Thursday, July 21, 2011

Building the LAR Keels for my Gypsy catamaran

In between building the hulls I had to build the LAR Keels. LAR is Low Aspect Ratio . The plan says I can either build the keels from flat panels OR make a small mould. Considering the keels to be quite narrow I would have imagined that it will be difficult the lay up the few layers of 600/225 matt. ( I do not have small hands!). So it was decided that I would make the flat panels and then shape it to the required profile. BUT BOTH THE KEELS MUST BE IDENTICAL! And I do not want to mess around with the keels as both these small keels should be able to take up the weight of the boat when beaching!First the shape and size of the panels are marked on the melamin chip boards. A releasing agent is applied to the surface so that the sheet produced does not stick on to the wood.. To speed things up I made a double sized panel so that it can be cut later and becomes two panels.Next gelcoat is applied. This was followed by the required number of layers of appropriate glass as per Richard Wood's plan.The flat panels are then clamped together and shaped using pieces of wood at the correct positions. The dimensions are given in the plans.After that the required layers of 600/225 biaxial are glassed inside the panels.As added security, I added another two layers of 600 gm CSM on the outside for some extra reinforcement. As you can see from this picture both the keels are almost ready. Maybe a layer of PU paint will complete the job.
This is another tick on my plans. A tick indicates a completed section of the plan.



Monday, July 11, 2011

My Friend Trevor, the Traveller

Trevor Hinwood hails from Tin Can Bay, Queensland, Australia. One fine day in June 2000 I met him at the waterfront in front of my shop. From his looks I knew he was a yachtie so I went up to him and asked if he was from the sailboat anchored in front. I was still in my white shirt and blue pants and looked very "official". Trevor looked up and enquired if I was the local harbour master coming after him for anchoring fees! Well he looked friendly enough and I invited him to a coffee shop for some toast and coffee. I told him I am a sailor as well and that I will be sailing to Pulau Tenggol over the weekend. Well, he was going to Tenggol too but will be a day ahead of me.When I reached Pulau Tenggol he was already there with his boat " Blueswift". About an hour before my arrival I radioed him on VHF and he prepared a lovely breakfast for me and my crew. I did not even anchor on that trip but just rafted next to his boat.We went shore Pulau Tenggol with his dinghy and had a good time at Tenggol. I remembered paying for lunch at the resort (cost me a bomb!)I sailed back to Chukai in the evening and Trevor continued his journey up North until Koh Samui.


Somewhere around end October he returned to Chukai and decided to stay until the monsoon is over. His 35 ft Blue Swift aqlmost looked like a town feature, being anchored in front of my shop for the next 3 months. At the end of the 3 months he decided to engage Bruce the Goose to sail his boat back to Australia.During his stay in Chukai I invited to my house and we became family friends. I was forever digging his brains as he has a wealth of experience on boats. He came sailing with me and taught me the best Man Over Board drill. So much more practical and easier to the textbook drills.At that time I was still the owner of a Maxi 77 named Cakra Mada. After Trevor returned back to Australia we kept in contact and he went round Australia two time by campervan (an old Toyota Coaster bus conversion). Towards the end he felt he needs the good Asian food and decided to come over to Malaysia to stay on a tourist permit. So in 2009 he came over to Cherating to stay at Kampong Inn. From here he wanders around the country by bus and train. One fine day he met a Thai lady and he decided to go and stay with her. So after that it was the Thai adventure. I believe Trevor is a SIGNtist as the Thai lady does not speak English and Trevor does not speak Thail...so it has to be international Sign language!



While he was with me managed to create a blog for him but unfortunately he did not master the skills required to maintain a blog so there were only limited entries. Visit http://trevortravel.blogspot.com/



He was my support driver when I did a solo cycling trip fron Sg Gawi round Kenyir lake to Gua Musang


Trevor is now in Vietnam with his Thai lady friend underrgoing some prostate treatment. Till today he blames meeting up with me as the downfall of his life!