A NEW SHOE

The progress is steady but most of the progress in the past week were time consuming, not very visible steps toward completion. The biggest and most difficult mold to manufacture is the superstructure mold. I am thrilled that it will completed by the end of the week. The part will take a couple of weeks to pull, but then we can make this thing finally look like a boat.


The steel fabrication shop delivered the keel shoe and you see it here on the bench before installation and then on the boat. This is a very robust structure made out of 1" stainless steel. It will support the bottom of the rudder and provide protection against prop fouling or in the event of an inadvertent grounding. You know there are 2 kinds of boaters......those that have gone aground and those that will......

The engine has been set into position so that the shaft log can be aligned and glassed into place. The engine pan has been bonded to the hull using Plexus and fiberglass.

The waste plumbing is in place. Note that all of the accessible areas in the bilges will be gelcoated. This not only looks better but it makes keeping the bilges clean a snap.

A Beehive of Activity

For the last half of last week and all weekend we were working the Anacortes Boat Show so I didn't get any time to post any new pictures. This morning I found that there had been quite a bit of progress made.
The pictures above and below are of the 600 gallon fuel tanks. These are one integral tank that has a partition in the middle to separate the tank into 2 cells. A crossover tube with isolation valving will connect the cells.
The openings that you see will function as inspection/clean out ports. The Racor filters will be installed on the face of the tank within easy reach.Above Kevin is assisting one of the workers in fitting the shaft log in the keel. It is critical that this be done correctly as the engine and shaft alignment would be affected if it not perfectly centered.
Don and Phil are going to fit the forward deck one more time just to make sure that if fits before installing all of the plumbing.
Having an overhead crane with a wireless remote sure makes it easy. I asked Don if he ever loses the remote like I do with the TV remote. He just smiled.

Easy Does It!!!

"Well done Don and Phil..... it fits like a glove."

Tanks A Lot

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....er other building where the 42 is being built....things are progressing. Below is the black water/gray water tankage being fitted. This is one continuous

poly tank with a separator inside. The black water tank capacity is 125 gallons while the gray water is 30 gallons. The large tankage is to allow extended stays in no discharge zones.

Above is the engine liner nestled into the keel. The engine liner is a one piece molded (infused) part that integrates the engine mount attachment points to the hull. The bottom of the liner serves as a drip pan keeping any fuel or oil residue from mixing with the bilge water. Notice the bonding grid is also in place. It will be glassed in and forms the ground system that connects everything to the sacrificial zincs.
I caught Phil just as he was drilling out the shaft hole.

Getting Ready for #2

Paolo, Stuart (standing), and Don are inspecting the bow thruster tube installation.
(Left to Right) Jamie, Phil, and Dave are discussing the plumbing runs that will be under the forward cabin sole. These are all pre assembled out of the boat to make the installation process more efficient. After this discussion, it was decided to change to a better plumbing material. We felt that the type used as seen in the picture might be prone to leaks in the future.

Above is one half of the fuel tank mold. The laminators are doing the dry stack prior to infusing the part.

Not letting any grass grow under their feet, the lamination department is re-assembling the mold in preparation of molding hull #2.

The new building that we moved the hull to is only going to be used for hull #1. It has been difficult playing "musical buildings" for the last several months but space large enough and tall enough to build yachts is a bit scarce these days. With 12 (plus or minus) boat builders in Skagit county, a lot of the prime real estate has already been leased out. To combat that, we are adding on to our facility on Route 20 across the street from the Farmhouse Restaurant, a local landmark. Here is another angle. This addition is about 13000 square feet and will provide ample room as we ramp up production. The portion of the completed building shown on the right is where the CMS 5-Axis milling machine is. Eventually, we will again move the production to yet another facility as the new building here will be used for mold production.

Here is the view from the front of the complex. As you can see, while under construction, parking is at a premium. We now have over 50 employees working at 3 different facilities. We plan to be in the new building some time in late April or early May.

Arise...go forth...and conquer....

It has been a few days since I added to this blog, but things have been progressing. As you can see from the picture to the left, the hull is now completely out of the mold and is being prepared for moving to the building where it will be completed. The building where the hull was laid up is not tall enough to "stack" the boat. Stacking is the term used to install the superstructure and pilothouse. The hydraulic trailer has been positioned here and they will lift the boat up to remove the tunnel molds which have been keeping the boat secure.

In the picture to the right the tunnel mold has been removed and the trailer is being repositioned to lift the boat. This operation takes quite some time as the trailer must be positioned perfectly centered and the two rails must pass on either side of the keel without touching it while the trailer is backed into place.



The hull has been secured to the trailer and now to get it out the door. I sure hope someone measured carefully. (just kidding) But it was a tight fit. Only a few inches on either side to spare. I looks like we will have to get a building with a bigger door before we begin the 52 or 62 which are considerably wider.

Wow....it sure looks big when you get it outside.......

It is just a short trip to the new building...

Almost there!!!!


.....and here is the hull in the new building.