KVARK – the homebuilt microcruiser

It definitely was a theory of strings when we weighed various concepts on how to tie down the load of new stringer wood we bought today. We found the mill thanks to local professional boat builders, who have amongst other old wooden boats built a world unique

Peipsi sailing barge (which we have sailed with). After a shop tour they told us that mechanically dried wood is prone to snapping when bending stringers. One needs naturally dried wood, somewhat moist. So that is what we did, called the mill, went there and bought ourselves a bunch of rather raw wood. In the mill the wood felt very different from what we had handled before, it was springy and easily bendable. We also got to choose any planks we wanted. A very nice place with nice people called Corex. It was adventurous fitting 5 m long planks on a 3m car. Earlier that day I epoxied another bulkhead into place. Here are some pictures:

We also bought the necessary sewage piping and hosing, plus some more clamps, to start our steambox construction. But this will wait until the first week of February, since the studying is stepping on our heels. Next update then!

Almost a month since the last update. We have been busy with the holidays, new year and now, foremost our studies. The exams last until February. By the first week of February we plan on installing the first planks on the hull. Meanwhile I fell in love with metal casting. I was browsing through local cleat suppliers. Basically only stainless steel available, one piece costs at least 20 EUR. That is a lot for a small steel piece. This is where the DIY kicked in. I saw aluminum horn cleats being sold on the Duckworks supply webstore:

They do look nice. I browsed some sailing forums and there was no real argument for or against aluminum cleats. Sure, they are weaker than stainless steel, but for their weight they are stronger. Then I discovered the world of homebrew metal casting, furnaces and ingots. There is such a megaton on information on the web about making your own furnaces, crucibles, the lost wax casting method, green sand.. I could not wait and I tried some casting at home. Here is a short gallery:

This was very exciting, like “childhood playing in the butt,” as they say in Russian (a softer version of it). I’m thinking of a green sand cast for the cleats. This opens up a whole new dimension for the DIY scenario.

If you are interested in casting, I suggest visiting the page which the image originates from. This guy casts iron in his back yard, has developed several models of propane and used oil burners. Most notably, I think, he cast his own metal working lathe. On our boat.. cleats, the rudder hinges, maybe even window frames? Who knows, its all too good to be true. Tomorrow we will buy new wood for the stringers. We also have sorted out a band saw for splitting them, thanks Raivo.

Yrvind is now back in Sweden after sailing across the Atlantic in his newly designed microcruiser. I cite his blog, found at http://www.yrvind.com/present_project/
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At the same time the wheather was awfull, the boat to heavy taking water over her all the time, and of course there is no bathroom aboard. I had planned to hang on the outside but the aft deck was constantly under water. I said this can wait untill tomorrow. When tomorrow came the wheather had not improwed. I said to myself there is an other tomorrow. Finally it had to be done. Now it was rock hard. It was impossible to mowe it. But it had to be done. My one and only spoon was a teespoon. With it I started to dig. Piece by piece I got the shit out. It took me three days to clear the passage and it was painfull. The operation had to be done from a rocking boat with me hanging on with one arm handling the spoon with my other, but fianally I could clean the spoon to use for musli and sardines again. Luckily one is imune to ones own bakteria.
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Now, this man is 73 years old. The first singlehanded sailor to Tristan da Cunha. This text motivates to build, seriously. Can’t wait to get out to the sea.