|
 Latest News
Read Cowes on line Article on the project here.. Against the Floe 2008 – Dazcat 30 Boat Build
April 2008 Crew Volunteer legs now available
Crew set to do Plymouth Half Marathon. As part of their stamina training for over 16,000 miles of sailing starting in June, Bob Beggs and Darren Thompson will be running the Plymouth half marathon taking place on Sunday 25th May. For more information on the 'Plymouth Half' click on the link http://www.plymouthhalfmarathon.co.uk/phmindex.asp?pageid=500. They will be happy to recieve donations for charity proceeds go to Horizon charity, based in Mayflower Marina, Plymouth. 18 April – Dagger boards, rudders and hatches spoonsored by Multimarine Composites Ltd.
5th April 2008 The second hull takes shape....
Pitney Bowes come on aboard with sponsorship Pitney Bowes is a mailstream technology company that helps organisations
22nd March- Repairs and Preparation for 2nd
18th March – A very longer labour ensues but then.. THE FIRST 17th March – The 1st hull is ready to be born 10th March 2008 1st Hull is ready to be mated togther
8-9th March 2008 Both quarters of the 1st hull now completed, some thought was now given on how best to install the bunks, bulkheads and compartments. Bob wanted to do as much as possible in advance before the two halves were mated together.
1st-7th March - 2nd Quarter preparation, 1st Lam and Core. Confidence was high and so over the weekend and into the following week we ploughed into the 2nd quarter of the first hull, with Danny, Aiden and George helping at different stages, with breaks in between for family, business and work commitments.
29th February 2008 - 1st quarter hull complete It now goes without saying it was a late finish (joking aside it was pre-agreed to work on), the fruits of our labour are evident as we now have one quarter hull complete. It is only for us to now repeat the process and move on to the second quarter of the 1st hull. One down three to go!!!
28th February 2008 – Inner Lam The Airex core went down brilliantly, rock solid with no obvious voids or dry areas….’proper job’ I think is the term!! The rest of the day is set for cutting the materials for the inner Lam as per the 1st Lam. Bob ‘suggested’ we make the decision to complete the inner Lam by the end of the day however late the finish (I never saw that one coming!), so we can attempt to get ahead of our very tight schedule of the two hulls out of the mould by the end of March. I agreed… predictably. Where’s the Pro+ when you know your going to need it and why is the Beatles “ It’s a hard days night” going around and around in my head!
27th February 2008 - Core Came back in the morning and serpents had not returned! We stripped off the cloth layers and peel ply to reveal a beautiful smooth Lam with no dry areas. The 1st Lam was a great success. The aim for today is to prepare and cut the Airex foam for the Cats core (2), get this laid into the mould and vacbagged. This was achieved; with the serpents it would seem banished forever! The vacbag gets easier with more practise. Another late/ early morning finish… what makes me think that this late finish is going to become the normal routine! I am sure that Bob is nocturnal!!! . (2) We used mainly 15mm and some 10mm Airex foam sheet for the Core material. This was cut down on a band saw to thinner strips of various widths. The larger width strips have staggered holes drilled to allow the epoxy through. A bed of epoxy resin is rolled on the 1st Lam and the Airex strips are then placed into the mould. This is then Vacbagged and left over night cure.
26th February 2008 - Physical build begins, 1st Lamination Although the workshop was set up due to work commitments of the teams the start had to be delayed until the 26th February… Prior to any lamination (Lam) taking, place you apply multiple layers of Frekote to the moulds polished face. For those who are reading this and do not know, this leaves a fine ‘waxy’ layer on the polished face of the mould. The top Gelcoat does not (hopefully) stick to this so it should make the release of the finished hull from the mould much easier to achieve… fingers, legs and toes crossed! A 50mm wide strip Flashband tape is placed around the ‘joining edge of the moulds. When the finished hull is released and the Flashband tape removed, then this will leave and nice clean approximately 2-3mm, by 100mm (50mm on each half hull) rebate that will make the joining of the two halves a very simple and neat process with a very strong joint. We decided that we would achieve the first Lam by the end of the day. So first we cut all the material that would be needed in advance and laid this out. This included the Glass fibre, Carbon, Kevlar, Peel Ply, Bleed cloth, Bread cloth. We finished the prep by running a bead of tacky tape around the flange of the mould, this would make an airtight seal for the Vacbag that is used at the end of the Lam. The Gelcoat was applied by hand roller and left to dry (couple of hours, temperature depending) to a stage that you could still make and indentation with your fingernail and therefore not fully cured, perfect for a good chemical bond. Once at this stage the hull was wetted down, the first glass fibre was laid up and wetted down, on this we set the Carbon and Kevlar sections this took about 2 hours to finish. Once complete we applied the peel ply, bread cloth and finally the bleed (soaks up excess resin) cloth, job done. Now only the Vacbag to set up (1). It was getting late at this stage but we where committed by now, so Vacbag it was. As it was the first time I had (Darren) done this and Bob quite some years ago, by the time the vacbag was in place and we had the proverbial cup of tea, the workshop sounded like we had been invaded by snakes and had become a pit of hissing Cobra’s! The next hour was spent silencing our serpents! But what joy was had to finally hear nothing but the Vac pump and the sight of the bleed cloth changing colour with the excess resin being drawn into it. Finally finished 2.30 in the morning and off to bed. (1) Again for those who do not know, the Vacbag process is used to squeeze all the elements of the lamination together. This obviously helps with the bonding process. It also has the added benefit of removing excess resin (via the 3 cloths) that also reduces the overall weight of the craft. The Vacbag is made by using industrial polythene sheeting. This is airtight sealed to the mould by the tack tape and the air within this is sucked out via a vacuum pump that has been kindly loan to us by Multimarine. Once it is in place it is then a case of listening for any leaks (you can here a very distinct hiss from even the smallest of leaks), sealing them and then let time and nature do its thing. Time being the amount it takes for the resins and glass to fully cure (we time the build so it is over night) and nature because, once the air is sucked out of the Vacbag it is the act of gravity/ air pressure that squeezes the Lams together and drives the resins out and not the vacuum pump sucking it through! 9th February 2008 – Workshop set up The two moulds are now in the workshop (thanks Pip Patterson) with the rest of the weekend being used to prep the moulds. They are now cleaned, polished (spiders evicted) and ready to go. The workshop’s glassing station is now set up and ready to go after the kind support of Andy Fox of Millbrook. So the project is tangible and a reality as the build physically begins today! There is a growing list of friends and volunteers who are able to give varying amounts of time in lending a hand in the actual build and project support. Carole (Bob’s wife), Robert (Bob’s son), Danny (Bob’s Bro), Darren (crew), Aiden Pinder, Pete and Sam Sieniewicz , George Butterworth, Nikki Woodroffe, Jeremy Greenaway, Alice Gruenleitner , Robin Price and Chris Nail are currently on board. Often people are working during the day so through no fault of anyone, at times people power can be scarce or even Bob on his own! Therefore we always would welcome any offers of assistance that an individual or Company may have to offer. If you wish to get involved in this exciting and ground (or ice!) breaking challenge then give Bob a call on 07721 382287 or contact him via the website’s messages of support at… www.againstthefloe.co.uk
THE PLAN IS TO HAVE THE TWO HULLS OUT OF THE MOULD BY THE END OF MARCH 2008 9th February 2008 2nd February 2008 The mould has been relaxing in a field for ten years, so now we are preparing it for construction. We are also gathering information about the best way to produce a strong light laminate which will be able to take the rigours of grounding on a beach and if by accident, hit by ice. The intention is to start constructing the first hull next week after polishing hard January 2008 - Crusader to provide sails
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)