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