Vaka, going 3D

Four hours today. We completed the second cradle and finished the bulkheads (removing screws and epoxy blobs, fairing the edges). Here are both cradles

We then decided to see how the main hull looks like, so we put the sides on the cradles

We then lightly screwed the bulkheads to the sides and used two tackles to tighten the ends

The bow will straighten once the stem piece is put between the sides and screwed.

We also tried to put the floor inside but it looks like the sizes given on the plans are off by about one inch at the bulkheads. I'll check with John Marples and report here...

Total work time to date: 244 hours.

Vaka cradles

This week end we started to think how to assemble the main hull. This is going to be more work than the ama hulls because of the size of the side panels. The designer suggests to assemble the hull right side up, so gravity is going to work against us; hence, we'll need cradles. So we spent five hours to design, cut pieces, and assemble the cradles on wheels for the main hull. Those are the times when the lack of professional equipment and elbow room show up more seriously: a table saw and a press drill would have made things way faster. Anyway, here is one of the cradles, completely assembled. The base is about 75 cm x 60 cm.

Total work time to date: 240 hours

Vaka bulkheads

The past week end I've been sick and Cinzia went sailing, so no work has been done on the boat. However we managed to work three hours between yesterday and today. Yesterday we prepared the various cleats to be glued on the vaka bulkheads.

Here's a general view

Today we glued everything with the usual microfiber thickened resin. We also laminated two false transom panels (6+12 mm) to reach the specified thickness.

Here are the two vaka bulkheads with the cleats glued to them. The cleats in the center will support the main hull floor.

And here's a shot of both the transom (left) and false transom

Total work time to date: 235 hours

Rip there, cut here...

Just one hour today to finish cutting to size cleats and the like to be glued to the bulkheads

Total work time to date: 232 hours

Getting ready to wrap the main hull

Three hours today, during which we ripped a few meters of 2x3 cm stringers for the main hull bulkheads, beveled the bottom stringers and cut to shape some 2 cm plywood to reinforce the transom. Those will be glued to the bulkheads and transom next time.

Total work time to date: 231 hours

Happy new year, starting the main hull

Happy New Year! During the Christmas holidays we had an unusually cold weather, with the coldest night in the last 20 years (-8 degrees C) and about 15-20 cm of snow. Nevertheless we managed to work on the boat for a total of 8 hours in a few days. We completed the fairing/sanding of the two amas, set them apart and got started on the main hull. 

Here we are in the middle of the sanding session, for which we used the whole lot of tools from sanding blocks to a roto-orbital sander.

At the end, we took both amas outside for these photos that better show the real size of the hulls. Here's yours truly

and here's Cinzia, still smiling after the long sanding session

We then stacked the two amas on the side to make room for the main hull

We then took the two main hull sides which we had built on the flat out table a few months ago, and went back to the plans to freshen our memory on what to do next...

Total work time to date: 228 hours