Hull turn Over

The hull was turned over several months ago and it went very smoothly. 2.5 hours from start to finish. We used 2 small cranes to lift her at each end then the overhead gantry inside the shed to control her as she rolled over.

The photos show the progress. It was a really exciting morning and represents a major step forward.

Mitch

Hull welded up and ready for turn over

The hull is now fully welded. We are ready to turn her over in the next week. These photos show the spigots we have welded to each end of the hull along with doubling plates to spread the load. We will use two 15 tonne cranes to lift it and then use the overhead crane in the workshop to control the roll.

Hull now nearly complete - lots of progress

It's been a while since my last post and as they say - a photo speaks a thousand words. Life has been busy. We've got a new baby in the house (third boy). I've bought a new business and am in the process of selling another one. Also my team mate and I won an Australian title at the Australian Masters surf lifesaving championships in Perth.

Despite these many distractions my boat is progressing and I've now got the hull and keel plated, the stern tube is in place and this week we finished all the welding of seams etc. She is looking great and we are now planning for the next exciting stage which is turning her over.

I've posted three photos that demonstrate the stages from my last post until where we are now so that the progression is clear. We have used both a stick welder and Mig welder for the welding.

I've also been busy melting down lead from scrap into ingots for the keel which we will start adding as soon us the hull is turned over. I have several tonnes now and in total about 4.5 tonnes will go into the keel which will be welded shut and filled with oil so that corrosion can never occur.

All Stringers in

You can see from this photo that we have the stringers all in place now. Next we are going to frame up the transom and begin plating. The stringers have taken a really nice looking fair curve which I'm very happy with. To fair the chine lines we are using a 13metre length of 25 x 25 x 1.6mm box section steel. We'll wrap this along the hull at the chine lines, clamp it in place and when we are happy it follows a nice fair line it will be a guide for us in marking the plate edges for cutting.

Frames all standing

Well I reached a milestone this week when I got all my frames up and standing. I've not updated the site for a few weeks as I have been a bit delayed in the project.

You an see from the photo that she is now really taking shape. I was also very excited and satisfied to find that the hull looks very "fair" when sighted by eye along her sides. Now for the stringers, keel and stem.

Mitch

Last Frame Done

Here is a photo of my last frame assembled. The last 2 were the central frames under the deck stepped mast and are 50% heavier than the rest of the frames to abosrb the compression forces of the mast. Later a support tube will be welded into place from the keel to the beam under the mast.

I finished this last week and have spent a few days "scrounging" bits and pieces from around the place. When you build a boat you simply must get good at sourcing cheap or better free items from around your local area. Otherwise if you just buy retail for everything you will probably spend 30% to 40% more than you could in building your boat. Examples are lead - so far I've collected over 1 tonne at a cost of 1 case of beer. I also got a 22 inch prop with barely a mark on it for again - a case of beer (new ocst $2000 AUD). Today I picked up some useful steel offcuts from my local steel fabricators recycling bin - the price - you guessed it. I got a good haul of beam sections, channels and RHS sections. I've got uses for all of this.

Anyway this week I'm working on my rudder plus starting to make a variety of small tools that I will need during hull plating. I'll be standing up my frames starting in about 3 weeks.

I'll post a photo of my rudder during construction. If you look carefull at this photo you can see I've already drawn and cut the rudder plates. They are laying on their side in the background.

MP

Building Update

Here are some photos of latest progress. I'm busy assembling the frames and keel pieces. Have now done 12 of 17. You can see the frame patterns I lofted on the floor. The actual welding itself is very quick but getting everything assembled and in position accurately takes time and patience. I can get 2 done per day if I go all day at it.

MP