tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42575497042674567282012-02-16T06:26:57.188-06:00i550 in Madison, WIJeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.comBlogger541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-78283826162736833582011-04-30T09:35:00.001-05:002011-04-30T09:36:15.062-05:00

Traci and I are proud to aanounce the birth of our son Liam yesterday, April 29th. Weighing in at 10lbs 0oz, we are going to have to make sure to keep our new crew member's weight forward on the boat! We need to get Tim Ford working on an i550 "onesie" to go with the baseball caps! And, FYI, that's "fussy new guy". ;)

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-2245814982663039782010-12-15T20:18:00.000-06:002010-12-15T20:18:11.806-06:00

It's been a long while since the last post. This fall we had the opportunity to get three i550s on the water here in Madison on Lake Mendota.  We had very light conditions, but managed to get four races in over a short weekend. Ron Bowman of Lunatic Fringe took home the coveted "Epoxy Cup" with three bullets. Below area a few pics from the weekend!

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-35306019689986804082010-07-12T22:55:00.000-05:002010-07-12T22:55:48.534-05:00

We successfully launched Alchemy for the first time on two weeks ago.  We got the sails up and cruised around for twenty minutes or so before the rudder cassette failed.  It turned our that the combination of foam covered with carbon that I used for the gudgeons was not sufficiently strong even in moderate breeze. So the maiden voyage was not completely successful.  I ended up carving out the

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-26038873287981864582010-06-21T21:39:00.000-05:002010-06-21T21:39:33.087-05:00

The i550 now has a rating in Lake Michigan PHRF! The magic number is 120. Yes, it seems rather low. My guess is that the committee in their infinite wisdom decided to rate the boat fast since they weren't sure WTF they were dealing with. Hey, at least they took the step to rate the boat. Good on them for that. We will see how she goes with the club racing here in Madison. PHRF ratings for new

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-61611716384108655042010-03-28T21:00:00.000-05:002010-03-28T21:00:02.204-05:00

Kevin McDaniel (builder of Pipedream) and I were asked to display our boats at an event at Crowley's Yachtyard in Chicago in conjuction with epoxy manufacturer West System, who is also building an i550.  We had lots of folks show interest in the boat, and several were already familiar with the boat an came to the show to see them.  Pertty cool! All in all, it was a

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-89639502217178062422010-03-06T21:56:00.001-06:002010-03-07T18:50:08.942-06:00

At long last, I pulled the boat out of the storage unit today. Temps were in the high 40s here in Madison, so (with Traci's help) I stepped the mast and hoisted the jib to nark for the jib tracks.On to drill and fill and redrilled for the jib tracks and finish up a few other miscellaneous items so I can be ready as soon as the lakes thaw!

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-6782777547185105692009-11-07T18:53:00.004-06:002009-11-07T23:09:08.251-06:00

Well, it was 70 degrees today in Madison. A little indian summer is nice!I picked up the main and jib this week from Ryan at MadSails, and they look pretty darn good! The luff on the jib is a tad long, so we'll have to work on that, but all in all, I think they look fantastic! See for yourself:I'm putting a few finishing touches on the boom tonight and then a few coats of paint on the keel and

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-81910594718682864652009-11-01T19:56:00.005-06:002009-11-01T20:45:35.026-06:00

Lots of activity in the boatworks since the last post:I put roughly million layers of fairing filler on the keel, and it's finally ready for primer. I also glassed up the sleeve for the rudder cassette. The same as with the keel I used the faired rudder with a layer of 1/16" foam wrapped around it as a plug. Once I had the sleeve I used that to trace out the shape onto pink insulating foam so

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-39571225099447483902009-10-12T20:26:00.009-05:002009-10-12T21:25:49.745-05:00

So this week and weekend I did some gross tuning on the keel bulb.I started out by drilling the holes for the cross bolts. I first drilled the recess for the bolt head using a 7/8" standard spade bit. Slow and steady is the name of the game when drilling lead. I know that other builders used loads of cutting oil, but I opted for water as I wanted to avoid extensive cleaning before trying to apply

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-42558067519440395592009-10-05T20:41:00.005-05:002009-10-05T21:53:43.029-05:00

This weekend I had a go on the rudder and keel bulb.On saturday I planed the shape of rudder from the laminated blank I made many moons ago. The keel was good practice. :) An electric planer is great when used with care. As with the keel I traced the profile on the ends of the blank and used the planer to "step" down the blank until I hit the line of the profile. I then planed those steps down

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-42385861888307500142009-10-01T09:02:00.003-05:002009-10-01T09:07:35.434-05:00

Light = fast, right? Definitely my favorite piece of hardware on the boat!Traci and I had an awesome honeymoon in Barbados following an incredible wedding.Now it's time to get the Boatworks cranking again!

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-18449160129922697512009-09-13T22:47:00.007-05:002009-09-16T12:12:43.496-05:00

Since my last post, I've fabricated the tiller. I started with a sheet of pink insulation foam and cut it to rough shape with the jig saw. I then (very gingerly) sanded it with a small electric sander and by hand. When I got the overall shape close to where I wanted I wrapped it with a layer of 9oz cloth to give it some strength so I didn't break it while trying to fair it with Microlight filler.

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-82230090215303577992009-09-02T13:28:00.003-05:002009-09-02T13:33:18.253-05:00

Hey, if I can't sail it yet, at least I can wear the hat!

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-60527305084570379872009-08-31T14:03:00.006-05:002009-09-02T13:28:23.347-05:00

Since the last post, my sailmaker (Ryan Malmgren; MadSails) came over to take measurements. He and a colleague on the East Coast are currently building the sails. Should be ready in a week or so.I've put a couple coats of clear urethane on the stick and have one more to go. I decided to try out an automotive clear coat due to price (~$40/qt.) and availability (local auto parts store). It is

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-89794370863222867892009-08-18T08:36:00.003-05:002009-08-18T08:49:03.760-05:00

Last night after work, I made a few minor preparations and Traci and I stepped the mast. We steadied the rig using the jib halyard and two lines from the mast (just above the spreaders) down to the chainplates. I tied a third line above the speaders which I used as a "measuring tape" to ensure that the rig was centered in the middle of the boat.Once I had the mast positioned where I wanted it, I

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-54322498162131054332009-08-16T20:26:00.007-05:002009-08-16T21:07:34.129-05:00

I owe (another!) huge thanks to a bunch of my co-workers who came over after work on Friday to help flip the boat and get her on the trailer---although I think they would help me move a body for free beer. :)All went extremely well. Only took about five minutes to roll the boat off the cradle and lift it onto the trailer.Over the weekend I glued up the mast sections using West System G-Flex 655K,

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-67261096991703416792009-08-09T18:26:00.009-05:002009-08-09T21:34:25.398-05:00

I finally got a couple of coats of finish paint on Alchemy this weekend. I am using Interlux Brightside (Blue-Glo White), which is a one-part polyurethane paint. It's not quite as tough as the two-part offerings available, but it is a rather robust finish which my dad and I have had good success with in the past. It gets quite hard after about 30 days.The original plan was to spray the finish

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-68076250322256333372009-08-01T22:40:00.006-05:002009-08-01T23:36:17.663-05:00

After a few hours of sanding and filling tiny fish eyes in the epoxy (and then more sanding!) I got a coat of primer (Interlux Prekote plus a touch of 333 Brushing Liquid) on the hull. I rolled and tipped the primer. Unfortunately, the primer didn't flow out like I wanted it to (streaky), but it will get sanded anyway. Hull seems pretty fair, so I am happy with the result. I still need to hit a

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-64491253776700123542009-07-25T19:05:00.005-05:002009-07-25T20:00:42.861-05:00

Well, at least one thing is actually done: the trailer.I wanted to be sure the trailer was ready before the boat was painted so that it could be flipped right onto the trailer. To finish off the trailer, I painted the bunks with an oil-based paint (grey to match the galvanizing) and then glued polyethylene foam to the supports that would contact the hull. A little "googling" suggested that plain

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-11123807627852184402009-07-22T10:53:00.002-05:002009-07-22T11:30:54.384-05:00

Lots of little things going on.As you can see below the boat was flipped and a couple of weeks ago Traci and I got the entire hull covered in 6oz glass cloth. We used a 60" wide roll (from US Composites) which covered from the centerline down to the rail with a couple inches to spare. I had originally order a 25yd roll. Early we glassed the topsides, and when we got to the hull we were exactly

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-37987009816489703492009-06-21T15:06:00.008-05:002009-06-22T12:48:42.831-05:00

Well, yesterday was the big day and everything went off without a hitch. I invited a few of my work colleagues and my sailmaker over for a little light manual labor and a BBQ. We started by lifting the boat off of the cradle and setting it on a couple of pieces of styrofoam. I then quickly mounted a couple of crosspieces on the cradle. With a couple of lines tied to the chainplates, we vey easily

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-2785675508708237732009-06-20T19:25:00.004-05:002009-06-20T20:19:36.657-05:00

Wow. It's really starting to come together now. Today I got a coat of primer (Interlux Pre-Kote) on the decks. A while back I thought it would be cool to keep a portion of the boat bright finished---that's varnished wood rather than painted wood for you boatbuilding neophytes :) . So before I primed the decks I masked off the cabin sides. Due to the presence of fiberglass tape and filler at the

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-35639070865953053662009-06-19T16:03:00.003-05:002009-06-19T16:16:36.364-05:00

Sailmaker, that is.I met up with Ryan Malmgren at MadSails this afternoon to have a look at the draft sailplan for the boat. Ryan has a ton of experience building small boat sails and we (Kevin and I) are really stoked to have him working on our project. Truth be told, I think Ryan is pretty stoked to be involved as well. The main is going to be square-topper with about 160sqft of area. That

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-75680320479350588952009-06-15T09:24:00.002-05:002009-06-15T09:34:34.880-05:00

Things are really starting to get cooking now. Over the last two weekends Traci and I got the glass laid on the decks. Unfortuately time did not permait us to do the whole job in one go so their was a bot of sanding and fairing required between glassing sessions. I think it looks pretty good though. Of course, the longboard will tell me the truth...Going to try to get everything sanded this

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-4277787686934982042009-05-25T21:37:00.004-05:002009-05-25T21:57:32.297-05:00

Sorry for the barage of posts---I've been trying to focus time on working on the boat rather than blogging about it. Unfair to my "devoted readers"? Sure. Send me a check and I'll be better about updating the blog.This long holiday weekend was a tremendously productive one. Three solid days in "The Boatworks" show solid results. Saturday saw the side and forward decks getting glued down. In

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-22999836567971531332009-05-25T20:48:00.011-05:002009-05-25T21:36:01.017-05:00

NOTE: This should have been posted on 5/15/09.Yeah, my carbon footprint just got a bit bigger. And I couldn't be happier...At long last, our carbon fiber rigs, booms, and spinnaker poles arrive from C-Tech, Ltd. in New Zealand. They are truly masterpieces. Kudos to Alex and coworkers at C-Tech. Below are a couple of samples of their caftsmanship.Hot, right?After recieving the carbon kit, the

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-38646511936682756382009-05-25T19:56:00.009-05:002009-05-25T20:36:50.149-05:00

NOTE: This should have been posted on 4/26/09. Companionway turned out nice, I think. For the boating neophites, the "companionway" is the door to "downstairs". :) I used a length of aluminum U-channel from McMaster with a 1/4" internal width and depth. At that size, the piece I cut out for the companion way slides right into the two slots. I framed the inside of the companionway with my trusty

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-77302043064209885142009-04-19T21:24:00.004-05:002009-05-25T19:54:03.349-05:00

EDIT: I started but never finished this post until 5/25/09.Had a very busy, but productive, weekend. The title to this post alludes to the fact that I created the mold for the keel bulb. Eventually...All told, I went through 75lbs of plaster and two 5-gallon buckets. One batch of plaster kicked-off in the bucket before I got into the trough. But I'm getting ahead of myself.Back to the beginning:

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-64553892442789449152009-04-08T21:44:00.014-05:002009-04-09T21:44:09.007-05:00

It's been a while since the last entry and much progress has been made. The foot bensons for the cockpit floor were fab'ed up and glued down. They were really simple to make:I cut one 3" x 8' strip and one 2.75" x 8' strip from a sheet of plywood for each benson. I clamped them even along the edge that would touch the cockpit floor and drilled holes for zip ties along the opposite, "uneven"

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-37458656454499750702009-03-19T16:18:00.011-05:002009-03-19T18:48:18.029-05:00

Here are a few more detailed pics of the storage boxes in the cockpit:The boxes are about 8" deep (inboard-to- outboard). I built the first one at 18" long and then decided I want the other one a bit bigger so I made that one 20" long. The longer one got glass in on the port side since there will be few feet more spin sheet in there while gonig up wind.The bottom of the box is parallel to the

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-27174019405813365492009-03-17T21:20:00.004-05:002009-03-18T08:32:51.035-05:00

Tonight Traci and I got the cockpit sides planed even and fileted in the stow boxes in the cockpit sides.The picture says it all. There is only ONE way out from the aft bunk with the stow boxes installed (foreground).The bottom of the boxes are angled toward centerline and in the fore-aft direction are parallel with the cockpit floor, so water should pool in the after inboard corner where I will

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-75833270511192285562009-03-11T19:16:00.005-05:002009-03-11T19:35:21.683-05:00

Actually, I think I will! One of the blog readers asked about the "lip" on the cabin top that extends past the aft end of the cabin. I figured I would post the explanation for all. I got the idea from Kevin (builder of Pipedream) and from the Open 5.70 and 6.50. Those boats have a similar lip extending from the back of the cabin top. The Open boats also have several control lines come from below

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-52732324655337471812009-03-08T17:36:00.011-05:002009-03-08T19:33:43.089-05:00

...is what we used to weigh down the cockpit floor when Traci and glued it in on Saturday. To fit the cockpit panels, I transferred a few measurements from center line to the plywood and got to cutting. To span the entire cockpit (~8'8" in length) I placed a seam directly over frame 124. Frame 124 had my 1x1 diagonally ripped pieces already epoxied on so there was plenty of surface area to

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-5043182745842060232009-02-28T19:08:00.009-06:002009-03-02T21:53:45.292-06:00

Over the weekend I got the cabintop stitched up and Traci helped me get it glued in.I started out by stitching the cabintop together on the floor of the garage---that's the wrestling part. There is a substantial twist in the cabin sides that the plywood does not want to do. I also found that the pieces as cut in the kit do not want to completely come together toward the front of the cabin top. No

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-41472196316573120052009-02-22T19:05:00.003-06:002009-02-22T19:22:20.095-06:00

Since my last post I got the bunk tops coated with epoxy and filled and taped a small gap between the forward and aft bunks under frame 124. Actually, Traci filled the gap and taped the joint while I was traveling earlier this week. Her first unsupervised job on the boat! And the results were tip-top!Over the weekend, I got the chainplate gussets installed. I started out by beveling the outboard

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-16818098552163225152009-02-16T19:37:00.007-06:002009-02-16T20:19:57.458-06:00

Nah, it's actually true. The bunks are in place. And the keel box is extended up to the deck level.Late last week, I glassed in the keelbox extension. In accordance with Andrew's (TTB) advice I put in some "big-ass fillets" to ensure the keel box was good and solid.Over the weekend, Traci and I got the bunks glassed and taped in. The diagonal-ripped 1X1s that I epoxied to the bunk sides served to

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-92106052052904977562009-02-03T21:58:00.009-06:002009-02-04T19:52:26.988-06:00

Who cares---all that matters is that I finally got the keel faired so I could use it to glass up the keel sleeve. My first attempt on the keel sleeve consisted of three wraps of polypropylene paint drop cloth on the keel. The sleeve itself was composed of a layer of 0-90 cloth, a layer of biaxial, and a layer 0-90 cloth. I wet out the first (inner) layer with epoxy mixed with a liberal amount of

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-87143484413302660242009-01-15T20:44:00.004-06:002009-02-04T19:55:23.780-06:00

The other i550 builder's blogs have been awfully quite lately. I know that Kevin in Chicago has been hampered by the cold in his garage, but that hasn't kept him from making great strides in identifying a carbon fiber rig for these boats. Sounds like a great solution. He has posted a great deal of information on the rig solution in the i550.org forum.At the "Dalsin Boatworks" facility progress

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-62573181719787568572009-01-05T19:29:00.013-06:002009-02-08T09:05:20.342-06:00

Hey gang! Hope everyone had a great holiday season!It was super busy around here getting ready for the holidays and trying to get a bit of work done on the boat. Before Traci and I left for vacation, I got the aft two compartments cleaned out and coated with two coats of epoxy. Looks pretty nice...With spending a week in the Florida Keys over Christmas, I didn't manage to get much done on the

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-31240047581852126462008-12-04T20:47:00.007-06:002008-12-07T09:34:36.358-06:00

I guess I've been posting a lot of detail photos lately. Here's what the whole deal looks like so far:Not a lot of grand changes lately. Just lots of dinking around with details. That's the keel sticking out from the starboard side (not in final position!). I've been working diligiently on fairing it out and it is hanging there with a bit filler on it.Here is a picture of my modified longboard.

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-92197159564167130472008-11-25T21:45:00.008-06:002008-12-02T20:38:14.214-06:00

Lately time to work on the boat has been scarce with the holidays upon us and other commitments. Nevertheless a little progress has been made, lately. In an effort to stiffen up the largely flat sections in the aft two compartments, I glassed in some structural members half way between the chine and the rail. Between f124 and f169.5 I tried encasing half of a piece of foam pipe insulation in two

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-23892997006704438762008-11-09T19:54:00.008-06:002008-11-10T21:49:00.191-06:00

Over the last few days Traci and I got all of the bunk supports filleted and taped. The supports are now ready for the bunks...except for one minor detail: The keelbox. And since the keel is not done yet, neither is the keelbox. So I finally bit the bullet and started working on the keel...so that I can create the keel sleeve...so I can build the keel box...so I can install the aforementioned

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-18328654862608591312008-11-01T23:13:00.009-05:002008-11-02T09:12:24.141-06:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I discovered that if the hull sides are stitched in tight to several of the frames the result will be a hollow around each frame. The hollow will ultimately require substantial fairing once the hull is flipped. More importantly, however, is that it takes a tremendous amount of force to pull the hull in tight to these frames. To me, it seems that pre-stressing

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-22580783196053802302008-10-19T19:58:00.004-05:002008-10-19T20:06:50.449-05:00

This weekend I got the centerline seam filletted and taped. I also stitched in a few more frames, and now the only frame missing is f110. I may wait to get that stitched in until I have the keel fabricated so that I can be certain that the frame is in the correct position. Or I may not... I also fab'ed up an I-beam for between the transom and frame 169.5, ala what Kevin did on pipeDream.One issue

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-70367345814837783542008-10-14T11:21:00.002-05:002008-10-14T11:24:12.174-05:00

The second batch of biaxial tape and filler I ordered on Sunday evening from JMSOnline.net arrived this morning via UPS Ground. Not bad at all. Great prices and quick shipping. Definitely a good source for builders in the Upper Midwest.

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-4332411729211956432008-10-12T18:34:00.008-05:002008-10-13T16:07:20.176-05:00

...I got my biaxial tape. I ended up ordering 40yds (4" wide) from JMSOnline.net. Price was great (~20% less than West Marine), and shipped quickly. For builders in the upper Midwest this seems like a good vendor (located in White Bear Lake, MN) if you need items quickly---items shipped ground to Madison arrived in a day or two. I just order more tape and colloidal silica tonight, so I will let

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-44705860014242133492008-10-01T21:59:00.008-05:002008-10-01T22:31:50.978-05:00

Still waiting on biaxial tape from West... But I happened to buy 10ft of unidirectional tape at West last week, so I figured I would practice my filleting and taping technique on the transom where the ability of biaxial tape to conform to complex curves is not as critical.In short, I think it turned out pretty well. Decide for yourself... I mixed epoxy with colloidal silica to the consistency of

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-53855267038568464432008-09-30T20:39:00.011-05:002008-09-30T21:35:09.433-05:00

Unfortunately, I am stuck waiting for my local West Marine to get the biaxial I need to fillet and tape the chines, etc. So in the mean time I've been working on the materials for the sheer clamp (for the uninitiated, the part that joins the hull to the deck). In short, I took a piece of 1x2 poplar and cut it on a diagonal from corner-to-corner. I took this approach so I can get a nice soft curve

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-71100710052963735562008-09-25T21:09:00.009-05:002008-09-26T08:17:06.786-05:00

Last night I scarfed the hull panels together, and tonight after work (with surprisingly no cursing and spitting!) Traci and I stitched the hull sides to the bottom. Damn, this thing actually looks like it could one day be a boat. And that forklift driver was skeptical...We started out by drilling holes for the zip ties the entire length on one side of the chine and "loading up" the zip ties.

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-79361600110642645112008-09-25T21:03:00.003-05:002008-09-25T21:08:38.811-05:00

"Will the cockpit be big enough for me to lay out and get sun on the way to the race course?""Yes, dear. Now help me finish unloading the trailer."My lovely assistant, Traci takes a break.

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-59675640727435501612008-09-24T15:04:00.004-05:002008-09-25T21:01:50.591-05:00

The kit arrived late last night and this morning I picked it up at the shipping terminal here in Madison. The forklift driver looked more than a little shocked when I told him there was a sailboat inside the 48"x96"x10" package.Only another hour here at work until I can go home and unwrap this puppy!Let the games begin!

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-59770055485059790742008-09-21T20:48:00.006-05:002008-09-21T21:27:24.448-05:00

I got word from Tim Reiter that the kit shipped on Wednesday. Using the tracking number I determined that the kit arrived in Kansas City yesterday. Getting close now. Scheduled delivery in Madison is for Tuesday of this week.While I have been waiting for the kit to arrive, I constructed the cradle for the boat. Construction of the cradle was very simple (~1hr) and the materials cost less than

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-5277191981707034922008-09-08T20:49:00.005-05:002008-09-08T21:30:49.712-05:00

Boy, did Tom Petty have it right.Shipment of my kit has been a bit delayed---largely due to my work travel schedule. The fact is I'd rather the kit not sit in a shipping terminal in Madison for several days until I can pick it up. Tim at Watershed Boats has been very accomodating throughout, but I'm sure he wants the space in his shop back.The good news is that it looks as though the kit will

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257549704267456728.post-61667848628678773572008-08-19T22:38:00.003-05:002008-08-20T09:42:24.042-05:00

Well, I have finally pulled the trigger and a couple of weeks ago I ordered the i550 kit from Watershed Boats in Colorado. In fact, I am told that the kit should ship this week.On a side note, I have decided to name the boat "Alchemy", hence the blog name.Stand by for more details from Madison...

Jeff Dalsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139640848129061667noreply@blogger.com3