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Chapter 16 (Part)

THE PORT INNER HULL EXTERIOR

After lifting the inner hull into position the initial activity was, to check the fit of the hulls and this was achieved by the removal of the spacer . Two small misalignments were found this way and rectified when the hulls were spaced apart again.

The glue was then inserted into the join using "gunk bags", polythene triangle shaped bags with the tip cut of and the hull progressively lowered.

As the top two/three stringers from the outer hull had been removed previously, aligning the hulls was easily achieved with wedges between the top of the formframe and the keel.

I had also prepared "pulling hook" arrangements prior to gluing/joining the hulls and this enabled us (my brother Jim helped me inside the hull) to pull the hull into the bend and hold it there while the glue set and until after the taping.

While I was taping the bulkheads I also installed three quarter round steps to facilitate entry into the hold an idea I’d picked up in Queensland during a visit to fellow F41 builders.

The keel joint taping is still outstanding in the photo, but was completed prior to stripping as that denies any further access to the hull, by me, 105 kg’s that is.

I was a bit concerned about the alignment of the SB rudder, as I had lost all the reference points at the time it was installed. To check the SB rudder I made up a new template from the FSP’s.

The alignment was then checked, by holding the template in line with the rudder and checking the verticality with a spirit level, the rudder was found to have a forward tilt of 20mm in 400 hight. After consultation with Ian F it was decided to match the orientation in the Port rudder.

Because the formframes were still in place, it was a simple matter of measuring from them to accurately align the rudder.

I had decided to build the rudder tube in at this stage as the support (stringers) were still there and it saved having to support the foam later. The transom deck had also been removed (it had been fixed 20 mm high) and this was a blessing as well.

The photo shows how the missing deck greatly facilitated access for positioning and laminating in the rudder tube.

This time I decided to laminate the rudder tube and gussets in two phases, the side shown (inner), prior to rolling and the outer side after, when it would be uppermost. This makes it much easier to control the quality of this important bit.

Stripping Formframes & Stringers

Having done this before, meticulous care was exercised in cleaning all the fibreglass dust from the floor before we commenced. I had managed to persuade Erik to help me again, despite his bout with the itches previously, by promising him a Tyvecs suit.

We again used the A frames to provide for temporary support and safety until the first roller frame could be installed. That meant the stringers had to be released up to the FF #4 position and even with pre planned spacing of the stringers with this in mind, it was disconcerting to find out how much had to be stripped before we could get the first roller frame in.

Getting the second frame in was much easier and once it was in position and braced, at the rear, the whole assembly again became solid.

We then removed the rest of the formframes starting from the rear, again using an A frame for temporary support. The photo also shows the glassed in rudder tube.

Fairing the Foam

Once the hull were joined it became obvious that the bridge deck junction joint at the front would need to be a reasonable match with the SB side. The first thing I saw was that the foam line of the inner hull was an elongated ‘S’ in stead of a straight line as per SB, this was fixed by cutting the return of at the start of the curve and replacing it with a straight piece.

The HD block outs for the forward cleat and inner fairlead were routered out of the foam, exposing the inner laminate.

With the ‘roller frames’ in place it was much easier to fair the keel foam to about 200 mm past the keel joint.

Following my experience with working overhead on the keel and minikeel of the SB hull, I had resolved to minimise that by taking the bottom of the 2*600 layer of the fibreglass 200 below the joint with the top layer finishing 75 mm below.

Lamination

Previous chapters have illustrated the lamination process in detail.

The photo illustrates the start of releasing the peel ply. I preferred to get it of quickly and the do the corrective grinding whilst the laminate was still slightly soft.

This shows the hull after completion of the ‘grinding’, which is basically limited to the ridges at the joins of the peel ply and fibreglass, and the provision for future tape/glass joins (keel / bridge deck)

The hole for the minikeel support core was marked and cut and the minikeel checked for correct fit. I used a stringline in line the frame ends to ensure the orientation of the bottom was the same as the SB minikeel one, horizontal, by accident.

The UD strips and covering Bi Axial layer were laminated on and this time I used peel ply to keep the joins as smooth as possible. It worked well.

The mini keel was positioned and the gap filled from the top with expanding foam. The following day the excess was trimmed off and the corner coved prior to double taping the hull and minikeel together.