Thread: Building Shesha, a Hunter Valley GIS, Australia

Interesting...

At page 25, my plan book says:

Assemble the hull upright.

I took that to mean right side up.

I was aware of the possibility of a gap at the bottom because of Callsign222's experience, and I saw there would be a gap during the dry fit. But as Mik noted about the notches, things are under a lot of stress during the dry fit and it would be difficult to make a series of small cuts working your way to a very close fit during the dry fit. It can be done. It will be time consuming. And, I'm not sure you'd eliminate the bottom gap.

I don't know what the solution is to the issue.

Originally Posted by BobWes

Interesting...

At page 25, my plan book says:

I took that to mean right side up.

That is true Bob, thanks. I was referring to page 1 of the plan drawings which outlines the procedural steps, and which seems to be at odds with the instruction pages. Maybe the Kahuna had a change of mind when he did the write up

Howdy,
Yes the drawings on the first page sheet were drawn up for a boatshow pamphlet and I included them as a guide. There are more turnings over through the process. I guess you could say the upside down bottomless construction pic is with the boat turned over ready for the bevels and to take the bottom.

But to tell the truth - it wasn't a deeply analysed thing at the time.

MIK

My search for some decent rudder and transom gudgeons came to an end today when I visited Bob Fussell's little shop in Warners Bay, on the shore of Lake Macquarie. Bob's shop is old school but he stocks everything that matters to when it comes to dinghy sailing and he doesn't even have a web presence! Bob's main business is sail-making. Aussies may recognise the name as Bob is a noted 505 skipper and has represented Australia.

Anyway, I walked away with all the fittings I needed in one go and with personal service from Bob himself.

Here are the gudgeons I got. They are Riley part numbers RM399HD and RM587, 8mm pins and 38mm wide. The pin hasn't got a part number on it.

The arms are a bit long, but I'll fit them at the same time that I dry-fit the rudder casing, and countersink internally the four bolt-heads that extend to the casing. Just a bit of forward planning needed here.

To use a South African sailing slang term, they are "muntu parts". (which means their strength comes from the use of heavy materials rather than from fine delicate engineering) Rudder Gudgeons are a good place to justify the use of such parts I think.
Attachment 127642

The other fittings I found with a definite coolness factor are the clam cleat keepers. A simple but brilliant way to prevent released ropes from re-cleating themselves unintentionally. They just fit over the top of clam cleats to make a much improved cleat and do the same job as a cam cleat without any working parts. Brilliant! Clamcleats - Cleat Information

Howdy. That's great! The Riley fittings are nice and strong too. If you want you can cut one of the holes off the rudder gudgeons.

-very interesting and informative.Great photos too.Could I ask where you bought the jigsaw?
Cheers,
Dave.

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Howdy. That's great! The Riley fittings are nice and strong too. If you want you can cut one of the holes off the rudder gudgeons.

I'd have a go at cutting them if I knew how to do it without botching the job. I would also have to drill another hole too woodeneye? These things are made from 2mm thick stainless steel, and something tells me they are the tougher variety of stainless. That's 4 cuts and 4 holes to drill, so I'd need a lot of courage

Originally Posted by Dave Brewer

-very interesting and informative.Great photos too.Could I ask where you bought the jigsaw?
Cheers,
Dave.

Dave, they are still running out Triton stock on the GraysOnline site. I got mine pretty early in the campaign before the word spread. Remember though you have to pay 15% buyers premium and postage, so take this into account if you bid. GMC/Triton Tool Clearance including new product range!

The good news is that Triton will be making a comeback this month and have done a deal with Carbatec who have sole distribution rights. I believe they will also be back at Bunnings.

To make the assembly of the side panels easier, could I install the chinelogs after the sides are glued on? Or is there a good reason the plans call for the chinelogs to be attached to the sides prior to assembly?

I was thinking of dry-fitting the chinelogs before assembly of the sides, but then I thought that the screw holes might not line up after assembly due to the curve.

Hello,

The chinelogs being a lot stiffer than the side panels, they make sure that the panels run in a smooth sweep from bow to transom.

I would for sure glue them to the side panels before gluing the side panels to the bulkheads.

Best regards, Joost

Originally Posted by Joost

Hello,

The chinelogs being a lot stiffer than the side panels, they make sure that the panels run in a smooth sweep from bow to transom.

I would for sure glue them to the side panels before gluing the side panels to the bulkheads.

Best regards, Joost

OK Joost, I'll go with the standard procedure that we know works well, just to be safe

Excitement is building, my Joubert ply from Denman Marine arrives tomorrow.

Originally Posted by woodeneye

I'd have a go at cutting them if I knew how to do it without botching the job. I would also have to drill another hole too woodeneye? These things are made from 2mm thick stainless steel, and something tells me they are the tougher variety of stainless. That's 4 cuts and 4 holes to drill, so I'd need a lot of courage

I've plucked up the courage to have a go at cutting these rudder gudgeons to size, or at least the bottom one anyway. I bought a Cobalt bit and a cut-off wheel for Inox SS.

I notice that MAM deviated from the plan with his rudder stock, and has the cheeks parallel to each other, so I could just do the same and leave the gudgeons at their original length?
Attachment 128657

My brother in New Zealand emailed me today to let me know he had met up with the owner of one of the Dabchick scows my late dad and I built more than 40 years ago in South Africa. She had only recently sold the boat, so it has been in their family all this time and from all accounts it was still in great condition. This is the first any of us have heard what became of those boats we built in our garage in Ladysmith (previously Natal, Province, now Kwa Zulu) to give club juniors an introduction to sailing, so this is wonderful news. Now that he’s made contact, we’ll try to get some pictures of the boat to get an idea of how it’s faired.

I realise now that Dad who was an engineer, must have been a pioneer in the use of epoxy for boat building. From what I’ve read not many builders were building and coating boats with epoxy over 40 years ago. From all accounts the boat is still in very good nick. The only thing we didn’t realise at the time was that epoxy is susceptible to breakdown by UV, so when they left our garage they were just clear epoxy coated. Hopefully they were subsequently repainted or varnished after not too long.

My GIS will be epoxy coated and over-coated with UV resistant Marine Varnish which is a well tried and tested way to go with boats these days, so some things haven’t changed much in 40 years!!

Originally Posted by woodeneye

I've plucked up the courage to have a go at cutting these rudder gudgeons to size, or at least the bottom one anyway. I bought a Cobalt bit and a cut-off wheel for Inox SS.

I notice that MAM deviated from the plan with his rudder stock, and has the cheeks parallel to each other, so I could just do the same and leave the gudgeons at their original length?

If the tiller swing doesn't get restricted by the sides of the boat - The handle end will be lower of course.

Interesting about the Dabchicks!

MIK