yachtrodney - Launched at Last (after 15 years)

[yachtrodney]

Yes cmd - you've seen straight through my ruse.

It wasn't a yacht I was building at all - but a giant bird and wasp home.

The number of birds nests and wasps nests - that the locals built inside the framework was fascinating.

I did not interfere with the large paper wasp's nests - as they are abandoned each season - and they return and build another one - in my case - usually in the very next roof frame of the yacht. But we lived a life of mutual non interference - and no one got hurt either way.

But I tried to discourage the swallows at every turn. They would come soaring in through the open windows and hatches and build their mud and twig nests wherever - in no time flat - and fly around inside the yacht like wayward missiles.

One day there'd be nothing and the next a full nest stuck up in a corner with eggs in it. And given any settling rights - they will come back and use the same nest for years.

I did them no harm - except for that time - I dropped a nest in resin - and then put it on the bookshelf.



But rest assured - no LIVING animals were harmed in the making of this film.

Rodney

[billydude]

Hi Rodney and Penny,

Have joined this forum to chat with you, and read about some of the other amazing nautical 'things' out there.

After seeing your yacht in the flesh and while still land-locked, I was pleased to read some of the previous comments here from like-minded sailors who understand and appreciate the magnitude about your project.

Cheers,
Billydude

[yachtrodney]

G'day - old mate

I've posted your mugshot at your Meet & Greet thread - so everyone knows who to look out for.

Rodney

[billydude]

Uh -oh!!! - and I was hoping for visual anonymity until my pirate beard was longer!

[bob kingsland]

Yeah Rodney: I was once showing the project to a rather timid guy I didn't know at all, and had a door in the shed off the platform above the stairs at deck level (about 14' up) that I used for ventilation in the summer. I swung open the door, knocking a 1' diameter wasp nest to the floor right at our feet. They were a little upset. I ran for the bow, swung off the bowsprit down to the scaffolding, which was at the 8' level, and from there down and out of the shed. Took me about 3 seconds. My visitor (who I haven't seen since), dove/fell down the companionway, and then wouldn't come out. The wasps were still swarming at the broken nest, (which was right at the top of the stairs, near the companionway). It took me an hour (yelling from outside the shed) to talk him into going forward, opening the fore deck hatch, climbing up on deck and then down the way I did. He got stung at least 15 times in the process. Ah well.
Last winter I had a skunk move in under the addition I put on the back of the shop, about 10' from where I'm sitting as I type. It wasn't pleasant, even though he never sprayed. I tried every thing I could think of, and finally after a week put outdoor flood lights under the addition and left them on all night. That moved him out.
And the birds in the shed... probably the worst was the bat who arrived and decided to take up residence, dive bombing me every time I opened the door. I really didn't want him to invite any friends in, so again after trying a lot of things I walked in with a tennis racquet, and when he dove at me I served him across the bow.That slowed him down quite a bit and I was able to get him out, and he didn't come back. Bob S/V Restless

[yachtrodney]

I don't want to veer too far off the track of the 'cruising life' - but - you see - all of those things are part of the experience - of getting here today - and as we look back - the life of a yachtbuilder. If it's not one thing - it's another.

There was an old cupboard alongside the steps to the yacht - and a 'few' bees took up residence in it - going in and out a hole in the back. No problem - I just walked past - and they were used to me - so I ignored them.

By chance a couple of months later - I put on some mosquito repellant - and as I walked up the steps - 3 bees hit me right in the neck - where I'd put it on - and stung me - and others came from everywhere to attack.

So I'm afraid - that was it - I called the 'Bee Emergency Hotline' - and was given the name of a local beekeeper. When he came out and opened the box I couldn't believe it - he said there were probably about 30,000 bees in the hive all up - and they'd been really busy making stacks of honey in the big combs.







He missed with the first attempt to get the Queen - and actually came back about a week later - and mere minutes before he arrived the whole hive hung outside the box - and then the sky was full of thousands of bees circling like a tornado in front of me - as the hive swarmed - and the Queen took flight. He arrived as the mass began to move off slowly and he followed it to a tree in a nearby paddock where the Queen had landed and the swarm engulfed and hung around her. It was not until days later again - that he finally managed to drop the entire hanging cluster into a new hive box and take them away.

A few days later he brought me back some jars of the honey from the hive in these photos - and it was just the best.

What with having to deal with birds, wasps, bees, rats, and whatever else (thankfully we don't have skunks) - you'd wonder how we ever got time for boatbuilding at all.

Rodney
1:30 PM Saturday 15/12/2007 AEST (Australia)

And you might be more familiar Bob with these boatbuilding conditions - taken one mid-winter morning.



PS I may shortly have to give this computer a rest and do a few things around here - after all we've still got a yacht in 2 halves to be rejoined - which is fairly important.

[billydude]

was web surfing earlier - it's the only exercise I get nowadays. and, have spent half the day reading earlier posts on this forum!! Now all I have to do is find out how to attach pics!
Cheers,
Billydude

[billydude]

am attempting to attach a jpeg - see how it goes!!!

[yachtrodney]

When I first started building the yacht - I established some rules which I often stated - and always tried to follow.

Things like - never make anything sharp that you can cut yourself on - idiot.

AND - electricity goes HIGH - and plumbing goes LOW.

So that unbeknowns to me - when the world turned to sh... and I had to cut the entire yacht in half - this basic rule of boatbuilding proved a blessing.

All the plumbing, pipes, and hoses, and there's a fair bit - throughout the entire yacht were BELOW the level of the cut - all except for the Shower Head pipe - that was mounted in a linen cupboard.

But here's the thing - I'm 6'4" - and most showers are set too low for me - and EVERYTHING on this yacht is made to fit ME. So - I had cut the copper shower line - when I was fitting it originally - so that I could mount the taps at the usual height - and the Head higher - well above me. And I had just put a section of Heater Hose in as a joiner with double hose clamps each end.

It all worked fine - and there's never been any problem. And when it now came to having to cut the yacht and disconnect the normal plumbing - all I had to do was - undo this one section of flexible hose - in the entire yacht.

You've got to have an occasional win.

When the decision to cut the yacht in half was forced on me - a great deal of the interior work had been done - particularly anything that involved 'structural' fittings - like walls that were bookshelves and cabinets - and a bathroom & shower that backed on to a bedroom & Linen closets - etc.

Things like the Electrical System - Master Control Panels were all built in to finished quality - and the Shower in question - was fully tiled - and built in with Cedar walls and door - to look really nice - and was being used. I had also put in some attractive 'feature' embossed tiles.

A whole section of this shower area - had to be chipped and broken out - including the large feature tile - for the area to be cut in half. When it was cut - one side was a ferrocement wall (tiled) - 2 other sides were tiles over ply walls - and the other was a perspex and cedar wall - so you can imagine the problems cutting right around in there.

But when it was done - as I've said before - I still needed to live there - and in fact to use the shower daily - so I made a really nice feature piece of timber - rebated to fit IN the 'tileless' sections - and such that it overlapped the other existing tiles - it was held in place from behind only by a few screws and it was sealed in with silicone. It made the shower again completely watertight - and looked good - and was easily removed in the end for lifting off of the top.

It hasn't yet been put back up - and the shower is in a makeshift state - at present - until the job moves to the top of the list.

Rodney

[geordieschmalz]

Back in touch with civilization - or at least within cellular range of it.

I have been enjoying the web sites linked to this thread - Bob, as a fellow born and bred Beantowner, I am proud to know that fine craftmanship is still practiced in the Boston area. The folks up in Maine to fine work, but it is refreshing to something unique and thought-provoking. You have inspired me to finish designing the interior for my dreamboat - I couldn't proceed without figuring out the joinery, and now I have tons of ideas! Thanks also to Manny...

And Rodney, thanks again, I enjoy reading your posts, and whenever I get in a tight spot building my new boat, I will look at your 'split' level just to remind me what perseverance really means. I can't imagine what it felt like to first take saw to boat...

But I can imagine building a huge bird and wasp sanctuary!

Geordie - Pacific Northwest/America (at least according to the GPS)

[yachtrodney]

Hey Geordie - howyagoin?

Have you posted any pictures - anywhere - of you or the yacht.

apart from the icon

Rodney

[henryk]

Nice tile work Rodney . I can see it , this is what I do for a living, I'm a tile setter . i don't know how did you prep your shower , but there is one rule when I do showers before tile goes on ,100% waterproofing the whole thing . In my shower one can easily shower before they are tiled . This is very important especially on the boat where everything moves and flexes .

[yachtrodney]

henryk

I reinforced under the floor with 40mm angle iron framework - then plywood as flooring.

The ply was given a saturation coat of thinned epoxy resin to seal it off.

The whole base of the shower was fibreglassed with cloth up to a height of about 1 foot on the walls.

I poured a commercial 'shower cement' base - that I mixed some hydrophyllic resin with (my own idea) into the shower pan - trowelling it to the pan shape - I placed 3 drains - at corners of the shower - in retrospect I think it may have been just as well to shape the pan deeper and to the middle - but that was where I stand - but it all works OK with edge drains.

The walls of both ferro and ply - were painted with epoxy resin.

I tiled the floor and walls using normal tile adhesive - slowly and carefully - using a layout drawing - and then used normal tile grout.

This was the first time I had ever tiled anything - let alone a full shower. But with careful preparation and proper layout it turned out pretty good.

I have enough tiles on board to complete the whole ensuite bathroom/head - floor and walls - but have never done it - because of the cutting in half - but now when that's all rejoined I can go ahead and finish lot's of things.

The proof of the job to me - was in trying to get those damn tiles off - it literally took me almost a full day - just sitting there on a couple of milkcrates - and chiselling bit by bit. There was not the slightest chance of a full tile coming away. I ended up with a bucket of tiny chips.

I reckon the tiling would have done the Etruscans proud.



Rodney

[ireaney]

Top congratulations on a fantastic commitment and a great looking boat, I take my hat off to you for your perseverence, skill and dedication, you must be very proud.
Also Basil and Barney send their best wishes to fellow seadog Penny.
Cheers
Ian

[henryk]

Good thinking Rodney , you should be OK .Keep those tiles on board , if we ever bumped into each other in our travel, I will do the job for you, no charge . Keep up with good work Rodney , must be nice to be on the water .