Building the Steerage

Teflon “tubing” that really isn’t all that sturdy but it is slippy and a *perfect* size for the build…

So, with the RUDDER arrived I was.. anticipational about the other two parts.. they are *kinda* important.. 

The first part is Teflon Tubing. Not entirely sure if it is really teflon.. but it is super slippy and the size is DIALLED IN! It’s OD is 18mmor.. Outside Dimension/ Diameter and the hole measures 14mm,and length is a whopping 50cm end to end.. so it’s got extra length allowing for mistakes in cutting..but WHATFOR?!?!?!

Before I get in to “WhatFor” .. there is a partner piece that I ordered and it arrived while I was Out East.. it’s a similar length (well, exactly similar length) tube of 3K carbon.. it has an Outside Diameter of 14mm.. who cares what the inside diameter is (but for info holics it’s 12mm for a 1mm wall thickness) and.. guessy guessy.. the length is.. yup- 50cm. Same size as the teflon.. and the exterior size of the carbon tube is exactly the hole size of the teflon… hmmmmm makes ya think, don’t it?!?!?

The carbon tube will~ eventually~ mate up to a chopped- down rudder.. and it will be insterted in to the Teflon Tube… as a rudder steering system.

So, what’ll happen~ after I use the rudder As Is with Boat2 trials on unfrozen ponds~ will be.. after drilling a hole thru the hull, the Teflon Tube will be *affixed* to a teflon wedge that will be mounted against the current rear bulkhead of Boat1 (process will be repeated for Boat2 afterwards.. or maybe I’ll use Boat2 as tester.. as she is tester thus far.. of everything).. then I’ll set up “walls” around the the tube (and, obvie.. ensure that the tube is aligned as vertically as possible).. then I’ll POUR in some epoxy with Carbon Chop as reinforcement. This’ll be the Thru Hull passageway for the Rudder Post… 

Next..
The Rudder will be chopped off of it’s flippy flippy set up and ground down just a little bit to make it.. look all nice and svelte. And the Carbon Tubes will be sliced ever so slightly allowing the Rudder to wedge in.. meaning- the rudder and Carbon Tubes will be One Piece (after applying a bit of carbon tape & epoxy.. and filling the tube(s) with carbon chop + Epoxy blend….

Then..
I’ll add a circular disc to the top of the carbon tube that’ll have specially configured cables running to the cockpit area so that.. I pull one cable to turn one way.. the other to turn the other way.

The steerage system doesn’t have to be ultra smooth.. it’s not like I’ll be making consistent modifications.. won’t be “turning” the boat frequently or a lot.. the important thing~ as far as I could estimate~ was that One Piece would rotate against the other piece with little resistance and.. The Objective has been MET !!

Now.. to do some cutting of wood.. some hammering of nails.. drilling of holes.. and getting Rudder on to Boat2 for On The Water testing later next month (in Kamloops.. in Vancouver????)

 

Steerage

Nylon rudder that goes all “flippy flippy” off the stern. It sits in a closed position but my set up will have it fixed in it’s deployed configuration.. super simple and easy peasy to build on to Boat2.

Just got back from two weeks in Ontario.. I went out there for a trade show with my hand crafting company “The General Bean” and with the hopes of generating increases in wholesale orders for our needle felting kits. It was a ton of fun and I met tons of great hand crafters.. and had a super awesome night out on my oddy knocky meeting and watching Dan Bern ply his musical master works. 

Before I left, my rudder arrived.. it’s the final piece of the puzzle so to speak.. it’ll be used~ as is~ for Boat2 in a month or so.. I’ll build up a wooden “harness” system so that it just plops in and I can pull one cable to turn one way, another cable to turn th’ other way.  But.. it will be getting chopped because as I was away two other parts arrived. Tomorrow will have info on those two parts.

 

Cutting

K, obvie- I’m still getting used to working with wordpress.. there *is* a way to dial this video in so it isn’t ear- splittingly loud.. and there *is* a way to set the layout so that the text I am writing wraps around it. I’ll find it/ figure it out some day.

 

Thing is.. I’ve been so supremely busy with *things* that I haven’t had much of a chance to post here.

So, a quick recap
Training has been sporadic.. had to take a break as WORK needed me to sit and make.. make.. make for awhile. Then I picked it up again.. but my track stand(s) started giving off these super high pitched whines.. so, moved training out the the Darkroom.. 
And the darkroom is~ now~ doubling as the Music Creation Room.. I call it, as a general term- the UniShed as in.. Unibomber shed. Not like his.. but like his. 

Anyhow- I try to go out there every day to spin for a couple hours first thing in the AM. Sometimes I’ve made it out there at 5am.. sometimes 4:30.. I try to be out there before 6am tho so training doesnt eat in to the work day too much.

And the boat..
I’ve been GIFTED a super cool CARBON fibre recumbent seat.. I’ve mapped out it’s frame.. I’ve ordered track rails for it to mount to.. in short- both boats will be able to use the same seat configuration as needed. Obvie, Boat #2 will be on the water first and using it first but that’s all just TRIALS for the real vessel.

And while The Boatshed did get BROKEN IN TO and many tools, materials, and supplies gor RIPPED OFF.. I’ve replaced the most necessary of them all.. the disc brake configured rear hub.

I’ll be taking part of Monday or Tuesday this week (Saturday is a Market Day and Sunday happens to the the birthday of an awesome little girl who I met nearly 12 years ago.. as she exited her mothers birth canal at Vancouver Women’s Hospital and yes.. I did donate some genetic code to her conception 😉 so.. needless to say- Sunday is a day for HER) to take some Shimano 105 parts I have and install them on the URT.. it should be nearly 100% ready to pedal by early next week so that when the missing (replaced.. the stolen components) arrive.. all I have to do is slap them on, tighten the chain and head down to the POND for a bit of a peddle.

So, I’m pretty psyched. It’s not moving along as fast as I had hoped but.. there have been some *obvious* hurdles and some of those hurdles are psychological (and I’m happy to say.. I’m finding patterns in my day to work around the ever- present self deprecation..).

Prepping….

Boat #2 and the Pedal Drive.. hole cut in her hull so the Drive can slip thru.. today or tomorrow I’ll be closing in The Hole so that no water will seep in.. I’ll~ also~ be building a 3- sided “box” around the keel positioned Stringer on to which The Seat and the URT Mount will be.. mounted enabling a nice fixed seat and moveable URT (for “sizing”).

While I’m not a Boat Architect or Designer.. I do have a few designs for The Boat.. and I’m almost finished converting Boat #2 in to Pedal Powered Wonderment.. but the COOL thing is- I’ve fine- tuned the design of Boat #1 and it looks MEAN.. and it’s a design that I can replicate with Boat #2 (in smaller form) so that IF there is an emergency on the open seas I can just jump out of Boat #1 (numbered as they have no name yet) and in to Boat #2 and pedal away. That is- IF the inflatable bumpers I’ve got on order don’t do their job….

The Inlfatable Bumpers… I found high pressure inflatable tubes on Alibaba.. 150$ a piece and I’d need four to line the sides of Boat #1. But- in the event something BAD happens and she starts taking on water I can inflate these tubes that will be attached by clasp, fastener, AND other mechanisms making it hard(er) for The Water to rip them off the side of the boat… inflate them and Boat #1 will remain slightly above water.. not fully submerged at any rate. And they will be BRIGHT YELLOW so.. super visible against the dark of the ocean.

OH- I also figured out how I’m going to set up some under water cameras.. they won’t be broadcasting but I will want to see under the boat every now and again.. flip the switch, so to speak, and they turn on.. simple USB-C connector, 1M cable.. and epoxied in to watertight compartments UNDER the boat or watertight channels set up to feed an “endoscope” style camera down… both ways will be super fun.

Anyhow.. off to work more.

That Boat who wouldn’t Float

Did some work on Boat #2 yesterday

Boat #2.. as she was when she arrived here last fall.. and how she remained up until yesterday.

We’re heading to Kamloops and Kelowna at the end of June for Art in the Park, Kamloops.. anbd Family Visit in Kelowna and I thought it’d be a great grand and groovy idea to haul Boat #2 and do some On The Water pedalling.. something I have only been dreaming about since.. oh, say 1992!

So, Boat #2 was donated to me last fall.. it’s an Open Cockpit Tandem Kayak and when I hit the open ocean, she’ll be my “Trailer.” She’ll also be my emergency escape boat so.. she has to be prepped for recumbent pedalling AND have the “thru- hull” tunnel for the pedal drive.

So.. I cut out her platform seats and as the day wasn’t over.. I marked out and cut the hole in her hull.

Now I have two boats that don’t float 😉

positioning.. placing the hoverboard seat helped me decided on seat construction and placement.. looking forward to the NEXT BIG STEP.. and finally getting pedalling on the water!

But.. I’ve mapped out a clear plan for building the seat.. initially I was going to use a Hoverboard Seat and I’m not regretting getting that seat at all.. but the seat I’ll be making will actually fold down and it’ll be in two parts. And while the actual design of the seat is yet to be done.. the core concept isn’t anything new and I’ll be following along with visual ques and suggestions based off of my measurements and needs. Pretty psyched.

And mounting the URT is looking easier.. sadly, I *think* that the Joshua frame will be sacrificing a part of the tubing.. specifically the section of tubing where the URT mounts to the main frame.. it’ll get chopped a bit and then mounted in such a manner as to be super simple to mount that URT on the floor of Boat #2 (or, eventually, Boat #1).

So.. Boat #2- the Materials are here.. the T- 88, the EPOXY.. the fibreglass fabric.. and I’ll be true to form in that the flat panels I removed from the seats will be repurposed as walls for the Pedal Drive Thru Hull.. so I just need to add a few “slivers” of wood and mount the walls.. and voila- it’s almost done. 

one seating panel laying Fore and two exposed sections with the Hovreboard Seat in place.. having it there gave me good, solid ideas about the seat I need.. looking forward to working on that.

Oh- I do need to clean up the cuts.. I used my Dremel like tool to cut the seat panels.. and I couldn’t get right in so now I need to use grinder and drill with grinding stones to mellow out the remaining flanges… then I’ll build a horizontal “chimney” over the centreline stringer.. 2 pcs of 2×2 with a 1″ by 3″ top slab.. Seat and URT will mount right on to that and Boat #1 will get a similar treatment.

Thankfully.. I thought and thought and thought about what I needed to do to Boat #2 before digging in and now that parts have been ripped out.. I see clearer what to do next and the plan is getting more.. easier 😉

That means.. greater certainty.