Everything takes longer

Ready for the third voyage. Thanks, Reinhard!

And we undertook another voyage. I gave up on getting Dave to do things my way, and found a temporary harbour at the Garden Root, a nursery not too far from home.

Prince left the gardening for a while and helped with patterns. 

And my dog took a chunk out of my arm, with ensuing infection which required two operations. So I enlisted all possible helpers, and even got to use some of my grandfather's tools!

To be redone: Floors, panels, ceilings (Yes, I know all these things have nautical names... ) and then the interior furniture. I am waiting for the light fittings to be delivered, I found the plastic inserts I want to use to be able to remove the ceilings, and I have an eye on brass ones for the panels and other furniture.

Electric wiring can begin to go in, and then we are off for three weeks!

Some rain has come in, and now we see the truth of the need for proper varnish. At least I have been able to contact the industrial sales manager of a major paint manufacturer, who put me on to an industrial, anti-fungal paint. But the bad news is: All the laquer has to come off...

Shahnaz lent a hand. Grandfather's marking gauge
worked after all these years, batteries did not run out
 on these things.  

Is that how you do it?

Fungus damage after rain. Not good. 

Mine is bigger than yours...

Yes, Doug, but mine is closer to the finish, I hope.

Shahnaz with Seeker. 

Another load of lead goes in.

Casting the bronze.

No, it was not a magical transformation. We were going on a diving trip to Mexico, and stopped off for a week with Doug and Betsy in Oklahoma to give them a hand with their boat, SV Seeker. She is more than three times the size of Dreamtime, and Doug has shown remarkable drive and dedication to bring this enormous project so far. We were able to meet some of his many friends and collaborators, exchange ideas, and learn a lot. Apart from pouring 10 000 lbs of lead into the keels, we also participated in casting a bronze gipsy for the capstan, an incredible experience.

Doug is an example to all boat builders, and I heartily recommend his website: www.svseeker.com.

Thanks for the hospitality and friendship!

And yes, we did get some fantastic diving, as well as a great taste of Mexico. We might be doing a blog on that too.

Next week I hope to move Dreamtime closer to home, and begin the finishing off.

The results look good. 

Shahnaz with Pancho Villa. 

Rocca Partida in the far Pacific. Mantas just below the surface. 

This is not April Fool's day yet

Extensive use was made of CAD:
Cardboard Aided Design

The woodwork has been making slow progress, characterised by the statement: "Coen, you cannot do it like that." People who know me will know what the result of such a statement is. One problem is the sealing of the wood. Dave believes that it is not necessary, and that the lacquer will be good for 50 years. So all will have to come out and every edge sealed with epoxy.

The offending panel. The water stain can come out,
but the patches will remain. 

Bambo work top: And he probably expects
 me to prepare food on that!

The main bulkheads are in, and packed up because the brackets are not in line. The packing pieces will have to be re-done, sealed in epoxy and bolted in. One bulkhead has to be replaced, the bad side of the plywood faces the living area, the good side is in the shower compartment where it will  be painted. Now some people suggest that one could put things over the bad spots on the offending bulkhead. Which brings me to Benjamin Franklin's statement: "If better is possible, good enough is not good enough. I will not be able to look at that bulkhead for hours as it is.

Window frames and cover strips

Second part of galley unit. 

Forecabin jigsaw puzzle

The galley is almost finished, it will have a bamboo worktop. It comes in several pieces and not, as I wanted, in separate units that can be removed and modified one at a time. So that is something I will have to change. The same goes for the furniture in the saloon. They are nice pieces of joinery work, but I will have to rework them to get what I wanted. The same goes for the lockers in the fore cabin.

Deck beams in production

The floor planks are more or less assembled. I convinced Dave that they can have hooks under so they can slide into the steel angle to lock down. Some stiffening will still be needed, and some mechanism for locking them in place will still be designed. The ceilings are ready and was being sprayed when I was there on Friday. The side panels complete with window frames are in, or ready to go in. Getting insulation behind the panels still present problems, I will have to remove them, do some more preventative painting behind the panels, cut the insulation batting by hand, and stick it in.

Does he have a clue what he is going to do?

Some thoughts on subcontracting: Janice in Seaweed had lots to say about her two year re-engining saga, and I cannot disagree. (http://janice142.com/Articles/ThreeKeysWhenHiring.html) One problem is that people do not know how to listen. That has been a problem since the beginning of this project. To the extent that I now take a pencil and chalk and write what I said on the offending piece.

When selecting a subcontractor, observe: If he (or she) is more interested in telling you their anecdotes and clever ideas, keep on looking. If someone tells about a job they are really proud of, ask for contact details to check if the client was also satisfied. And do check, or walk away. Ask why I say so...

Floor planks showing hooks and interlocks. 

My hoped-for launch date was March. I am now hoping that I will be ready for the water by December, even if some of the systems are not ready.

With the boat more than an hour away from me, and with the woodwork going on inside I have been unable to work on the electrical system or the plumbing. When I get to it I will write it up.

But on 1 April the boat has to move from Dave's. I had an ideal site close to home, but the City Council will not allow. Another possibility is not saying Yes. I have two possibilities to try on Monday, then I am off for three weeks.

My tarot cards said: Be open to the Universe. Ask what you need. I guess a good building site will appear.

End of the year. And what does the future hold?

The interior is bare...

I  had hoped to have the boat on the water, or at least ready for the move to the water by now. That has not happened. But there is steady if slow progress.

Cut and try, the only way.

The interior is taking shape slowly. Cardboard templates give most of the shapes, and then it is a case of 'cut and try' as the old shipwrights said. One problem is that the cleats on the hull, which Wynand welded on where the bulkheads should go, are not in line and also not square. So the bulkheads will have to be packed up.

Laminated window frames took a lot of time
and artistry.

Then Dave, the shipwright, and I had some differences of opinion regarding the need to have the interior built in a modular fashion, so one could take out units and change them, or at least inspect the hull. In the end every part had to fit through the companionway hatch in any case, so we are not too far off the modular concept.

Kitchen unit. OK, the galley then.

We should have the interior in by January, and the floors are now the next priority. Again they must be securely fixed, but must be removable to inspect for rust and water.

And we have a sample piece of sailcloth, so in January we will get the battens, and plan the sails, cut the foresail and begin stitching. Another learning curve. I could not find stainless steel rings for the sails so David made them.

Main bulkhead going in.

And we have begun planning the electrical systems. I thought it would be simple, a few pieces of flex to carry the 220 volt, some more for the 12 volt, and voila! But Rean is an electronics engineer, and suddenly things are not that simple. And the electrical wiring should be in before we tackle the ceilings.

At the same time the plumbing has to go in, yet another learning curve!

Thanks to everyone who helped through 2015, with muscle power, advice, and just by being there.

Zimbabwean Pete advises on the interior.

Woodwork

Progress  has been slow over the past two months. We have been feeling our way along, with many discussions and differences of opinion. At least there is some progress.

This was the easy one! And already rusted behind. 

Cutting into the keel. Yes, we should have done it before painting. 

David, Bongani and I have been concentrating on the hull, eliminating such rust traps as we could, to the point of cutting into one of the keels to get an offending bar out. I will explore coating systems to handle the hidden rust danger early in the new year.

Planning the salon.

Galley mockup. 

Fitting washboards.

Dave has been working on the bulkheads, making a mockup of the galley area, and working out the interior details.

A second voyage

Main mast

Our time at the Profection factory has drawn to an end. One of the last jobs they did for me was to weld up the mast, all 8.3 meters of it, and fix the mast foot and cap. Excellent work as usual. I cannot say enough of the kindness, support and encouragement I had from everybody, even when I asked for small one-off jobs in the midst of large production runs. Thanks, guys! I promise, when I look at Cape Horn and all goes well, I will remember your work.

Then we towed Dreamtine some 60 kilometers east, to Dave's farm, where the woodwork will be done. Again I had assistance from Reinhard, my daughter Hester and grandson Diederik, while Shahnaz looked in between showing her relatives around nearby Cullinnan.

Granddaughter Mieke came to inspect and pronounced
this a happy ship. 

While Dave works on the jigsaw puzzle, I had David and Bongani help eliminate the last rust trap we could eliminate, a construction flange in one keel. Appropriate language helped. Now we have to do the last of the preventative painting, get the hatches working, the hinges in where necessary, and then it is over to Dave.

Grandson Diederick checked the tie-downs

...and handled the communications.

Lieb provided his truck. Thanks!

Rust trap behind chainplates. Injected corrosion retardation product may help

Flange in the starboard keel came out with the help of bad language. Now to clean up and paint. 

A butterfly emerges ...

Trevor sanding the filler.

And at last the rusty hulk that had become a battleship grey submarine becomes a pristine white beauty. Well, almost. 

Teamwork conquers all: Merven and Francois sanding

We are dodging forecasts of rain, badly needed in the reigning drought, but still a problem in our painting program. And a short side trip to Cape Town took an important week out of our dry weather, but made up in good foor and wine. 

Is that going to be a submarine? Well, no longer!
The transformation begins.

So three guys from a shelter for homeless people came to help me 'flat' the hull, which means sanding it until it is a matt finish, which is good 'tooth' for the final coat of paint. And we discovered that the Carboguard undercoat is amazingly hard, so hard it blunts the sandpaper within minutes. 

I also took the angle grinder to the offending filler, and re-filled, but very frugally this time. Still a few small blemishes, but we are getting there. 

Then the girl at the paint place suggested we thin the 2K paint to 30 %, which made it much too thin, so we have a number of runs. And some water in the air line did not help, neither did the new spray gun: someone said we should turn the metering needle out, Eric demonstrated that it should be all the way in with the thin paint. The gun should be held away from the work, no, near the work... The learning curve continues. 

Adding a few extra microns where it is needed

Well, this week we should have time to flat it again, spray polyurethane on the decks, a second coat of epoxy on the hull, and make some progress with the mast step and other fittings. 

My thanks to David and Bongani who helped over weekends and did the major painting, Eric from Profection who showed us how it should be done. Merven, Koketso, Robert and Francois helped sanding, Prince cleaned and washed, Trevor sanded and advised. 

David admiring his handiwork.

As the Terminator said: I'll be back!