Chain Locker and Forepeak.

Floors and bulkheads have been cut and fitted and are ready for final fixing, once sealing of timber in the forepeak and chain locker has been done. Also before final fitting is done the galvanic protection cable to the bow fitting needs to be inserted as well as the chain locker drainage to the sump. The pictures show the floors of the chain locker and forepeak cubby temporary in place as well as the chain locker bulkhead which has been cut but still needs the hatch to be cut out and finished.

Restart after long layoff

Well it's been a long time coming, but work has started again and needs to go ahead at a steady pace from now on. Last week I pulled in the cables for the negative and positive busses for all the house wiring which is a loop running from the position of the chart table, forward along the starboard side through the sail locker and then aft along the port side. Feeder wires will be taken off this for all light and socket points where needed. Most of this will be done before bulkheads, bunks, lockers etc are fitted. I plan to make this as maintenance free as is possible and will also ensure easy acces once all fixtures are in place.
I have also run a seperate cable loop around the chine for all the Electolytic Protection to metal fittings and the sacrificial anode.

Next step will be to install the chain locker floor and bulkhead.

Pics to follow.

The Passing of a Great Man - An Angel amongst men.

Dad overseeing the Turning

Dad and Mom at Futtock Party

On the 1st of February my father left this life in order to prepare the way for my mother who left us 11 days later on the 12th of February. It was to have been their sixtieth wedding anniversary on the 3rd of February. My mother had alzheimers for many years and dad had dedicated his whole life to looking after her, eventually giving up his own before his time in order to prepare the way for her. There is no greater sacrifice that a man can make.

This project is here because of all my father taught me and I will be eternally grateful to him for that and I know that he was immensely proud of my achievement thus far. This project will be completed in his memory.

Love you Dad and Mom. Go well and look after one another wherever you are.

We Are Back

To all those who follow my blog, I have not fallen off the edge of the world, although my world did change quite drastically when we turned the boat because on the same day I also met the most amazing lady. Jay has changed my life totally and although the boat building has not stopped altogether, I have to admit it has slowed down quite substantially. This is not however of great concern as this was always going to be a long term project and now that I have someone special to share it with, it just makes it all that much more worthwhile. Things are going to remain slow over the next few months as Jay and I are going on a cruise in the Baltic and a road trip through the South West of England during September.

In the interim though there has been some progress on Tididi in that most of the interior temporary timber has been removed, all the interior joints have been filled and the cockpit frames and aft side deck beams installed.

The Cradle

In the two weeks that have passed since the turning, I have cleaned out the inside of the hull, removing all the cobwebs and epoxy that had squeezed through when filling the holes. The next step here will be to fill all the joins and do fillets where necessary and then the fitting out can start.

In the meantime I have also constructed the cradle and layed concrete blocks for it to stand on.

AWESOME!!!!!!

That is how Saturday was. The turning went better than I could have hoped for and a great time was had by all who attended the Turning and the after party. Thanks to all those who came and made it such a great day. It is sometimes unwise to thank people individually in case you leave someone out who might feel hurt, but there are a few people who need special mention. First and foremost my Father who taught me all I know and Maureen for support and encouragement along the way. The diggers, Theo, Brendon and Skatie who pitched in and dug out the ground as she was turning. Patrick for steadying the ship as she went over and all those who assisted in turning. All the ladies who assisted with food and salad preperations and Skatie (once again) who took it upon himself to organise the fires and braai the meat. Christine and Roy for taking pictures to capture the moment (attached pictures by Roy).

More pictures of the turning coming soon.

TIDIDI has a list.

Work has been going on at a frantic pace over the past few weeks, getting everything ready for the turning. Phineas spent the past two weekends digging a hole under the boat to allow it to turn. Fortunately the ground is soft and apart from having to dig through some Wattle roots it went quite smoothly.

This past weekend I removed the last of the supports which the boat was still resting on and she settled onto the A-frames perfectly. I was able to swing her slightly with very little effort by hand, which made it easier to dig the last of the ground out. If the way she turns on the pinions is anything to go by, then turning on the 5th should go without any hitches. If the balance is right all we will need is one block just to stop her from turning too quickly and if everything were perfect we would probably not even need that.

Final preparation for turning.

I am busy now with final preparations for the turning on the 5th of December. The Bow and Transom pinions are complete and fitted, together with their respective A-frames. These are ready to fully support the boat once the building stocks have been completely removed.

This coming weekend, I will be getting some help to start digging underneath the boat in order for it to turn. I am also getting the underside, below the waterline ready for the second coat of primer and will be completing this together with the waterline by next weekend. Topsides will be finished off once the boat is upright.

Getting ready to turn

The last two weeks have been very productive, having sanded, sealed and painted the hull with the first primer coat. I had originally taken a week off work for this but extended it to two weeks in order to achieve this. I have also now completed the aft pinion assembly and am ninety percent finished with the bow pinion and A-frame. The only other thing that remains with these is the A-frame for the transom pinion. In theory this should work and Roy from CKD has used this method in practise successfully, so here's holding thumbs.

Now it's really starting to look like a boat.

Albeit upside down still, but we are getting closer to the turning on the 5th of December. Pictures show the first coat of primer going on. This should be completed tomorrow, after which any imperfections will be filled and sanded ready for the second coat. The vertical lines which can be seen in the top picture are the overlapping spray lines which are not completely dry.