Winter has arrived in Petersburg. The low was -5 degrees this morning. As you can see from the photo below, a fair amount of snow fell over the last week. SE Alaska is experiencing the coldest temperatures they have seen in the last 10 years. Through all of this, the boat cover seems to be […]
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Christmas in Petersburg
Our Christmas this year is spent in Petersburg. Also known as “Little Norway” this is a a wonderful place for some holiday cheer. Getting here was not so great. We spent over an hour on the tarmac in Seattle while Alaska Air struggled to get one of the plane’s engines started. Not something that instills […]
Hard Top Project, Part 8
Moving along nicely, I think Paul has nailed it! The top comes out of the mold.Below: Paul says “if you own a Henderson 30 and break that nice carbon mast, don’t throw it out, one day it may come in handy” This is our Steelhead Davit with a Henderson m…
Hardtop Project, Part 7
Lay Up Begins!
While the previous post the work happened over 4-5 days in this post the work was done in about 5-6 hours. Even with the extra slow hardener (West Systems) the team has to work very quickly.
The technique is referred to as “Wet Preg”. All the cloth is precut, wetted in a bath then run between two rollers saturating the fabric and squeezing out the excess resin. The cloth is then layed out between 2 thin sheets of plastic, this allows the cloth to be handled, cut and trimmed as needed. To apply the cloth the plastic is removed from one side then the cloth is laid by hand and formed into place. Once in position the top layer of plastic is removed. Once the lay up including coring is completed the entire structure is vacuum bagged which squeezes all the layers together and pulls out any air and excess resin. The technique was first developed in New Zealand and is now a fairly common technique.
Below: Paul laying down a strip of Wet Preg carbon cloth into one of the ribs. The plastic film has been removed from the underside of the cloth but not the topside……yet.
The center “beam”. This channel is hollow for solar and light wiring.
Wetting out the Corcell® coring.
Below: Bagging the entire structure.
Under vacuum!
Below: You can see the excess epoxy being pulled up into the bleed cloth. Pauls says the pressure is approximately 9 pounds per square inch, over a ton of pressure on this structure.
Hardtop Project, Part 6
The support structure is mostly carbon/epoxy/foam core construction but the “flange” that will be bonded to the flybridge coaming is solid glass/epoxy. In the previous post you can see the planning and mock up of the design. This way Paul uses the boat…
The Whales of Frederick Sound
Those of you who have been following our blog know that we spent a lot of time this year cruising the waters of Frederick Sound. This body of water in Southeast Alaska must be traversed by all pleasure craft when leaving Petersburg for points north or west. It is also a busy waterway for both […]
Hard Top Project, Part 5
The guys are waiting on some material to finish up the mold so they start on the support structure. Spent a whole day building a mock up, measuring and making patterns.Above: Cutting out patterns.Below: “OK it will go like this, right?” Discussing deta…
Happiness is a new Exhaust Elbow
Ten years, 4540 hours and four exhaust elbows, the genny is just fine! Northern Lights has changed the design a bit, new part number. Still a casting so not sure if they have improved the life expectancy. I use a mirror and flashlight and inspect…
Hard Top Project, Part 4
Things are moving along nicely, I knew molds take time to build but I had no idea how much time. The sanding, faring, sealing is endless. Now we are in the late stages, Paul and his team are applying Teflon® release tape to the mold, almost ready to do the layup!
Above: Sand, fair, sand, fair, apply sealant, sand and fair, on and on, big job building a mold.
Below: The brown material you see is a very cool Teflon® release tape. It is called “tape” but actually comes in a large roll. Paul tells me “nothing sticks to it”. I am very impressed with Paul Ammon and his team, Caribbean Carbon Works Ltd. Paul understands what we want, appreciates nice lines and understands functionality. So fun to work with someone who is passionate about their art.
Year End Summary
Our cruising year has come to an end and Idyll Time is securely tide to the dock in Petersburg, AK until next spring. This year we spent 156 days aboard , leaving from Anacortes early April. After a brief stop in Canada at Philbrooks for some boat work, we made a quick 12 day run […]
