How many clamps does it take to clamp a sheer strake?

Lots. Here they are in action.

The sheer strake is glued and clamped.

Last week began with ripping. Robbie and Trevor planed all the 1x6
from Westwind, and then Robbie ripped it all into 1x3s.

Last week began with ripping. First Robbie and Trevor planed all the 1x6 from Westwind. Then Robbie ripped it into 1x3s. 

He used his Festool guides and skill saw on the long workbench (in the right in this picture) to do the ripping, and it worked beautifully. 

I'll add a picture later -- it's an interesting system.






Next step is decking, and the sheer strake goes in first. 

You may be wondering, "What happened to the galley?" We have been threatening to mock up the galley for over a year! 

Well, so far nothing has happened to it. We do need to do a mockup, but to do a mockup we need to figure out exactly what we want it to include. We've been thinking a lot about the things we do not want. We don't want refrigeration, we don't want a sink with a through-hull, we don't want an oven at this point anyway... and while it's helpful to eliminate the things we don't want, we aren't quite there on what we do want yet.

I did suggest that we wouldn't need a galley if all we eat are Cliff bars, and while there was enthusiasm for that suggestion it has not yet won the day.

While we dither, construction on the deck is underway. Fortunately dithering can happen mostly during coffee breaks.

Clamps and more clamps. 

The weather has been consistently reasonable for gluing recently -- so different from struggling to build when the temperature is lower. 

Clamp foot missing? There's always something
that will work!

With the sheer strake in place, Trevor began work on the deck. You can see the decking dry fit over the forward berth in the picture below.

Next up? More decking, more gluing, then likely the cabin top. 

It's an interesting time in the project. With the other hull complete, it feels like we are moving closer to completion with every step. This is the last sheer strake. The last deck over the last forward berth. Of course it was always true that any successful step forward moves the project closer to launch, but with a catamaran there was a sense of going uphill on the first hull. Now we're over the hump and on the downhill side.

And yes, I haven't forgotten the deck. And the masts. And the rigging. And the sails. And the galley mockup!

Trevor installed the shelving at the end of the berth this week, too. And I (Mary) made a singular contribution to the project, finding the book on the shelf at GIRO for less than a buck. 

Anything Tiger wants...

... and in this case, Tiger wanted deck lumber.

We did think we had this already, but as it happened, we didn't. Or we'd used what we had originally for something else. In any case, off we went to visit the expensive dog.

Lucy works at Westwind Hardwood. She's a lovely, friendly girl
but by my reckoning we never get to visit her for less than $1200.

It was a beautiful day, sunny, warm and not windy, which is nice when we're making our good little Matrix haul yet another load of something large up the island. 

Our fir was waiting for us on the forklift. We also got a long piece of mahogany and
a piece of ipe.

The short pieces fit on the trailer beautifully, and the two longer pieces went on the roof rack.

We hastened home up the island, arriving just in time to see the ferry disappearing towards Gabriola -- but the rainbow was lovely.

Moving along

It is such a deep pleasure to see the boat progressing again. 

"It's all boat work," we say, and it is all boat work too -- the cleanup and the contract work and the making dinner and all the other things that happen to support the boatbuilding project -- but it feels different when the boat work results in visible changes.

The first visible change happened when Trevor sanded the interior. The boatshop is sound and free of drips, but this is the west coast after all, and it is certainly humid. There was a light but demoralizing coating of mold or some other fungally thing on the surface of the plywood. It's all gone now, and the boat is lighter and brighter.

Much improved!

That was Week 1. Since then, there have been berth flat supports installed, and some glue-up done. 

Berth flat supports in place

The glue bench is back in action

... as is every clamp on the property for this glue-up -- cabin sole boards.

What could be more satisfying than progress on such a wonderful project, with such congenial companions, and with spring really here?

Four wonderful signs of spring

Leaves on the unknown bush by the driveway

Rhubarb, mulched with alpaca manure and doing brilliantly

Daffodils coming out along the fence

And the best sign of all, boat builders returning to the boat shop.
Spring is here, and work on the second hull has begun again.
When next we see an equinox, we hope to have two complete hulls in the meadow.

Back!

Dry fitting berth supports

We really didn't expect a delay of quite this length. Ah well. The weather is still decent, and Tiger is once again underway.

Robbie spent the last couple of days reviewing the plans, mocking up the galley and dry-fitting berth supports and knees. 

We note sadly that we will never have the privilege of sailing our completed boat across the Atlantic to meet Ruth Wharram, who died recently at the age of 92. We are Wharramites-come-lately and never had the great pleasure of speaking to Ruth. By all accounts this was indeed a pleasure, and she was beloved in the Wharram community. May her life be a blessing and an inspiration to all sailors.

Penna floats!

And how wonderful it is!

I have always thought that Penna was the prettiest boat in the bay. Any bay. With any other boats in it.  (I suspect many people feel this way about their own boat -- I hope they do! -- and that doesn't make me wrong.) With all the updates done on this haulout, I'm even more confident now.

Here she is, at the Silva Bay dock.

The astute observer will note that we haven't yet painted the cabin top, and that the sides of the cabin top are not the same shade as the hull. Well done, observer! My limited experience of boats tells me that there is always another haulout -- and we may even get this painting done before the next one. If not, no worries.

Most of the really big changes don't show from this angle. To begin with, there's the tremendous sense of security we feel just walking around on the brand new, very solid deck... and knowing that the sheer strake is new, and the top several planks on each side are new. The standing rigging's odds of remaining standing have increased dramatically. Penna is a safer and healthier boat than she has been for many a year.

I managed to not get a good picture of the wonderful cockpit. Here's the best one I came up with.

It's much more traditional in style now -- deeper, with low benches instead of the lockers we had before, and without the lazarette. This is a profoundly good thing. The air circulation below the cockpit was never great. Now it is wonderful. 

And the rather mundane photo below shows one of my favourite new features -- an absolutely oil free bilge! Trevor pumped some water into the boat a couple of days before launch, to let the wood start taking up since we've been out of the water for quite a while. Look closely and you can see the water pumping out in this picture. It's clear! There's nothing like removing a diesel inboard and replacing it with an oar and a new paint job for the bilge to improve emissions.

And here's the obligatory photo of Penna suspended in the travel list. Yikes. This is definitely not my favourite part.

There are a few things to be done, including getting back to our Degnen Bay mooring from Silva Bay and sewing a deck tent, but they are relatively minor. 

We will soon return you to your regularly-scheduled catamaran.

The masts!

We had one very exciting Tiger day earlier this summer. We moved the masts from Trevor's shop to our shop.

Here they are, safe in the shop. Still some shaping to do on one of them -- see how the one on the left is round, and the one on the right is angular? It's octagonal. It won't be when it's done.

Although they are not tall for masts -- 34 feet, more or less -- and they are fairly light, they were waaaaaaay too long for our little trailer. 

Enter Mark Pounds, Somerset Excavating. (Thanks, Mark!) Strapping the masts on to this trailer definitely gave them the air of gravitas that my alternative idea (four people walking down the road with a mast on their shoulders) would have lacked. 

Plus, easier on the shoulders.

Here they are on the floor of Trevor's shop. The astute observer will note that they stick out the door. By the time we took this picture, we'd already removed the extension on the front of the shop.

Robbie and Mark strapping them into position on the trailer.

Here they come! Yes, it is a large truck, isn't it! The masts weight maybe 30 kilos each.