Its War On Mozzies

Why should we swelter with 26c -30C heat in the evenings when we have windows that are fully removable?

S-Line Window

Well until now its because the mozzies win. We shut all the windows and suffocate. You see, we are unfortunately, the type of people that come out in massive lumps when bitten.  So its WAR!

First off I made some fly screen replacement windows with the help of my friends with a CNC router.  They cut the frame parts for me, all exactly the same of course, scanned from a pane of glass then modified to suit.

The mesh is the same material Tutus are made from I think its called dress net.  This was doubled up .

If you look closely you can see the Moire Pattern 

So now we are sitting with a nice cool through breeze with one of these each side of the saloon and just in case any pesky mozzies do feel lucky we have a death chamber waiting.

Should we still manage to get a bite we now have one of these each as well which we tried at a friends boat and they really work!

Amazon link

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Getting on with things

Boat building has stalled in the last few weeks as I realize that the raising of each frame will bring the project one step closer to completion or calamity. At this point, Im not sure which it is going to be and am thus reveling in a rather blissful ignorance. When the frames do go up next week (!), I will know once and for all whether Luna will be a beauty or a god-awful mess. The quality of the lofting job I did over a year ago will be put to the test when I can use a batten to check the three-dimensional curvature of the chine and sheer.

The last couple of days have seen me drinking a lot of wine, eating a lot of tamales, avoiding the boat shop,and over-analyzing each step Ive taken to get to this point. For each part of the project there were setbacks and things that didnt turn out quite like Id imagined (these lessons have been mentally filed under "The Next Boat"). After spending a lot of time before each new step thinking about what could go wrong, I realized that the sooner I could deal with what went wrong, the better. Id stall before each new venture (just as Im stalling now), think about various outcomes and contingencies, and ultimately had to decide to just do it. Just take a chainsaw to that keel piece you spent a week in the hot sun laminating. Just run a Skillsaw down the side of  keel. Just buy that planking even if you arent sure itll wrap around the hull. Just use that adhesive even if its not proven. Just glue this piece on that piece and bolt it to this piece.

Just build the boat.
 

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2 years on

2 years ago today the shell came home.

This is how it looked then.

A fair bit has changed since then.

Here is a photo library     Over 600 on the blog now.  Enjoy :-)

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IWC NYC The Half Hull on The Wall

Any photos here are copyright their respective owners. Let me know and I will remove anything objectionable.

I apologize for obsessing. We have models all over the world and in some very special places, for example, The St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco or the one in Dubai. There is something about this setting and the quality of the surroundings that make this a particularly special place to have a model. It is in New York City in the place that people go to buy the finest things in the world. Indeed, IWC Schaffhausen is known for making some of the very finest watches in the world.

This is clearly an honor for us and its also been fun to see the parade of Champion Boxers, Fashion Models and Movie Stars who have had their photos taken in front of our "little boat" as they attended the Opening Gala of the brand new IWC Boutique at 535 Madison Avenue which was dedicated to the Great Muhammed Ali.

The whole thing started when we were approached with a rendering of a room and asked if we could make the model in the image - with a few modifications. The model in the image is a full-hull model and we would be making a half-hull and the backing panel that fits within the frame, but not the frame. We were asked to work up a proposal, not aware of who the customer was and received quick approval. As the project progressed, we learned more and more about what we were really getting into.

We then had to design the model according to the specifications of a design team in Switzerland. Our plans and samples of materials to be used were all submitted to New York, from where they were sent on to Switzerland for approval. The model needed to be relatively lightweight, but would clearly be much larger than most model boats of the class. It was to be of a particular raceboat that is a prominent contender in the Volvo Ocean Race, which is a grueling race around the world involving 70 sailboats that are as "state of the art" as anything currently made by human beings.

Unusual for us was that both the boat and the backing board had to be pure white. In fact, a color that is classified under the European RAL system of colors: RAL 9016 - Traffic White. It was unclear whether or not this kind of paint would be available to us, but we found an expert in European colors at the Annapolis Paint Store in Easton, Md. who was able to create both water-based and lacquer paints for the job.

We were not able to procure drawings of the boat, so we used photogrammetry to develop the lines. You will find that they are quite accurate. The hull body was to be a little over 48" LOA (53" with bowsprit and radar arch). We decided to cut the hull from machinable foam, a material that is epoxy based with additional constituents to give it a density between pine and maple wood. It is preferable to machining wood because it is infinitely stable and there is no grain, which tends to cause print-through and does not take details as well. We have a small CNC machine that can cut a piece of material to a maximum length of 12". In order to cut the hull, we thought that we would have to farm the job out to someone with a much larger machine than ours.

We found that, for too many good reasons to elaborate on here, most CNC cutting companies did not want our job. Thus, we had to cut it ourselves with our small machine. This is actually good, because it allowed us to adhere to our rule of making every single part of the model ourselves.

We accomplished this by splitting the hull form into 3 two inch thick parts, divided along the buttock lines. The longest; the one closest to the centerline, required 5 operations in which an area was cut and then, using special alignment pins, the adjoining area was cut. In all, the hull body alone took 14 separate operations involving 64 hours of cutting. In order to keep the machine from binding an elaborate counterweight system was used. The hull could have been ruined at any stage for a variety of reasons, but we were able to keep problems under control. In order to reduce weight further, large holes were drilled into the hidden parts of the hull in much the same way as is done in the construction of aircraft parts. The 3 long parts were laminated with very slow epoxy and filled with a phenolic balloon/epoxy compound. When the surface was ready, it was finished with spray lacquer.

The mast and boom are steel. The majority of other parts are made from brass. The sails from rip-stop. Metal to metal connections were all made using hard silver solder.


From the deck to the top of the antenna at the masthead is 611", thus if you could stand on the deck, except for a very few people in the world, that point would be well over your head. The keel extends down from the hull by about 10 1/2". From the bottom of the hull to the top of the antenna is 82".

The backing board presented a different set of problems to overcome. In the interest of keeping weight down, it was decided to make the backing board from two 1/2" thick layers of Gatorfoam, a material that consists of a light foam core sandwiched between hard facings. The resulting one inch thick backing board might seem very sturdy until you understand that the panel is 54.73" wide by 121.65" tall or a little over 101" tall. Rigidity was enhanced by using cherry and baltic birch plywood in strategic locations so that they not only strengthen the backing board, but they strengthen the model structure and provide a hanging mechanism as well. Thus, the face of the backing board is only 1" proud of the wall.
Getting such a large piece from the Chesapeake Bay to 535 Madison Ave. looked like a logistical nightmare, but with over a week put into the creation of a very special container and good freight handlers, it made the trip in great shape.

We drove to New York with the models components and assembled it on-site, at times with the assitance of others working on their part of the Boutique. What the site looked like when we got there was very different from what is being shown all over the Internet in recent days, but we knew the kind of place that was being built. We left the store as a protective cover was being placed over our model.

Its hard to explain the feelings when one leaves a model like that. We dont know exactly when we will get to see it in its full glory, but were looking forward to our next trip to New York.

Take a trip to http://IWC.com and check out the forums forums for more...

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Another Nice Weekend On The Boat

We had the pleasure of Sue and Vic on our boat on Saturday night after having a shopping trip into Ely for essential supplies for all and a nice pub lunch together.

Sunday was a bit of harder work. I painted some more of the roof and the concrete on our mooring was well overgrown having not been cut back for some years would be my guess.  So I dug it out.  You can see how much has been retrieved by looking at the dark stained area.

This is actually our mooring but for the time being the higher bank a bit further along suits us fine.

 Its handy for getting onto the roof and is a bit shielded

Oh, and the moorings on the other side of the river are part of a marina and the fees there are 3 x what we pay. 

 

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Every June On The Weekend Of Fathers Day

there is a show in St. Michaels, Maryland, that to me, is special in a way unlike any other that I know of. Let me say that Ive been to a lot of shows over the years. Its formal name is "The 26th Annual Antique & Classic Boat Festival/The Arts at Navy Point".

Feel free to print this poster and show it off

It is one of the grandest expositions of fine old mahogany and chrome boats in the country: it is, in fact, the largest show of the type in the Mid-Atlantic region. Its location, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, is a setting that is perfect for the shows many aspects. Being on the Miles River, which connects directly to the Chesapeake Bay, stately motoryachts come from many parts of the East Coast. Many boats simply cross the Bay from the Western Shore or come up or down the Bay from various Eastern Shore locations. Boats arrive on trailers from all over the US and often from Canada, as well. There are runabouts, utilities, race boats, cruisers, launches and virtually everything that you can imagine in between. Because these boats are in competition for best restoration to original condition, they are all in "Bristol" shape and when you see 120 to 130 of them together, its quite a sight.

There are several Antique & Classic Boat Festivals throughout the US and Canada and I think that they are all worth checking out. We attend a number of such shows each year and they all have their strengths. What I like about St. Michaels is that there is a type of synergy that has developed over the shows 26 year history. In particular, and for reasons that Im not sure that I understand, it has had a good relationship with the arts. Having been among the first vendors that were part of the show, many years ago, I remember that the first group had a number of artists in it. Some of them still do this show, almost 20 years later.

???

Talk about use of "Style"

While I dont understand how it began, this connection between the boats and the arts has grown in a very natural way and the two worlds compliment each other amazingly well. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the boats, most of which were designed to be stylish in their times, and which are in such pristine condition are art in and of themselves. Making old and worn boats young again is an art form in no uncertain terms. Understanding how to do research, learning about history, and applying techniques of woodworking, metalworking, finishing, graphics, etc. are all types of multi-media art and artisanry.

I often hear people say how beautiful the St. Michaels show is. That it is balanced and makes people feel good. There are a lot of reasons for that. There is a lot to do and a lot to see and the people are friendly. Again, the Museums grounds are beautiful in mid-June when the weather is "just right". I
think it looks better with lots of beautiful boats all over the place. ...and if you havent been to St. Michaels, it really is a great place to be.

Everyone has a reason for liking boats, or not; art or not, and what I see in this may seem like a figment of my imagination to you. I have no problem with that. I will say that you should come to this show and think about what Im saying here and see what you think for yourself. Even if you think Im crazy, there are a lot of other things to see and do at the show. Whatever you like, Im willing to bet that you will love something about this show.

The 26th Annual Antique & Classic Boat Festival / The Arts at Navy Point

For a list of this years artists and vendors go to http://intothings.com/boatshow/vendors.html

For more show information, or to register a boat go to http://www.chesapeakebayacbs.org/

For information about the town of St. Michaels go to http://www.stmichaelsmd.org/

For Accomodations during the show go to http://tourtalbot.org/accommodations.asp

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Water Spots on the Coffee Table

Some people call my boat "The Coffee Table" as it has a bit of a furniture quality look to it. One of these people is Lisa Lirones, the wife of Bruce Lirones, who inspired me to build a boat, and the mother of Brett Lirones, my daughters boyfriend. Lisa is a professional photographer. The Lirones came for a visit during the Woodward Dream Cruise, so we went out on the lake and Lisa took a few million photos so Ill post a few of them. She captured a few water spots in the making.

The only person not pictured is Lisa, since she took all the photos.

The only problem with referring to my boat as a coffee table is that my wife Vicky might start decorating it with paperweights, family photos and knick-knacks.

But maybe next year Ill get some coasters so the beer cans dont leave rings.

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Hang on a Minute I Gotta Drain It

There comes a time when the pressure builds and you just gotta do something that you have put off too long....like putting drain plugs in a boat. The thought of drilling big holes in the transom scared the heck out of me, but I couldnt put it off any longer. After contemplating and procrastinating, I reviewed the cross-section of the transom to determine the lowest point in the transom I could drill a perpendicular hole and not breach the plywood bottom planking. I also looked at photos on this blog to see where I had located screws to hold on the bottom planking near the keel as I did not want to drill into one.

I then decided to bore a guide hole in a 2x6 and clamp it to the inside of the transom and another scrap board to the outside to prevent break-out when I drilled through. The first hole when well, and then I moved to the other side of the keel and located the hole and drilled another pilot hole in the 2x6 in the right location. The pictures show the second hole about to be drilled.

I tried to insert the drain sleeve into the hole from the outside, but it was too snug. I used a rotary drum sander to open it up slightly until the sleeve would ease in. Then I marked the sleeve with a Sharpie to leave it about 1/8" long. I removed the sleeve and a tubing cutter was used to cut it off. The sleeves were filed slightly around the outside to provide some fine scratches to ensure a good bite. Epoxy was mixed and coated the inside of the holes. Then some high density #404 filler added to thicken it up and smeared into the holes. The sleeves were inserted fully from the outside and I rigged up a bolt with large washers in each one to make sure they were held firmly in the hole while the epoxy cured.

The next day, I used a small ball peen hammer and slowly peened the brass sleeve over to provide a flange on the inside of the boat. The drain plugs fit in nicely and its all good.

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A Few Days On The Move

Its half term in the UK and what with a wedding last weekend 

and the Jubilee and a boat show on Monday, we finally kicked off on Tuesday with the intention of going to St. Ives which we think is a delightful town.

The distance from our home mooring is about 24miles so having kicked off quite late following a lay in and supplies shopping we decided to stop early evening about half way along.

Very remote

At the first lock we had to go topless, its the law!  Well actually its because the lock runs under a road and the headroom is restricted.

 Deb gives this a good scale

Look at the water line. This is going in

This is the headroom after the rise

So on to the next lock.  Sometime seals can be seen here but not today. This is an easy lock hardly any level change at all but still it involves the whole process.

All was going well until we reached the next lock at St. Ives.  The river guide says the lock is 91 x 127.  Now you would think that us being a mere 60 x 12 would fit easily.  NOPE!  we got well and truly wedged despite going in at a snails pace.  There is a jutty out part as can be seen on Brians photos

The far end of the 3 rails. We were coming in the other way

It took Deb on the power and me and 2 other burly chaps to free us.  Words have been had with the publishers of the guide.

So we turned around and have now moored in a lovely spot near a pub.

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Fundamentals of Model Boat Building Should be on Your Holiday Shopping List

Do you have a tinkerer? Someone that wants to make that model in the closet, but theyve become frustrated? Do you have a child with artistic promise who could use something to help them focus their abilities? Do you wonder how a soon-to-be retiree is going to manage without going to work every day? Do you know a fantastic model maker who is looking for quality books that have information that they can really use? Do you know a boater that needs something to do this winter? Are you looking for a good book to read? Would you like to fill out that shopping list with something inexpensive?

 

You ought to take a serious look at “Fundamentals of Model Boat Building” by master model makers John Into and Nancy Price. Here are some reasons why...

Do you have a tinkerer? Making a model of the “Annie Buck”, a real Chesapeake Bay workboat is sure to make them very happy. Especially because the photographic instructions are clear and easy to follow.

Someone that wants to make that model in the closet, but theyve become frustrated? “Fundamentals of Model Boat Building” provides all of the information necessary to beat that frustration and make model kit building enjoyable again.

Do you have a child with artistic promise who could use something to help them focus their abilities?“Fundamentals of Model Boat Building” not only teaches techniques, theories, how to see a thing and make a 3D replica of it, but how to collect information, organize it, come up with a plan of action and how to turn that plan into reality. It is a book that will continue to provide interest as they grow.

 

Do you wonder how a soon-to-be retiree is going to manage without going to work every day?

 “Fundamentals of Model Boat Building” teaches the art of “scratch-building”. Its readers learn how to see something that they choose and turn it into a model. Scratch-building has no limits. Easy to read and understand, the book is also thorough and thought provoking, leading to an avocation that is both challenging and fulfilling.

Do you know a fantastic model maker who is looking for quality books that have information that they can really use? Professional and experienced amateur model makers have praised this book for covering information that model makers usually learn the hard way, sometimes incompletely, by trial and error. Although the book is clear enough to be understood by a novice, it is presented in logical sequence and provides advanced information about materials, tools, special measuring tools and techniques, substitute materials, how to carve wood, how to draw basic plans, how to work with lines drawings, understanding offsets tables, how to measure a boat, understanding different types of construction design and much more.

Do you know a boater that needs something to do this winter? Boat lovers will find lots of information about boat design, including information about displacement hulls and planing hulls. A boater can use the 5 categories for differentiating boats from one another and test their knowledge regarding structural and measuring design features that can be applied to any boat. For example: “What is deadrise?”

Are you looking for a really good book to read? This is a “coffee table quality” book. There are stories about boats, the people that use them, what they do, how they do it, where they do it and how these elements are important to why a boat looks and performs that way that it does. What models are, how they are used in every area of life, some history of model-making, how models differ in construction methods and display types – these are some of the things covered in surprising detail. Several people with no previous interest in either boats or model making have been happily surprised at having found a unique book that is not only informative, but entertaining.

Fundamentals of Model Boat Building(ISBN-9780764331053) is a hard-cover book published by Schiffer Books, LTD. List price $34.99. It has160 pages with 264 photos and 94 drawings, all in high color, on fine paper. It has received numerous excellent reviews from magazines, blogs and readers. Available world-wide -It is not currently available for e-books.

To see some reviews and to find out where you can get your copy, please go to

 

http://intothings.com/fundamentals.html

 

For an extra special gift, you can also get a copy of Fundamentals of Model Boat Building

personally autographed by authors John Into and Nancy Price

please call 410-745-5954.

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To sea on a NOAA ship

I just found out Ill be spending a few weeks this summer aboard one of NOAAs survey or research ships as part of the Teacher at Sea program! I hope to bring lots of knowledge and wonderful experiences back to my classroom to share with my students.

The isolation of small-town living, coupled with the traditional character of family life on the border, means that most of my students have little notion of the opportunities outside of the Rio Grande Valley. Many have internalized negative stereotypes of Hispanics, immigrants, and border life and thus have developed a limited view of who they are and what they can become. They worry about “fitting in” or “getting in” to “Anglo” opportunities. It is my job to counteract this by pushing my students to get the best from their minds and achieve more than they thought was possible for themselves. 

Making careers in science seem real and attainable to students is a priority in my classroom. These careers often seem very distant to my students because most of them have never known anyone in scientific research or engineering. I have seen over and over again how a strong relationship with a caring, approachable adult can help students expand their world view and make positive life-altering decisions. I cant wait to leverage this experience to create stellar lessons on waves, buoyancy, pressure, and thermodynamics. Most of all, Im excited about introducing my students to this line of work and showing them that there is a big, beautiful world out there worth protecting and that they too could have an adventure!

NOAA ship "Rainier" www.noaa.gov

I wont know which ship Ill be sailing on, where Im going  or even when Im going until about a month before departure. Maybe the Atlantic? Hawaii? the Arctic? the Gulf? So many possibilities!

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