Just a few little jobs

I wonder if it's just me, or does everybody find that "I'll just do this ..." jobs are the ones that take forever.  Its seems to be the silliest little jobs that take the longest.

While I was laying the deck, the intention had been to 'pop' down below and finish off all those little jobs that hadn't been done, while I was waiting for glue to dry.  Great idea, but failed in practice because there were always so many other things to do while the glue was drying.  No worries, I said to myself, I'll just knock them over and get on with the cockpit.  That was three weeks ago and last week I wrote out the list of what still needs to be done.  I don't think I'll be starting the cockpit next week, either.  I seem to have spent half of the past few weeks going in an out of Whangarei looking for bits and pieces.  Most of what I've been doing is hardly worth photographing (finishing the wiring to a 12 volt plug in the saloon, which involved trying to find decent cable clips - Paul at All Marine ended up giving me some nice copper ones he had left over from one of his jobs; cutting hose for the 'plumbing' to exactly the right length, etc, etc,)  However, there are one or two photos that might be of interest, so it's probably worth writing my blog today.

 Many moons ago, I tried to purchase the most wonderful little woodburner, only to find it was no longer in production.  So I bought Raoul's Flick which was almost as nice, but was black all over.  I like a bit of colour and as the poor wee thing was a bit scratched from having been ordered long before it was required, I decided to paint it in two colours.  So part of it is a sort of dark sage colour and the rest is black.  It looks pretty good, actually, but more so in the flesh than in the photo.

 However, when reading the instructions (yes, I do!) I saw that they suggested firing it up before installing it, because the paint has to be 'seasoned', so to speak, like a good frying pan.  What fun!  I've been desperate for an excuse to see how it goes.

 Well, as you can see, it goes very well indeed.  It was the easiest thing to light and went off like a little rocket.  The damper is just amazing: close it off and the fire almost goes out, open it a wee crack and it comes back to life: wide open and you have a little blast furnace going.  As so many people have told me that I'm installing the fire all wrong, it's nice to know that I can shut if off so effectively.  It should reassure them.  Anyway, I left the damper wide open and sure enough, once the stove had got good and hot, I could see fumes rising from the surface.  I just hope it was hot enough for long enough.

 A lifetime of being short of cash has made me somewhat chary of throwing things out and sometimes this pays off.  Again, many moons have passed since I cut out the holes for the port holes, but I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, so stacked them under the bench.  Well, I had cut out two 127 mm holes in my deck (for the decklight and chimney) and needed spacers around these holes between the headliner and the deck.  Not only were my cutouts the ideal size, but the hole up the middle allowed me align them perfectly.

 I then took the 127mm hole saw (thank you, Norsand) and cut out the correct size hole.  Clever, eh?

 In the meantime, I had got out varnish for some reason, so could put some on the brass and finally fit the remaining portholes.  (Or starboard holes as one wag would put it.)  Finally, they are all in.  You might think it's extremely idle of me to try and put off polishing these.  Correct.

 Neurotic as I am about leaks and rot, I did the WEST thing on the machine screws for the chimney.  The red thing in the background is (inexplicably) known as a chimney jack and is of a very special silicone rubber that is supposed to tolerate a higher temperature than is normally the case.  It comes in red, red or red, to differentiate if from the less heat-resistant type of  'jack'.  I dare say I can live with it.  The best thing I can see with it is that it can move up and down with the chimney, as it expands and contracts.  From past experience, the vertical component of this can be disconcerting to say the least.

 This is one of the holes in the deck.  I think the one for the chimney, but they all looked much the same.

 And here I am fitting the Air-only ventilator that goes in the heads.  They are complicated things to fit, and being somewhat dumb about these things, I had to print out the instructions to ensure that nothing was forgotten.

Having fitted it, I am entirely convinced that it will keep the water out (watch this video if you want to be reassured); however, I'm not entirely convinced that it will let any air in!!

 Still, it looks very seamanlike on deck, next to my lovely little decklight.  (Davey's via Classic Marine)

 These chimney jacks are a wonderfully snug fit, but my copper downspout (yes, I know it will probably melt) has a seam on the back.  I had to go and buy some bolts for it from Steelmasters because the ones that came with the jack were (a) magnetic stainless and (b) the wrong length.  While I was there I saw they had this (apparently) magic silicone tape, which bonds to itself and is very heat resistant.  I could press it into the seam, and rolled up a couple of little sausages of the tape to put on either side.  I hope it works!

And finally, I have just about got all the trim cut and fitted.  These fiddly little bits of wood are enough to drive me into a nervous decline.  Dry fitted, they certainly made a big difference, however.  Once they are all varnished they should finish off the deckhead very neatly.

Finally, I can tick off the heads

Heaven knows, it's taken long enough.  I will offer the usual excuses of slow execution, much head scratching, one or two steps backwards and all those coats of paint, but finally, I've have completed the fit out in the heads compartment.  Which, let us not forget, included making the composting toilet, which took more googling and tooth sucking than actual work, it has to be said.

It is surprisingly difficult to get bronze fastenings any more.  No chandler had what I wanted, I tried emailing a company in NZ, but they never replied, and Jamestown Distributors, who advertise in Wooden Boat magazine, also failed to respond to my requests for information.  In the end, as I've already mentioned, I went to Classic Marine, who gave me their usual excellent service.
 

As well as the fastenings for the portholes, I'd ordered turnbuttons and 'automatic buttons', made by Daveys.  I love these natty little things, and they make strong catches.  The ones Daveys make come with a wee bush that keeps them away from the frame so that they swing easily.

Here are the doors, finally fitted in the starboard shelving.  As you can see, the frames protrude

so I made little bosses for them to sit on.  To do this I used a 44mm holesaw and cut them out of tiger wood.  They were cut in two just under the screw hole and then glued onto the framework just above the door.

On the port side is the locker which will hold my brewing barrel.  Although this will be stowed at the forward end, I decided to fit an 'automatic button' here in case the barrel works its way aft and leans against the door.  (The brass door fittings can be seen in a later photo.)

The next job was to fit the finishing wood on the cabin sole.  For this I used the tigerwood, sawn into 6mm veneer, 40mm wide.  It stiffens up the 12mm ply to at least as stiff as the 18mm most people would use.  I made, fitted and finished sanding it over four days, which I think is a reasonable investment of time for something that will require no more maintenance than the occasional clean.

I decided simply to use temporary screws and plug the holes after.  Sash clamps would have been the ideal way to hold the planks down flat, but I don't have any and screws were a quick and easy way of doing it.  Drilling plugs using a drill press doesn't take a lot of time and nor, for that matter, does putting them in.

There are two hatches in the sole area, so once I had fitted the planks, I predrilled some of the screw holes, so that everything would line up properly, and then took them down to glue up on a table.

By using washers between the screw head and the wood, I can make sure that there is minimal damage, which makes final finishing a lot faster.

I put all the plugs in with aliphatic PVA, which is a lot quicker and less messy than epoxy for this sort of job.  When the glue had cured, I used my multitool to cut them off.  This worked wonderfully well - made for the job!

Once I'd finished sanding it, I gave a quick skim along the edges to fair them off a little and soften the corner.

Personally, I think it all looks rather smart.  The framing around the doors (fitted to hide my wiggly jigsaw cuts) add a spurious air of quality, heightened by the 'automatic button'.

The tigerwood will quickly become redder - judging by the offcuts kicking around the shed -  and I think makes a pleasant contrast with the kauri.  You can see the finished composter and the catches on the starboard lockers here, too.

And here is the finished composter, showing the bucket. (I had to replace the orange with a black one: the orange one ended up about 5mm too high!)  The white under the seat is the diverter.

The switch panels were sitting around getting dusty, so I thought I might as well fit those, too.

All in all, I'm rather pleased with the whole thing and more than ready to move on with something else!!

Still fitting out the heads

Or if you prefer, "Title as Before".  Just half a dozen photos this week - one coat of paint looks much like another, in truth.  However, thank you for the feedback from those who have told me that catching up on my progress via this blog is better than working through the JRA site.  That's good to hear, because it's a lot easier for me, too!

Once I'd coated and sanded the plywood framing around the doors, it looked quite neat.  They're not perfectly even and symmetrical.  My story is that we're going for the country cottage look rather than the super-yacht finish on SibLim.  Not that I would want a super-yacht finish, even if I had the abilities to attain one.

However, the doors lined up in a satisfactory manner - this shows them located with the wooden 'hinges' as I call them attached.

As decent-quality hinges cost the best part of $20, I was seriously motivated to use an alternative.  The little lugs you can see protruding from the backs of the doors are the answer.  It means that when you 'open' the door, the whole thing comes off, but this isn't always an issue, especially if you're trying to get something big out of the locker.  Anyway, the minor inconvenience is a small price to pay for the money saved.  And avoiding the anguish of accurately fitting hinges!

The back of the port side.  The little rectangles aren't strictly necessary with the framed doors - the frame prevents them from going right through the hole.  But I only realised that after I'd made them.  I was thinking of keeping the doors shut with "automatic buttons", which are weighted catches that you fit over the door and which close by gravity and are very effective.  My friendly neighbourhood chandler had a few in stock, but insufficient for my purposes.  At $14 each, they weren't cheap, but I like them and he had no suitable brass turnbuttons.  (Yes, I could make them out of wood, but would prefer metal ones.)  So he contacted Fosters in Auckland who supply them - ah, yes, well the price has gone up.  They are now $40 each.  We looked at each other in horror.

So I went to Classic Marine in the UK.  They were offering them to me at the equivalent of $12.50 each, and I knew from experience that they charge what it costs for P&P rather than using it to make an extra profit.  However, at the same time I discovered that they were selling nice little - and affordable - turnbuttons, so I ordered some of those instead.  (I also discovered that they sell reasonably-priced hinges!)

I had some problems with their website - nothing is easy - so feeling a bit desperate, contacted Davey of London, who make all this lovely gear.  I had the most wonderful reply back from no lesser personage than the managing director and was seriously impressed at the promptness with which he replied, and the care for customers that this implied.  Anyway, Classic Marine's website sorted itself out and, I hope, these nice goodies are on their way.

In the meantime, I've been working on the starboard side of the heads compartment, where I'm fitting the electric panels, solar panel control and a shelf to put things on when I need to get at the electrics to replace a fuse, etc.

PS I finally seem to have worked out how to get my spacing sorted in the blogs.  Practice makes perfect, they say!