November 24 - 25th
Fiddly, 
rule
of thumb design, and fitting and trimming, then glueing the
below-deck fittings:- The rudder post was developed with the addition
of a ball joint tiller arm to push/pull rod, an old 6mm arrow shaft.
A simple standoff out of 12mm ply scrap and 3mm cedar venitian blind
slatting, carries the rudder servo glued midway up the starboard side
in line with the hatch. Then with fitting to position and patience,
two cross arms were set in place low down under the proposed circular
hatch. Later the SmartWinch carried on an angle
aluminium frame will be fixed upon them. 
NOTE:
When planning the layout of all
below-deck fixtures do keep in mind, "Can I easily put these in
and get them out again once the deck is glued down?" It is
amazing how many basically simple pondside repairs on some models are
almost impossible to do because special tools are required to
"reach that screw" or "re-wind that drum"!
Remember, once the deck is glued down the only access is going to be
through the hatch!
November 24 - 25th
With the rudder now fitted and working properly (though some time had to be spent in trimming its leading edge so that it would pivot without fouling the keel face) the deck can be prepared for glueing down. However a number of holes have to be drilled/cut in the deck for hatch ways, winch sheet returns etc., and a number of places need reinforcing so it is my preference to leave this final glueing as late as possible in the construction sequence. But you need the deck in place to do these operations!
There is an easy solution. Draw a centre line on the hull from the
bow piece down the kingplank, on the pylon beam, and on the stern
block. Next lightly draw a centre line down the decking and drill
three registration 1/8" holes, one hole at the stern, one at the
bow and the third just forward of where you might envisage the
sheeting pylon will be positioned. Now lay the deck on the hull and
position it so that you can spot drill through to the centre lines on
the beams which should be visible through the holes.
Remove the deck and glue in short lengths of 1/8" dowling where
the holes have been drilled through the deck into the bow block,
stern block, and sheet pylon beam. Now the deck can be frequently
removed and replaced for a number of operations safe in the knowledge
that it is registered accurately in place each time. Most of the
excess width can be trimmed off, screw holes that do not go through
to a beam can be reinforced, hatchways can be cut, and various
fittings located and temporarily fitted. On the final glueing any
excess dowling protruding through the registration holes will later
be sanded back to the decking and become almost invisible.
December 1st
Not much done over the past three days - figuring out what sort of hatches to have - settled on a 20cm screw down yacht inspection port and a small screwed cover 50mm x 25mm over the rudder post - more details tomorrow.
December 2nd
Time passes slowly as small parts are painted and put aside to dry - the little hatch above the rudder post is taking an unusually proportionate amount of time.
In the meantime
I began work on some deck fittings; turning little anchor pins out of
1/4" stainless steel. These will be used for attaching the
shroud stays of the mast, the back stay, and possibly the jib boom
tensioner/swivel stay. Here it is handy if you have access to a metal
turning lathe to make these bits and pieces. However there a number
of different ways of doing deck fittings and the proprietery gear
from I & R Boats is very good.
When attaching fittings to the deck, captive nuts for small bolts are difficult to secure beneath and I use the technique of running a coarse thread on the bolts, glueing some ply or timber reinforcement under the deck where the screw threads are to go (now you see why I leave the deck unglued until the last moment) and then drill and tap the timber. The holes are then 'wetted' with instant cyno glue and after all has hardened are partially retaped again with a taper tap. The timber is now as hard as steel and the screw-in deck fittings will remain quite secure. NOTE: Remember this trick with the cyno for hardening wood attachment points and also for water-proofing little corners or scratches on the woodwork. I ran cyno all over my origon rudder before the final sanding and undercoat - great for toughening up the thin trailing edge! Use a piece of gladwrap round your finger to spread it over.
December 9th
Family commitments have prevented any great access to the workshop over recent days - making and fitting a little hatch over the rudder post has taken a very long time and there is very little to show. It is basically a 70 x 45mm strip of venetian blind cedar with a rubber pad fixed underneath (ex tyre tubing), secured by four screws over the 50 x 25mm cut-out in the deck with a frame of 10 x 6mm hardwood glued under the decking to receive the screws - gee what a mouthful! Most of the time was spent making little brass bushes to seat the screws on the hatch - in the end I threw them away and used servo mounting ferrules instead.
December 15th
For those following this "epic" my apologies - seems Christmas planning and social obligations conspire to prevent 'getting my hands dirty'!
Little deck fittings are not time consuming in proportion to their size and usually command a lot more attention. The last few days have seen largely waisted time as I have struggled 1) to extract a broken drill point from the radial jib fitting, and 2) figure out the best way of packaging, and securing in the hold, the plastic box to take the receiver and batteries. Sounds a simple task, but the constraint of access through a 10cm hole (the deck hatch) takes a little bit of cogitation if placement and removal of the box is to be easy.
The use of a radial jib as against the conventional
counter-tensioned jib will be debated long into an evening but I have
found that fitting one is certainly worth the trouble; J50 has shown
a superior performance especially on reaching across the wind and on
occasion, in an up-wind tacking dual.
I think that having the luff of the jib on the same centre line of
the mainsail's luff offers a cleaner aerodynamic "gateway"
to the air and results in a little more power and certainly easier
handling. With a radial fitting the jib luff pivots from the boats
centreline, and adjustment of the leech is achieved by a constraining
kicking rod on the boom pivot block. Significant with a radial
fitting is the fact that as the boom swings so the distance across
the foot of the sail lessens allowing for a much fuller shape to the
jib that almost approaches a spinacker appearance when running
downwind. Note - see Page
Five for more details of the Radial Jib fitting.
December 16th
After a lot of fancy schemes for trays and brackets to secure the
battery/Rx box, the KISS principle finally came to the fore. I bent a
piece of 1/16" stainless steel wire to surround the box and
terminated the ends with a short piece of 3/16" aluminium rod
threaded 1/8" Whitworth. This in turn was fixed to the Winch
bracket and provided a secure fastening for the box restrained in a
vertical position directly beneath the hatch. Click on the
thumbnail for a larger picture and one side of the restraining wire
can be seen. The black rim of the commercial inspection hatch can be
seen at top.
December 17th
Having got the problems solved 'below decks' (I did say "allow ten hours for thinking!") the last job to be done today was the glueing in of the vertical post beneath the mast foot and the keel plate. Tomorrow I shall put two coats of polyurethane varnish on all exposed timbers below decks but not upon the glueing faces that receive the decking. Then with a bit of luck the deck can be glued down on Wednesday 19th!
I would be most glad to respond to any queries that builders of the Canterbury J might care to direct to me - left click the button below.
