Thursday 8 February 2018

Turning The Boat - Stage 4

People are concerned that, at 80, I shouldn't turn this boat over on my own, whereas I see it as a fun challenge. In theory (!!!) I see no problems with the system I have devised. It all revolves - pun intended - around two pulley systems: 

Pulley System, forward.

Pulley System, aft
The hardest part by far is already done, first I removed the moulds (molds) upon which the planking was formed:

The Moulds (Molds)

This was a tough job which involved squirming around under the boat and squeezing up between the moulds (not for those with claustrophobia). Each of these moulds had to be carried 200 yards (183 m) to the shed I built just to store the boat materials. 


That's 26 journeys carrying very heavy and awkward moulds. Then I had to remove the building jig itself (to which the moulds had been attached) 


Part of the Building Jig during its construction
The Working Drawing I  Made of the Building Jig

With all the moulds and most of the Building Jig removed, there is very little holding the boat up and not toppling. To stop it falling over I have clamped some temporary uprights in place.

Temporary Uprights attached to three Moulds which are left to help maintain boat's shape during turning
Temporary upright on transom.
  
In addition I have packed under the boat, forward, to stop stem damage, below:

I then had a grand cleanup as there places that couldn't be reached whilst the building jig was in place.

It's just about ready to start the actual turning operation now, but that won't happen for a few days yet: other commitments

4 comments:

  1. Will you at least have an assistant to shout 'left hand down a bit' & that sort of thing?

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  2. Hya Lynne, thanks for dropping in. No, no assistants will be used. Worst case scenario: the boat spins and traps me underneath it ... Pat notices I haven't made tea for over an hour and calls the fire brigade. They lift the boat up and turn it over for me whilst they are about it........Simples

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