Fabricating hatches and messing with chemicals

There is a lot to show in this post-but first a photo of John goofing off.

Fabricating a hatch-

Port fuel tank hatch 

 

 We found a manufacturer of soundproofing coatings at the IBEX (International Boatbuilders Expo) and John coated one hatch to see how it flowed.  So far so good.

The five aft deck hatches are built and fit nicely. 

He needed a way to etch and clean the aluminum before painting.  John mixed up a concoction of phosphoric acid, glycol and Simple Green to test.  It works well except on the spots of sap from pine needles blowing onto the boat.

Adding the rub rails

The rub rails are the round tubes that were cut in half a while back.

This view shows the corner "el" fitted into place.

Starboard side view

John's other hobby - a 1992 BMW K75RT

He couldn't resist popping a wheelie with the tug tractor.

To work on the other side, the boat has to be turned around.

Pulling it back into the shop - bow first.

There is barely an inch between the boat and the garage door sides.

Transom and Steering

The boat is getting closed in.  Handy old 1/8"masonite is now known as eucaboard.  It's still the best thing for making templates,

Sloppy welds can be dressed up with the lathe if needed and small enough to fit.

Trial fit of the transom piece made with the eucaboard template.  Nice fit!

It's easier to crawl in and out without the transom in place.  Here is a mock-up of the steering system.

And finally, a look at the base for the steering wheel at the helm.

Transom work

 Here is the trial fit of the mid transom and deck beam.

A close up of the tunnel and rudder reinforcements.

Trial fitting the rudder and the top transom piece.  Note-this piece is curved both at top and outward to the rear.  Very nice job.   You may also spot the brand new dead blow sledge hammer.  As the boat gets bigger, so do the tools.

Sebring bonus sights

We planned our trip to stay at the historic Kenilworth Lodge and see the stuff at Flywheelers, but found there was other interesting stuff going on there.

We watched some SCCA racing and went to the Light Sport Aircraft show.  We resisted adding another project or two to the collection in our yard.

Happy New Year!

It has been over six months since the last post.  The airboat job took a bit more time than planned.  John is back in the shop welding the boat.

We took a break to travel to Sebring for the Florida Flywheelers Swap Meet, tractor parade and old equipment extravaganza.

Out for a run (through the yard)

Checking headroom in the future head/shower area.

Checking headroom in the center aisle.

There was a lot of visible progress during the past week.  The hull sides are welded and more bracing was added.  We tested the cabin height with temporary square tubing.

I thought John told me to check out the "lightning bolts" that he cut into the supports.  After a a bit of research, I figured out that he meant "lightening".

The next big project is figuring a way to support the sides to keep them from caving in when the boat gets turned.

Out for a turn around spin through the yard.

Port side view

Lightening holes, not lightning holes.

The empty shop.  It's too dark to see the motor hanging from the handy chain fall.