All right. The dust has settled. Time to put up some pictures!
I started out the build in my garage in Tallinn where I currently work and live (in Tallinn, not in the garage). From there I took some time off work to finish things up in Finland. I put some captions under the images but there are probably things I could’ve explained more closely. If there’s anything you’re wondering, use the comment section below the post!
Hinges, prototyping
Making the first hinge prototype
Trying out the hinge
Sail sewing starts
Setting up in the garage for sail sewing. The oil pit was quite handy.
Running 12 meters of canvas in a 6 meter garage is… interesting
Meanwhile, my dad is working in Finland
Deck partner
Mast step and masthead fitting
The masthead fitting close up
My boat on the left, dad’s on the right
And then I take some time off work and head to Finland
Lofting. My brother is “helping” me out with the sail. At this point there are three 12 meter pieces sewed together of roughly 1.60 meter width each.
Measuring and drawing out lines for the batten pockets
Batten pocket sewing starts! This is in the old school building where I went from 1st to 4th grade and also happens to be the neighbor to my parents house. Nostalgic. I wish I had thought of using safety pins to hold the canvas in place a bit earlier, the sewing goes A LOT faster this way. This allowed me to have the sewing machine on wheels and just quickly run it over the floor instead of having to move the sail.
Yours truly working
The old Koyo sewing machine. Note the clever rigging of the sewing thread. 😉
Cutting out reinforcers for the batten pocket ends
Cutting off the excess material
Folding the doubler inside the pocket
Voilà
Leech doubling reinforcement
Leech reinforcement finished.
Leech reinforcement done
Hinges machined out of POM plastic. I ordered PVC rods that I could’ve ran through my wooden lathe instead, but the order didn’t come on time.
Integrated lazyjack sleeve and batten pocket
Battens assembled using 6 mm Dyneema and a figure eight lashing secured with duct tape. Indestructible!
Close up of hinged joints
Setting up the batten parrels
Setting up the sheets
Attaching batten parrels around the mast
And the sail is up for the first time!
And off we go, first sea trials
Time to head back to my new home port
Off to Estonia with my good friend Robin
Safely docked at Port Noblessner, Tallinn, Estonia
That’s pretty much it. I plan to take a longer vacation from the beginning of August and before then I have the following things to do in no specific order besides the fact that I have a lot of friends lined up to go out for a trial sail so the first two are in that sense the most urgent:
- sew on stronger lazyjack sleeves
- sew on batten pocket reinforcements where they contact the mast
- start working on the Hebridean self-steering gear
- reinforce the dog house somehow
No rest for me it would seem.