27th June

Slow news day.

Registration mounted on  transom.  You can see a small strip on the top STBD side which is a stainless steel engraved strip with the hull identification number glued and screwed into position.  There is also a secret engraved aluminum strip glued and hidden inside the boat. Will be hard to find.

Boarding ladder will be fitted on stbd  side and trolling motor mounting will be on port side.  I have made stabilizing fins for transom mounting but going to do sea trials before fitting. I if I am happy without I wont fit extra stuff on the transom even though transom has been reinforced in the mounting location positions.

Every day Nuts is covered in plastic to go to sleep.  Even though Nuts is inside my workshop the roof is filled with spiders and they SHIT.  They leave little brown bomb splats which are a pain to clean off.

Big box free shipping on Prime from Germany.  200L of polystyrene balls.  Going to be used for "navigation table" base (watch this space)  as well as body fender in rough weather and adds an extra 200kg buoyancy which can be shoved wherever it is needed.  Got to pick my friend Jeff 's brain. (It is all his fault I ordered this!)  Should have close to 1000kg closed cell buoyancy built into the hull so if the shit hits the fan might get a bit wet but shouldnt sink.

Also spliced up 2 tempory  6mm Chineema shrouds with Brummel loops on each end to hold up the mast  in position to measure the lengths for the stainless crimping when the mast arrives. I plan to have a fixed forestay without a bottlescrew so will need  take some carefull measurment.   I will prepare all the rigging in the next days.  Also got a lot of mast bits to cut and weld but going to wait for when it arrives.  

The more work I do the longer the work list gets!!

 22nd June

Not been very good with updates.  There has been progress but slower than normal with not much to see.  

At least Mrs Nuts still has one good working hand but I must open the bottle!!

Mast was wrapped

Then put in a big mobile box

No idea where it is at the moment but hopefully getting closer to Lisbon to catch the ship to the Azores.  Ordered the mast from Trimet in Poland and must say a big thanks to Piotr for his good coms and service.

Been doing electrics

Using different tools for a change (no sandpaper thank God)  but working in difficult to reach places to run wires.  A good thing is I had made provision for running wires during construction so not a huge deal.  Still had to drill some holes though.

VHF, switch panel and battery Ampere Hour Meter in this picture. AIS mounted just above.  Still have to run coax for antennas. Going to have a mast top ant. and one on the transom.  Still have not decided which to use for AIS or VHF radio.  Of course can always swap antenna over.  Hope to tweak AIS antenna for good SWR on its frequency as it is on the top of the marine range. (I have an SWR analyser so can check the impedance and swr for the given frequency)

The interior 12v lights are installed.  Only two. One in the "forepeak" and one above the galley.  LED from Amazon.

Galley / saloon light.  Plenty bright enough and draws very little current.

Compass light also connected.  The consumption was 0.7A with one light on inside, the vhf on, the AIS connected but not transmitting and the compass light on.  The VHF on standby was the most thirsty.

Ordered registration number stickers to be mounted on the transom and been experimenting with engraving stainless steel to make the hull identification plate to be mounted on the transom as well as on aluminum to engrave and hide somewhere inside.

Next job is to tidy up wires and run a few more.  Still got to run wiring for solar panels (2X25W) 

 and connect to controller (Victron MPPT). Also going to run a connection for a tiller pilot to use when not on the Atlantic Challenge).  

All these small jobs take forever to do with nothing to show.  I will try to update more often even if not much to see.  Getting closer to launch now.  Narwal promised to post sails 1st July.  I hope to get mast up in July and can then finalize deck fittings and go for a splash.

 17 th June

Mrs Nuts big birthday today.  Still crook with bandaged out of action hand. I have been in slow mode on Nuts with extra duties around the house the last days but some progress though.

Made a small sliding step that can be used inside or outside. Hopefully good for cleaning fish outside, working in the galley  or just as a simple step to get inside and out as well as a bum support over a bucket for "waste management".

Been working in galley and got cooker gimbal made and  mounted.

Micro galley sorted.  Only job left is to make a pot/kettle ring to stop my cooking efforts escaping the hot spot.  Cooker bolted down though .  The gimball can do a 360 spin but when conditions are that way inclined maybe a can of sardines will do.  There is space on the gimball table for a vacume food flask and coffee mug  but still need to make the holding supports. Most food will be homemade dehydrated and vacuum sealed so will only need to boil water, fill flask and wait a bit and eat.  The option to cook with a pot and frying pan is important to me so dumped the jet boil idea.  Nothing better than fresh fried fish or a curry made from leftovers. Ever tried bacon and eggs on toast on a jet boil?

Also been fiddling with electrics.

Got 3 of these "scrapped" from the electric company here on the island.  32AH AGM sealed.  They use them for standby systems and have to replace them every 3? years.  First one I tested was not too good (was older) but the second and third are like new.  Gave them a top up  charge and then put on a 1 amp discharge for 20 hours and got down to 12.05volts.  That is pretty good to me.  (voltage went up after load removed)

A good battery mounted and tied down for a test fitting.   There is a secondary ply support which has been epoxy sealed under the battery glued to the hull bottom with polyurethane sealant / glue but not painted.  Going to made an anti chafe protection for the rope to battery corner.

Fuse/switch panel mounted in position for a trial fit.  Next job is to mount master battery switch and fuse and run wires for crimping and soldering.

Mrs Nuts was just getting ready for sewing the upholstery when called for a long awaited operation  on her hand so now she has a new role as a sewing instructor for her useless husband!!  New challenges for me await.

Good and sort of good news arrived today.  Nuts is now officially registered in Poland and I have my registration number as well as a Hull Identification Number (to put on the stbd quarter as well as in a hidden spot) .  That was the good news. The sort of good news is that the transport of the mast is confirmed and underway BUT costa plenty.  Not a huge surprise though.  We do live in a remote spot in the world and it is 7m long.

Documentation for MMSI and radio station license (operators license and equipment details) will be posted tomorrow.  These  details cannot be done online. All signatures for power of attorney etc must be original. I hate doing paperwork but got a brilliant agent in Poland!!  I have never had such fast and efficient service from any company before and have had lots of good service (as well as bad).  I have emailed them after 8pm here (2 hours later there) and had a reply 10 mins later.  Do they ever sleep??  Guess I must sleep as today is actually tomorrow already - so Cheers and good night.

 12th June

Sorry not many updates but weather is so good here in the Azores that been fishing and doing garden stuff.

Freezer getting topped up with triggerfish and compost heap growing.  My knee is pretty much back to normal but Mrs Nuts still got weeks/months  to go to get her hand working again.  Got to help her out so less time for my toys.

Amazon Prime working overtime with all my electrical goodies arriving. Ordered from Spain last Friday and arrived here in the Azores today Wednesday!!  Just in from the dark doing a test with the interior  lights and very happy.  Super simple and nothing fancy.  Solar panels and fuse panel also here.  Picked up another 2 batteries for testing from a friend who works for the electrical company and who has access to  the expired standby batteries that are scrapped.  Some never used under load and only a few years old but passed the magical sell by date so discarded.  Already tested several 20Ah AGM that were in service but the best was 9Ah at 1.5A draw. (using pretty severe voltage curves so maybe a bit better) Got 16Ah from a 32Ah rated cell but got another two 32Ah (AGM) batteries to do a load test on after doing a charge to test today.  He recons these are better. Using these will give me a good idea over the next year or so of how the electrical system works and I can buy a new battery just before the Transatlantic Challenge.  I have a battery monitor that will be installed to check the draw and solar charge.

No photos this time but maybe next post I will do a video walk through.  Rudder trimtab all finished and fixed with control horns.  Brain cells still overheating trying to decide which vane system to use.

 8th June

Sorry for not many updates.  Mrs Nuts had surgery on her hand on Monday so is a bit out of commission at the moment.  I have never done so much cooking and dish washing in my life before, but a quick learner!  Chose a bad time to blow up my knee cartilage but getting better and all is good. A couple of hours with the bush wacker in the garden this afternoon sorted everything out.

Stove gimball and entrance step/cockpit table got the first coat of primer. (gave trimtab a second coat as well).  Got to get several little bits ready for PU painting.  Only a few bits left to do and makes sense to mix paint  for all the bits at the same time. (2 part paint).  Been going through electrical bits and pieces that I have and planning the electrical system.  I have enough pieces to make an acceptable system but decided to get an all in one from Amazon.  8 switches with 2Xusb chargers and a  plug that I can fit in another usb charger.  Been down this road before and these usb chargers have a habit of breaking down.  They will be important for camera, phone, tablet, Garmin Inreach etc.  Sextant does not need power but as long as Navionics is working it will stay in its box.

Upholstery material has arrived but Mrs Nuts (who is a wizz on a sewing machine) is on strike with a hand all bandaged up.  She did volunteer to give me a crash course on which buttons to press  and oversee my attempts at sewing though.  Maybe fun to learn a new skill.

 4th June

Been busy with non boating things over the last couple of days but did manage to collect the "eyes".

Now Nuts is happy and can see where it is going.

Fired up my tractor this evening and did some pulling tests.

Was an interesting exercise.   

I epoxied 3mm dyneema into 20mm deep holes of different diameters and different epoxy mixes and at different angles (straight and 45 degrees) and pulled them apart whilst measuring the kg force.

Results:

Both ends in single 7mm hole with thickened epoxy.  Pulled out at 80kg.  Easy but not good.

2 loops glued into 5mm holes ( one with vertical holes and the other with 45 degrees angle) with unthickened epoxy.  Dipped the ends first to let capillary action draw some epoxy into the fibers and pushed the ends into holes filled with neat epoxy resin.  Was a bit messy and would not work on a vertical surface.  Also not easy to get the rope end to go into the hole as it opens up.  Did pretty well on the pull test  - 216kg on the straight drilled holes and 260kg on the angled holes.

Last test was 6mm holes also straight and angled but using thickened epoxy so it does not run out the hole on a vertical surface.  Gave the rope ends a swirl in the mix and pushed them into the epoxy filled holes (using a small nail to get the strands in).  Results - straight holes 330kg and the angled pull 220kg.  The angled pull pulled out a piece of the wood.

After these test I decided to compare with stainless steel saddles screwed into the same piece of wood.

I tried two different types of saddles.  Used the same 20mm by4mm screws for both without drilling pilot holes.

What they looked like after being pulled out.  They were not easy to find as when they pull out it goes with a BANG.  Stamped sheet saddle on the left went at 281kg and the cast? saddle pulled out at 288kg.  The cast one looks like new but the other is scrap.  I was amazed at how much pressure can be put on 2 small 20mm screws in pine pulling directly out and not in a sheer direction.

So -  Conclusion - Stainless saddles screwed into pine are pretty strong, clean and quick.  Using Dyneema to make glued in saddles also works and would go with 6mm holes (using 3mm dyneema) with thickened epoxy resin and maybe neat resin dip to fill rope ends.  The 6mm holes were also the easiest to use.  This is the cheapest and lightest option.  I would only use these systems for tie down points inside the boat to keep things in place. Especially if you want to use a small ratchet strap for things like a battery or  anchor storage as you can make the hold down saddle strap whatever size you like.. Through bolts on backing pads with big washers for anything safety related on deck though.

Trimtab fittings got a small polish and tab filled, sanded and epoxy primed.  Now just got to mount the flying bridge and helipad.😃

 2nd June

Did a damage to my right knee cartilage so going in slow mode at the moment.

Name on both sides and going to collect "eyes" tomorrow,

My "Snickers Bar" looks like a boat according to my registration agent (I love his description) so we can proceed!

Been hiding from lightning and huge rain showers the last few days but been fiddling with trimtab and rudder.

Trimtab epoxied then glassed. Once the  epoxy was hard enough - sanded and filled - awaiting a finish sand and epoxy primer paint.  I over drilled all the pintle holes in the rudder and filled them with epoxy for redrilling to prevent any possibility of water ingress into the plywood core once everything is bolted together.

Epoxied in hand hold next to galley and finalized cooker gimbal mounting system.  It will be easily removable for cooking outside when not sailing but fully gimballed and secure while at sea.  Running out of jobs to do!!  One left is an entrance step that will double as a cockpit "table" / fish cleaning platform.

Mast and boom finished and just got to pay the bill on Monday so it can be shipped.  Took a long time before they started on my order but once started got lots of communication and photos of progress for my approval.

Thinking electrics at the moment.  Going for 2x 25w solar panels (ordered).  Only 50w allowed maximum on board.  If I had 1 panel of 50w and it got damaged I would have nothing so going with 2 panels and hopefully at the worst only one goes bust and still have a bit of power.