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March 1998: From this point, until the the time of moving the hull in October 1999, the process of constructing the boat became more complex. Often one task overlapped another and jobs ranged in duration from a mere hour to many weeks. It is difficult to allocate a single month to any activity during this intermediate stage of construction.
Although the fibre glassing and vacuum bagging of the exterior of the hull were to prove somewhat easier than the interior, finding the equipment and expertise to begin the job was difficult. PDQ Yachts of Whitby, Ontario, provided the expertise while Wiggers Custom Yachts of Bowmanville, Ontario lent the necessary equipment.
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A railway had to be built to to take the boat out of the workshop and enable the hull to be turned. Railroad ties were used to hold large planks. There were levelled to the shop floor and sloped away from it.
Once this rail bed had been completed, moving the boat was easy. Using only two men to push and guide it over rollers made from ordinary pipes, the 1,200 lb. hull slid out of the building effortlessly.
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As access to the bottom of the boat would be limited once the hull was turned, some fairing was undertaken prior to the boat leaving the boat house.
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A turning cradle had to be built on to the upside down hull. Art Hatfield constructed it to be exceedingly strong as this cradle would be the sole thing retaining the hull's shape once the male frames wre removed during the turning process.
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How would the hull be turned in this heavy cradle? As with so many problems a solution presented itself. Capital Crane Rentals of Fredericton, New Brunswick heard of the project and donated a crane and operator. The crane latched onto one side of the hull ...
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... and lifted it until it was sitting on its side. The crane operator was very concerned about the degree of control for the turn. He did not want to just let the hull flop.
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A huge group of people: family, friends neighbours and passers by, quickly volunteered to pull the boat over. The crane acted as the resistance and as direction control as the hull was gently lowered to the ground, right way up. It came to rest gently on the driveway.
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It was a simple task for the crane to pick it up and put it back onto the railway.
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Courtesy of this crowd it had taken only 4 hours before the boat was back in the work shop. At this stage all the male frames were removed. Those areas of the hull which would have through-hull applications, such as the keel and dagger boards, had the original core cell planking cut away. It was replaced with fibre glass and in some places carbon fibre.
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The bag, literally a large plastic envelope, was prepared by draping it over the entire inner surface of the hull.
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Over the skin of E glass, 300 lbs of resin had been spread. Through the vacuum created in this process the resin is evenly distributed and absorbed by the glass cloth. The excess is squeezed out by this method, 100 lbs in this case. The peel ply is shown in this picture being removed from the yacht's interior. It is a special release compound found on top of all the resin.
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Once the peel ply is removed from the fibre glass, a nice smooth surface is left.
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The completed coach roof fits neatly on top of the van, ready for the journey from Vantage Point Canada, in Toronto, to Bear Island Boat Works in New Brunswick.
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Vantage Point Canada, in Toronto, Ontario has donated space for the construction of the cockpit and dog house. The cockpit and companionway are ready to be moved to New Brunswick for the final vacuum bagging
A crew of Hatfields and friends continue the slow monotonous work of sanding, sanding and more sanding
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