Vaka hull painting completed

 Today we removed the masking tape and the plastic sheets protecting the graphite bottom.

Vaka hull: second coat of enamel

Two hours of work today to give the vaka hull the second coat of enamel. We first gave the hull a light scrub with 240 grit sandpaper and then cleaned the dust.

We will wait for the paint to dry and turn the hull rightside up for painting deck and cockpit. 

Total work time to date: 743 hours
 

Vaka hull: first coat of enamel

 3 hours of work today to give the hull a first coat of paint.

We started giving a light scuff with 240 grit to the primer, and removed the dust with an anti static cloth.

 Then we prepared almost 0.6 liters of Boero Altura TC one part polyurethane paint diluted about 7% with Boero 703 thinner, and painted with a short hair roll

In the past weeks we had made repairs to the misterious defective spots in the primed surface, by sanding and recoating. This will remain a mistery.

Total work time to date: 741 hours

Vaka hull: second coat of primer

 Two hours today for the second coat of primer:

We noticed a very strange effect when coating the port side of the hull which we cannot explain: we will sand it when dry and recoat it

Total work time to date: 737 hours

Vaka hull: first coat of primer

Two hours of work today. We gave the aka hull the first coat of primer (Boero Giano + 10% Boero 703 thinner) with a short hair roller. Here's the situation half way through

and here it is completed

Total work time to date: 735 hours

Preparing the vaka hull for painting

Two hours of work today. We sanded the graphite coating to a feather edge on the hull panels; put masking tape all around the edge making sure that the primer will cover about 1 cm of the graphite coating; protected the newly coated bottom with plastic; lightly sanded the whole hull with 240 grit, and cleaned the boat. Next time we will give the first coat of primer.

Total work time to date: 733 hours

Vaka bottom: second coat of graphite

 One hour today to give the bottom a second coat of graphite/epoxy resin after a light scrub with 240 grit. 

Later in the evening we removed the plastic skirt

 Total work time to date: 731 hours

Vaka bottom: first coat of graphite

Two hours of work today. We bought a new roll of masking tape so we could finish to cover the hull with a plastic skirt. We then gave a light scuff with 240 grit to the hull bottom, and finally gave a first coat using about 250 grams of clear resin to which we added 30% (in volume) of graphite powder.

Here's yours truly giving the first coat

 

and here's Cinzia doing a thorough quality check:

Total work time to date: 730 hours

Preparing the vaka for graphite coating

 Just one hour of work today

 Unexpectedly, we ran immediately out of masking tape 😧 so we will have to buy some more...

 

 

So, we decided to bore 4 holes in the carts and put one bolt in each through the aka support blocks to avoid that the vaka slides over the cart while moving the hull around.

Total work time to date: 728 hours

Press stop: graphite!

 The graphite (1 liter of very light powder) has arrived:

This must be mixed with clear epoxy (1 part of powder in 3 parts of epoxy, in volume) and spread on the bottom (2 layers). We'll see...

Turning the vaka for painting

After much thinking, we decided to coat the vaka bottom with graphite. We ordered a liter of graphite powder but it we have not yet received it. Today, we turned the vaka hull upside down in preparation for the bottom coating. We succeded in the operation with relative ease notwithstanding the almost 200 kg. Here it is lying on a side

and here it is, resting on two 2-cm thick particle board panels on wheels.

 Total work time to date: 727 hours

Attaching the OB motor support

 Two hours of work today. As anticipated, we prepared 150 grams of epoxy resin.

We then added microfibers and colloidal silica to prepare a glue and make the fillets. Here's the beam crossing the vaka hull under the aft deck

and here is where it comes out of the hull, with a milestone beer

Total work time to date: 726 hours

Preparing to attach the OB motor mount

Two hours of work to prepare everything to glue the OB motor mount. We purchased a Honda 2.3 hp long shaft for this boat. The motor mount is a robust wooden beam (2x6) passing trough the vaka abaft of the aft aka and protruding to the port side of the vaka itself... So we sanded all the interior surfaces to be ready for epoxy glue and fillets

We sanded also the port hull side along the hole

and finally we sanded the motor mount itself

Next time we'll attach it permanently to the hull using epoxy glue and large fillets.

We also measured the total weight of the aka beam system to be 67 kg (lighter than expected).

Total work time to date: 724 hours

How heavy is the vaka?

 Three hours of work today to measure the weight of the vaka.

The result: 186 kg for the bare hull, still unpainted, without appendages nor hatch covers.

The time though will not be summed to the total work time.

Getting ready to paint the vaka

Two hours of work today, in which we set aside the two completed amas in preparation for the last effort to paint the vaka.

We also replaced the four wheels under one of the saddles of the vaka that had collapsed under the weight.

 

Total work time to date: 722 hours

Second ama completed

Masking tape removed and second ama completed!

Painting ama decks (6)

On hour of work (including last monday) to give the second aka two coats of enamel.

Total work time to date: 720 hours

Painting ama decks (5)

First coat of enamel to the second ama deck.

Painting ama decks (4)

Two hours of work today. As for the the first ama, we put masking tape all around the hull of the second and then hung a plastic skirt to protect the hull from paint drips. We then cleaned the deck surface and gave one coat of white primer.

Total work time to date: 719 hours

Switching to second ama

Two hours today to swap the two amas and preparing the deck of the second one for priming

We also realized that the wheels under the main hull saddles have partially collapsed under the weight, so we must replace them.

Total work time to date:717 hours

First ama completed!

Later in the evening Cinzia called saying that she was going to remove the masking tape, and of course I ran to the shop. Here she is, properly dressed for boatbuilding

The result is not bad at all!

The first ama is finished apart from the porthole that will be installed at the end.

Painting ama decks (3)

One hour this morning to give the second coat of paint to the first ama deck.

I prepared this sheet to assist in mixing the resin with the help of a digital scale, and it's still around. This is valid only for the resin we used: every 5 grams of resin it computes the right amount of hardener (in italian, "indurente") and the total weight. Every value is in grams.

Total work time to date: 715 hours.

Painting ama decks (2)

First coat of paint (Boero HP: water based polyurethanic enamel, semi-matt, light grey), to the deck of the first ama. This is the same paint that we used for the akas.

 

Total work time to date: 714 hours

Painting ama decks (1)

Two hours of work to start painting ama decks. We cleaned the deck of the starboard ama and put masking tape all around the deck.

We then hung a pastic skirt to the masking tape to protect the painted hull.

At last, we gave one coat of Boero "Giano" primer, diluted 10%. The ama deck required 330 grams of diluted primer. We used, as always, a short hair roller.

 

Total work time to date: 713 hours.

Painting again

Two hours of work today. We turned the first ama rightside up to sand away all the paint drips on the deck. It's ready now for one coat of primer and two coats of grey enamel, the same that we used for the akas.

We then gave the third coat of white enamel to one side of the daggerboard (the other side had been completed many month ago), and to the false transom which is going to stay in the water a lot.

Total work time to date: 711 hours

Aka system completed

Just one hour today, to assemble the aka system. Here it is in all its glory

We also checked the forestay attachment

Total work time to date: 709 hours

Attaching the crush plates

Three hours of work today: we attached all the 16 crush plates to the akas.
Those are square pieces of 75 mm sided, 6 mm thick aluminum, whose task is that of spreading the load of the bolts connecting the various beams of the akas to the hulls. 4 of the crush plates are on the outboard side of the swing arms to support the amas and are for 12 mm bolts; the remaining 12 are for 10 mm bolts. Each crush plate is attached to the beams using two 5 mm SS self tapping screws on a diagonal of the square.
We pre-bored for all self-tapping screws using a 2.5 mm bit and we filled each hole with clear epoxy. Then we cleaned the bottom of each crush plate with alcohol, and spread a thin layer of sealant on each. Finally, putting the right bolts trough the holes in the beams and the crush plate to maintain alignment, we fastened each self tapping screw and cleaned everything.

In this picture the whole aka system is shown.The two heavy beams at the far right will be installed permanently of the main hull (vaka); the four swing arms will pivot on the ouboard bolts of these central beams. The total weight of the assembly is very significant (we estimated about 80 kg in total), with the advantage of a very simple construction.

Total work time to date: 708 hours

Slow and steady wins the race

After an incredible year, including a COVID19 lockdown which has been particularly strict in Italy, here we are again. As an icebreaker, we tidied up the shop and started to work on the akas:we have to install all the 16 aluminum crush plates. That's why we opened the milestone beer...

Total work time to date: 705 hours