Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A Wee Modification






Well, I thought I had one more fillet and then I could start with a couple bulkheads. But not quite yet. My plan is to eventually do some distance racing with this boat. Things like Round Whidbey, Northern Century, Southern Straights, Swiftsure,..etc. All those events require PIYA class 2 certification. I was going through the requirements and found that I need 2.2 feet of freeboard at the stern of the boat. Vertigo's freeboard is 3.5 inches too short. The only thing I can figure is to add on to the sheer to increase the height. So I scarffed some plywood strips together, did some marking and cutting, and now have a couple sheer extenders I will attach to the hull. This will increase the freeboard at the stern by just over 4 inches. Now I will be able to do the races I was hoping for--plus if I ever need to make an escape for Hawaii, this could be the boat!
Today I attached the port extension. For years, I've been collecting clamps--dozens of clamps. Denise had been wondering what for and frankly, I didn't really know either--just knew I needed them. Today a great mystery was solved and I now know what all the clamps were destined for. Besides, it makes things look pretty official and boat builder like to have lots of clamps on everything!

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