Construction II

Stop the Presses! to June 2003

After the decision was made to modify the Mixer design to include a daggerboard trunk instead of the original leeboard, I had to get to work to decide how to do it. I didn't want to put it in the center because it would destroy the open cockpit as well as hamper the rowing capability (where would I put the rowing seat?). So I took some of my inspiration* from Bolger's Windsprint which has a trunk attached to the inside of the side panel. I thought if I placed the trunk on the bottom chine, it would not interfere too much with the open cockpit. It was a similar concept to Egia's off-centerboard. Since I may want to sleep aboard, I laid down in the cockpit just to make sure it was okay.

As for the daggerboard, I decided to use the spare plug I made instead of the leeboard. That gave me the dimensions of the trunk. So I began.

The hardest part of this endeavor was getting the trunk parallel to the centerline. It's close, but not exactly parallel. Next hardest was getting the trunk perpendicular to the bottom. It's close, but not exactly plumb. But it will do. Besides, the whole boat isn't perfect, why should I be starting now?

Here's a view of the trunk "box", showing the top just fiberglassed with 10 oz. cloth I had left over from Egia. I won't put any fiberglass anywhere else, just coat it liberally with epoxy. The hole is for a Beckson inspection port so I can close it up and keep it watertight. It'll be a nice place to put a bottle of water, lunch, or whatever.

Emerging from the graving dock! Fully painted and ready for a trial of all the rigging gear. Up to this point I don't even know if the mast will fit in the partners.

Outside. Here's a good shot of quite a few things. The rudder is all assembled with oversized pintles and gudgeons, the hatches have weather stripping and straps in place. The daggerboard "box" looks a little more like part of the boat. And yes, the hiking stick is really long. The better to steer from everywhere, my dear.

Here we are fully rigged. The mast does fit! The bench seat is also in place. I'm glad I went through this exercise in my side yard instead of at a dock, because there's a few things I discovered. The original plan I had for attaching the halyard to the upper spar didn't work so I had to redo that.

The spars rub against the mast and damage the varnish (I figured the varnish would be more resilient). So I'll have to put leathers on the booms to prevent that. The main sheet is the perfect length, but I had reversed the blocks on the traveller and the boom so those need to be switched. And hoisting the sail a few times taught me the dangers of the upper spar swinging around until it is raised up all the way. And yes, you don't need to remind me that the hiking stick is trapped beneath the traveller and will be useless if rigged this way.

And here is it in all its glory.

Next stop, the water! When that happens, I will need to mark the oars for where the "leathers" go. I say "leathers" because the kind I bought aren't leather, more like a hard rubber material. Can you say "cheapskate?" I knew you could.

* Now we all know that there is no such thing as a completely original idea, there's only adaptation of existing ideas into something slightly different. This doesn't only apply to boat design, but also music, art, merchandizing...