Making Dust

I spent most of today behind a sander and router, prepping the two halves of the strut for my new daggerboard. The last board I made was under Gui's tutelage back in the fall of 2007. It was a pain then and it still is. Getting the two halves flat isn't too bad, but routering the groove for the actuating rod is not easy. I suppose in a production setting with the correct tools at your disposal, thing can go okay. But for us shade tree boat builders, it's jury rig with the tools you have to achieve the result that you need. Once the halves were glued up and under vacuum I felt that things went alright, but in the heat of the battle there were a few curse word uttered.

Below are some pics of the FC wand pivot John sent me. The red washers hold eight tiny ball bearings that lay against the aluminum body.




Enjoy Kansas



Dust in the Wind, by Kerry Livgren and Steve Walsh (1977)

I close my eyes
Only for a moment, then the moment’s gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind, ohh Now, don't hang on
Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind Dust in the wind
Everything is dust in the wind
Everything is dust in the wind
The wind

The Shape of Things to Come

In the mail this morning I found a package from John Illet. No, not my new centerboard (that's probably still a couple of weeks away,) but a couple of Fastacraft centerboard well cutoffs he sent me that will match the new strut. The pieces allow me to rough fit my boat's cassette with the cutoffs so that when the new board arrives, I'll have one less thing to do. Below are a couple of pics of the well and its cassette insert. I'll hold off on gluing the cutoff into its final exact position until I have the new board in hand and can adjust its rake to 8.5 degrees.







I also noticed that the FC strut's chord at about 5 inches is significantly longer than the 4.5 inch chord of the Eppler 836 section I'm making for "Plan C." So I'll need a couple of different cassettes to accommodate each strut.



John also set me a new FC wand pivot. I was delighted to find at the bearing surface a couple of hard plastic washers with eight tiny ball bearings. How something so simple can make the pivot resistance go way down is now obvious, by had eluded me when I built my first wand pivot. I'm glad there're smarter people than me working the development side to the class.

Enjoy the Scottish band The Headboys



The Shape of Things to Come, by Boyter-Lewis-Malcom-Ross/The Headboys (1969)

Caeser's praying for rain, lightning flashes around
The prophet is screaming, his head hits the ground
You should hear the warning if you read the signs
Play with your own life but don't play with mine
There was Moses and me when the wind took the change
He hands out the menu, he moves out of range
If you knew the action, you see us so blind
Play with your own life but don't play with mine
Oh oh oh oh
The shape of things to come
You're not invited to stay, you're not intended to go
Can you tell the future? I don't think so
You should hear the warning if you read the signs
Play with your own life but don't play with mine
The shape of things to come
You're living your way, I live in mine
May be tomorrow we will collide.

Also ran

Congrats to Arnaud on winning the European Champs. This post, however is focusing those that finish just out of the trophies. Rod Harris, that means you (and me...). Score sheets tend to evaporate over time (although now with their web existence they may hang around longer than they used to.) Trophies, on the other hand, stay around longer than you may want (how many folks have used old Jefferson cup trophies to mix resin in?)



I managed to find score sheets from the 1974 and 1975 US Nationals. Note who finished just out of the top five each year. So while some folks departed the regatta with a trophy for their efforts, I left each year thinking "If I had only...". The nationals in 1974 were especially tough - in my first major moth regatta I missed placing by three tenths of a point (does anybody still use the old Olympic Scoring System?). The 1975 Nationals found me five points out of the money.




One of my duties in organizing the 1976 Worlds was to procure the trophies. I had figured out that since finishing sixth was my lot in life, I'd order six trophies. The ironic thing was that I finished seventh. And ironies of ironies, when I competed at the Hayling Island worlds in 1977, they were fifteen open place trophies. I couldn't find a score sheet in the IMCA-UK archives, but take my word for it: I finished sixteenth. So Rod, hold onto the memories of this year's Europeans. Save the pdf file of the scoresheet. And be thankful that you don't have one more trophy cluttering up the mantle piece. I've been there and done that.

Enjoy Mark Gaignard & The Also Ran

The heat is on

After waiting a few days for more carbon, I've begun work on my second strut. It's a pain because of the temperature - 95 degrees yesterday. Even with the extra slow (tropical) hardener, when laying in 8-10 layers of carbon cloth, uni, glass (for the bottom tang) and maple strip core, it's always a question of can you get the release cloth and bleeder fabric sorted, and then the whole kit and kaboodle into the bag and under vacuum before things start to kick. Yesterday's lay-up was successful - this morning I popped out the first half and today I'll lay up the second half.

I'm also having problems (no, change that to read challenges and opportunities) with the rudder head. I tried laying a sleeve onto the tiller with suitable plastic and release silicone but the heat gun I used on the shrink tubing caused the resin to kick too fast. The release plastic melted and I ended up having to cut the carbon sleeve off the tiller. So two steps forward and one step back. I hope to have the rudder head finished today so I can start work on the rudder's AoA mechanism.


The consolation that home-builders have is that they inevitably are better at fixing things that go wrong since they're so intimate with the construction. No "factory team" for me!

Enjoy Glenn Frey



The Heat is On, by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey (1984)

The heat is on, on the street
Inside your head, on every beat
And the beat's so loud, deep inside
The pressure's high, just to stay alive
'Cause the heat is on

Oh-wo-ho, oh-wo-ho
Caught up in the action I've been looking out for you
Oh-wo-ho, oh-wo-ho
(Tell me can you feel it)
(Tell me can you feel it)
(Tell me can you feel it)
The heat is on, the heat is on, the heat is on
the heat is on Oh it's on the street , the heat is - on

Oh-wo-ho, oh-wo-ho
Caught up in the action I've been looking out for you
Oh-wo-ho, oh-wo-ho
(Tell me can you feel it)
(Tell me can you feel it)
(Tell me can you feel it)
The heat is on, the heat is on, the heat is on
Oh it's on the street , the heat is - on

The shadows are on the darker side
Behind those doors, it's a wilder ride
You can make a break, you can win or lose
That's a chance you take, when the heat's on you
When the heat is on

Oh-wo-ho, oh-wo-ho
Caught up in the action I've been looking out for you
Oh-wo-ho, oh-wo-ho
(Tell me can you feel it)
(Tell me can you feel it)
(Tell me can you feel it)
The heat is on, the heat is on, the heat is on

It's on the street
The heat is on, the heat is on, the heat is on
Yeah it's on the street
The heat is on

Hike, Bike, Sail

As I'm pinning down travel arrangements and accommodations, I've found a neat bike route from Portland to Cascade Locks. The Historic Columbia River Highway is a state trail and specifically caters to cyclists. It passes by Multnomah Falls, the most visited natural site in the state of Oregon. If you get a chance, pay it a visit. The falls are only 17 miles west of the sailing venue. So my plans at this date are to fly into Portland International on the first, take the bus/train to downtown to West Coast Sailing (where I'm shipping my bike), then hop on the bike trail to Cascade Locks.



So if you're still on the fence about the worlds, there's plenty of opportunities to turn the trip into a family holiday. Here's a couple of links about the Gorge area:

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Columbia River Gorge Bike Map

It's interesting that when I flew British Air to Heathrow Airport last year, my bike went for free. Flying domestic from Norfolk to Portland it would cost me $150 to bring the bike on the plane (one way.) Needless to say, I'm going to ship it via truck for about $60.

Enjoy Queen.




Bicycle Race, by Freddie Mercury (1978)

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

You say black I say white
You say bark I say bite
You say shark I say hey man
Jaws was never my scene
And I don't like star wars
You say rolls I say royce
You say God give me a choice
You say lord I say christ
I don't believe in peter pan
Frankenstein or superman
All I wanna do is

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my
Bicycle races are coming your way
So forget all your duties oh yeah!
Fat bottomed girls they'll be riding today
So look out for those beauties oh yeah
On your marks get set go
Bicycle race bicycle race bicycle race
Bicycle bicycle bicycle I want to ride my bicycle
Bicycle bicycle bicycle
Bicycle race

Doug, the prophet

A long time ago, on a continent far away, Doug wrote that home builders looking to buy foil kits are often disappointed because delivery always seems to be delayed until a couple of weeks before the worlds. I scoffed because I had a plan: buy a new M2 mainfoil from Amac to replace my trashed daggerboard. As autumn turned to winter and winter started to turn to spring, Andrew told me that he couldn't give me a delivery time. So, I bailed on plan A and found plan B: John Illet agreed to supply me with a gen3 FC mainfoil, for delivery about mid-June. Well, last night's mail found this note from John:

"The centerboard mould/plate only just went into the CNC machine this morning so I expect to finally have it in my hands early next week....You are still first in line and I plan to get it shipped in less than three weeks..."

So with shipping via Fedex and their four day guarantee, I may, may, possibly get my FC gen3 mainfoil by July 15th. Unfortunately, I need to have the boat crated by the 27th for shipment to Oregon. Plan C needs to be put into effect...

My original main foil strut is not repairable. I can lay up a second strut using John Z's mold and try to mate that new strut to my horizontal. Or I can spend lots of time low-riding...

This song is strangly appropriate. I especially like the line "Plan B is getting older everyday."



Plan C, by the Cross Town Cowboys

Here we are in worn out saddles
driving someone else’s cattle,
across the dusty trail and the lone prairie,
Now plan A didn’t work so well
and plan B, well, you can probably tell,
it’ll be a while before we get to plan C.

With Cookie’s call at the crack of dawn
we pull our dusty boots back on
check our rigs and head down to the c’herd.
Grab a meal and then be gone
we’ll be riding ‘til the daylight’s gone
Shining sure wearin’ off to plan B.

At night by the firelight
we talk of what it will be like
to move our stakes and buy a spread,
find some pretty girls to wed.
Plan C is sounding better every day.

All day long we listen on
as the trail boss sings his endless song:
Let’s saddle up and move out on our way!
There’s work to do to draw your pay,
you’ll be doing this ‘til you’re old and gray.
Plan B is gettin’ older every day.

At night by the firelight
we talk of what it would be like
to move our stakes and buy a spread,
find some pretty girls to wed.
Plan C is sounding better every day.

Back again in worn out saddles
driving someone else’s cattle,
across the dusty trail and the lone prairie,
Now plan A didn’t work so well
and plan B, well, you can probably tell,
it’ll be a while before we get to plan C.
I just can’t wait to get to plan C,
Oh I can’t wait to get to plan C.

30 years ago...

As promised some pics of the first half of my new rudder are shown below, one still in the mold and one with it popped out. Today I will lay up the second half.




The title of today's post refers to our wedding (Susan and me) thirty years ago today. No great celebration this year (as opposed to our 25th when we rode a tandem across the country.) So I had to include a couple of pics from 30 and 5 years ago...it's hard to beat true love!





Sorry, no YouTube video, but a sorta cool rock mp3 version of Daisy Bell
I suggest you open in another tab to hear the song and see the lyrics...

Daisy Bell, by Harry Dacre (in 1892)

There is a flower
Within my heart,
Daisy, Daisy!
Planted one day
By a glancing dart,
Planted by Daisy Bell!
Whether she loves me
Or loves me not,
Sometimes it's hard to tell;
Yet I am longing to share the lot -
Of beautiful Daisy Bell!

Daisy, Daisy,
Give me your answer do!
I'm half crazy,
All for the love of you!
It won't be a stylish marriage,
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle made for two.

We will go 'tandem'
As man and wife,
Daisy, Daisy!
'Peddling' away
Down the road of life,
I and my Daisy Bell!
When the road's dark
We can both despise
P'licemen and 'lamps' as well;
There are 'bright lights’
In the dazzling eyes
Of beautiful Daisy Bell!

Daisy, Daisy,
Give me your answer do!
I'm half crazy,
All for the love of you!
It won't be a stylish marriage,
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle made for two.

I will stand by you
In 'weal' or woe,
["weal" means prosperity] Daisy, Daisy!
You'll be the bell(e)
Which I'll ring you know!
Sweet little Daisy Bell!
You'll take the 'lead'
In each 'trip' we take,
Then if I don't do well,
I will permit you to
Use the brake,
My beautiful Daisy Bell!

Rudder lay up

I layed up one half of my new rudder strut today. I’m using John Zseleczky’s mold for the Eppler 836 section (4.5” chord). This was the strut that generated the lowest drag coefficient of the five Bill had tested in the tank. (Available from the class website as a downloadable document: http://www.moth-sailing.org/download/CSYSPaperFeb09.pdf) Bill is sure that’s because it was the thinnest tested. John had commented that the thin section was a little whippy when compared to the BR or FC rudders and he recommended that I beef up the laminate schedule. Here’s what I used:

2 layers of ± 45˚ 5.7 oz carbon cloth, full width
4 layers of 9 oz uni-carbon full width.
6 layers of 9 oz uni carbon strips, varying in width between 1 and 3 inches, centered around the fat part of the foil
1 layer of ± 45˚ 5.7 oz carbon cloth, full width
Core of maple, except the last 4 inches which is composed of all glass cloth (for the bottom of the rudder that will form the tang that fits into the horizontal’s socket.

Pics to follow tomorrow after I release it from the mold.
While I was laying up the rudder I was listening to Clapton. Enjoy.



Lay Down Sally by Eric Clapton, Marcy Levy and George Terry (1977)

There is nothing that is wrong
In wanting you to stay here with me.
I know you’ve got somewhere to go,
But won’t you make yourself at home and stay with me?
And don’t you ever leave.

Chorus:
Lay down, sally, and rest you in my arms.
Don’t you think you want someone to talk to?
Lay down, sally, no need to leave so soon.
I’ve been trying all night long just to talk to you.

The sun ain’t nearly on the rise
And we still got the moon and stars above.
Underneath the velvet skies,
Love is all that matters. Won’t you stay with me?
And don’t you ever leave.

Chorus

I long to see the morning light
Coloring your face so dreamily.
So don’t you go and say goodbye,
You can lay your worries down and stay with me.
And don’t you ever leave.

Chorus, repeat

I'm back

The last three weeks have been extremely hectic with two trips to Massachusettes, three high school graduations and a college graduation on top of my end-of-the-year duties at school. So much for excuses...

Here's what's happening on the moth front:

(1) I decided to fly to Oregon and ship the boat as opposed to driving there and back. The cost either way is just about a wash, but the trip will be much easier via air. Thanks to Bora for pushing me to this direction.

(2) My Fastacraft generation 3 main foil hasn't arrived yet, but from the post by Luka it will be worth the wait.

(3) I start lay up of my new rudder tomorrow. Bora has agreed to sell me a horizontal. My task will be to mate the foil to the rudder at the correct angle. Yes, I'm still planning on the 5 degree forward cant. A picture of the gantry without its fairing is included.

(4) So until I can get the boat together it will be erging, cycling and general fitness exercises to get this old body in as good of a condition as I can before leaving for the Gorge.

Enjoy Alice and the Muppets.