Thread: The Latest Sixpence

One should also run one's eyes over the thread: Introducing the Yellowtail Yawl where I show Mik's yawl conversion to the original design.



(she won't have that coach house )

Richard

Mik, any chance of you being all moderatory and moving that last post (the yawl one) above my longwinded explanation? It'd be more appropriate there.

And while I'm talking to Mik ... how would she go with just the mainsail? The thought is to save a bit of cash initially by just getting one sail made and the thought that it'd be easier on me while learning (only one sail to pfaff about with). I suspect the answer is 'no'. Not that such considerations are critical at the moment - I might be rich by the time I get around to putting her in the water.

Richard

Originally Posted by Daddles

One should also run one's eyes over the thread: Introducing the Yellowtail Yawl where I show Mik's yawl conversion to the original design.

I've just re-read that thread and there's some interesting stuff where Mik gets all historical on us

Richard

Thought #1.
Wood storage on wheels so you can move it around... that's a darn good idea Richard !!

Thought #2.
So you were listening to us last night about finishing her after all.
She's well within your grasp mate and I think would, long-term, be a satisfying boat for you.

cheers
AJ

great i pleased you've decided to finish her Richard

looking at the pics there's not a great deal of work left to do no her, once you have epoxyed the seat wells and put the tops on you'll be nearly there and it will make such a difference to her appearance.

did you manage to sort out the lower coaming strip that sprang off in the heat?

another couple of these and I reckon we coulda finished her last night.

Originally Posted by b.o.a.t.

Thought #2.
So you were listening to us last night about finishing her after all.
She's well within your grasp mate and I think would, long-term, be a satisfying boat for you.

cheers
AJ

i agree you'll love using her when shes finished i can't wait to convert mine to sail only

as for the trailer worries, i had an old steel trailer given to me that i adapted to use for my Yellowtail, it's far from ideal and weighs somwhere around 400 lbs (the axle weighs a ton it is made from 8" x 6" box section and has car wheels and hubs welded to it)
but still on levelish ground i am able to move her around by myself on the trailer. I can also launch and retrieve her on my own by taking the car on the beach.

over this winter i will be making a new lighter trailer for her to make things a bit easier for me.

Makes a lot of sense to finish her. Not good for the atmosphere in your shed (or head) to have such a major thing lying forlorn, un-loved, incomplete and in the way.

She'll be marvelous with a mizzen- will it be off-centre, or will you have to crank the tiller?
Great news.

Originally Posted by rob540

Makes a lot of sense to finish her. Not good for the atmosphere in your shed (or head) to have such a major thing lying forlorn, un-loved, incomplete and in the way.

She'll be marvelous with a mizzen- will it be off-centre, or will you have to crank the tiller?
Great news.

Thanks boys.

Regarding the mizzen, she's going in off centre though I'd love to make one of those curvaceous tiller handles that Oughtred loves so much (cor, can I let Janet see me write stuff like that? )

I did glue that rubbing strip that came adrift back on ... and made a prize cock of the job too - never do something when your heart's not in it.

It doesn't look like much left to do but it's still a big job when you start adding it all up Next job will probably be to get that steel centreboard organised and installed - probably a simple job for people experienced in ropes and pulleys and such but it's had me freaked out for some time now ... and it's instant expense. Watch out for notification of a booze and bulldust evening once I've got it installed so we can work out how to raise and lower the thing.

Richard

Originally Posted by Daddles

Next job will probably be to get that steel centreboard organised and installed - probably a simple job for people experienced in ropes and pulleys and such but it's had me freaked out for some time now ... and it's instant expense. Watch out for notification of a booze and bulldust evening once I've got it installed so we can work out how to raise and lower the thing.

Richard

I thought we'd talked you out of that complication & into a jarrah & carbon fibre jobbie
that doesn't need the lifting tackle. Or a footy team to carry & install it.
Looks like we need another session. With beer.

What's this,sounds interesting and easier than the one in the plans.
Dave.

Originally Posted by Dave Brewer

What's this,sounds interesting and easier than the one in the plans.
Dave.

It is in the plans but you do have to dig to find it - a plate of 12mm steel (I think, it's been a while since I looked at things). Round off the corners, get it plated with this new technique that's better than galavinising and whose name I can't remember and bung it in with a 4:1 pulley system hooked off the compression post ... which my boat doesn't have because I've moved the mast forward.

The biggest change is to the centreboard case which is now a lot thinner to compensate. There are a number of them sailing around here with it and apparently it works quite well despite the apparent inefficiency (ie, no foil).

It still scares me though.

Richard

Originally Posted by Dave Brewer

What's this,sounds interesting and easier than the one in the plans.
Dave.

That was one of the sets of engineering calculations which I'm not sure MIK would
approve of... a CB of jarrah or similar, with carbon fibre each side to improve its
resistance to snapping. Finished thickness 12mm.

The other alternative was to take a jigsaw to her bottom & install a fatter CB case.

Third beer subject.
AJ

Coamings - that lip that sticks a few inches above the decking and stops all that nasty wet stuff from coming into the boat ... but what stops the water coming over the coaming?

Okay, serious now. Seriously, that annoying git in the back row with the water pistol can just flamin' sit down and listen, this is serious.

Sixpence will have a raised coaming around the cockpit - I forget the dimensions but it's of the order of a hand width high and about half an inch thick.

I've already laminated the bit to go around the curved, front end of the cockpit - piccies in an earlier post and in the thread entitled 'coaming challenge'
I'm happy with how that came out

The next trick is the coaming along the sides of the boat, from the front end to the transom.

My first thoughts were to steam some long pieces of solid timber and the hysterical attempt to achieve this is documented in Steaming big and long bits of wood
Basically, the attempt failed because:
- I chose the wrong timber and
- we generated no where near enough steam and investigations showed that to do it properly, I was going to have to spend a couple of hundred dollars on the right burners and stuff (I did look at it very seriously).
However, a group of us had a wild day and learned a lot about steaming timbers and the abilty of a group of blokes to fail spectularly without swearing or sending the dog into emotional breakdown.

I've since made a pattern of the coaming required and, if I'm really careful, can just squeeze it out of a standard width, very wide plank of something. The trick will be getting timber wide enough in thin planks, my last investigations only unearthed 35mm planks which would have left a lot of wood chips on the floor after thinning it down to 12mm

Using solid timbers is still an option, however, there is the plywood alternative (enter Richard of Domino fame ).

Surprisingly, plywood promises to be an expensive way to go, even if I can squeeze it out of one sheet (you laminate it out of 6m ply). It's also the option shown on the plans.
If using ply, common practice has been to glue a cap strip to it.

However, the front curve is laminated out of red veneers.
Gaboon varnishes to a red colour.
I'm hoping for a clear finish.

So, how would I go using gaboon for the side coamings and NOT fitting a cap strip? This would allow the laminate look to extend right around the top of the boat. Gluing a cap strip around the front end of the cockpit is NOT going to happen - the vertical and horizontal curves there make such an exercise possible but bloody silly ... and what I've got doesn't need it because it's all side grain.

It would mean an exposed edge of plywood. However, if well sealed with epoxy, would it really matter in a plank that isn't a structural piece and which sits vertically so no water can pool on it?

Richard