Welcome back

It has been over a year since I wrote but I am back again. The Snapdragon 27 project is still going but it has fallen behind. It passed my exams with the IIMS and I am now qualified as as a Yacht Surveyor for Yachts and Small craft; I hope to set up a small part time practice starting in 2014.

I have rescued two projects from a land fill...

A tired old Mirror Dinghy and a 14ft Plancraft Stingray...

Photos and details coming in the next few days!

Sailing in BC : Another Great Boat Blog

Sailing in BC : Another Great Boat Blog

Work is in progress!

Greetings Blog Fans;

It has all been a bit quiet on here and the main site for a while but I have been busy behind the scenes! I took my final exams with the IIMS International Institute of Marine Surveyors for my DipMarSur(YS) qualification and continuing my Westlawn course in Naval Architecture. I have also been busy answering questions for the Snapdragon Mirage Accossioation on their forum. If you have come to this site because you are a Snapdragon owner please look at their site and think about joining! http://www.snapdragonmirage.org.uk/

I have a month off from my main day job to get the work done over the summer so I have started to make a list of the jobs I have to do.

1. ·         Remove the rest of the anti-foul – I am getting quotes from local soda blasting companies
2. ·         Choose and order the new engine, and design/install the new engine bearers/beds
3. ·         Prepare the topsides and undercoat for painting later (I don’t want nice new paint to get wrecked by other work)
4. ·         Start the electrical system wiring

I have designed the new layout of the interior and will be doing a test fir using plywood to see what it actually feels like inside. I don’t have the drawing on this computer but I will edit and update it later.

Thanks for reading!!!

Gutted

I have been very busy over the past few weeks on the boat; that is between normal work, voluntary work, study and rest!

The interior is now completely gutted back to a bare hull! The waste and stuff that came out took 5 car loads to the local recycling centre where all the waste was sorted, i.e. non-recycling, wood, metal, plastics etc.

Before Interior Removal

After Interior Removal!

Rubbish Pile (to the left of boat) - 5 car loads to the recycle centre!

I have started to design the new layout for the interior after taking lots of measurements and drawing on paper to scale, and in Google SketchUp - Watch this space for the drawings!

I have also been making the decisions about what method I will use to remove the old anti-foul. Last year I tested several products with kind donations from manufacturers including International's 'InterStrip AF', Cirrus Systems RemovAll 620, the ProScraper by GelPlane, and good old fashioned hard work with a cabinet scraper. In the end the best method I found was RemovAll 620 left overnight and then scraped with the ProScraper connected to a industrial vacuum cleaner to remover all the shavings and nasty dust. I stripped all the built up years and layers of anti-foul right back to the gelcoat in one go! RemovAll 620 is also a lot more friendly to the environment and nicer to work with... it is also cheaper than the other chemical strip products and gave the best effort! This is likely the route I will take.

http://www.gelplane.co.uk/proscraper/marine.asp

http://www.cirrus-systems.co.uk/marine

RemovAll 620 on the left - International Interstrip AF on the right (Both applied using advise given by each company

One method that I am keen to try before I start the work is Soda Blasting. I will becontacting a few local companies for pricing and further information. This would be a quick method using bicarbonate of soda under pressure from a air compressor shot at the hull; it leaves a bit of dust but from what I have seen it gives an excellent finish with minimum labour. I have looked into buying the equipment myself for future projects but the cost is prohibitive at the moment.

RayView for Android Released!

Raymarine contacted me today on Twitter '@JKHPROTECH' to say that they have released RayView now for Android devices and their E/C series devices! I hope that other manufacturers can catch up and can offer something similar soon for their devices and a push in the right direction for Android.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.raymarine.RayView

Blurb:

http://www.raymarine.eu/view/?id=2121 

Transform your Apple iPhone 4 (and above), iPad 1 and 2 or Android device (v2.2.2 or higher) into a remote viewer!

The FREE Raymarine Viewer app is specifically designed for iOS (Apple) operating products and is now also available for Android devices.
The viewer enables a new e and c Series MFD owner to wirelessly stream the image from his screen to his iOS or Android device.

The Android app requires a device on v2.2.2 or higher and a 1 GHz processor.

Android RayView Wireless video streaming application from Raymarine Multi-Functional Displays (Must be run on a 1GHz or faster processor product)

See my website at www.goodtarp.com

Spring - Back to work

Sorry it has been a while; It is winter here in the UK with some temperatures hitting -4 in the day. Working in a unheated barn in the day is not where I wanted to be... Instead I have been working hard on my coursework instead.

I have been researching a self build serial hybrid engine. I 48v system to drive a motor which will self regenerate power to the batteries when under power. I would also have a separate mains generator to provide power for a 48v charger, or a sellf build generator using a water cooled Kubota EA-300 with a 48v 90amp alternator fitted. If going the home build 48v genset I may play about with a Ardunio to get it to self start and monitor batter voltage.

I attended the 2012 London Boat Show at Excel in January; I was a little disappointed with the amount of boats, it seemed mostly to cater for the super rich. I was impressed with the amount of Chandlry and the Yachting Monthly practical demonstration.

Stern Stuffing Gland

With the engine out I was able finally at last able to get clear access to the stuffing gland for the prop shaft. I posted pictures on my main website www.goodtarp.com ages ago when I was trying to identify the gland type.

The area was cleaned using dishwasher detergent to break down all of the old oil, grease and smells and did a great job as you can see. I uses a toilet brush (NEW!) to get into all the nooks and hard to reach places, and was topped off with a gentle rinse from a jet washer.

With help of Practical Boat Owner forumites and Cox Engineering we figured it out.

EDIT 14/03/2012

I finally got round to removing the whole of the tube and bearings. It was a Stuart Turner type glassed in at the inboard end so was not serviceable. It uses white metal bears that have to be lathed out, and then recast and turned! I will be replacing with GRP tube and composite bearings at the outboard end. It will be a water-cooled PSS shaft seal at the inboard end.

Here are the before and after photos!

Before steam jet washing!

After dish-washer detergent and Jet-washing!