The workspace conversion moves along nicely. I have allocated 160 hours for the initial work which should get a usable space that is insulated, has good lighting and some basic ventilation. This will also include a smallish 1.5m long temporary extension to the garage. We are still working on the insulation and are about a 1/3rd of the way through the allocated hours.

I have committed to a 2 step system of keeping track of costs on our CG580 project. The first step is to keep and file every receipt. These get put into an A4 sized clear file folder (sometimes called a display book), you know the ones where each page is a clear plastic pocket that allows you to slip 2 pieces of A4 or legal sized paper back to back in each pocket. I found one with 60 pockets that will let me keep 120 receipts. Quite a lot of receipts are printed on A4 paper and any that are not get stapled to an A4 sheet of paper. I write on every receipt or on the paper it is stapled to what the item or items purchased were used for.

We continued this week with the task of insulating our workspace. It has been slow going as we have also been modifying some of the framing timber in preparation for lining the walls. On top of that we have also been working around various piles of materials and tools. This does slow things down a bit but on the positive side is helping us think about storage and workspace organisation.

I mentioned in the last blog post, CG580 Weekly Update #5, that I managed to rescue some deck hatches from the dumpster with the hope that, if needed, we could use a couple of them on our boat if they were in decent enough shape. I have actually been collecting various bits of boat gear for quite some time now... many years in fact. This week I re-discovered some brand new 200mm stainless steel mooring cleats I had picked up about 15 years ago. These should work well for the CG580 project.

I have been giving a little bit of thought to the question of social media and the role it might play in our Class Globe 5.80 project. There seems to be quite a variety of social media platforms and combinations of those platforms that builders could use to share their project journeys. Apart from the obvious benefits of class and builder awareness, there could be other positive outcomes from sharing the building journey. However, doing social media well takes time. Our CG580 project is a part time effort that we are fitting in around a busy family, social and work life. While maintaining a builders blog is a mandatory requirement for the CG580 class, even this has the potential to divert our building efforts and cause a bit of time use tension. Some of my effort this last week has been used to research the role of video in social media, in particular the topics of v-logging and Youtube. We might test the waters with a couple of videos and see how things go... a bit more research is needed though!

​See our Project Hours blog post for and up to date overview of our build hours.

I continued sifting through our fit out document FOD during my early morning, before work coffee sessions. It is too early to be making noise out in the workshop so I use this morning time to do CG580 paperwork, send emails, do research, draw, make lists and, of course drink coffee!

The music studio to workshop conversion is coming along nicely. We have decided to do a little upgrade to the power so have been waiting for our latest round of Covid-19 restrictions to ease so the electrician can do his stuff. I have tripped the breaker a few times in the past without to much effort so want to beef the electrical system up a bit. 

I worked on a first draft plumbing schematic this week. I took an A3 piece of paper, and after roughly sketching the layout of the boat, drew simple shapes and lines to represent the plumbing systems we want to install. I took the time to detail every single item within each system such as double hose clamps and tapered wooden bungs. Once we have finalised our plumbing systems I will do a final copy using a software application, only because I don't want it to look like a chicken scratched it out with its non dominant claw!. I will use this drawing as part of the documentation required to apply for our Class Globe 5.80 Initial Yacht Registration File. In the mean time it will double as our plumbing shopping list.

I have been keeping my eyes open for used deck gear and equipment. I will be the first to admit that I would prefer brand new pieces of bling all over our boat but that may not lead to  the shortest path to sailing. I managed to acquire six second hand 500mm x 500mm Lewmar deck hatches this week. They were destined for the bin so I rescued them... for now. They are not in the best of conditions, but we will have a go at cleaning them up and seeing if we can get two decent units out of the bunch. They were free so I am not going to complain... because as I have mentioned before, free is good!

​See our Project Hours blog post for an up to date overview of our build hours.

I also touched base with an industry colleague that I had not seen for several years. He is a spar maker, and after briefly discussing the CG580 project he has happily agreed to consult to us on building the rig for our boat. We are not fully committed yet to building the mast ourselves but we can at least now work through the pricing and logistics of building one ourselves.. This will put the option of purchasing one into perspective.

​See out Project Hours blog post for an up to date overview of our build hours.

Version 1 of the Fit Out Document is now complete. This is currently a 222 page document listing items needed to fit out our boat for cruising and racing scenarios. Initially our Class Globe 5.80 will be used to micro cruise our local North Island New Zealand waters. On our bucket list though is an R2AK - Race to Alaska! Being able to put our boat into a 20 foot container and ship it to foreign shores was one of the things we liked about the design. As for solo ocean voyaging, there is nothing planned yet, however I have included items needed to both leave New Zealand waters on a Class Globe 5.80 qualifying voyage and to also participate in an official CG580 event.

The Fit Out Document or FOD will serve a variety or purposes. Putting a name to every single item that we will have to purchase after completing the basic hull and deck will force us to do things like find suppliers, discover pricing, identify weight, consider alternatives and plan for installation. Some items will be needed straight away while others can be added at a later date. There will also be a revision or two as new information is released by the CG580 designers. ​

We finally got the piano moved out of our little workspace. This meant taking a semi permanent wall off of the shed, building a ramp up a 3 step stair case and a lot of huffing and puffing by 4 adults to move the Yamaha upright grand into its new location. With that job ticked off the list, we can now move on with some wiring for power points and lights as well as installing insulation.

See our Project Hours blog post for an up to date overview of our build hours.

I added a three more tasks to the building time line schedule this week bringing the total to 153 general tasks so far. I am almost at the point where I will start looking at breaking some of the bigger tasks down into their smaller steps and start listing specific material requirements associated with those tasks. A good example is task #20 - Machine all solid timber for hull and deck. This is the timber used for the chines, stringers, cleats and deck beams. Apart from the fact that I will have to order the timber and have it ready for machining (which is task #18), I will also have to do a bit of maintenance on some machinery. Following is the note attached to task #20 in my spreadsheet.

I also continued to work on my fit out document. This is shaping up to be 200 plus pages of gear, parts, and items with details about brand, weight, purpose, fasteners and eventually cost. This is a big job that I feel is important to do at the front end of the build. ​

I finally got power hooked up to the new work space. We had disconnected it while doing some of the demolition. We wired up the new lights in a way that makes them mobile. Because our build space is small there will be a need to adjust lighting after the initial build for jobs like fairing and painting.

​See our Project Hours blog post for an up to date overview of our build hours.

See our Project Hours blog post for an up to date overview of our build hours.

Along with Okoume hull and deck test panels, I made a set of Meranti panels to evaluate using this option to build our Class Globe 5.80 #71. Specifically I was interested in the cost reductions associated with using less than half the resin and fibreglass compared to the Okoume option, and if there was a weight penalty by using the heavier Meranti plywood. 

For boats built with a 9mm plywood species other than Okoume, there is a laminate specification of 450g/m2 for the hull and 200g/m2 for the deck. I used the same criteria for selecting a laminate layup for the Meranti option as I did for the Okoume one. The fibres had to be easily sourced, have the possibility of adding a structural component, and contribute something positive towards to the finishing process.

Start Date: June 27 - 2020.

Last Update: November 16th - 2020.
​
​Task Categories:
Pre planning: 20 hrs​
Hull Test Panels: 9 hrs
​Work space conversion: 120.75 hrs
​Project Admin & Management: 132.25 hrs

When I can, I like to check my guess work with real world examples. Although I have some general rules of thumb when it comes to estimating resin quantities for fibreglass jobs, I decided to make test panels to check the hull and deck laminate schedule for the Class Globe 5.80 yacht using both Okoume and Meranti plywood. The goal of making test panels was to understand how the different plywoods and laminate schedules could impact labour, weight and budget for this boat. I was not disappointed!

The Okoume (also called Gaboon) plywood hull and deck structures have a specific laminate  requirement. This is partly due to it being a fairly light weight and non durable hardwood which is relatively weak compared to other species. To compensate for these characteristics the 9mm thick hull panels require at least 1170grams/m2 of fibreglass and the 9mm deck panels 430grams/m2.

The plans do not have an actual laminate schedule listed, at least the type I am used to seeing, information such as fibre type, fibre orientation and weight per square meter. The designer has kept things very simple by specifying just weight per m2. This means that I can influence this part of the structure in a proactive way.

I took a few things into consideration before committing to a laminate layup. I am aware that not only are Leanne and I building boat #71 and that I am very comfortable with the fibreglassing process, as the New Zealand kit agent I had to keep in mind that there will be builders with no previous experience using these products and learning as they go and that I would be asked for recommendations on materials. I decided that  the products had to be common and readily available, I wanted to enhance the strength or stiffness of the hull if possible,  and I wanted to impact the finish in a positive way all without making it too complicated. Following is my conclusion: