Note: I copy the daily log entries to their repective project pages almost daily. If you want to read all the entries for any project sequentially, go to the "Projects" tab and you will be able to navigate to the appropriate page. Most of the interior contruction projects will be found via links in the "Rebuilding the Interior" page. The rest of the projects have separate tabs on the "Projects" tab.
Note: I added another page under the "Projects" page that should allow smart phone and iPad users to access the separate projects via hyperlinks. I don't know why but it seems that smart phones can't access the drop down menus.
28 March 15It rained again yesterday. I didn't do much on the boat except research the mainsheet system . . . I continue to consider a traveler system but would like to have the rig installed before I commit. I spent some time on the phone with Harken. I like the Antal system, but it's expensive. By mid-afternoon, I took a pillow out to the boat, lit the lanterns, fired up the heater and lounged on the settee reading for a long while. The boat was warm and dry though at times it was raining pretty hard. I have also been thinking about halyard shackles. I'll keep the SS captured pin main halyard shackle. But, I'm considering dyneema toggle shackles, that I can make myself, cow hitched to spliced loops in the double braid for all the remaining halyards. I probably should keep a snap shackle for the spinnaker halyard. That is one halyard you want to be able to release when it's under pressure. I may experiment this week making soft shackles. Today, the sun came out though it was cool and windy. I opened up the lockers and aired the boat out . . . not a drop of water in the bilge after several days of off and on rain. I am restless to get the boat to the boat yard. Eventually, we will get a stretch of some decent weather.

Without the headstay attached to the cranze iron the bottom of the bowsprit makes contact with the gammon iron. I also had a little more room (space) above and below the bowsprit than I wanted. I decided to "inset" a 5" long x 3 3/4" wide piece of 1/4" thick G-10 about 1/8" deep into the bottom side of the bowsprit right where it sits in the gammon iron. If the bowsprit makes contact with the gammon iron over time, it will be the G10 that gets abraded and not the bowsprit. The bottom line is the bowsprit should have a slight gap between it and the gammon iron so it won't trap water between it and the gammon iron. After I routered the inset out, I coated it in unthickend epoxy and let it sit for two days. Then, I scrubbed it with water and a maroon 3M pad and wiped it dry with white paper towel to remove any amine blush. When it was dry I lightly abraded it with 180 grit paper, vacuumed it, and wiped it down with acetone. I then tapped off the edges of the bowsprit and the G10 and glued the G10 plate in with 3M 4000. I clamped it in place. Next, wiped up the excess squeeze out and peeled the tape to achieve a neat finish. I left it clamped for two days then removed the clamps.

25 Mar 15: Waiting on the Weather We are ready for the boat yard . . . but we are also waiting on the weather. We have had a lot of rain the past six weeks. And though the temperatures are up (70 and sunny today) we are still getting a good hard two or three days of rain in a row every four or five days. The boat mover wants the yard to dry out a little more. I am getting impatient . . . not with the mover, but with the weather. In the mean time we are working on small projects. I took some photos of the interior today (see the photo album below).

17 Mar 15With the sun up and the Far Reach bathed in sunshine I took a few photos (below). Looks like we can't move the boat this week. The ground is still too soft and the weatherman is calling for rain Thursday and Friday. I'll use the time to continue work on smaller projects.

Even with the bulwark, she looks longer, and leaner.

Almost any boat looks great when photographed from this angle.

I am pleased with the way the bowspirt and the bulwark flow together.

16 Mar 15We had beautiful weather today--Sunny and 68 F. It took all day but we completed the disassembly of the boat shed. By 1500 I had my first unobstructed view of the Far Reach. I am very pleased. She looks great. We spent the afternoon stacking all the wood from the shed. We sold it in less than two days after advertising it. The buyer will come by Wednesday to pick up the bows, the horizontal stringers, and diagonal strapping. To the right is a before and after picture. I'd like to have photos with the sun behind me vice putting the boat in the shadow of the garage. I'll add more later. In fact, soon, I'll put together a "before and after" tab on the web site. We now begin the prep phase for moving the FR to the boat yard.

The Far Reach before.

The Far Reach after.

15 Mar 15Yesterday, it rained all day. It absolutely poured. I was amused that I felt a little apprehensive . . . like I had developed Stockholm Syndrome with the shed. What a long time it took us to get to get to this day. My friend Steve, along with my sister Tricia, joined us this morning to give us a hand in taking down the bow roof shed. We started by removing the doors, then the fastening strips around the perimeter edge of the shed and along the top of the ridge pole. By then, I was no longer concerned. I just wanted to see how shed looked.

The morning started like any other day for the last six years . . . with the Far Reach safely tucked away in her cocoon.

But it ended like this, with the early spring sun shinning down on our hard work.

Finally, we removed the cover and stepped back to get a better view. It was the first time I had really seen the Far Reach from more than about six feet away in nearly six years. I had become accustom to seeing her in the washed out flat colors caused by the filtering of the sun through the shed's white greenhouse plastic cover. With the sun full on her for the first time the colors popped. It was a stunning transformation that I did not expect. The blue bulwarks seemed to radiate and emphasized her sheer. The redesigned and varnished bowsprit made her look longer and leaner. My initial impressions was that I had got the dimensions right. We were delighted. We spent the rest of the day removing the diagonals and then all but two of the stringers. Tomorrow, we will carefully take the bows down and get our first fully unobstructed view.
Update 10 Mar 15: The bow roof shed is sold.

9 Mar 15We are ready to move the Far Reach to the boat yard. In fact, we had planned to take the shed down last weekend. But, an ice/snow/ rain storm Friday necessitated that we call it off until this coming weekend. The weather report is not very good for this weekend either. But, it's a little early to put much weight on a forecast for five days from now, so we will see how it develops as the weekend gets closer. I think we need at least two days to dissasemble the shed. My friend Steve has kindly offered to assist. We want to be careful and deliberate taking the shed down so we don't damage our garage or the Far Reach. We have listed the shed for sale on http://www.towndock.net in the marine classified section. While we wait for the weather to cooperate, we continue to putz around working on a few small projects (see below). We have also contacted Boat US to negotiate for a revised insurance value on the boat. John Howell of Howell Marine Inc in Annapolis surveyed the boat last month and we have forwarded the report on to Boat US. I think they will work with us but of course they won't provide much if any coverage for offshore work. It's just not their niche. We will cross that bridge when we get there. In the mean time we need to get her coverage increased before we move her out of the yard. So, with some luck, we will get the shed down this weekend and start preparing to move the boat to the boat yard.

I previously terminated the forward end of the lifelines to a shackle inserted through the aft most hole on the top of the cranze iron (click here for more information on the dyneema life lines). I was not really happy with the location. I looked for along time for bronze threaded eye bolts with a solid shaft that I could tap threads into and substituted it for the original threaded shackle pin that also secure the sprit-shroud stays. I did find a couple of candidates but they were about $60 each and I would still have had to cut the threads. I recently ran across some 316 SS eye bolts with a solid shank. The solid part was too long and the total length of the bolt was about three inches long. So I asked Jim Bircher as Bitcher Inc Machine Shop in Morehead City if he would cut them to length and cut new threads to fit my 3/8" shackles. I think he did a nice job. I think this is a much better location as it takes the life lines away from the cranze iron where the jib tack is secured and reduces the likelihood of chafe on the lifelines.

I installed 3/8" diameter 316 SS eye bolts into the spritshroud stay shackles to better anchor the forward end of the life lines.

We would like to avoid the ubiquitous full width dodger on the Far Reach. Well built dodgers are shockingly expensive. They restrict your view forward, they can be hot on a warm day by blocking the breeze across the cockpit, They are difficult to remove, they interfere with storing a dinghy on the cabin top, and they add a lot of cross section windage when anchored. Plus, unless they are really designed and built properly I think they detract from the lines of the boat. On the other hand, they provide shelter for the crew in the rain and when beating in heavy conditions. They also allow the companionway hatch to be slid open improving below deck ventilation when there is spray coming over the deck or its raining. We have decided to work the middle ground by installing a flexible and easy to remove spray hood, based on a Pardey design, that will fit only over the companionway hatch itself. I'll write more about the design later but in the mean time I needed to make and install some bronze inserts in the teak companionway hatch supports for the spray hood to attach to. I cut the diamond shapes with a Boshe jig saw (a metal band saw is the best way to accurately cut them) from a plywood template I made and smoothed them with my bench top grinder and metal files. I practiced cutting recesses in some scrap wood as my skills with a chisel are pretty basic. They are secured with #8 wood screws. I tapped the center hole for a 10-24 bronze marine screw. I installed seven of them with two more to be installed later once the hood frame is built (we will build it ourselves). I will remove and bed them in the next couple of days.

This is one of seven bronze inserts I installed as part of the support build for the spray hood.

26 Feb 15I have been working on a series of small projects for the last two weeks. The weather has been horrible here. Cold, wet, snow, ice, low teens for temperatures. Sure, it's not Boston but the houses here are not made for this kind of weather. Heat pumps can't keep up with sub freezing weather. Water pipes freeze. The roads were coverd in ice. On the good side, spring is around the corner. After polishing the bronze hooks for the lee cloths I drilled the bases for the fasteners. I installed each of the hooks for the pilot berth with four #10 1 1/2" bronze wood screws. The quarter berth hooks are through bolted as the wood is not thick enough for the long screws. I decided to used 3/16" dacron double braid to secure the lee cloths to the hooks. I made a continious loop in the line with a stopper knot in one end and a pruisk in the other. I think this arrangement will allow us to adjust the lee cloths while in the berth and make it easier to loosen the line and then slip it off over the top of the bronze hooks. Once I am satisfied with the arrangement I'll sew the tail on the prusik end down and may also sew the loop around the grommet so the entire line can't slide. Done that way, I think you could adjust the line with one hand.

All three lee cloths are installed--the two pilot berths and the quarter berth.

Yesterday, I had a little time so I decided to remove the bronze hook that secures the line on the forward end of the quarterberth lee cloth. The hook had a rough edge I did not notice before and it had to be removed to be filed smooth. Because the hook is through bolted I had to remove the overhead panel under the side deck but above the head of the quarterberth in order to get at two of the nuts. The hook is positioned just about an inch aft of where the quarterberth overhead panel meets the overhead panel above the chart table. A trim piece covers where the two panels join together. It does not take long to remove the trim, usually about 15 minutes, so I was thought, “no sweat, easy day.” You know where this is going . . . . The space where the nuts are located is very tight and constricted and in fact you can only get the tip of your finger in there. I used a small combination wrench to hold the nut and a screwdriver to turn the flat head bronze machine screw. The nut was unthreaded from the machine screw but just wedged in between the back side of the cabin side panel and the end of the beam the overhead panels screw into. So, I reached up to remove the nut but somehow the nut flipped off my finger tip defying gravity and flew forward through a 3/8”x 3/4” gap just above the panel over the chart table. “You’re kidding me.” I went ahead and removed the hook, filed the edge smooth, and returned from the work shop with a short length of wire. I couldn't’t leave the nut where it was as it would slide back and forth on the top side of the panel above my head while laying in the pilot berth. Plus, just the thought of having a loose nut up there would drive me insane. I thought I could use the wire to fish the nut out of that little gap. There was no way to see in there. It was black as ink. I tried a light and a mirror. No luck. So, I fished around blind with the wire shaping it in various ways every optimistic that I could will myself some luck. I could tell I was making contact with the nut (which only encouraged me to keep trying), I could hear it, but I could not grab it. Finally, I just accepted that I would have to remove the panel over the chart table. But, here is the kicker, nearly every panel in the boat is easy to remove . . . except the one over the chart table. I had to remove trim, the sextant box, the nav tool box (both requiring some contortionist screwdriver work), a cross beam, more trim, and then some more trim. Finally, the panel came down and there was the nut . . . one inch from the gap. Three hours after I started what I thought would take 30 minutes to complete I wrapped up the project. On the good side, I was able to remove the trim and panels and get access to the darkest most remote parts of the boat without destroying anything which was one of the goals for the redesign and modification of the Far Reach.

On previous boats I have owned the anchor chain and line simply stowed in the bow compartment behind non-water tight bulkhead that had a vertical hatch in the face that opened for access. This is the common set up on most boats. Due to the small hatch, it is usually difficult to gain access into the space which can be down right dangerous if there is a tangle with the anchor chain. Also, the compartment is usually dark, hard to clean, and smells bad due to poor ventilation. As part of the rebuild of the Far Reach I wanted to address those issues. I decided to open the space up for ventilation (which would help the anchor line and chain to dry out) and access which would also help make a normally cramped forward cabin feel a little bigger. We did that (click here for more info on building the forward cabin) by cutting out and reinstalling a new more open bulkhead while also making it stronger. We also designed the storage for the chain rode and second bower to be separate. To complete our plan we decided to install chain and bower bags to contain the chain and line (see gallery below). We surmised that bags would help prevent contact between the inside of the hull and wet and sometimes muddy chain and line.

The forward locker is set up to handl about 300' of 5/8" three strand nylon line as the second bower. The grey sunbrella matches the grey paint nicely. The anchor chain drops down via the chain pipe and into the black stamoid vinyl bag.

We decided to use grey colored sunbrella for the rope bower since the compartment is painted grey and the bag would not be obvious. Also, we felt that the sunbrella would be tough enough to handle the abrasion of the anchor line. Larry Ingram of Larry's Custom Canvas in Morehead City made the bag to a pattern we provided. I installed brass eye straps in the forward face of the bulkhead for the aft end of the bag. I installed #2 brass spur grommets in the bag and then used 3/16" double braid line to secure grommets to the eye straps. I fabricated some wood padeyes and epoxied them to the inside of the locker with thick fillets of thickened epoxy. I secure the forward end of the bag to the padeyes with the double braid line. We installed a grommet in the aft bottom of the bag to allow water to pass through and dribble back to the bilge sump. Larry's Ingram recommend we use 12.7oz Stamoid vinyl fabric for the chain bag. He had it in black and constructed it to a pattern we provide. It is heavy weight and appears to be super tough, durable, and water proof. Once the bag was completed, I positioned it to determine where to install the grommets. I installed #2 brass spur grommets on the corners of the bag and then installed brass eye straps to the bulkheads using 3/16 double braid to marry the bag grommets to the eyestraps. The black bag kind of blends in with the dark space. Both bags will be easy to remove for cleaning.

I had been thinking about how we would use the awkward space below the galley sink. Between the toe-kick, sea-cock, underside of the sink, drain hose, and water line to the fresh water tap there is no easy solution. A full width shelf would have to be positioned high up to provide storage space for the trash can that Gayle decided she wanted under the sink. The drain hose would also limit the shelf space and of course anything put on the shelf would have to be secured so it would not slide around. The simplest and least invasive solution seemed to be to fabricate a deep box and bolt it to one of the bulkheads. All the normal below sink stuff would have a secure space to call home and access would be easy.

I installed the stroage box with 1/4" FH SS bolts. A small garbage can will fit to the right.

I applied the first coat of varnish cut 50 percent with mineral spirts to seal the wood.

I took some measurements and drew up a basic design. I thought about a quick glue up plywood box but then I spied some juniper off-cuts from a previous projects. It is a simple matter to cut some half-blind dove tails and if the box were varnished it would protect the wood and be a lovely sight every time you open the galley cabinet door. When given the choice, why not make something beautiful instead of pedestrian. It took 2 1/2 hours to make the box and half that was setting up the dove tail jig. I have it on my list to learn how to hand cut dove tails but that is for another time. I glued up the box last night and test fit it today. Then, I added the first coat of varnish tonight.

13 Feb 2015A couple of week ago I dropped off a 4" diameter 316 SS flue with Torch at Torch's Custom Fabrications. Torch is a great guy and a real pro. He builds custom motorcycles. He is a retired Marine who spent most of his career as a welder. He has a ton of experience and a complete fabrication shop with with all kinds of milling machines and lathes, etc. In order to get a half shield to fit around the 2 3/4" diameter flue with the desired stand-off we needed a larger pipe to start with, thus the 4" diameter one I purchased. Torch cut it in half length wise then welded small SS brackets on to it then welded them to the 2/34" diameter flue pipe. You can just make out how it was accomplished in the first photo below. He did a really nice job of polishing up the original flue so the whole thing matches the other highly polished components. He ground a radius on the corners as well. I think it looks terrific. Today, I completed the installation of the heat shield for the heater as well as for the galley stove. Afterwards, I ran the heater wide open (500 degrees F) with the Ecco fan running and without to test the effectiveness of the shielding. The wood area behind the flue shielding remained cool to the touch throughout the testing. I used #6 SS pan head screws for the 6 3/4" x 13" long shield just forward of the heater. I off set it from the bulkhead about 1/8" because I wanted the edge of the shield to overlap the walnut trim as it also got hot during initial heat testing and the trim is proud of the mahogany about 1/8". This provided a nice even look. This shield also worked very well. The only area that was warm to the touch was the small 7" wide cutout that is just above and outboard of the arm rest when you are sitting on the forward end of the starboard settee. I'll add a small piece of reflective shielding which you won't be able to see unless are looking aft from the head compartment. The other shield is visually blocked by the Ecco fan when it is sitting on the top of the heater. At this point, I am pleased with the Refleks heater. I have a pretty good feel for out it works. I have taking it apart to include the regulator. I know how to start it quickly, efficiently, and with little to no fuss. It burns clean and hot. I also drilled the holes and ground a radius on the corners for the heat shield above the galley stove. I used # 6 SS pan head screws for this shield as well. The installation for the galley stove shield was pretty straight forward. You can't see it unless you get down very low and look up under the bridge deck above the stove. The back burners just barely overlap the bridge deck and I don't expect any issues there.

In this photo you can see how the heat shield was fabricated and welded to the main flue pipe. I will need to add a small piece of shielding to the area to the right of the photo that still gets warm when the heater is running wide open.

The half shield on the flue is barely noticable.

With the Ecco fan on the reflecks heater top the SS heat shield on the bulkhead is not very visible.

11 Feb 15Work on the Far Reach continues. The weather for the paste 10 days has been mostly cold with a lot of rain. We are thinking about taking the shed down in the next two weeks. Winter should be winding down around early March and baring some unforseen event I'd like to have the boat ready to go to the boat yard by the first of March. I have spent most of my time working on completing the dinghy oars. Today, I picked up some 22 gauge ss sheeting for the small amount of heating shielding I need around the Refleks heater. I"ll have the shielding for the Refleks heater and the Force 10 stove completed in the next few days then post pictures. The bronze hooks, from which I previously made the pattern and shipped off to Mystic River Foundry, arrived in the mail ( click here and scroll down to learn more about the patterns). They are very stout and will be more than strong enough for the task of anchoring the upper end of the line to the lee cloth grommets. But, the foundry does not polish the hardware so I pulled out my buffing wheels and polishing compound. In about an hour I had them mostly polished. I have a little more work remaining to finish them up which I'll get to in the next few days.

This is a poor photo. The hooks on the left have had the first round with the sisal buffing wheen with black cutting compound. The two on the right have not been polished.

I spent most of my boat work efforts the past week completing the oars for the dinghy (click here to see more about the sculling and dinghy oar build). In order to get more balance to the oars I refined the shape of the blades and worked to thin them down. Before I could get the oar lock on the looms I also needed to thin the looms down some more too. I spayed the looms with some automotive sanding primer and used it as a guide while working the loom with a spoke shave. The paint helped me maintain a fair and consistent taper. In fact, I needed to thin them down quite a bit and I sprayed and shaved them about a half dozen times. After each shaving I sanded with 120 grit abrasive paper on a very soft pad. Once I achieved the final taper I desired I then sanded the looms with once more with 120 grit abrasive paper until they were very smooth and consistently fair. To get the 2" round bronze oar lock onto the loom I used a technique described to me by Lin and Larry Pardey. I used a hack saw to cut through the oar lock at the top, placed the oar lock in the vise, and then cold bent them diagonally open. Once I had them open wide enough I slipped them on the oar loom. I carefully place the oar lock back in the vise and then gently bent them back closed. There is a very small gap of about 1/32"-1/16th" and though I think it is plenty tight with a little more work I think they would be flush. It was actually pretty simple. It is also apparent to me that cutting them open will not degrade their strength based on what they need to be able to do. In the next few days I'll sew on some leather to protect the oar loom where they will ride in the oar locks.

The dinghy oars are essentially complete. I need to taper the handles a little more and sew on the leathers.

31 Jan 15For the last two days I have been making oars for our 10 year old 9' Fatty Knees, Sweet Pea. We have sailed and rowed this little boat extensively and hold it in very high regard. Anyway, the original oars were cheaply made and a little short. I have wanted to replace them for awhile with a set of much tougher and more robust square loomed ash oars. I had some 8/4 rough ash on hand and decided now was a good time to make the oars. The photo gallery below pretty much describes the steps. I still need to cut the handles and install the round closed oar locks over onto the looms--I'll use a hack saw to cut the oar locks open at the top, bend them open, insert them over the loom and bend them back. The original oars were a little short at 7'. The Sweet Pea is 9' long and 54" wide. The new oars are about 8'1" long and should stow inside with a about 5 inches or so to spare. The square looms inboard of the oar locks will provide some weight to help counter balance the outboard end of the oars and thus make rowing a little less fatiguing. For a reference, I turned to my copy of The Boat Builders Apprentice by Greg Rossel to gain some insight on oar construction. This book has a lot of information about building wooden boats, spars, oars and the like.

I made the oars in the boat shed under the stern of the Far Reach. You wouldn't think that making two oars would generate so much saw dust.

24 Jan 15We continue to make progress on small tasks that need to be completed while we wait for better weather so that we can remove the shed and transport the Far Reach to the boat yard. Last week, I had arthroscopic surgery on my knee. This is not the first time. I was concerned it was time for a total knee replacement but the doctors felt my knee still had enough life left in it. This will of course further slow down work on the boat but the timing is pretty good. I have a few more small projects to complete that won't be hindered by recovery and I am already walking around eager to get back to work. Iremoved the teak block I previously installed as part of the stern anchoring system and painted it with four coats of Interlux Brightside then reinstalled it with bronze nylon locking nuts which I reused from the boats original hardware. Painting the blocks helps it to better blend in with the bulwark.

I cut a 4" diameter hole in the fore and aft bulkhead that runs along the underside of the cockpit foot well on the starboard side (from the old engine compartment into the starboard cockpit locker). The hole allows me to have direct access to the fuel shut off ball valve that I previously only had to access to through the top of the cockpit locker. My arms were just barely long enough to reach under the tank and to the valve, if the locker was empty. Neither Gayle nor the kids could reach it. Previously, I installed a clear fuel filter just forward of the ball valve to filter the fuel somewhat and to allow visual inspection of the fuel. It was a simply install and by shutting off the ball valve it is easy to disconnect, clean, and reinstall.

I added a clear fuel filter to better assess the condition of the fuel.

I cut a hole through the fore and aft bulkhead so I have direct access to the fuel tank shut off ball valve.

Lastly, just before my knee surgery I picked up and installed the lee cloths for the two pilot berths and the quarter berth. I had them made from 7oz sail cloth vise the usual sunbrella as they are thinner and dry quicker than sunbrella. I designed these to fit around the 'thwartship beams that support the bunk boards. They have pockets sewn into the bottom him to accommodate 3/8" thick x 1 3/8" wide ash battens that I repurposed from ceiling strips left over from rebuilding of the interior. I secured them with ss pan head #12 x 1" fasteners with ss washers. They are very securely fastened. The top edges will be secured by 3/16" dacron three strand with adjustable prussic eyes looped over bronze hooks. The hooks have not been installed as they are currently being cast by Mystic River Foundry. The lee cloths were made by Laura Turgeon and Gil Fontes at Hodges Street Sails in Oriental, NC from patterns I provided. They were delightful to work, knowledgeable, made helpful suggestions, and very professional. I am very pleased with their work.

The quarter berth lee cloth installed.

2 Jan 15I mailed off the patterns for the lee cloth hooks to Mystic River Foundry. I hope to hear back from them next week. Today, I sewed a bag for the parachute storm anchor. Nothing fancy. In fact, I used material from and old sail bag along with some sunbrella scrap. I reinforced the bottom, added a nylon retention strap, and a draw string. Hopefully, we will never need to employ it. I ran the Refleks heater some today and experimented with some shielding options (click here for the link on the Refleks heater installation). I attempted to determine if what the Force 10 tech rep I talked to last week told me was accurate--that I did not need to provide an air gap, I could put the SS shielding on the wood without spacers. I used some aluminum foil and taped it to the surrounding wood where I had previously determined that the wood got hot. Surprisingly, the wood behind the foil, even though it was in contact with the wood, remained cool while the wood just above and below the foil was warm. Interesting. I also took some heater top temperature measurements with the fan running (see photos below). With the Refleks heater on the lowest setting the heater ran about 200 degrees. Without the fan, the top of the heater measured 375 F. With the heater set to level 3, it measured about 275 F vice 450F. So, I decided to set heater to level 7 of 9. It measured about 325 F and I estimate that without the fan it would have been about 500F. I did not want to run the heater that high without the fan as I knew the wood would get very hot. At setting 7 the fan was blowing an impressive amount of heat across the boat. It was not that cold today so I don't know what the "felt" effect would be with colder temperatures but my instincts tell me the fan will significantly (?) contribute to moving hot air across the boat reducing cold spots and creating a more consistent temperature. These are of course, just preliminary impressions. I had no trouble starting the heater. It fired right up, burning clean and clear from the start.

With the fan running the heater top was 200F vice 375F.

With the fan running, the heater top was 275 vice 450F.

Setting 7 of 9. I estimate the heater would be over 500F without the fan running.

1 Jan 2015Last week I made the templates for the lee cloths. Because of the foot well for the pilot berths they don't have to be very long. Due to the individual bunk boards under the cushions, vice a long sheet of plywood secured to the framing, the lee cloths have to be secured to the back of the settee below the bunkboards. It's makes the pattern a little more complicated. To keep them thin, but strong I am considering having them made from 8oz sail cloth vice sunbrella. I dropped them off with a sail maker to get an estimate. They said they would let me know in a couple of days. If it's too expensive, I'll make them myself from the cadet grey sunbrella I have on hand.

One of the three templates for the lee cloths.

I'm still fussing around with the hooks for the lee cloths. I think the wood ones I made from ipe are plenty strong. But, I am not confident that two #10 wood screws are strong enough to do the job if an adult is sleeping in the berth and the boat where to take a sudden knock down. I was unable to find any on-line that meet the requirement. So, I decided to make a pattern for hooks that would be cast in bronze and secured by four fasteners. I used the experience I gained making the pattern for the gammon iron. I had to design in "draft" so the foundryman and pull them from the casting sand more easily. After filleting the inside corners and sanding them, I coated them in orange glazing compound and sanded them smooth to remove minor flaws and pin holes. Then, I painted them with grey primer and sanded them again. This is how they will be shipped to the foundry. The design is ok. Simple and strong. I would have liked something a little more elegant, but my artistic side seemed to be on vacation.

After making the pattern I coated them with glazing compound then sanded them to remove pin holes and minor flaws.

Next, sprayed grey primer on the patterns. This is how I will ship them to the foundry.