Thread: Another OZ MK2 PDRacer build in Sydney "Wood Duck"

Something a little bit different:

1. Toe-strap plates with stainless steel screws and washers epoxy-soaked and pre-inserted. Note the new piece of string - and the yellow pyramids. These are "painter's pyramids", and are used for supporting a surface so that one entire surface can be painted then flipped over and the other side done. I was considering using these on the foils but chickened out for various reasons, including DUST and point marks on the foils <gasp>





2. Primed screw holes for the toe-strap plates. A bit out of focus, I'm sorry - I was using the Canon, not the SONY. There's a couple o' resin dribbles awaiting cleanup there, too ;)





3. First (port) toe-strap plate glued and screwed in place. It's not your eyes or perspective/lens distortion - for some reason the thing screwed in crooked...





4. One side done - I unlooped the strap from around F1 and straightened it out...





5. ...to check that it wasn't going to be installed twisted when I screwed the loose end in place with the other toe-strap plate





6. Starboard toe-strap plate screwed and glued in place: this one was better aligned. Maybe the sharp point of the starboard screw on the port plate found solid wood on the top side of its hole and decided that it liked that better than the hole itself...





7. The toe-strap fully installed onto F1, awaiting some VBC to tie it onto the transom saddle - or some string to tie it back onto F1 ;)





8. Toe-strap with a really crude stern-tie mock-up using some el-cheapo VBC: the stuff used the hold the varnishing clothes lines onto the painting tent, in fact. You can see the VBC disappearing down to one of the (not-visible) line-bearers dangling at the end of the cord ;)


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While I had some active resin, I painted over the gouged holes in the mast step from where I slipped with the grinding ball in the first attempt to clean up the step. While that soaked in I mixed up some high-strength glue and then slopped it over the general direction of the holes. I'll go back later and tidy it up when it starts to go gelid - at the moment it's a real mess. Poor eyesight, the wrong glasses and a rather dim headlight by that stage tied to the mess - I'd better clean it up or I'll have to get the grinding ball out again...! I tried re-aligning that port toe-strap plate, sooner rather than later, including a bit of resin from the excess that I poured off before mixing up the mast-step filler. Unfortunately, despite a lot of force on the starboard side of the plate, the alignment wasn't noticeably improved. It looks as though the starboard hole might have been drilled a bit too high.

Things have been a bit quieter over the last few days or so than they have been over the last few weeks, since I've been allowing poor my back to recover. I've been able to do a bit more today, however, including yet another shopping expedition to Whitworths' at Crows Nest to get a few more goodies:

1. Yard and boom stitched onto the sail. I acquired a 10-metre length of red 4 mm Spectra as the piece I had wasn't long enough: I'd forgotten to take into account the trip down to the block from the masthead and thence to the forward/lower end of the yard. Hence the large coil of rope next to the yard...





2. Sail's peak. The other things that I acquired along with the new halyard was 6 metres of 2 mm Spectra for lashing the sail corners to the spars, and some waxed 0.5 mm sail twine for whipping the ends of the reef nettles





3. Close-up of peak. I won't trim the bits of rope to length until I've done a test-rig of the sail on the mast/boat





4. Throat attached to yard; again, the ropes aren't to length or fully tensioned yet





5. Tack of sail attached to boom, 2 mm spectra used here. The lashing is sort-of per MIK's drawings - I think. The boom is upside down in this snap...





6. Crease along head of sail: this is per the rigging instructions for the Goat sail. It's looking even more like a sail now ;)


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I'll get onto the masking-up for the non-slip and do some more fitting of the mast next: once I know that my back will take the large amount of bending double that both of these tasks will require, especially the latter. And I'll probably tinker with the sail, the mast and a proto-boom-downhaul...

After careful study of m2c1Iw's photos, MIK's Goat manual and an email exchange with m2c1Iw, I think I've got the rigging sorted out now - in my head at least ;). I've cut all the pieces of rope that I think I need, mostly a bit overlength just in case. m2C1Iw also pointed out a few things that I'd overlooked, which was helpful :).

We ordered the boat trailer on Monday from EasyTrailer in Melbourne. I also added an extra drawbar to the order as I will be cutting down the original to make it shorter for the 'Duck. Why the extra one? Well, you never know, I may end up building the Goat if I ever recover from building the 'Duck. Or, to put it more accurately, if The Bosses ever recover from my building the 'Duck...

The trailer comes in a number of cardboard boxes and is assembled when you get it, although some pore-installation of wiring is done at the factory now, apparently. The extra drawbar in fact arrived by courier this morning, a bit over 36 hours from being ordered...

The mast-step bolt is now in locked in place with two nuts, with the mast fitting reasonably happily over the top of it and in the step. I find myself casting about for things to do on the thing and I can't think of anything else that needs doing at the moment, apart from the masking for the non-slip and the tidying up of the name on the stern.


I now have to think about when and where I'm going to launch the boat - I have to please a number of people scattered around the place and will have to make some compromises somewhere along the line (like two "launches", perhaps ;). Various spots "nearby" include the Lane Cove River (upper and lower reaches), Narrabeen Lakes, Bobbin Head, Middle Harbour, Pittwater, Parramatta River, Berowra Waters, Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn, etc., etc., etc. The Upper Lane Cove is the closest, although rather winding and narrow as a result... I suspect that The Bosses will have the final say ;).

Well, the couriers were really efficient - I got the whole boat-trailer kit this morning:

The new boat trailer: or it will be, once I've assembled it ;). There were three other boxes with optional extras (spare and jockey wheels) and a freebie (a winch)


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The kit comes with full instructions, hardware including lights and wiring loom, etc. Everything except the registration - I'll have to take the trailer somewhere for the RTA (Roads and Traffic Authority) to check it before I can use it to tow the boat. It's a pretty simple sequence: almost a s easy as putting together an IKEA flat-pack ;). Or so it appears, at any rate. Thanks go to woodeneye for putting me onto this one.

I spent some time on the trailer today, working out what goes where, checking the contents of bags for missing parts (none :) and working out where to chop the rather long drawbar. The latter required actually working backwards from the end of the construction sequence plus the spare- and jockey-wheels, in order to work out where the maximum limit would be.

I think I've got that all sorted out, although I have to make one more check to see that I haven't short-changed the jockey-wheel position.

A test run with some sugar and le Tonk has also been done to see whether the latter is compatible with the former - and to get me used to the and a little bit practiced at procedure. I really don't want that doing pear-shaped, especially at this late stage. I'd feel compelled to get out the axe...


Here's yet another sequence of snaps:

1. Side chassis members laid out. Note that they are upside down in this photo





2. More parts added to the trailer chassis layout. The two cross-members and upper and lower reinforcement plates (where the drawbar attaches) - and a box of bits





3. More stuff coming out of the woodwork: or rather, the box o' bits: the bags o' bolts and the instructions. The wiring and lights are still lurking in the box





4. Upside-down chassis with drawbar added, and another box o' bits (ancillary supports/brackets) has appeared...





5. Nascent trailer viewed from the rear. You can tell that the thing is upside down because the lugs holding the leaf-springs are waving about in the air





6. Trying to work out where to chop the drawbar, part one: find out where the boat sits. One of the tilting boat slides has been temporarily bolted to the middle of the rear cross-piece to find out the amount of stern overhang and where in relation to that the bow will be. The bow-support has been mocked up hurriedly to aid in the proceedings. Note that the chassis parts are now the right way up ;). There are four bolts holding the sides to the cross-members now, too





7. Front end of the trailer, from the side. Note that the spare wheel fits under the junction of the drawbar and the chassis side-members, so the bow-support can't be too far back as it will get in the way of, and cut into, the tyre





8. The maximum length of the boat from top of stern transom to top of bow transom is 2.4 m. The tape measure is hooked onto the aft end of the centred boat slide. some bolts have been inserted to true the frame up a bit: as a result I had to move the bow-support forward a bit after checking with the spare wheel (latter not shown)





9. The tow-hitch housing roughly where it will be once the drawbar has been shortened. I decided in the end to remove 700 mm from the drawbar - as the vehicle's compliance plate is at the front of the bar I'll have to take it off the rear. That will make re-drilling the bolt holes a bit easier, too :)





10. Another aft view of the embryonic trailer chassis, prior to packing it all up again for the day. The bracket is sitting on top of the tape measure to prevent the boat-slide from tipping forward and mucking up the measurement





11. Sugar and varnish. I quickly sanded the BoteCote portion of the test-piece that I used to compare WEST and BoteCote side-by-side on an oregon offcut down to 240-grit, slapped some le Tonk on it, then sprinkled a bit of coarse-ish white sugar (next step down from caster) over it by hand. Then left it all to dry





12. A slightly better view of the sugared varnish. I'll wash off the sugar after the varnish has had at least 48 hours to set up. I varnished the underside of the timber so that I could hold the whole thing under the tap if necessary. A bit of the excess sugar has been inadvertently brushed off already


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It's a bit like a large Meccano set, this trailer - which for me means fun ;). And I don't have to paint the jolly thing afterwards, either. HOORAY! I'll possibly have to shorten the wiring or loop it about and tie it up with cable ties: I think the latter at this stage if I'm going to do a Goat conversion on it in the future. The next step, however, is to get out the hacksaw, fit a sharp new blade and cut the rear 700 mm off the drawbar. Then drill some holes.

When I said that there was no painting to be done on the trailer, I lied ;). Having drilled some nice new holes and cut one end off the hot-dip-galv part, it needed some protective paint added. It in fact took much longer to stir the paint ("White Knight Cold Gal") than it did to put it on: the zinc and binder components had settled right out over the ten or so that I've had the unopened tin (originally meant for the welding bench, which is still unpainted).

The painting took a maximum of 5 minutes (two coats) including the cut end and left to dry thoroughly in the sun - or such sun as we have - so that the paint isn't removed too much by the passage of the bolts. All cut areas are covered over by the various strengthening parts of the trailer, so will not be exposed to too much abrasion other than the general movement of the chassis - which should be negligible if I keep the bolts tightened up on a regular basis.

1. The drawbar offcut next to the remaining drawbar. The new bolt holes have been drilled - I used to offcut to mark the positions for the new ones - and await a bit of filing and deburring





2. Three holes, deburred inside and out. They got coated with zinc paint as a rust inhibitor, but I forgot to take any photos of that





3. Trailer chassis complete, all bolts tightened up. The black curly-looking things are a pair of leaf springs





4. The new drawbar in place - looking a wee bit shorter. The trailer by this stage is a very solid - not to mention heavy - and rigid construction





5. Leaf springs in place, held there by 9/16" (14.3 mm) diameter bolts The long thin thing at the rear of the chassis is the axle





6. Axle in place, attached with four 9 mm (3/8 ") U-bolts and two heavy-gauge steel plates





7. Closeup of the left-hand stub axle and fastening assembly





8. U-bolts on the RHS of the trailer





9. Adding the wheel hubs and bearings: easy sliding fit, everything pre-greased out of the box/bag





10. Closeup of wheel hub: a thick coating of grease is added over the castellated nut, next...





11. Hub dust-cap filled with grease. This fits over the hub retaining nut, and has a grease nipple on the outer side. I don't have a grease gun, per the instructions, so used a finger instead - taking care to remove the air bubbles. High-temperature bearing grease is a bit of overkill, but I had an almost full tub of it. I also had to remove a bit of grease to get the cap to fit snugly...





12. Hub dust-cap installed; a bit of clean-up needed ;)


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But wait: there's more...

1. Wheels added...





2. Overview of trailer with wheels added...





3. ...and turned the right way up. Note the wiring loom in the foreground - installed in the drawbar already but won't be hooked up until the end





4. Boat skids added





5. Boat skids from the other (front) side





6. Boat trailer with bow support added. I'll probably have to redo this as I think I used the wrong bolts - I don't have the right number of bolts left over at any rate ;)


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The weather knocked any work on the trailer on the head today, being mostly wet, windy and miserable - a good day for staying inside out of the way of it! Although I did go out this morning and acquire a "Klamp-It" wheel lock for the trailer - "Size A" (the narrowest) for those who might be wondering. And I did sort out the bolt sizes. Back into it tomorrow if the weather improves - I'm not used to rain actually stopping me from working on something!

The weather was better today but I had other (non-boat) tasks that I had to deal with. I did, however, manage to get a bit done - adding the mudguards and finishing off the wiring. These are snaps taken over the last few days..

1. Tail lights. Not hooked up to the wiring loom yet. Note that I don't need that aft keel roller for the 'Duck or the Goat - and will probably remove it. I'll leave the forward one as the boat will need that for the bow to rest on...





2. One of the two side lights; attached to the chassis but not hooked up yet





3. The holes in the mudguards - or the chassis - were 10 mm (3/8") out of whack, so out with the file, then some Penetrol and the zinc paint





4. Klamp-It "size A" clamp on the trailer





5. Jockey wheel partially installed. The supplied bolts were too long and had to be replaced, as they didn't clear the leg and allow it to extend - or retract





6. Raised jockey wheel from the side





7. Mudguards! And mudflaps, plus lots of cable ties securing the wiring loom. Note that the jockey wheel has been fully installed with considerably shorter bolts and is now in the extended position





8. Mudguards again. I've tucked up the extra wiring under the top face of the rear cross-member and held it in place with smaller extra cable ties raided from the supplies in my flight box ;)





9. Almost-finished boat trailer. I took the tow hitch off again to finish off the wiring installation. Once the hitch is back on the thing will be ready for checking out the wiring whilst attached to the car - then inspection and registration...





10. Finished sugar non-slip test: I finally remembered to rinse it...





11. Closer-up view of the non-slip test. It looks OK - the non-slip in this instance is remaining sugar crystals that have sunk into the wet varnish and been covered over and encased therein





12. Another view of the sugar non-slip


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I hope to get the trailer completed and the lights tested tomorrow - then it's masking time around the cockpit floor for the non-slip...

About those bolts in photo #5... They do seem to be too long but would they work if installed in the opposite direction?

Originally Posted by BobWes

About those bolts in photo #5... They do seem to be too long but would they work if installed in the opposite direction?

Hi Bob,

Ah, of course, you are right! Silly me , I feel a right goose... But as you say, probably still too long (trying to rationalise myself out of the corner I've painted myself into )

Thanks for the feedback .

Cheers,
Alex.

Where's the water?

I don't see any water.

This is a boat thread, right?

Originally Posted by MiddleAgesMan

Where's the water?

I don't see any water.

This is a boat thread, right? :)

Hi MAM,

Coming soon - more water than you could poke a stick at ;)... At least, I hope it's soon. I'm waiting on Mr Storer to reappear, as he has offered to lend a hand to help with the "non-slip" on the cockpit floor, and that will hopefully be within the next week or so. I may be making unwarranted assumptions regarding the timing of that, though.

Regarding the non-slip, I'm still not 100 % convinced about the sugar method, as it appears to me (from my little test) that the sugar crystals are trapped under the varnish; and being relatively fragile will crush easily, resulting in syrup.

Cheers,
Alex.

1. Here's some water: this photo was taken especially for MiddleAgesMan :). Nobody can say I don't have no sense o' humour ;)





2. Marking out the masked region: I used bits of tape for the preliminary markers as I didn't trust any of my marking pens to remove completely from the varnish - and pencil doesn't touch the varnished surface...





3. Tape markers used to line up the tape mask. The edges of the aft cockpit are now complete except for the corners





4. Corner mask pieces in place. The rounded edges for the corners will be mark and cut extremely carefully, with the help of a couple of styrene sheet templates (20 mm radius quarter-circles)





5. Centrecase floor adjacent to centrecase (port side only at this point). Note the air tank port cover


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I added some final pieces to the trailer today (reflectors) and checked the connector for one of the side lights. I thought when putting it together that I hadn't got the wires hooked up properly, and that turned out to be the case. All fixed now. The aft keel roller has been removed, too. I didn't get a chance to test the lights today as The Bosses made off with the car with the towbar and socket without me realising ;).

1. Plasticard template made running the scalpel blade around it repeatedly when trimming the masks - with a consistent result - reasonably easy





2. Central cockpit panel with mask corners rounded. I've got the other side to do yet, plus the forward cockpit floor





3. Aft cockpit floor with mask corners rounded





4. Close-up of a rounded mask corner


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The trailer lights got checked out today and all seem to work OK. Not that I was expecting there to be any trouble (with the possible exception of the side lights) as all the wiring is pre-configured. The side lights were fine, too ;). With the addition of a shackle for the safety chain that's the trailer complete, and I'll take it for its "unregistered vehicle" inspection tomorrow morning. And hopefully I'll finish off the cockpit masking - that's just about half-way, so it shouldn't take too long. As it is, the weather has been wet and - for the most part - cool to mild.