Perhaps it was the cancer operation or, as my daughter suggested, just plain old mid-life crisis, but sometime around the middle of 2015 Deb and I made the decision to relocate from Alice Springs to Devonport and build a 12 metre catamaran. So whatever the reason (and there is a reason for everything) we write … Continue reading Welcome
Well there's no use complaining, as they say, especially when the circumstance is of your own making. In this age of rage, complaining seems to have become almost a national pastime. But it has to be said; fiberglassing is a thoroughly unpleasant job, and we can't wait for it to be over. We are pleased … Continue reading icky sticky fiberglass!
Well we have just returned from Christmas break and a trip back home to Alice Springs for a very important occasion, our grandson's 1st birthday. It takes a lot to lure Pete away from the build, but this little guy has stolen our hearts; Thanks to my brother Paul for the video. Anyway, here's an … Continue reading Holiday over: back to work
Well, Christmas has arrived and we are pleased that the building phase of our ship is now complete. Yes, we are short of our self-imposed schedule but are not disappointed. We have worked solidly to get to this stage, and are well satisfied with our progress. As you can see from the following photos, the … Continue reading Major fabrications complete
Its been a busy few weeks since our last post. The cockpit furniture is almost complete, and as usual, it has taken longer than we anticipated, mostly due to the helm-station. The plans give basic dimensions, but no construction details. It's essentially an interface between a whole lot of hardware and the helms-person. Ergonomics and provision … Continue reading The helm station
Well we are getting closer to completing the fabrication aspect of our ship. We are down to our last few sheets of plywood, and our stock of timber is almost exhausted. Every piece is accounted for. Looks like we will be able to compete the project without purchasing additional timber, which is a good thing, … Continue reading Cockpit commenced
Its been a big few weeks, but it good to able to report that the turret is now mostly complete. Some tricky woodworking is yet to be done, rounding the top edges. To do that we will need to roll-up the tent so that we have enough room to use the tools. For now, that can … Continue reading Turret completed … well almost
So it turns out that this turret of ours is a more complex fabrication than first meets the eye. Hidden between the two outer layers of 6mm plywood, are all manner of structural reinforcements, bearers and butt-blocks. Just about all of it is a critical load-bearing fabrication in one way or another, so every glue … Continue reading The turret continues: electrical components & Grand Designs
OK, so this post is may not be of interest to all our readers. Firstly it's written by Pete on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon, needing something to distract him from the weather forecast he downloaded that morning: Secondly, its more technical, as its goes into detail about the turret construction. I have found this … Continue reading Turret roof underway
Summer is just around the corner here in Tassy. The days are notably longer and we are thankful to come through a third winter with minimal weather related interruptions. Work on the turret is now well underway. Next week we will begin installing the roof. Once that job is done, we only have the cockpit … Continue reading Turret and targa
Well our lady is now decently clad in her top decking. At the end of our last post, we had begun laying out the stringers. These are vertically orientated, cambered beams, that are placed reasonably close together, in order to support the plywood decking. We let them in a little deeper into the notches, so … Continue reading Decking completed
Its been a big few weeks since our last post. Some major decisions have been made and our bank account is much reduced as a result. First we ordered the portlights and overhead ventilation hatches for the sleeping cabins so that we would have them on hand to check for size, as we fit the … Continue reading Rig ordered
After two months of sanding and painting, its been good to get back to fabrication. Our focus is the deck, followed by the turret & targa bar. Before we could begin installing the fore-decks we needed to complete the fore-beam. We realised that finishing the forebeam in its installed position would be extremely difficult in … Continue reading Decking begins
A lot has changed since our last post. We have managed to get our first coats of high build undercoat on, but not without a battle with the weather. Turns out Tassy has humidity levels not dissimilar to the tropics, something we had not fully understood until now! Our magic figures for painting are: temperature no … Continue reading Paint & humidity
Well its close to a month since our last post, and not because we've been taking it easy. In fact the last few weeks have been physically and mentally the hardest of the build so far. Now that the fabrication of the interior is completed we are deep into prepping for painting. This involves going … Continue reading Time to pay the piper…
Well we are entering our third winter for the build, and it has arrived with typical north-west coast enthusiasm. Westerly fronts are punching through with gale force winds every nine days or so, followed by a period of calmer north easterly winds. These are the conditions Bass Strait is infamous for, and we often marvel … Continue reading Internal Fitout #4
This is our third post about the internal fit out phase of the build, so rather than try to think of a clever name for each one, we are just going to number them, until we reach the next milestone: painting the interior. Apart from some minor trim details, the two sleeping cabins, and both … Continue reading Internal fitout #3
Now that we have returned from Alice we are focusing on completing the internal fit out in preparation for painting. First cab off the rank, was the bridge-deck storage space. This will be accessed from an overhead deck hatch. Two levels of shelving were filleted in place, which also served to stiffen the partition with … Continue reading Internal fit out #2
Progress on Selah has been on hold for a few weeks while we returned to Alice Springs for a far more important project: the birth of our first grandchild. Our grandson, Judah Obadiah James Harris entered the world on Wednesday 8th February. It was awe inspiring to be able to finally hold him, after tracking … Continue reading Our newest crew member
Since our last post, we have been focused on completing the internal fit-out to paint stage. After painting, we will fit the deck and build the turret. Our reasoning is that although our shelter has done an outstanding job, especially since we upgraded it (see The big top is back on. ) we are conscious that it … Continue reading Internal fitout #1
"If at all possible, avoid building your own deck hatches. Install pre-manufactured ones..." Well despite this rather excellent advice given to us by Gary, a fellow Sarah boatbuilder, we have spent much of the last two weeks doing exactly that... building hatches. And yes, they have been every bit as fiddly and time-consuming as he … Continue reading Hatches, Tanks, Outboard Pods and shiny things
