SB18 in the Philippines

[lncc63]

Thanks Greg for the concern. I'm sure you can imagine my frustration. Yup I spent last weekend preparing for the typhoons. I wrapped the SB18 in tarp secured it well for the winds that will sure come. At first I was thinking I might sneak in some building time now and then but on second thought I'd rather not chance it. Oh well.

[lncc63]

At ks8's nudging ... thanks I needed that .

Well I started working on the SB18 again this week though sorry to say this really just going to be a short push since I'm doing so only so I can get the SB18 off the building jig, and start building a VG20 . The VG20 build is a commercial venture, it is going to be chartered out, so it has to take priority.

Last Sunday, I did the undesirable task of sanding the tape on the chines. It wasn't so bad, even though the angle grinder really kicked up a lot of fiberglass dust, because I applied a good amount of talc power over my arms, face and neck.

After wiping down the hull with a damp rag, I then laid out the two 8kg packages of 400gms 45/45 biax with a 12" overlap over the centerline of the boat. The biax overlaps the upper chines by 3". I appreciate the thought the designers put into making the materials fit so nicely. The glass is held in place with a few staples. I have no intention of taking out the staples out unless the designers tell me otherwise.

Over the past few days, I've been laminating the glass to the hull. I really wanted to do it in one sitting however between my schedule and the schedule the rains have been insisting on this is the only way possible. My routine is I roll back the tarp and plastic sheeting that the boat is normally covered with enough to expose the portion of unlaminated glass I'll work on. I probably work on 500mm - 1000mm sections at a time. I don't prime the wood anymore because that would require not having the staples and rolling the glass up. Priming would be better I think but .... anyway what I do is I pour the mixed epoxy, about 6 pumps of the calibrated pumps sold here, onto the "keel" and let the glass soak it up. I use a squeegee to spread the epoxy and kneed it in as necessary. Once the glass is wet, I then put a plastic sheet over the new epoxy and use a roller to squeeze out the excess epoxy along with the fiberglass muck. I then pull the tarp over and have my nighcap beer. This has been my routine the past few days.

I'm contemplating putting biax on the sides. The plywood I had available at the time is only 3-ply. The glue is good and we've used this for quite sometime now on several boats so I'm not really worried. A few kg more of glass and epoxy for a stronger boat sits well with me.

Recently, "closed to BS1088" plywood has come onto the Philippine market. The only difference according to the manufacturer is that the outer veneers are rated "B/C" but honestly I can't tell the difference. So I am contemplating replacing my frames using this new plywood.

Another development is that someone is going to indefinitely loan me an unused Hobie 16 mast. As already mentioned, the H16 mast is short at only 8080mm. The SB18 needs a 9085mm long mast. After reading the other discussions on the board, my plan is to splice a piece of schedule 40 6061-T6 pipe at the bottom up to the mast partner, and then make an extended mast head to make up for the rest of the 55mm. Ideas on how to splice the pipe to the end would be most welcome.

Sorry guys I've not been able to take any pictures of the SB18 however here is a picture of the 3rd CR13 in the Philippines that I am hosting at my house. Also in the back, there is a Summer Breeze that we modified to be nesting and with taped seams. Again my apologies, the picture is 2 weeks old. The CR13 already has its seats, and the Summer Breeze is already cut in two.

[lncc63]

Oh yeah did get a lot of work done on the Sketchup model

[topwater]

Sketchup model is stunning......
The boat looks nice to

[Dog Fish]

She looks to be very stable with that flat butt

[lncc63]

Thanks guys. Working with the model is nice and it does help a lot visualizing but of course nothing compares to the real thing.

On Saturday we had a nice sunny day so was able to put in 5 hours straight to finish laminating the rest of the bottom biax. Tonight I'll fit the biax for the sides.

[ks8]

Hopefully Evan or J will answer soon about the sheer clamps on the other thread. Are you going to give model a name?

[lncc63]

Oh you guys are referring to THAT model ... well she's not mine ... unfortunately. I just borrowed her, I think she's with a Mirror sailor .

We got the biax on the sides last night. Having 3 others to help was a welcome relief.

[lncc63]

It is still raining here. August is suppose to be the "rainiest" month. Despite this boat building is "booming" in our yard. The VG20 went 3D the other weekend, the CR13 only needs her daggerboard trunk and mast step, and the nesting Summer Breeze is just about ready for painting (owner is suffering the "never ending saga" syndrome). With all this activity, I've conceded that I can no longer restain myself to not work on our SB18.

Earlier, I mentioned that the SB18 was sitting in our street. Well I kept worrying a tyhpoon would come and flip her so we moved her into our yard. It was't easy, and involved removing a portion of our fence but we did get her in though she is still upside down. This weekend I'm going to flip the SB18 and build a small tent over her so I can continue working . I'll have to make another strongback too but that's fine with me.

I love helping others build boats but I have to be honest that I need to be building mine too.

[chicagoross]

Glad you're finally making some progress again!

We visited our place in Imus July for a few weeks, and amazingly enough all of my BB tools are still there, my 40 hp Merc is still on it's stand waiting for the next build (but the guys in Subic that bought my 24 footer haven't picked it up yet so no building room). Couldn't get my jeep running, though...but altogether not bad after a 3 year absence. My spend Christmas too, if we make any $ between now and then.

Didn't have to go boating, though, we were leaving pretty good wakes just cruising through the streets of Cavite and Manila in the Delica...