Snakefeet

Hull 11k: S/V Angelfish

I recently sailed as crew on a boat in the Cape Henry Cup. It was an exhilarating and inspiring experience. Next year I want to sail my own boat in that race, or at least in Hampton Roads and/or the southern Chesapeake Bay. It is a cruising boat and might be disappointing to sail in a regatta. But then, that's the whole point of the PHRF ratings - to get everybody out racing whatever boat they have. Getting the boat ready won't be quite as exhilarating or inspiring but should be worth the adventure.

This and other events have given me a new appreciation for- and interest in racing, despite the fact that mine is not a racing boat. Ketches have won racing victories, though not since the 1980s. Nonetheless, I'm going to work to work to sail this boat as well as it can be sailed, just for the fun of it.

Along the way I will introduce topics like the four stages of ship and boat design: conceptual, functional, detailed, and production support. I will critique existing boat designs and look for ways to optimize them. I will develop and demonstrate ways to manage the refit of a boat. I will ponder the mystery of why the US Naval ship building industry has so many highly educated, rigorously trained, deeply experienced individuals that, in aggregate form such a completely incompetent industry.

To top it all off I will restore a fine example of 20th Century production yacht building and Naval Architecture to operational condition and race it, placing somewhere hopefully other than DFL.

This will be an involved process. I've had several false starts at it in the past but everything seems to be in place to start again and reach a reasonable goal.

To begin:

• Find the CAD model I began in 2015
• Find the workbook I used in 2015
• Set up fordwrench.com as the project site for this effort
• Model hull in Rhino3D
• Modify SWBS system for sailboats
• Make a section in the website a SWBS-based filesystem
• Find downloaded manuals
• Develop a plan for bringing mainmast home
• Build engine placement mockup
• Build mandrel for installing cutless bearing
• Design & build engine lifting spreader bar
• Develop refit drawings in ACAD from Rhino3D sections
• Find ABYC CD

The hull has been sitting on stands for way too long and has probably deformed in some ways. An early goal will be to get the hull into the water so it can settle back into its proper shape from the water's uniform loading of the shell.

Generally speaking the plan is:

• Install engine & make boat ready for motoring
• Reinstall main mast compression post (head doors can go in later)
• Launch and stay in Portsmouth marina long enough for hull to settle into shape
• Refurbish spars, standing rigging, running rigging, bowsprit at home
• Organize and inventory all gear
• Update paperwork
  • VA registration
  • Survey
  • Insurance
  • USCG Documentation
• Motor to Norfolk after arranging for a slip
• Go to a Norfolk yard to step masts
  • Alternately I could go to Sunset Marina in Portsmouth for mast stepping
  • Alternate-alternately I could better design the mast shears design

Generally speaking the plan could be:

• Install engine & make boat ready for motoring
  • Build an engine hoist system for moving it into & out of ER
  • Bed cutless bearing in epoxy -or- epoxy an FRP tube (with ID = to OD of bearing) into the deadwood (may require boring out the passage)
  • Use engine mockup to install resilient mounts (engine mounts should be at the same angle from horizontal as the shaft passage)
  • Replace breaker panel
• Launch and stay in Portsmouth marina long enough for hull to settle into shape
  • Launch with shaft coupling bolts loose, assuming I can get a tender to bring the boat to a slip
  • Let hull sit in the water for a week or two
  • Check shaft alignment & eventually put final torque on coupling bolts
• Refurbish spars, standing rigging, running rigging, bowsprit at home
  • Mainmast wiring harness
  • Nav lights and spreader lights
  • Look at adding additional/external sheaves
  • Design & build mainmast foundation to replace cut-off portion
  • Refurbish furler
• Organize and catalog all gear
  • Clean out garage & discard extraneous gear
  • Finish crown molding
  • Install wood flooring
  • Get house library out of garage
  • Stow extra bikes in ovhd
  • Finish dory rack to include kayak
  • Sell storage unit stuff on Mktplc
• Update paperwork
  • VA registration
  • Survey
  • Insurance
  • USCG Documentation
• Motor to Norfolk after arranging for a slip
• Go to a Norfolk yard to step masts

• In Portsmouth yard
  • Seal windows
  • Install cutless bearing
  • Install shaft & prop
  • Install seawater strainer
  • Lift engine into place
  • Relocate oil and fuel filters
  • Redesign exhaust & install
  • Keep engine loosely mounted until launch
  • Bring mainmast and all other spars home
  • Remove bowsprit
  • Rebuild bilge pump
  • Re-seal windows
  • Re-mount cabin hatch
  • Replace breaker panel
  • Re-caulk around chain plates
  • Paint main deck tread areas
  • Compound & wax gelcoat
  • Grind Bondo putty so rails fit better

Project Briefs (draft)
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