Beam Mounts arrive

The beam mounts were delivered yesterday to our door. No one was home , and today we picked up the box at the post office. Actually, Monica accepted the task, as she is home earlier, and I was somewhat concerned that the box might have been too heavy for her to handle easily. No issue, as it turns out the box seemed very lightweight for her. There was however, for this Canuck, duty and taxes to pay the government, before taking possession.

The box just opened up looks like this.


After a quick inspection of the parts, I can comment that I am very impressed with the beam mounts' light weight and quality. The water jet cutting really works over areas that have two separated surfaces that make a very deep kerf. I think Ian Farrier made a huge effort to get the design right not only for the beams, but also for shipping.

Having the parts in hand, I can finally say that the instructions for adding the aft side bolt areas makes some sense.

Where am I

Every now and then I add an entry that has nothing to do with the boat build.

This time I would like to share a picture from my neighbourhood along the north shore of Lake Ontario Canada. This is one of our favourite dog walks available from our house. The dogs can run free. Yes it is winter in Canada. Of course Lake Ontario has some great fresh water sailing and will probably be the most used body of water for my F22.

I also noticed that it is possible to copy HTML code to get a live link of a satellite image of the area from google maps. I probably will not keep this up for long but I thought it was pretty cool. I'm curious if some of the other builders are interested in sharing their neighbourhood location. Countries are big, neighbourhood communities are much smaller. Small is beautiful.

Pouring the daggerboard keel insert

I estimated the volume of epoxy required to cover the keel insert area and cut up as fine as I could some of my s-glass cloth to mix in with the resin to add some reinforcement. I can make the following observations from the pour.

The s-glass fibers tended to clump a bit in the mixture, (should have been a warning sign) and when deposited at the bottom of the case, it did not flow very well. So with this observation and the process begun, I used a flashlight and peering down the case I deposited the mixture in a fashion akin to bombing raid over the length of the keel insert area. It's quite possible I did not chop the fibers enough or I added too much. If I could do it again I might just use cabosil and make sure the mixture was thin enough to flow properly.

It's cured now and I've checked the height of the pour. Best way I could think of is to use a tape measure making measurements relative from outside to inside down the length of the daggerboard case. It looks like the height varies from 20 to at one point just approaching 30 mm. I think the 30 mm high areas will be cut out with the 'A' section daggerboard profile, so I think I am OK. But I'm imagining getting in there with a dremel tool if need be.

Joining the daggerboard case

I adhesively sealed the machine screws into place (making them studs) and then smeared some high quality silicon over the S.S pan heads. I didn't think it could hurt the cause of anti-corrosion. The bare fiberglass cut edge will be sealed as I join the daggerboard halves with epoxy resin and later with paint. A last look before it is on the inside forever. Starboard side of the case and all ready for laminating the forward edge. Here is a picture of the aft side edge all laminated and with plastic over the peel ply. I generally work the fiberglass and epoxy resin through the plastic till the epoxy has set to the point where the plastic starts to tear from my 'gentle' ministrations with the squeegee.



Joined, the case weighs somewhere between 19-20 lbs. I think it turned out Ok considering the poor vacuum I was achieving in its construction.

Here is the case free standing with the boys and our young Australian shepherd Cali who just has to be part of everything. Not really standing headroom in this boat! It is interesting though how the boat parts move around in the house.

Fabricated parts drawings

I have finally got around to getting the drawings out for a local quote for the fabricated parts. The quote has gone out to the machine shop manager here. I have separated the drawings into two major assemblies. One for the beams that Ian Farrier has indicated that Precourt can make for $1240 USD (this looks very reasonable) and one set for the mast step. There are other parts for the mast which cannot be made yet. I have asked for pricing on 1 set and 5 sets. The greater the number of parts you can make on one set up the cheaper the price. I'm sure the Precourt price is based on having 5 sets or more to make at a time. I'm not sure if I will be able to do better than that. I am hoping I can get some other builders to in with me for that very funky and exciting mast step design. I'll have to order that S.S. ball soon.

Update Monday Feb. 18th: The shop came back with the comment that they cannot compete with the price as quoted by Ian Farrier and Precourt for the beam assembly parts, and have declined to quote.

Test fit of daggerboard cheek block

The test fit of the cheek block has been achieved without major issues. The thickness of the wall was quite sufficient for tapping the S.S. machine screws. The screws tighten up to create mounting studs very nicely. The acorn nuts make for a nice scratch free finish. I will replace the 3 nylocks used temporarily on the cheek block with lock washers and acorn nuts for final assembly. You cannot see them but nylon washers are used everywhere to isolate the S.S washers and nuts from the Al plate.

On the inside I built up the cheek block with a piece of starboard plastic that I have used previously in my updating of my Northstar 26 sloop. Even though my boat will most likely sail freshwater I want to reduce any chance of galvanic corrosion and separate any contact between Al and S.S with something inert.

Everything looks to be at an acceptable position. The sheave and pan head fasteners will not interfere with the daggerboard.

Painting the inner side of the daggerboard case

Once the daggerboard case is joined I will not have any chance to repair or re coat, so I have decided to err on the side of caution and have given the inner surfaces a few coats of the InterProtect waterproofing primer. I am not sure if this is necessary as epoxy resin is itself quite waterproof.
Here I am brushing the second coat on. This primer is full of nasties and really does require the use of a proper organic vapour mask. Not only that, I had to open the basement windows wide for ventilation and send the family and dogs out to visit with the mother in law.

Here they are after the first coat of the graphite epoxy mixture. I used ~ 25% graphite and 5% cabosil by volume to the Mas epoxy. A foam roller seemed to work just fine for application. Right now I'm thinking of 3 coats. I'm curious to see how durable this finish is. I have never used this technique before.

A perfect GPS compass and speedometer for the F22

I was just browsing one of my local marine shops here and found perfect GPS compass and speedometer for the F22. The Velocitek SC1.

I can only imagine where the technology will be by the time I have the boat finished, in the water and ready to use a wonderful toy like this.

F22 community

The F22 boat build for me has been a long term process of learning new skills using new tools and materials. It has been an opportunity for making decisions on the choice of materials to get the best result on the basis of cost, benefit and budget. The build has offered both moments of reward and extreme disappointment. It has stimulated a discipline of work habits and standards to ensure the best quality. The boat build has become a practice where I have come to know myself better.

One thing for sure, the number of F22 builders willing to expose and share their experiences on their web sites has helped create an international community of people, that in the sharing, has made the long march easier to bear. This sharing has given others the confidence to undertake their own build. This is all good for Ian Farrier's F22 design.

Port side daggerboard case laminated

The system would only pump down to -15 in. of Hg.

...but it looks OK. There is a very clean looking rope channel. You can't really see the e-glass uni-directional but it is all there along with the high density inserts and the multiple layers of 8.9 oz cloth. On the starboard side I completed last April I used Areopoxy resin but both sides have identical weights and types of fiberglass. So I should be OK. I waiting for it to cure some more before I 'pry' it off the case.

One error I made on the starboard side was to put a 45 degree shape along the keel and deck trim lines. Not this time, I put the 45 degree shape on the foam (which is only there to aid in the fiberglass lay up) past these trim lines so that they can be trimmed square. If you look closely at the plans you can see this. When I do fit the case I suppose there will be a larger putty fillet on the starboard side.

I'm glad the major laminating for this part is done.

As I mentioned earlier I'm thinking of using a graphite/epoxy coating on the above water bearing surfaces. Below the waterline I am thinking about using Interlux VC performance epoxy, not only in the case but everywhere on the boat. It is meant for performance boats that are trailered, and has no anti-fouling properties. It also incorporates some Teflon to make the surface slippery and easier to wet sand. If anyone has any strong opinions on this I'd like to hear from you. I have no experience with it but I do know it has been used on J-24's.

Since Raven will live on a trailer I will not have any use for anti-fouling paint. I speak from experience when I say I hate anti-fouling paint. A very large part of my decision to build the F-22 was to get rid of marina fees and have a boat I could take anywhere and 'enjoy' ramp launching.

Update:
The port side came out of the mold fairly easy this time. I think the extra coats of wax over top the plastic tape really does help.

Here are the two halves ready for trimming, painting and joining.


I am impressed with the resultant sharpness of the rope channel.