Main Keel

Before I go any further let me say something ...the 2 small keels 250mm either side of the main are trimmed down height wise where they start to bend on the bottom towards the bow, I took them back to 12mm at the bow.

OK so the main Center keel is a bit of Maranti 100mm x 50mm.
I laid it along the center line and marked where it would start to bend, then i sort of rolled it along the bend to get the length that it would be from the rear (aft) to the bow, I then added 100mm just in case and cut it to length.
I then from the point of the bend cut off about 25mm (see photo) I then cut what was now thinner into strips about 10mm thick this allows me to bend the keel down to the bow without having to steam or any of that sort of thing.
I drilled a line of holes to take the screws (to hold the keel on ) down the center line about 75mm apart , when I got to the (stitch and glue section) I stopped, as the bent section is held another way. As you can see below easy to bend.Hehehe
Here is how I did that ..I glued the main section on to the floor and screwed it into place from below (or where the floor is when it is upright in the water) I then glued the first strip to the hull and nailed it with small nails at the Bow same with the 2nd and the next and the next. ETC.
I then got some 100mm long screws and sent them right through the keel and the hull into some small blocks of wood (all the time the glue was going off and foaming everywhere) and after 1/2 an hour I scraped away some of the foam which turned out not necessary as it sands off very easy and even better with a wire brush on the angle grinder. NOTE the long screws have a washer under them so that they hold and do not pull through..
I left the large screws in for about 1 week and went on with other stuff (next post) so that the glue was well and done Later I trimmed it down even further (you will see)

IT FLOATS

Today the 4/4/11 I with the help of a friend did launch Her in the pool.
She floated well above what I would have thought was a water line and then with me onboard just the back was at the line, She still sat up and played the game better than expectations.
A light push from 1 end of the pool and she went straight to the other end 10.5m very quickly and there was no eddy at the rear as I had hoped and there was Air bubbles running under her the full length and exiting from the rear, so the keels did trap air even at that speed.
I weigh 93 kg and as you can see I could get a fair way over the side before she let go and wanted to tip.
So in all a BLOODY GREAT DAY , can't wait to get in the seat and stick on the motor and go for a spin.

10th post start of all those keels

OK we have the bottom and it is flat at the aft with the transom in place.
The transom is 400mm tall x the width of the ply sheet x 12mm deep at this point.
So at the fore there is a "V" shape in the ply where it was cut at a curve and brought together and then wired and glued.
we now need a bit of 12mm ply cut to the natural shape of the "V" that has formed.
At this point I turned the floor upside down and chocked up the front so that a level could be placed on the flat section of the bottom and then worked out the depth of the "v" shaped section, this being the top of the "V" to the same level on the bench as the 400mm transom.
I then gave the 2 sides of this section a nice (what I though) angle down to the bench.
Cut it all out then glued and screwed it into place also giving it an angle sloping forward to just short of the length of a standard sheet of ply 2400mm (about 130mm forward) (working on the fact that I had removed 150mm from the bottom after lofting the lines for the "V" section cuts).
OH NO A WART...As you can see the next day (to my surprise ) I had used the first draft of the bow not the real 1 so I was 150mm short of the expected size.
So (in the long run it worked out as a good mistake) see later.
OK the "V" section is 300mm either side of the center line of the boat, Center is where the main keel will go, so mark the center line (chalk line or long ruler ) and the mark the 2 lines either side 250mm of the center line (about 50mm in from edge of the "V" where the sides will meet in the long run..
then starting at the rear (aft, transom) mark a set of drill points 100mm apart aft to fore.
now the sections of Maranti, I am useing are 25 by 50mm. so after you have all the holes drilled run some glasspaper under the ply and tidy up any breakthrough splinters in the ply.then glue and screw the two keels onto the bottom of the bottom.
Dam blog will not load photos back tomorrow to edit this post.

In Reality post 9 where it realy is at.

it was to be tossed in the swimming pool today to get her feet wet (as they say) but friend never got around so things happen like that.
As you can see it is painted ....but no seat yet as I wanted to see how she felt in the water before I put my weight (and others ) at some ,at present full time level of seating.
May have been why he never showed today as it was raining and a dip in a cold pool was not on!!!!so as the posting of blogs is a bit funny with how they download photos (out of the order you put them) next post is the 5 keels that make the strongback useless.