2006

As soon as Tanya and I return from San Francisco, in March, I get to work on the mast and rig. I had install some clutches and folding padeyes on the mast, but it's still far too cold for even fast-cure epoxy. It takes heat guns, or several days, for each batch to cure.

04/09: fishing halyards and working on the mast.

By the end of April, I have a predicament. Ian still hasn't started manufacturing the beams, and I now have nothing else major to do before joining and launching the boat. I could putter around with the interior refinements, but I always planned to do that after launch, because I want to go sailing. So I decide to start building the beams myself. Ian has developed a slightly different beam for the F-32, with some improvements. A flange on the front of each beam cuts spray, and I intend to use it to mount the nets. I will also add a flange to the aft edge of the beam, also for nets. The shape of the new beams is slightly different, and on the production version the upper folding strut mounts are integral, not bolted-on. I intend to use Precourt's aluminum strut mounts. I can always put a fairing around them later if I want to make my beams look more like the new ones. The most important difference is that the internal bulkheads are now over 1" thick instead of being made from a single piece of 1/2" foam, which gives a far better surface to glue on the top.

04-17: beam molds and Precourt folding system kit.

I'm going to try to "mass produce" the beams: instead of cutting one part at a time, I'm going to make four (or in many cases 8), so by the time I get to the second beam, I have all the necessary parts waiting. I will only use one mold, but the beams stay in the mold for only the first part of the building process.

I'm also going to vacuum bag the beams, or at least the stacks of unidirectional carbon fiber that are required. Since my carbon is slightly lighter weight than specified, I need to use at least one additional layer, depending on whether the beam is forward or aft and top/bottom layer.

04-23: beams, mast, boom, electrical, outboard
05-02: hoisting the mast onto the deck
05-14: vacuum bagging the beams
05-21: internal webs in the first beam

One of the unexpected challenges of boatbuilding in Ohio is the climate's variability. The first week we moved here, our neighbors said, "We have an expression in Ohio. If you don't like the weather, wait 20 minutes." They weren't kidding. Our first winter here, we had a snowstorm the last weekend in April. This winter wasn't as bad, but we still had to use the heat every day after we returned in March, until the beginning of May, when it became so hot and humid that we had to turn the a/c on. I've never experienced a place where you could go from needing heat to needing a/c within a week, or where the heat goes on one day and the a/c goes on the next. I call it "Wummer". It's not summer, and it's not winter, and it sure isn't spring. And we're not "temperature wimps". We keep our heat thermostat set to 63 during the winter and our a/c set to 79 during the summer. How does this affect boatbuilding? Obviously, a lot of the time it's too hot or too cold. The minimum garage temperature at which I'll go out and work is 32 degrees. Of course, one winter we had 30 consecutive days where the temperature did not climb above 32. On the high end, it depends a lot more on humidity than temperature. High humidity can make even 78 degrees uncomfortable. The main impact, though, is on epoxy resin, because there is enormous variability in epoxy cure time depending on ambient temperature. Some days you have to put heat lamps on and other days (frequently the next day), the same epoxy is smoking in the pot 5 minutes after you mix it. I took copious notes about gel times and ambient temperatures for the various epoxies that I used.

Raising the mast for the first time: 05-23, 05-25

05-30: giving the beams some fresh air.

06-02: how to vacuum bag the tops onto the beams without crushing the beams.

06-18: more beams, composite bow roller, hull/net attachment tubes.

07-08: beams complete! I slip the beams into the appropriate holes in the floats to make sure everything is going to fit, and when that works, I roll the boat out and mount the upper folding struts to the boat.

07-12: all 4 beams mounted, and I'm starting to mount the port float. Unfortunately there's not enough room in my yard to unfold both sides at once (too many trees in the way), so I have to do one side at a time.

Tip to future builders: according to the plans, you don't install the beam bolts until after the floats have been glassed to the beams. I recommend installing the beam bolts before attaching the floats to the beams. This is because it would have been much easier to fold and unfold the beams the dozen or so times necessary to install the beam bolt pads and bolts if the floats had not been attached, and if the beams had still been completely independent of each other. More importantly, my beams were held in place with straps, and the starboard forward beam shifted 1/4" while I manhandled the float into position, which caused it to rub against the hull while unfolding and forced me to add an extra wire from forward to aft beam to correct the misalignment. This wouldn't have happened if the beams had been bolted in place.

07-13: installing starboard float (in the rain).

07-31: glassing inside of float/beam connections and sealing up floats.

08-12: mast up once more to test gooseneck and final check of mast raising gear.

On to the launch pages...