My little piece of peace

[Boston]

I need a lot more timber before I can say I have actually started
Im just kinda goofing around with bits and pieces
I never did settle on an actual hull design

we basically have opposite design parameters
if the weather gets ugly in a cat your going to want to avoid pounding and sacrifice speed
in a semi displacement hull like a down east design Im going to be able to run from ugly at full tilt
( hell its what I do on land sometimes )
there may also be the occasion where Im trying to get in somewhere before nightfall

a redundant system of hopper feeds and boilers seems safest and by having more hp than needed I keep a lot in reserve just in case
also these engines have almost no maintenance issues
ttl my power plant weighs in at about a 2400lb dry were a comparable diesel weighs in at about 3500 lbs dry
more than half a ton more and far less torque
its also a lot taller
my weight distribution is lower in the vessel but has a slightly larger footprint and thats assuming one large diesel
two smaller ones would exceed the footprint of my four plus boilers

Im always open to suggestion but given the amount of time and consideration Ive got into it Ild think that redundant systems are better than not

only thing spooks me about boilers is lighting a fire in the bottom of a $250,000 pile of lumber

enough about me on your build page though
when Im ready to post my progress on things like skylights and windows Ill post it in a new thread
untill then
Ill just read along and keep learning about hull design

best o luck with your build
B

[masalai]

My sistership has recorded around 20knots (with a large version of the standard rig) from the grapevine, In ideal conditions I may get near that and at about 4862KG will rely more on prudence and waiting for a suitable weather window. 800mm draft will let me hide securely up many mangrove sided creeks if the need arises (mangroves make fairly good anchorage points) to tie off to...

The fire thing is one of the reasons I have only diesel for the genset and all else is electric (240VAC via inverter from the 48VDC batteries for the galley, 48VDC for propulsion and 12VDC for the ships services & nav)

The DuFLEX system seems far more robust than I had thought possible in any form of composite build. Boat feels good and (for me) looks good.... I still like your style of boat just that this suits my current needs

[Boston]

your multi hull is always going to be faster than my mono with less energy
I can see you now drink in hand sailing along with a few bikini clad beauties
or better yet unclad
but the maintenance of sails and rigging both standing and running is huge
your paying for speed one way or another
me with fire
you with rigging

Im all for you and your a dam great inspiration to get my ass in gear but Ill go with btu's in pellets at a third the cost of diesel at $225 a ton and $3 a gallon respectively ( and that disparity is only going up )
eventually diesel boats will be paying $5000+ for a fill up of a 1000 gallon tank and Ill be off the dock at a tenth of that for the same btu's
$225 is retail an if I buy a few tons at a time I get whole sale price or about 40% off

the fire thing is a sticky point and always has been
boiler explosions dont exactly impress me either but I wont have time to worry about it if anything really goes wrong

at 800 mm your sitting at about 32 inches draft
Im aiming for about 44 inches so have a similar ability to head upstream
and with a double keel we can both ground at low tide without damage
( I hope )

tell you what
soon as I get built Ill try heading down under and we can have a we built it ourselves party
we will quibble over design details then
untill then Im going to cheer you on like a drunken college fan
maybe Ill get lucky and find a drunken college cheer leader to show me how its done

[masalai]

With lots of money to help defray your build and cruise expenses

[Boston]

that an a lot of great micro brewed beer

[masalai]

Well today's imagery is of the bow - fore-beam and chainplate assembly awaiting multiple layers of quadraxial cloth tape and the stern all taking shape and looking good...

[Manie B]

Mas as always looking good, and great posts.

Do you have a picture of a cross section of that forward beam.

i would love to know how they put that together, i do assume that it is hollow? is it wood?

[masalai]

Manie, it is aluminium, a fairly heavy section and the ends to be glassed were carefully cleaned to remove all potential "grease", then sanded missing no parts else epoxy may not adhere properly, then wound with wet (epoxied) tape to specifications, allowed to cure, tidied up and fitted into place ready for more taping, and then the chainplate angles and fairing set, to have that part taped in - see post 483, 485, 490 and 501 each has a frame or two relevant to the process... You should be able to see the embedded clevis pin hole (made with 16mm ID SS tube - 2 "grooves" will be cut to take the rigging screw section, the pin is about 105mm long made from 20mm or larger stainless steel rod turned to fit with a head on one end and split pin hole at the other...

[Boston]

being an old school woodwright Im not to familiar with this tape
can you describe it to me or give me the company name so I can look it up
thanks
B

[masalai]

Just "glass" cloth woven into specific widths and with various woven patterns for different uses - joins in composite structures after being glued and filleted using epoxy and "micro-spheres" mix... explained in detail in 'the scrumble project' I think... the link is in the bob oram link of my signature area, and also check out there for the ATL site, as there must be something there too... else get back to me and I will find some better information....

[Boston]

Ill have to look up
"micro-spheres" mix as well
thanks
B

[judy]

Two links:

Glass reinforcement tapes

Working with glass tapes, epoxy and microsphere mixes

[srimes]

What engine is that? I'd like to read more about it. I like the simplicity of single action w/ auto parts, but that's not the complex part of the engine. What kind of valve train does that use?

Originally Posted by Boston

the ones I chose arent nearly as pretty but are dam efficient and use mostly off the rack auto parts in the internal rotating assembly

my 57 flat top would use 4 of these 125 hp single acting compound steam engines
I could get away with 2 but I hate the idea of a owning a gutless wonder
so I want it to be able to get up and run from a squall if needs be
they are reversible 0 to 1500 rpm
I should be able to do about 10 knots at 40 hp but want to hit 16~20 in a pinch
these engines are really compact 21x24x14 and light at 250lb each
course you have to count the boilers as well at 350 lbs each dry and I need four of em as well


your torquido idea is dam enticing
I was thinking I would incorporate them into the system for docking maneuvers and emergency power
that boat you showed a picture of with the flip down system was really impressive
I hate the idea of chopping holes in my hull for bow thrusters
course I hate the idea of chopping holes in the hull for anything

your build is coming along great Mas
way to go
dam inspirational

thanks for all the pictures
B

[masalai]

srimes, it is steam and if you PM Boston I am sure he will give you the data you require...

judy, Thanks for the help - I have been up to the shed taking photographs for Boston and to put on this thread...

On the way back, the big boys are playing with their boats - Maritimo (Bill Barrycotter) Stephan - who owns a chain of hairdressing salons has his big "pink" boat there and quite a few others... I took some video and if it works out OK I will post that, but mainly lots of still shots with the little work camera (so as to be within the 2meg size limit)... Racing Sunday - the last of the season... then they all go back to Europe and middle east to continue with a new series under altered rules....

[masalai]

For Boston (1) - is the join on the outside of the transom with cloth tape securing and "peel-ply" facilitating a cure and ready with a light sand after removing the peel-ply to paint by extracting the 'fat' from the surface... (2) - A join internally with fillet work (rounding) tape and peel-ply... (3) - heavy with layers of tape to strengthen the 19mm bulkhead that will partially support the mast step on the deck... (4) - partial build of the forward chainplate... (5) - surplus waste of two different mixes for epoxy & microspheres...