Jahazi: The bottom skin (2008)

Introduction

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea"
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

With that in mind one may think that anybody with a passion for the sea can build an ocean going yacht. But be warned! It is not something that can be taken lightly. It takes time and dedication.This project was started in 2004 with the purchase of plans for the Didi 34. Although almost finished, it is still ongoing.

Saturday, 3 May 2008

The bottom skin (2008)

Before I started with the skin, all the doublers on the tangent stringers had to be installed. These are the areas where the flat skin panels and the radius panels join. All the stringers and bulkheads had to be checked for fairness and the edges planed flush with the stringers. Most of this work had been done over the last six months and before I did the cockpit well.
Next the backbone had to be planed at an angle to receive the flat skin. Then I started with the flat sheet areas of the bottom skin at the bow. All panels where first pre-coated with one penetration layer of epoxy and each was prepared for the junction with the radius skin by routing a half thickness rebate for the overlap of the second layer of the radius. The sheets were glued with epoxy to all contact areas. Stainless steel fasteners spaced 100 mm apart were also used for fastening to the stringers and the backbone.
I had to stop working on the skin by end of March because of the winter rains (I am working outside under a cover remember!). By the end of December 2008 the skin bottom was finished. Total time 105.5 hours.