We are really excited with the progress on our stanchions and what we have learnt means we have redesigned our aft solar “arch” yet again (I’ve lost count, this might be the 10,000th version). Stanchions and Gates This was our first stanchion base. The carbon fibre tube is 250mm long with an external diameter of 26mm. The 20mm of FR4 was drilled with a 27mm bit, then the original stanchion base through the deck with a 32mm bit. Before fitting the stanchion base tube we drilled a hole in it so that there would be a chemical and mechanical bond between the epoxy in the tube and around it. We ca ..read more

We have made lots of good progress on the galley this weekend. First Jane has painted the insulated hull plus the bulkhead. B&Q kitchen and bathroom paint (Whistler for the main areas and Monaco for the highlights). Painted just before taking the tape off. We then dry fitted the sink worktop. As we did so we redesigned it. Now that we are fitting a gimbled box for the hob and combination oven the corner is less accessible and not needed for the oven. So we have shortened the worktop and used the extra for a shelf level with the bottom of the sink. This area will become a big cupboard inclu ..read more

We managed to get two old Lewmar 30 self-tailing winches from ebay to use for our staysail. Four options for where we might position them. Right next to the Yankee winch. It needs to be raised so that the handle doesn’t clash.Aft end of the coaming forward of the wheelhouse support. Does restrict cockpit access a bit.Forward end of the coaming forward of the wheelhouse support. Does restrict cockpit access a bit.On top of the aft cabin. We loose a nice seat, the sheet route is a bit tricker, slightly less easy to reach but does allow a full circle of the handle. Stops us closing off the back o ..read more

This video from the lovely Sailing UMA is scary. It does end on a cliffhanger. We see that the test model they built failed catastrophically. They built a small section of GRP intended to replicate the original hull. They added a foam core rib, covered it with GRP and then a foam core stringer, also covered with grp. But when tested the ribs and their grp covers very easily fully delaminated from the “hull”. I’ve read some of the comments, it is clear that Dan and Kika have talked to a lot of experts about the problem and the video hints that they have continued. Therefore, it is likely that ..read more

In Our Compost Toilet deadline we said we that our current plan is to create a place for composting the septage (the dry solids from our Nature’s Head compost toilet). To achieve the temperatures to rapidly kill all pathogens three things are needed: Insulation (in a large outdoor composting bin this comes from the cover material [eg straw] that surrounds the material being composted). Oxygen for the microbes to consume Water. The compost needs to have a moisture level of approximately 70% We need to insulate the space where are composting because our volumes are small (the key reason f ..read more

A couple of weeks ago we wrote Insulating the galley, today we have improved the way we are holding the insulation in place. The vertical battens we tried last time didn’t work well. The bend was too sharp. So now we have 120mm wide strips of 3.6mm plywood with the small battens to prevent the screws pulling through. These are screwed to the stringers and firmly hold the 40mm xps insulation board in place. In places where we need the xps foam to be protected (eg from spillages from the hob) we will fit plywood panels. We will use a separate panel between each pair of stringers so that they do ..read more

Rather than go to the boat last night we have been preparing some parts at home (and working out a bit better what we need at home and what at the boat). First task was ripping a 40mm square batten diagonally in half to create two triangular sections. This is to act as a large “fillet” where we are attaching bulkheads to the deckhead). No photo. Next was using the track saw to create 120mm wide strips of ply. This is for a better solution to holding the xps foam to the hull sides. We used our car trailer as “bench” and a glamorous assistant to hold the ply and track. We have got ourselves a ..read more

I’ve just updated our Sustainable Sailing Book following the blog post Our Compost Toilet deadline with the lessons learned from reading The Humanure Handbook ..read more

A month ago our GoPro Hero 10 failed. It wouldn’t turn on. After a long session on “chat” they agreed it needed replacing with a £115 charge. Since then it took nearly a month to get their finance team to phone me (they tried twice when I was driving or in meetings but over a week between). Ridiculously they don’t take payments over the internet. We now have to ship it back to them and in a couple of weeks after receipt they will ship it back. Highly likely we will switch away from GoPro for a future camera. This is a long winded way of explaining why no videos at the moment ..read more

We have started to fit the insulation in the galley. 5mm self-adhesive foam with foil backing against the hull and deckhead. Will be covered by 40mm of xps foam board. The hope is that the 5mm stops condensation in any gaps between the xps board (which isn’t very flexible) and the curves of the hull. Depending on location we will either trap the xps in place with a few battens between the stringers or have a plywood liner. Further progress today Rounding and thinning the battens. A thicknesser would have made it easier.First 3 battens ready 5mm self-adhesive foam insulation fitted Dry fit fir ..read more