped by the waters of Tasman Bay.  Compact, with lovely parks, bookshops, galleries, restaurants, a waterfront and a river.  What more could anyone wish for?  Well, some better cruising nearby, which is why I'm based in Northland.  But if I weren't a sailor, I'd be in Nelson, or possibly nearby Motueka (Mot to its friends), where I went by bus to visit the Tiddles.  So great to catch up with friends and more than worth abandoning my labours to do so.  I also got to see what Pirate Pearl is up to and had lunch with Dennis, catching up on all the goss.   Thank you, all of you, for making me feel so welcome.

Then it was back to the shed and work.

 In my absence, my new stove  had arrived.  No window, admittedly, but the price was right and it looks well made.  I'm rapt with it.  I may even go and buy some nice yellow, heatproof paint to pick out the lovely little flower.  By the way, the stove is dark green - it's not just the photo.  Isn't it sweet?  I can't wait to have it lit, with a kettle or - better - a jug of mulled wine on top.  However, it will be a while yet, before I get to enjoy that experience.

 In the meantime, I've been carrying on in the forecabin, making the doors.  Badger doors.  Why not?  I liked them and I know how to make them.  Moreover they are very lightweight.  For those interested, I assembled them in the locker framing itself, edge gluing the four corners with PVA.  (I used PVA because if a bit dribbled unnoticed, the wood wouldn't be stuck forever.)  Then I gingerly removed them - PVA isn't that good a glue - and putting them in a wood vice, dowelled each corner, again with PVA, which is good in this job.  Once it had set, they could be routed for panelling.  The panels are cut from kauri, chamfered to look like T&G  and put into a rabbet that is routed round the back edge. 

Then both sides of the door are coated with neat epoxy, ensuring that it penetrates any gaps in the joints and between the panels.  The finished door is astonishingly stiff.  I don't recommend putting your hand against the panels to stop you falling, but they are well strong enough for normal use and abuse.

 Finally, with the doors ready, it's time to make the drawer fronts, so now I could glue down the counter top.  It fits quite nicely and judicious use of a full gas cylinder and the vacuum cleaner along the outer edge, made for a good 'squodge' of glue, to use a technical term.  (Lugging the gas cylinder up the ladder was a timely reminder of one of the many reasons I don't want to cook on gas!)

To finish the forecabin I 'only' need to make a fiddle on the counter, make the drawer fronts, fit the doors, make some bookshelves, and cap the bunk side.  Oh, and varnish it all.  I also need to finish the cabin sole, but can't do that until the tabernacle is in.  There are four portholes to fit, too.  There's still a bit of a way to go before I can move on. 

Big sheets of plywood

One day, I'll fit the deck beams - promise.  In the meantime, I'm still fooling around with big sheets of plywood that need to be fitted before that happens.

I can't decide, in advance, exactly where the hatches are going to be installed in the saloon/galley cabin sole, or even if I'm going to install hatches at all.  I may just divide the plywood into manageable pieces.  My water containers are going to live under the forward part, so I do need to be able to get under it regularly.  That being so, I 'lofted' the shape and planed a bevel on it.  I tried fitting it three times, but it was too big, and by the third attempt my back was complaining.  (It's almost a full sheet and needs lugging up the scaffolding and then - gently - placing down inside.  My hands aren't strong enough to grip a sheet and lift it, so I decided to wait until Marcus was around to give me a hand!

Still, I could fit the other big piece of plywood.  I'd cut out the athwartships framing for the forecabin locker ages ago and now fitted a kauri fore-and aft frame.  Taking a leaf out of Badger's book, I butted the joints and dowelled them after the event.  A good way of making strong joints for bodgers.

I've finally managed to get my head around a 'tick stick'.  I've read about it dozens of times, but always by people who assume you know what they're talking about.  Well I didn't.  However, I've recently discovered a site for DIY boatbuilders.  Most of the posts are quite irrelevant to me, but there are some little gems, including one that told me all about how to make and use a 'tick stick' .  So I followed the instructions.

The thing that makes this 'tick stick' work for complete amateurs, is that you cut out a series of notches in the wood and include these in your locating marks.  The notches all being different, it makes it easy to be sure you've got you stick back in the right place.  (If you want to know more about the process, please follow the link above.  It's explained far better than I can!)

I marked out the plywood and then cut it conservatively before offering it up.  I also checked the measurements from the framework, by measuring.  By the time it was trimmed to fit, I was very impressed with the 'tick stick' method.  I could have trusted my original markings and cut it accurately.  Before I could do any more on it, I needed to flocoat the underside ready for paint.  You don't need a photo of that.

It occurred to me that before I struggle once again to fit the cabin sole, it would be wise to put some extra framing in place, first.  This was all cut to length, notched and then glued into place.

Then the corners were filleted - the outboard ends of the bearers had already been filleted into place.  I considered whether or not to paint it all, but decided it would be a lot quicker simply to put one thick coat of epoxy over all the bilge area up to the first stringer.  There will be light enough to find my water containers and anything that is stored aft.  Great stuff, epoxy, for making things look good!