Motor/Rudder Mounting Bracket

So here's a picture of the motor/rudder mounting bracket as it is currently. Actually, I made this several months back when back in the U.S. and then brought it back with me in my luggage. One thing I noticed working with plywood in the states is that I'm grateful for the really really good quality plywood that is available here in Papua New Guinea. The stuff I've messed with in the states delaminates so easily. So back from the rabbit trail... Note the construction of the bracket varies a bit from what Gary shows in his book. Instead of a flat top and stainless steel bracket with bolts, I figured I'd build the sides up so that they fit snug around the crossbeam. Then all that's needed is a good lashing and the thing isn't going anywhere. Works pretty good and kept me from having to buy more stainless steel stuff. I don't yet have a motor. That may just be a pipe dream, but I am hoping that someday I'll be able to afford a little 2hp yamaha to slap on there. Meanwhile the bracket's primary function will be to support the kick up rudder. You may notice a problem with this picture. The rudder assembly is too low. It's low enough that I won't be able to kick it up because the tiller (which I'll eventually make) will hit the iako first. See where the top of the rudder butts up against the crossbeam? That's where the tiller will have to be able sit when the rudder is kicked up. I think the solution is simple; just relocate the pivot point for the rudder kick up about an inch and a half up from where it currently is.

Hinged Crossbeam

Today was one of those moments in Shan Skailyn's construction that I've been waiting for a long time! I got the crossbeam hinges mounted!

It was a scary thing to cut into the crossbeams knowing there was no turning back after starting with that. Since I originally had not planned on these hinges, the crossbeam section needed some modification to make it work. I had to chisel out the old spacer block after cutting the crossbeam. Where the hinges had to go just happened to be right where one of spacer blocks was put for spacing between the two stringers. That block, had it been big enough to take the hinge bolts would have been perfect. But alas it wasn't to be. So I had to carefully chisel that out, then dress up a new block that had the length that would be needed to properly secure the hinge. All that went surprisingly well. When installing the hinges the fit was just tight enough that I had to lube up the crossbeam to be able to get the hinge on. I chose to do that with epoxy so as to seal it all up and keep moisture from doing damage to the wood underneath the stainless steel. The fit was still tight enough that I still had to pound the things into place. But it wasn't so tight that it shaved any wood off or otherwise destroyed anything. In other words... perfect! Each hinge side has 4 flush mount machine screws that are epoxy bonded into the now solid wood core of the beam. Sometime after the epoxy completely hardens I'll clean up around the edges and touch up with some paint. What started out as kind of a scary project has turned out to be well worth it. These hinges are very stout... probably quite a bit stronger than they need to be. But better safe than sorry! One more good thing I noticed is that there is no room for any rattling in the hinges. Everything is tight fitting which should minimize annoying sounds while sailing.

In Pieces

Shan Skailyn's hull is made to disassemble into three 8' sections for storage in smaller spaces.

Small detail

This is a little stainless steel piece I had to cut to fit around and hold the hex head of the leeboard bolt. This keeps it from spinning when I tighten down the leeboard. This is the only way I can tighten the leeboard enough so that it is able to hold in place with a reasonable amount of force against it. Note also that rather than use an underseat bracket as in Gary's book, Gary recommended I try simply stiffening the whole side with a piece of timber and mounting through that. Much simpler solution.

All assembled... again

I've had Shan Skailyn set up out on our little helicopter pad for the last couple weeks. I just needed to have it assembled for a while so I could check some details that I otherwise would have a hard time checking. With the heavy rain we get I just kept it under a tarp until I would work on it on the weekend. I also made the discovery that both my ama sections are leaking somewhere! Ughhhh! I've checked them over for any bad joints... nothing. I'm pretty sure it's just the inspection ports. Gary recommended I grease around the o-ring seal. Will have to do that and set back out in the rain to see what happens.

Saturday morning I disassembled the whole thing again and moved all the parts into our little office building where I store it here in Mibu. Now that I have everything built, I'd really like to weigh everything and get a total rigged weight. Really curious what that is. Will post when I do end up doing that.

Really the only difference in these pictures is that I have Shan Skailyn's hiking seats installed. I took a number of other photos of details that I'll post throughout the week. So stay tuned.

First paddle nearly complete

On one of the three paddle handles I molded, I was able to get one totally glued up with the blade. This morning I did an extra good sharpening on my hand plane and went to work. I'm pretty happy with how the whole thing turned out. Yeah, I know I said I was going to do a variation of one of Tim Anderson's quick paddles, but ended up deciding that with all the time I have between now and the maiden voyage, I'd like to try to glue things up proper. I might do a quick paddle for the fourth just to have some variation to play with. One other thing is that I planed the blade thin enough that I'm worried about the glue joints splitting. So I'm thinking of making several 'bowtie' inlays on either side, spanning the joints which should add quite a bit of structural strength. The other option I'm contemplating is to just maybe slap some fiberglass over the tip of the blade.

So the whole thing, unfinished, and without the topmost handle piece weighs exactly 2 lbs (32 oz). Not sure how that compares with other paddles out there, but it feels light to me. And if you're interested in knowing, the blade is made of what I believe to be rosewood, a very commonly available wood here in Papua New Guinea.

Hiking Seats and Paddle Genesis

(Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Can't seem to get my email out intact... We need internet out here in the bush!!!!!)

Finally put the hiking seats together. Actually kind of piddled away at them in the evenings throughout the week. I decided to deviate from Gary's design (something I've done sparingly on this build) and go with webbing for the hiking seats. I've got a bony rear end and the thought of sitting on wooden seats doesn't appeal to me if I can avoid it. These are comfy cozy! In addition I'm sure they're lighter too. Anywhere where a little bit of effort can save a good deal of weight is a good way to go. I cut the frame out of teak. Teak has it's own nice preservative oil in it (which gums up saw and planer blades, by the way) which is why I skipped varnishing. I figured this stuff will weather nicely without any treatment.

Then this morning (sat) I milled up some old dried bamboo I have sitting around. Just enough to get some strips about 7/8" wide. I wanted this for making my bent shaft paddles. I'm hoping to make a variation of Tim Anderson's instant paddle. Just going to try to make it with the bent shaft. The plan is (mostly based on a guess) to make it a bit of a stretched out version of what one typically sees on the bent shaft paddles. My guess is that because I'm sitting up higher above the water than I would on one of those OC's that my paddles will need the appropriate adjusting. Bent portion up high enough that it does what it's supposed to do in relieving tension on the lower hand. The blade is also stretched a bit at about 15". Then the angle of the blade will be 8-9 deg instead of 10. I realize I may have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. I'm just gleaning info from the little tiny bit I've downloaded from the internet for reading here in the bush. Otherwise I have no resources that talk much about paddle design. I may end up making one of these and throwing it away because it sucks. Anyway, today I decided to try my hand at milling bamboo for the shaft. Bamboo is so light and strong I figured it may make for a great, lightweight handle. Once the glue dries I'll test it out under some pressure and torsion and see what it feels like before continuing with it. If it feels strong enough I'll make the other handles (going for three total) and then move on to the blades.

Oh yeah, in other news, I've scheduled Shan Skailyn's maiden voyage up the coast for March 18th. It's a long way off, but logistics require it. It's mostly because of so many months between now and then that I decided to goof around with the fancy bent shaft paddles instead of something much simpler. Why not, right?!