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Bit of progress today, we’ve removed the last of the structural bulkheads, huzzah! Thanks to Christopher for bringing his oscillating multi weasel, having 2 certainly sped things up. We also measured up for the new bulkhead, bed, chain locker and a couple of the load bearing storage boxes and laminated beam that will take the place of the old bulkhead and help transfer the bow loads to the new bulkhead which will be about 600mm further aft. To provide more strength the old bow support structure of a 18mm central support with lightweight steel beams is being replaced by a 28mm ply central beam and fully sheeted in 12mm ply either side. This should make the bow significantly stronger and if I decide to fit a babystay or full cutter rig this will be more than capable of supporting both headsails. That’s all for today, I’ve got some designing to do!
Good evening all, I hope everyone is enjoying January. I’ll cut right to the chase, I’ve got Mergansers motor on the way! An AGNI 119 popped up on eBay today and if you didn’t know why this was too good to pass up I’ll sum it up. It’s an axial gap motor which means it produces an immense amount of power at very low RPM and with incredible efficiency, as it’s a brushed DC motor it doesn’t need the fancy pants sinewave controller so that saves on complicated (expensive) programmable motor controllers and as a back up if the controller dies I can still put jumpleads straight to the motor terminals. Due to its efficiency at low voltages it will actually run on on the planned solar power alone, not fast, but it will turn the prop, ideal for cruising inland waterways at a leisurely pace. One major feature with these motors is they are designed to carry the thrust load of the prop shaft. This means with its fantastic low rpm efficiency I can set it up direct drive and do away with the 3:1 reduction and just limit the rpm from the controller so the prop doesn’t cavitate. This is the motor I wanted from the start but they are very expensive new so you can imagine how excited I am to get my mitts on one for significantly less than I was going to pay for the motenergy. There are of course drawbacks, brushes and maintenance being the main ones. I’ll also have to do away with the generator idea due to explosion risk of sparking brushes but that is in someway made up for by the ability to run from the solar.
Next up… We’ve got a new to us zodiac tender bought off a nice chap in Bristol, bit scruffy but holds air and will tidy up nicely. We’ve been using my inflatanoo (sevylor Madison kayak) to shuttle back and forth to the tempest and hauling the outboard and people around in it is starting to damage it. I spent a bit of time at the weekend making some detachable wheels for it and practicing my aluminium MIG welding.
And finally… We’re going to give this whole YouTube thing a shot and start videoing the rebuild!
So that’s it, you’re all caught up.. no wait, we did some paint stripping on the deck and cabin top but didn’t get any decent pics. Right, now you’re caught up. Really hoping to get some decent time in on the boat soon but the weather doesn’t seem to be playing along. Cheers! MAttachments:
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