Turn up the Volume

The last two weeks have been great.  For the first time ever, Beth and I got to see both our families for Thanksgiving.  The Harris family assembled the weekend before Thanksgiving in Salt Lake.  My sister Afton instigated the whole thing and everyone was able to make it. 

We had some snow in the valley a while back and I had to get a picture of this wave sliding off the back of some broken down car near the shop.

The family was eager to see/work on the boat, so here we all are.   I'm trying to figure out what to have everyone do.

Beth continuing the endless job of sanding.

Afton was here in SLC for longer than the rest of the family and helped out a lot on the boat. She finished all the varnish work on the drawers/doors,  They look awesome.  Thanks, Afton!

This was our sample of the 2 part polyurithane foam that I bought to insulate our ice box.  Dylan mixed  the minimum amount that the cup could measure(maybe 4 oz.) and it turned into this giant mushroom.  

The product says that it will grow at a rate of 20:1.  We found it to be growing a little more than that, which meant that the two gallon kit that I bought would create 50+ gallons of insulating foam.  We thought for sure I had bought too much.  I mean you look at the cavity that needs to be filled and it just doesn't look that big.

This became one of those times when you just can't believe your calculations.  Here is how it goes.  Dylan calculated the volume of the space the icebox would fit into at around 20 cubic ft.  Which seemed high, but not too bad right?  Then he determined that the volume of the icebox was around 7 cubic ft.  So the area that needed to be filled was around 13 cubic feet, which still sounds reasonable.  All we had to do now is convert 13 cubic ft. into gallons and we would know how much foam to use.  

Now seriously take a guess at how many gallons fit into a cubic foot.  A 1' by 1' by 1' box.  Don't look down, really think about it.  We thought that it was pobably 2-3.........

Ice box, I hope I don't regret the shape of the opening.

Still need more foam

When I was figuring out my water tank capacity I found that it takes  7.48 gallons to fill a cubic ft, which at the time I convinced myself was true.  But now I looked at the seemingly small area that would be filled with foam and couldn't believe that it would take upwards of 100 gallons to fill.  After measuring five gallon buckets and other trusted containers we accepted that it was true and we didn't have nearly enough foam.  

We poured what foam we had and it ended up filling up about 60% of the cavity.  The numbers don't lie!  The foam had such lifting force that the it took three of us to hold the icebox from floating out of the space.  

Good times down at the shop.  

Upgrade-itis

We started off with good, or should I say different intentions than what is now happening on the boat.  People often tell you that the interior, particularly the finish work takes a huge portion of total boat time.    Of course our response to this was to say that we would simplify the interior joinery and just have painted drawer fronts and formica countertops.  Well it hasn't worked out that way....

This is where it started, instead of simple painted drawer fronts we decided to do VG Fir trimmed with mahogany with a stripe of Fir.  This as you can imagine is a considerable upgrade in appearance and labor.

Beth has been doing a great job varnishing all the drawer fronts.

Upgrade-itis is now in full effect, its just so easy to say "we have worked so hard on the rest of the boat and it isn't that much more money/labor".  But it is! And we can't stop.  Its a snow ball effect.  Anyway here is the latest, copper coutertops, above I'm glueing the countertop to the sheet of copper.

And here is the finished product.  I bent the copper up for a seamless backsplash and added striped mahogany rails around the edges.  Another upgrade was to under mount the sink.  Where will it end?

Beth and I caught one of the last sunny fall days and went on a short hike up Little Cottonwood.  This is the Lisa falls area the creek forms multiple waterfalls and pools down the narrow canyon.

Ok, this is not an upgrade, this was planned all along so maybe we are slowing down.  This is going to be our icebox (built in cooler). I am using the same "stitch and glue" techniques that beth used to build her dinghy.  

After I got it all stitched together i hung it in the same fashion that it will hang in the boat and put thickened epoxy fillets on all the seams.

By using copper wire I don't have to remove the wires after the glue dries, as copper won't rust and become a mess.












In the end we are happy with the upgrades we have decided to go with.  Its just so much more fun to build something that you really think looks good.  We figure if you can't have a lot of counter space or drawers you might as well make the ones you've got really nice.

Interiors and Visitors

It's been a fun and productive few weeks down at the boat shop.  Cody has been cranking out the interior;  the galley is nearing completion, the aft cabin is pretty much done...  His progress is very visible, which is fun!  It's crazy to look back and see how far we've come in such a short time.  

Kitchen drawer assembly line!  Simple, strong construction.  These drawers are now assembled and faced with Vertical Grain fir, with Mahogany and fir trim.  I've been working on sanding and varnishing the faces lately.  I think I should be able to finish them this afternoon.   

This is our aft cabin.  In this photo, it's just framed in.  

Here is the aft cabin again, with the floor/bed platform glued in.  It's big enough for two to sleep in, and sits just  below the cockpit.  We had originally planned to run the cabin along the side of the hull, so that you would sleep with your head pointing toward the bow, and feet at the stern.  We started mocking that design up, and there just wasn't enough room for it to be practical- it would have been like sleeping in a coffin.  So we rotated the bed 90 degrees, so now you'll sleep athwartships- head on the starboard side, feet on the port.  This will be our "guest room,"  and I hope we'll have lots of chances to use it!   

There's lots of space beneath the aft cabin, and we have to take advantage of every inch.  You can see we've cut several access hatches in the floor of the aft cabin.  

  

My Mom and Dad came out for a visit to Salt Lake, while on their "Offspring Tour 2012."  My mom coined the name of the tour.  I'm pretty sure she has no idea who The Offspring are.  They went to Chicago to visit my youngest sister, Grace,  then to Asheville to see Amy.    I think they're really enjoying their empty nest!  While they were here, my Dad built us our first cabin-top deck beam!   

We had a great time with my folks- I'm so grateful that we all get along so well!  Unfortunately, the weather was some of the worst of the year- rain and snow, but we managed to snag a sunny window to take a drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon.  We walked to a waterfall, and drove up to the ski resorts- I hope we inspired a ski trip out here this winter!  Alta and Snowbird were just receiving their first snow of the season, and I saw the look my Dad had in his eye.....   

We also had a great, GREAT meal at Forage.  If you are looking for the best dining experience in the state of Utah- perhaps the whole mountain west, go there.  I mean it.  

Remember scarf joints?  We're at it again, gluing up the cockpit floor.  

Cody's getting so creative with his clamping techniques.  In this photo, we're looking at the floor of the foot well in the cockpit- that piece of plywood that's been scarfed together.  

To reinforce this structure, we've glued wood fillets along the corners. 

 Now, the white cross pieces in this photo are resting not on the floor of the cockpit, but only on their ends, on those wood fillets- the pressure from those lead bricks is pressing outward, not down!  

Pretty clever,  Mr. Harris, pretty clever.  

The Galley has probably been the most exciting progress we've made lately.  You can see where all those drawers are going to go.  Cody is attaching the under-mount sink, while I am supposed to be handing him his drill, screws and screwdriver.  Instead I'm taking photos of him and laughing at this ridiculous position he's gotten himself into.    

 Once that sink was mounted beneath the counter top, Cody routed the holes out on top.  

Look at that!  I have a nearly complete galley- with an awesome, deep double sink!  

Sorry I laughed at you, honey. 

Cody had some paying work yesterday, so I did some sanding, then took advantage of a dust-free shop to get some painting done.  Here's the sea-berth/couch, painted and looking pretty!  

Happy Halloween everyone!  

More Boat Stuff

 Kind of a slow week here in Salt Lake, my ankle is healing up, and I can get around now, but by no means at full speed.  Its very hard for me to take it easy, especially now, the weather makes me want to get outside and climb, and I'm at a really fun spot on the boat project.  The good thing about having a hurt ankle is that I am bored enough to want to update the blog at more reasonable intervals.    So here is what I've got.

This is the gimbal setup for the stove/oven that I was talking about last week.  Its a plywood base, where the stove will attach to, then welded those side support triangles which rest on a bolt that sticks out on each side.  This was the first time I have welded stainless steel and I TIG welded them, which is quite a bit different than the arc welding I'm used to.  They turned out ok, plenty strong, but not very pretty.  I think I will have plenty of practice in the future.

 I went out to Magna UT the other day to visit the RV junkyard, where I picked up our sink.  Its not installed yet, but thats where it will go.

The galley has been quite a puzzle to put together, these are all waiting to be glued into place to create, shelves and drawers and door frames.

Here is a drawer, ready to be glued together. The bottom piece fits into the grooves cut into the side pieces.  Nothing fancy, but strong and easy to build.   

Drawer being glued and clamped. You truly can't have too many clamps.

This is a little side project I'm starting.  I won't need these pieces for a few weeks, but I like to try and stay a little ahead of the game.  Actually I just want a break from sanding or some other brain draining activity.  So, what I'm building are carlins, they are laminated out of several pieces and I'm using the side of the boat to get the shape right.  They will be the base of the cabin sides, which follow the same curve as the sides, hence using the boat as a form.

To be clear, they are not glued to the boat yet, they go inboard at the base of the cabin.  Lots of terminology, its confusing for sailors as well.  Beth and I went sailing yesterday and our skipper Brian a sailor of 50+years was getting things mixed up.  

 Enjoy the fall, do something awesome!

Fall is here in Salt Lake, the daily highs are in the 70's and the mornings are finally cool and crisp.  We have been slow to update, but climbing season is back and its hard to want to sit down and blog.  Beth and I had been getting out climbing a couple times a week until two days ago when I sprained my ankle hiking to the crag.  I actually sprained it on the trail about 100 yards from the car, two days and I still can't walk, but I'm close, probably tomorrow.

Before my unfortunate accident Beth and I had climbing projects right next to each other, in fact, one on top of the other.  We don't have any pictures of us on them, but here is what they look like.

This is "All chalk no Action"5.12a , Beth's project, I think she will finish it pretty fast.  And the best part is that I have to climb it to get to my project.

This is "Orange Crush"5.13b Absolutely stunning, a testpiece of very technical rock climbing. 

On to the boat

 This is the sea berth/couch,  After building it I realized there was a serious problem.  Because the decks are not on its easy to forget that they will someday be there, so one evening as I sat on the sea berth I realized that at the present height of the berth I would have to cut a hole in the deck for my head to stick out.  I was pretty bummed, but I cut it apart and lowered it, and now its perfect.

 After debating on what to use for interior trim we have decided to go with vertical grain(VG) fir trimmed with mahogany.  I wanted to buy a sheet of 1/2" plywood with a (VG fir) veneer already on it, but all the plywood we found had particle board cores, which don't hold up in moist environments.

So we ended up just buying a sheet of 1/2" plywood and a veneer.  Usually to put a veneer on you have to use contact cement, which smells worse than bondo.  But I was pleasantly surprised to find that our veneer is self adhesive.

I am peeling of the paper to veneer one of the doors for the dinette.

Here are some patterns for bulkheads and sea berth parts I've been making.

Its crazy, but we are actually getting ready to fit the stove into the boat. Here I built a mock up gimbal to find the center of gravity of the oven, and determine the correct pivot point. 

Lots of clamps for gluing up some mahogany and fir

A deck beam I glued up, that will commence framing out the cockpit. 

The boat shop has been fantastic lately, so much fun work, great temps, and a plan(for now).

DInette

          It seems hard to get started on these interior projects, in a boat of this size space is not to be wasted, and every thing interacts with everything else.  If we move the dinette(booth table) it shortens the navigation desk, if we make the benches longer and more spacious then the galley will be cramped.  It is an ongoing process of assigning importance to each area and then compromising on the least important.  

           The dinette and galley are very important to us, so we decided to compromise elsewhere.   I designed the dinette to accommodate 2 people comfortably or 4 people cozy.  It is raised up from the cabin floor about a foot, which gives us a great little storage area, and puts head height of the people sitting high enough to look out the windows.

The dinette starting to take shape 

 Here it is almost completed, we made cupboards at the ends of the dinette, which will have doors eventually.  And a section of the seat lifts out to allow access quite a bit of storage.

Enjoying a quick break on the comfort of our new piece of furniture.

The V-berth nears completion, Its that last 10% that's the hardest. The teak and mahogany were salvaged from the Tartan.  We are thinking of doing the rest of doors and drawer faces out of VG fir with mahogany border.

 Half of the v-birth flips up gaining access to lots of storage

 Beth finish sanding the the dinghy mast by hand, trying to get any lumps and bumps out.  Beth also decided on a name for her little dinghy:  Her Majesty

Marine stove usually cost in the range of $1000-$1500.  Since we can't afford that kind of luxury, we bought this awesome RV stove for $25.  It probably will get rusty after a few years, but we couldn't pass up that color!!  Can't wait to put it in.