I FOUND A MAST AND BOOM !

Every since I started building the catamaran my main concern was getting the mast for the boat. Buying a new one would be out of the question as the cost of transportation to Malaysia would be very high. I had been going around the yacht clubs keeping an eye open all the time. Also I pass the word around to all my yachtie friends and also companies dealing with leisure boats.The answer had always been negative so at one stage I was seriously considering launching the boat as a power boat. Someone suggested building a wooden mast but I think an aluminium one is best.

I got a call two weeks ago that Martin who owns a yacht repairing company in Pulau Indah has found a mast for me. The aluminium mast is 11 meters long, just 0.5 meters short of what I need but I think it will do. Yesterday I drove about 350 km from Chukai to Pulau Indah to inspect my prize catch. I was happy with what I saw and a deal was made.

 

The mast was in perfect shape. Anodised aluminium but since most of the gold colour is off I requested for a coat of PU paint.

 

It comes complete with roller furlings which was in excellent shape too.

 

 The boom looks good too. I am happy

 

 The winch which was not included in the deal looks like it can be salvaged. It is not jammed and is clicking!

 

I got hold of a worker and with a blow torch he got both the winches off for me. Paid him some pocket money and he seems very happy.

Mr Richard Woods then designer, when he built the Gypsy 28 catamaran managed to pick up his riggings for a mere 50 quids at a boatyard jumble sale. I paid much much more than that!!!

Looks like a catamaran !

More efforts were put into the boat.

The shape of a Gypsy catamaran is already here!

Now the cosmetics.

I bought a piece of thick polycarbide plastic for the windows. First to install were the side windows of the cuddy

  

A template of the opening was made using a piece of cardboard. This was then traced onto the polycarbide. Using a jigsaw the exact shape was cut.

 

It is then screwed on to the frame. Later a wooden frame will be added to "look nice"

The Starboard Hull

In catamaran building we have to repeat the exercise twice as we have two hulls which are identical.

However when working on the second set the work is usually speedier and better as valuable lessons had been acquired earlier!

It is hot so to get a little bit of shade I built a temporary sun shade using cheap garden cloth.

Discovering a few pieces of rotten wood !

 The cuddy had been completed about 4 years ago. Due to it's size it was shifted out of the tent and wrapped with canvas. That should be quite safe, I think!. Recently when I inspected the cuddy I noticed that there were a few pieces of 2 inch by 1 inch that had rotted. It felt sofy and I could tear the wood like in this picture

 

A rescue plan was put into place. I had the whole cuddy inspected and removed several pieces of wood that were rotted. Maybe rain water had seeped in but the wood were glassed with epoxy and glass cloth. The next logical explanation from my timber merchant friend was the few pieces of wood that rotted had been cut from near the bark of the tree and as such it is vulnerable to rotting. It proves that my experience in selecting the meranti wood had not been good!

  

Because the boat had been built strong and well when the damaged wood had to be removed some of the plywood came out with it!

I cut away most of the plywood leaving only the structures . Another piece of marine ply will be laid on top of this.

  New pieces of 2 inch by 1 inch wood were used to replace the bad wood. I need to be more careful in selecting wood in future!

Port Hull upper structures

This is the mast beam on the port hull. It was purposely built over sized so that it can be trimmed to fit into the side wall of the hull. The angle of the upper section of the bulkheads were taken from the plans and tranfered to the mast beam.

 

Precise measurements were needed otherwise there may be a huge gap between the beam and the side wall.

  

The excess length was then sawn off.

  

Finally the side panel of the upper section of the port hull is glassed onto the hull panel.

Preparing to deck the Port Hull

 

I cut a hole between bulkhead 2 and 3 as there was a lot of water in this compartment every time I did not cover the boat properly. Sure enough there were some water inside the compartment.The water was pumped out and the compartment left to dry. It was then easily sealed off again using epoxy and 300 gm CSM.

A piece of 6 mm ply was then prepared. the rough shape with an allowance of about 3 inches on either side was then cut.

The side of the hull had to be trimmed and 2 by 1 wood had to be trimmed and slotted in. On the side of the hull a triangular shaped piece of wood had to be glassed to the hull. This will support the deck and make it more solid.

At this time of the year it can be very hot in the afternoons. I had to jury rig a shade to provide some comfort while working on the boat. With these garden orchid shade it becomes manageable to work in the afternoons.

There is still a lot of sanding and grinding to be done before the deck could be glassed.

Fitting the Mast Beam

 The mast beam supports the mast when the boat is ready. There are three portions of the beam  It also holds the central cuddy in it's position. When the cuddy was being built the central portion of the beam was built together.

First of all the position of the holes to be cut on the cuddy had to be carefully drawn. One left and one right rectangular hole to fit the beam had to be cut. The left and right section of the beam had to be able to slide through the holes. The side of the hulls had to be trimmed so that there is a perfect fitting of the beam inside and out.

 

By now I get to understand why the plan calls for "fit when assembling". This section joins the mast beam and the cuddy (the unpainted portion of the cuddy)

Glass joints are applied both on the inside and outside.

 

Of course there is a lot of preparation work to make the glassing operation a smooth one.

Picture shows the left mast beam resting on the hull and being glassed.

More glassing later on..this time attaching the beam to the hull. When the left side is completed, work starts all over again on the other hull. the beauty of constructing a catamaran. Always got to work twice!

Fitting the cockpit .....

Preparation and preparation....The cockpit which had been completed many months back is now prepared to be joined to the aft beam. Minor size adjustment is done by using the grinder. As the item is bulky to be lifted by one person I had the fortune of getting two students doing their diploma course in Marine cargo handling to assist me.

Fine trimming with the grinder.

The cockpit is supported by bricks. A water level is made so that the cock pit is not loop sided.

More trimming...

The cockpit had to be raised and lowered several times to get a good fit.

Once it is well fitted, thickened epoxy is used to bond the cockpit to the aft beam. Of course clamps are used to ensure a good fit.

Fitting the Aft Decks

 The plan says Fit Aft Deck before fitting the cabin and cockpit otherwise access will be difficult! So before covering the deck I gave two coats of paint on the inside of the hull. I do not want to be squatting inside a confined space to do the paint job. Next 90 degrees metal joints are screwed on to the 2 by 1 stringers. This is to ensure good and strong joints.

 

This deck is made from a 6 mm marine ply. Several trial fittings were done to ensure perfect fit. Pieces of wood were added to the stringers to ensure perfect fit .

 

I had to crawl and "feel" any imperfections before glassing

 Biaxial matt and 600 gm CSM were used to join the deck to the side of the boat.

 Next a layer of 300 gm glass cloth was laminated with epoxy to the deck.

Work on Catamaran again!

 Today is the first day at work again after a lapse of about 3 months due to the monsoon, floods , holiday season and the Chinese New Year. I uncovered the port hull today and cleaned it up (only one hull!). For the assembly I need to draw the waterline and use that as a datum. As usual, I spent several hours pondering over the plans again.

 According to the plan, at Station "0" the waterline is 300 mm up the nose and at Station "10" it is 40 mm below the transom. Using these as a guide I used a string to draw a line. This was then recchecked with the bulkhead measurements.

Using a marker pen a line is drawn following the string that is joined between the two points.

 

 Then a leveller is used to check the level of the line..The ground which the hulls are sitting on is not perfectly flat.