Putting on Weight

Lagniappe made it into the Workshop on the Water just in time.  It has gotten cold and blustery outside, as it tends to do in mid-November, and it is great to work in the comfort of a heated shop.  It is also nice not to have to clean the boat of leaves, pine needles, and bird poop every day before starting work. I have been going to the shop nearly every day since "moving day."  I don't want to tie up valuable shop floor space longer than necessary, nor do I wish to wear out my welcome.  Also, it is fun to be around other boat builders -- pros and volunteers alike -- and not to work in solitude. The biggest benefit is having the advice and assistance if needed, of these knowledgeable and engaged guys.  Another somewhat dubious benefit of being at the shop is that I get to be center stage on one of the webcams. They can be found on the Independence Seaport Museum website.

Nearly my entire focus has been on the installation of the ballast, which has been a pretty big job, as expected. The effort is magnified, of course, by the weight.  Moving the ballast, even on wheeled dollies, requires block and tackle or a pry bar.

The first step was to hoist the lead into position, which was accomplished with two automotive floor jacks.  Then, in order to remove the bend which had developed, I clamped it securely to the keel.  It is pretty amazing to see how a mass of metal like this can actually be straightened with a few clamps, but lead is obviously extremely malleable, and that's how it got bent in the first place.

Ballast lifted on jacks and clamped into position .

For some reason, the joint between the top of the lead and the bottom of the deadwood had a gap of nearly 5/8 inch.  I suppose it was a lofting error on my part, and since the ballast weight in at almost exactly 1200 pounds, I probably had cut the bottom of the deadwood too deep.  Regardless, it was easily fixed with a pair of spacers cut from fir and epoxy glued to the bottom edge of the deadwood.  You can see it in the picture above.

Once I was satisfied with the position  of the lead, I began the tedious and messy task of drilling the bolt holes.  This was done with a 1/2 inch bit, as long as I could find -- 18 inches.  For the two holes immediately behind the cabin aft bulkhead, I needed to borrow an extension from the shop so I could drill straight down.

An extension made it possible to drill close to the bulkhead.

    

Unfortunately, 18 inches was about an inch too short for most of the holes, necessitating lowering the lead after drilling to finish off the holes.  I could have bought a longer bit, but it would have cost $70, which seemed a bit dear for the limited use it would get.

Once all the holes were drilled, I covered the mating surfaces of the ballast and the deadwood with lots of Boatlife Life Seal caulk (it took two full tubes) and jacked up the lead once again, clamped it back into position, and lined up all the holes.  Then began the incredibly tedious job of countersinking on the bottom of the lead.  Fortunately, I had a lot of help in this from one of my WoW friends, Bob, who drilled many of the holes. Bob actually seemed to enjoy it which, while somewhat strange, was very welcome.

Bob drilling one of the countersink holes

 We used a countersink cutter bit with a 1/2 inch guide rod in the center, pushed upward through each bolt hole.  The limited headroom required using a right angle drill, which the shop fortunately has.  To hold the drill in position and apply upward pressure, we used a lever system, which you can see in the photo above.  As a result, the work is not difficult, but it is very tedious and messy.  As with the bolt holes themselves, drilling requires copious amounts of mineral oil, slow bit speed, and frequent cleanout of shavings.  It also requires sharpening bits often, as the lead, soft though it is, seems to dull the cutting edge quicker than wood.

All bolts countersunk, in place, and snugged up.  Time to go home.

 The bolts themselves consisted of threaded silica bronze rod with a washer and nut on each end. Therefore, tightening them was a two person job, with one person in the boat and the other working below.  

Later on, after the Boatlife cures, I will clean up, grind off the excess rod, epoxy fill the countersink holes, epoxy coat the lead, and paint it with antifouling paint.  But I am ready to check one more big scary project off the to-do list, and my Grey Seal is now about 1,200 pounds heavier.

In a few spare hours in the shop, I managed to fasten the mast hinge to the cabin roof directly over the compression post assembly.  Compared to the ballast, that was a minor achievement, but an essential one nevertheless.

Mast hinge bolted in place on the cabin roof.

Next on the agenda is the installation of the engine.  I plan to load it up on the truck and drive it to the shop on Monday morning.