Plans for Doors / Helm / Elevator / Aux Equipment

DougHatches, Helm, Steel Boat

The Boat the Internet build is alive and well and continues to grew. Over the past couple of weeks we have hosted an nuclear engineer, an architect, and a machinist. Each with a variety of other skills, interest and hobbies, and each with invaluable experiences and insight to share. Talk around the dinner table invariably ranges across the a diversity of fields; art, philosophy, conspiracies, religion, science, and ultimately solving a sailboat problem.

A sliding door track for the pilothouse doors that includes a rounded top door came from Greg, the architect, of Greg’s Garage

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The companionway elevator track idea came from Neil the machinist.

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And Bill the nuclear engineer and I worked through various ways to power auxiliary equipment from the 70 HP John Deere diesel engine currently in our air compressor and we finally settled on a hydraulic pump and motors as it lets us located the generator, pump, and compressor anywhere we like in the engine room.

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Go on! Break a fingernail!

DougInspiration, Steel Boat

Go on! Get out there and beak a fingernail. I’ve been listening to “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins followed by “Undeniable” by Bill Nye, a thoughtful gift from Edward Joseph Wheeler​. And I got the there from “Excuses Begone” by the late Wayne Dyer and “Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme” by Richard Brodie. And when you combine those books ideas on or current society with my recent love of 1800’s sea faring books like “Voyage of the Beagle” by Charles Darwin, “Empire of Blue Water”, “In the Heart of the Sea” and “Broadsides” it is enough to make your head explode. In short I think the problem is this. For millions of years we survived by honing our fear of things that would kill us. We became good at communicating threats and sensitive these warnings, like a tribe of prairie dogs. We carried it with us into the 1800’s but it was balanced by a harsh and fragile life. So much so that we lived our lives with the expectation and reality that death would come soon so live bold and die courage and honor. Even as recent as World War II our fathers lived on the front lines assuming they would be killed. And they leaned to live with their fear. Then we when to Iraq and Afghanistan, where we trained that we could control every outcome and nobody was expected to die. If we only focused on everything that could go wrong we could plan for our safety. And flash forward to today and we have a media and educational system, and cooperate bureaucracy designing messages directed at our primitive danger conditioned brains. We hear every news bit about every injury and tragic death. And gone is the realization that death awaits us all anyway. It’s pathetic. It really is. No wonder people think it’s so extraordinary that someone is building a sailboat without certified, inspected, approved, reviewed, top choice plans, materials, and workmanship. Well, IT’S NOT. It’s just a fucking boat! We’ve been doing it for thousands of years. And that is not the really sad part. The really sad part is to think about all of the shit we can not and have not gotten done as humans because we are so fucking scared of breaking a fingernail.

Hatches – Part 2 – Companionways

DougAluminum, Cabin Tops, Hatches, Steel Boat

I think this whole thing is coming together very well and a big part of that credit goes to ME! Yup ME! I am smart enough to know that I know very little and there are a lot of talented people out there that I invite in, and bounce ideas off of, and listen to their ideas and work beside in order to create something totally new. And this companionway hatch is an example. We can add those stupid planks that you have to step over, but they will not normally be installed, and will not be just another thing that can get washed over the side. One movement and both sections of the hatch are completely out of the way. It’s strong. It’s lightweight. It’s out of the way when it’s open. It’s just perfect. And we couldn’t find another one like it. I think that speaks to our fear of not following the path. Sheep do it, cows do it. It certainly appeals to our ancient lizard brain. …but it much more fun to be outside the box.

Cabin Tops – Part V

DougCabin Tops, Steel Boat

[wpdevart_youtube]xD72ibjGfdQ[/wpdevart_youtube]An amazing crew has put us ahead of schedule and more help keeps coming.  Thank you for your support!

 

The List

DougSteel Boat

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The List – Sept 2015

People often ask, “What do you need?” and “What’s next?”.    Here’s a partial list of what needs to be done.

Outstanding Questions

1) A definitive answer as to weather of not the Allison AT545 transmission will lock into the first gear or slip. Serial # 3210627425 Part #29507181 Model: AT545 93BOT

2) Paint selection that can work best with wet blasting.

In-Progress

*  ROV – needs wiring harness built. There are no plans but it could be done by someone with good electronics knowledge.

*  Finish welding on the deck and cabin top.

*   Complete and mount the dragons on the pilothouse.

*   Reconnect a coolant system to the Cummings diesel engine so it can be started on its temporary mount.

*   Take apart the Suzuki 150 outboard to have a better look inside and ponder rebuilding it.

Ready to Start

*   Deck crane overhauled and a hydraulic power pack built with a 13hp diesel engine (on hand).

*   Deck crane mount built and crane installed.

*   Helm quadrant constructed and mounted to the rudder post.

*   Design and build a chain and cable helm with a 2:1 reduction.

*   Finish weld the external seams of the hull, above and below the water line.

*   Cut and install 3/8″ keel reinforcing in the forward cabin.

*   Cut and install 1/2″ bow reinforcing and forward mast step in the crush compartment.

*   Cut and install 1″ and 1/2″ reinforcing frames in the aft cabin to support the frames built into the skeg.

*   Trim the second set of propeller blades to fit the shroud, then balance both sets of blades.

*   Cast the bronze capstans for the anchor winch.

*   Fabricate the two aluminum doors for the pilot house.

Little Stuff

*   Wire the remote start for the sand blast compressor.

*   Clean out the shed.

Cabin Tops – Tops

DougCabin Tops, Steel Boat

So I was thinking that we would get the first top plate on by Sunday afternoon, but with an amazing amount of help we actually got all of them on before lunch on Sunday!   We need a week to clean up and resupply and then we’ll start on the hatches and final welding.  A this rate we’ll be watertight by Winter!    I own a thank you to all of the Seeker crew and this week a special thanks to Ed Wheeler from New York City.   Ed is a pleasure to work beside and learn from, and he is an amazing metal sculptor.   You can see his work at http://www.edjowheeler.com/

 

 

 

Cabin Tops – Part 4

DougCabin Tops, Steel Boat

We had a great week, despite the heat.   David Finch delivered our day tank, and also put in welds on the cabin tops.  Jack got started on the braces for the forward cabin top.   And we are moving the last of the big sheets of steel up onto the boat.  When we put up our 23 ft tall gantry cranes we were planing on building a 65 ft boat, so now we are having to get creative in order to move steel over a 74 ft boat.

A “Day Tank” is a fuel tank often elevated about the engine which contains fuel pumped from the main tank through a set of filters.  Unused fuel pumped by the engines injector pump or “return fuel” is also cycled back to this tank.  And the tanks location in the generally hot engine room allows the fuel to warm up which makes it more easier to atomize and  burn.

 

Labor Day Labor

DougCabin Tops, Steel Boat

vs150906-002  David Finch delivered our day tank (fuel) and also put in time welding on the cabin tops.  Many thanks!

vs150906-001  Getting my daily dose of iron.

vs150906-005  Jack and I tacking on more cabin top before the sun drove us away.

vs150906-004  Trying to work fast so I can move back into the shade.

vs150906-003  Jack testing a grappling hook for boarding.   A skill that we plan to use once on the water.

Cabin Tops – Part 3

DougCabin Tops, Steel Boat

17 Days till the end of summer! The heat index is over 100F (38C) this weekend, but the end is in sight. During the cooler mornings we are still making progress on the cabin tops, and it’s been great to retreat into the shop during the afternoons.