The boat looks worried

 

Well, bulkhead #3 looks less than thrilled about how this build is shaping up. I hope I can get a bit faster with jobs like making hatch doublers ... these ones took me a fair bit of two days, and they were still a bit rough. 

I am nearly finished filleting the back section though, and can move on to getting #1, 2 and 3, the mast box and the stem fitted. I used my dad's scratch gauge to mark the lines to plane to for the bevels on Bulkhead #1. It was exactly the right tool. 

That stem really is very floppy ... I will need to think of a sturdy brace for it before I go too much further.  

Solidifying

 I've been dancing round the challenge of getting bulkheads 4 through 7 and  the seat longitudinals installed and glued. Howard Rice, who has had a hand in building more than 80 SCAMPS, suggested building cb case and longitudinal as a separate component. I tried this, but managed to get the inner side of the case a couple of mill off. Those self tappers, it is easy to miss your pilot holes. Took me a a day of stuffing round to get it all to sort of line up. 

Dry fitting is reassuring, but it throws into sharp relief the problem of how to get glue in all the joins and assemble the structure. It requires slotting multiple unweildy pieces together simultaneously, with glue in all the joins, and all at the right angles. The SCAMP Camps have lots of hands to do this step, single handed is a bit trickier.

I did a lot of internet scouring, and planned a process that would give me time to make small batches of epoxy and be reasonably careful with levels and angles and clearing up.

I made a gig to hold #7 in place, then another to hold #6, then #4, then I fited t the centreboard case longitudinal and #5. I  was able to check as I went with a nifty little right angle that I picked up at at WBA Swap meet. I think it belonged to Alan Chinn, one of the founding fathers of the WBA. It is a very handy tool, I hope Alan is pleased it is seeing another boat true into the world.

This morning I started working through my list. At the end of a long, intense day, the structure looks much the same as it did when the parts were dry fit, but it has all taken on a sort of solidity. No going back now.

It all went fairly much as I hoped. A few moments of excitement, one when Maggie jumped onto the sole which had beads of epoxy laid out ... I had a vision of the cat stepping in epoxy, then licking her paws, then having to be rushed off to the vet.

Maggie does like sitting on the SCAMP... I will have to be very careful in future when gluing.

The other oops was when I was getting tired, and hurrying to mix the last batch if epoxy. I put the hardener syringe briefly in the resin container... hmmm. I  guess  will see if I have ruined a couple of litres of resin tomorrow. 

Hopefully I won't have to do any more marathon efforts like today again on this boat.  A good feeling, a hurdle surmounted.

Endolphins and Endorphins

 A busy week.  I got out sailing Wednesday, from the Warmies in Williamstown with Chris and Gavan, and on Thursday with Chris and Gerard. 

The weather wasn't so great Wednesday, but it was a great sail, made all the better by a close encounter with the dolphin pod off the breakwater.

Thursday was a great day too.  Gerard was held up, so Chris and I just hung off one of the visitors moorings in the river, and had a cuppa and enjoyed the sun.  Once we got going, there was a nice breeze, and we beat up past Wyndham harbour a few times, then  enjoyed a great run back, picking through the shallows, and tied up again at the visitors mooring for lunch.  Not very far or very fast, but my kind of sailing.  

I have been waiting on Richard the nice Irishman from Port Melbourne who is the West Systems Epoxy agent for melbourne, to get in some stock of graphite powder, which the SCAMP manual recommends for centreboard case and centreboard.  It came in Friday so I am moving forwards again.

I've put two layers of fibre glass on the centreboard, and graphite on the inside of the case. Sure makes for a shiny surface.   While I was waiting for that to dry today, I tried dry fitting the mast box.

Thanks to the wonders of the cnc cutting, it all fits together beautifully. 

I couldn't resist trying out what it would look like in situ.

I realised that it would be a right pain to be coating the inside of the mast box once it is all glued up, so I disassembled the structure and put a coat on.  At least there will be one coat on in there.  Not sure how you are supposed to paint it, or put the fillets on the inside.  But I will cross that bridge when I come to it.  Which will be tomorrow I hope.

Bless my Sole

 Chris and Gerard came round this morning to give me a hand with putting the jig together.

I hadn't sanded the tabs down, and it took us a while.

It was a huge help, having two extra pairs of hands sanding, then holding bits, and two extra brains interpreting the 3d jigsaw puzzle of pieces. 

I think we got it right. And square, and level. It is  very solid structure. And you start to get an idea of the dimensions of the boat.

After Chris and Gerard left I spent the afternoon doubling up screws and adding some cleats to screw the sole onto. And, after a huge amount of fussing, measuring, and remeasuring, I finally screwed some holes through the bottom and fixed the sole to the jig. I am very happy with the day's progress.

So, I have completed "Stage 1" of the build manual. Howard Rice, who has probably built more SCAMPS and sailed further in a SCAMP than anyone, very kindly gave me a zoom tour of the two Scamps he is currently completing in Japan, and gave me lots of good advice on how to proceed. Meanwhile the centreboard, my least favourite task so far, has received its first fibreglass coat, and bushings and graphite powder to complete the centreboard structure are on order.

I have been really touched by the amount of assistance I have received so far on the build. I really feel like the force is with me for this one.

Silly old luggers

 WBA Sailing Day on Sunday last, and the four boats on the water were all luggers.  Now that might be a first. 

Krzyztof was there with his lovely "Delores", a Salmo 15-s, a Polish design a which reminded me a bit of the Ilur, with its straight stem and full front section. A fine looking craft indeed.   Gavan came along with "Tosh", an Oughtred Little Tern, and Kelvin and Palz were there with "Lily", a Nick Atkins design.    Unfortnuately we didn't get all four luggers in the one frame at the one time, would have been a great shot.

It was a lovely gentle sailing day, just enough wind to keep you motivated.  Something about a newly launched boat that seems to bring out a special smile in the builder.

Taking it to a new level

 I found yesterday's epoxying bits down at floor level hard going. Today I got a pair of cheap folding saw horse frames from Bunnings. Much better. Less surface to epoxy today too, as you don't epoxy the other side of the sole nor the inside of the centreboard case at this stage.

Much better! 

The centreboard is a monster and far from perfect shapewise, but just so long as I avoid sailing with other SCAMPS I will never know. I am sure this one will be moderately effective so it will do.And maybe one day I can make a proper NACA one. Tomorrow I will make a frame so I can put the first covering of fibreglass on. 

Meanwhile the roofers appeared today. By Friday I hope to have some more space so I can put the jig together.

A ripper of a day.

 

The SCAMP manual suggests you have 40 feet of 20x30 mm cleat/scantling clear stock ripped for the first stage of the build. Harald up the road gave me a lovely chunk of oregon, and Campbell very kindly offered to rip it for me.  So yesterday morning we took the beam around and used Campbell's industrial scale table saw, dust extractor and skill to produce 6 lovely pieces. I really would have struggled with my cheapo table saw and with managing the weight of the beam to get the cutting done.  It was a real boost to get this job done, and so nicely too!

Energised by this early win, I came home and started what I am sure is going to be a long epoxying journey.  I put a coat on one side of  the bits I need for the first step. The novelty wore of remarkably quickly, and I made fairly heavy weather of it. My estimating of the amounts required I hope will get better, I wound up having to mix three batches of epoxy to cover the pieces.  I figure that I am 25% of the way through the epoxying for the first stage /// minus the sanding.  Sigh.

An annoying moth refused to move from the side plank.  He was gone this morning thank heavens, I can fill that bit in next coating.

Today's good news is that the roof plumbers have arrived.  Burly tradies are clumping around on the roof, and if the rain holds off, I might get some extra covered dry space to work under. Yay.