Thread: New Queensland PDRacer Build

You are making good inroads Duncan!

I ended up sitting inside the boat to do the job and pushing the sides apart A LITTLE with my heels. It still does smear a bit, but do a good cleanup and it will be fine.

Well done!

MIK

I may have to borrow a rig and some foils, but I think I can get the hull ready to go in the water by the end of January if you are going to be up here. Is it bad-luck to launch a boat on a borrowed rig?

Not at all! Do you have someone in mind? I will be up in Queensland about then too. Maybe we can have a BBQ day again.

I am thinking ... THINKING of doing some sort of sailing trip in the PDRacer too. Trying to talk the biting midge into it.

Caloundra down to the south end of Moreton Bay. I should talk Steve into it too. He can sail his Micro as the crash boat.

It is about 100km and there is a tricky stretch but mostly sheltered. Would need tail winds most of the time to keep it down to 2 to three days of lots of sailing.

Just dreams at the moment ... but if nobody says anything they never happen!

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Caloundra down to the south end of Moreton Bay. I should talk Steve into it too. He can sail his Micro as the crash boat.

It is about 100km and there is a tricky stretch but mostly sheltered. Would need tail winds most of the time to keep it down to 2 to three days of lots of sailing.

MIK

That is a fair slog. I can see how you could do most of it fairly safely by I suppose, but negotiating the Brisbane river mouth might be a bit hairy

Biting Midge who knows the waters well said the exposed patch before you get to the shelter of the islands is the bit to be careful of. If there was poor visibility the river mouth could be scary.

But I am expecting the weather to be fine and sunny. Maybe about 24 to 27 degrees, reasonable cloud cover and a bikini clad .....

ooops

MIK

I have spent the last two Christmas', and a couple of weekends in between, working on my PDR and other bits for my CLC Kayak. Today I achieved a kind of Zen state where I was at complete peace working away on the boat - slowly shaping the boyancy tank faces so they fitted just so, cutting out the centreboard slot and various bits in between - with the ABC radio on in the background, I couldn't have been more relaxed.

What could possibly be better ?

Plans are $20, Nirvana is extra!

MIK

Hi Folks,

I've now more or less completed the fit out in the aft part of the boat, with the buoyancy tanks and side decks now glued up. Tomorrow I'll fit the mast partner which should complete the structural fit out of the boat, ready for paint

The photo below shows work to date. A little untidy and the whole thing needs a good wipe down and vacuum, but its definitely a boat! I've also not been very religious with the masking tape, and am now paying the price with little random bits of epoxy showing up in the most random places (I am in awe of AlexN's masking tape skills ). All good lessons before I start on the Kayak.

Looks like my January deadline may come to fruition

Duncan

Howdy Duncan,

Well I am impressed ... after quite a long time of you being caught up in other things the boat has materialised almost miraculously!

Amazing ... good work and a pat on the back!

MIK

Hi Folks,

Well the foredeck went on today so that's the last major structural component on the hull. Now there is basically a lot of work in finishing details, sanding and paint.

Duncan

Cool Duncan.

Another big step - nice to finish all that stuff under the bonnet!

MIK

Believe it or not, I am back into it. I have new boat building premises - a new shed in the back yard

I installed some bench dogs in my work bench to hold the foils for shaping and I'm making shavings once again

Hey that's great I've been wondering what had happened to your build.

Howdy Duncan,

I didn't get up to Queensland at all this year. Peter and Jo were moving house to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

Nice to hear you are still step, step, stepping!

MIK