Author: Yrvind

When Moitessier December 1968 to February 1969 crossed the South Pacific he had excellent weather. He relied on rain to get water, but he got very little rain so he started to worry. In the end he was alright.

Moitessiers experience is on reason I have decided to increase my water storing capacity. I had 51 liters. Now I decided to add two 24 liter plastic jerrycans getting it up to nearly 100 liters. Unfortunatly my containers vere to big for their intended stovage. See photo below.

However polyethylene gets soft when warm so I poured boiling water in them. See photo below.

That did the trick. Nice and smouthly by force of gravity they sunk to their distination and got a perfect fit. It was satisfying. See photo below.

Next problem was, when at sea, how to transfer the water to a bottle. A pump, I thought was to complicated and cumbersome.

I tried to use my non-smoking lungs. It worked to my satisfaction. See photo below.

Below, the tubes I used. The long tube that goes to the bottom of the container has a weight to sink it.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind.

Work with the foreward deckhouse continues. Belov the sides are joined. The brown stoff at the bottom is Tufnaol channels to take the gasket.

After filleting and taping the outside joints the inner edges are given a radieus and is taped, but not before the holes for the windows are cut out.

The edges are not rounded and the deck is not laminated, but it gives an idea of what the finished product will look like.

I decided to upgrade the aft deckhouse so I wisely made a secound mockup and much was gained by that. A bit like an author makes a secound draft.

Symmetry made me get avay with making only only one side. On each side of the foreward end of the deckhouse a ventilator lives. Interference, I say is my biggest problem. Below the deck of the deckhouse is the place of the doradoboxes. They should not interfere with the windows and the windows must be placed very accurately to give the best possible view. The foreward end of the deckhouse slopes a bit down. The dorade channels slope uppward. Water flows downward. This fact helps to separate the the water from the air. The water is collected in a box in the foreward end of the deckhouse. A U-tube lets out water but not air. The air continues backwards where it meets a secound watertrap which also is drained via an U-tube. This Dorade-system has much volume therefore it can swollow much water. Finally the channels passes through the bulkhead to the aft compartment where they go down and traverse the boat.

Becouse I do not have much space I like to keep the ventilation systen in one plane. The trick is to let the air from the starboard ventilater cross at top and the air from the port ventilator cross at the bottom. The pathways is indicated by brown tape.

The diameter of the channels is about 3 cm. Not much you may say, but bigger than my nostrils. This is the heavy weather ventilation systen which I will use when the seas are breaking. Force five and up when the hatches are dogged down. One ventilater takes in air the other lets air out so its a continues air exchange like a birds lung unlike humans who use the same channel for out and in.

Friction in the channels may reduce the airflow to 1 meter per secound, about 2 knots. Still thats gives me 42 liters fresh air a minute enough for an old man resting.

Yes Angélique, when the seas are breaking I will use the safety belt. They not tight so you do not notice them and they do not hinder you getting up.

Next week finds me at the Göteborg Book Fair.

To bee continued…

Regards Yrvind.

Progress is good. Most of the epoxy work under deck is now done. I have started with the foreward deckhouse.

Below are some pictures.

First, me in the deckhouse mockup. Its from here I intend to handle sails and leeboard. I will do that running downwind with the two rudders in breaking position. A rope controlling the rudders runs the inside perifimeter of Ex Lex.

This is the size of all windows. Its mineral glass tempered and heat soaked to resist spontanius granulation.

Prebending the Divinycell with weights where the hatch will be. The inside is laminated.

Cutting the panel to shape.

Details done. The aft storage.

The hatches are bolted down.

The above is a better solution than the one I used on late Yrvind Ten wich consisted of a washer on the screw resting on stainless steel.

Detail of washer. One learns.

This time I  am using RG7 Gun Metall to take up the bolt forces. It contains 5 – 7 % lead thus giving very little friction. I could not find material of the right dimension so I bought a bar and sliced it.

Im my bedroom I have laminated in a stainless steel pipe to take the safety belt.

I made several places to fasten the belt. It can be handy to fasten other things to. It do not look beauteiful but it shure is strong.

Fastening poits in the most foreward part of the boat. Part of the anchors and plastic jerrycans can be seen in the background.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind.

When doing the hardware for attaching the anchors the following qualitys where desired.

1. The should be well secured in any weather.

2. When I was going to use the small anchor I did not want to undo the big 15 kilo anshor to reach it.

3. The storage should take as little place as possible and be “friendly”, that is sharp edges should not unnessesarrily hurt me.

4. The anchors center of gravity should be as low as possible and its gyr radius as small as possible.

The following pictures shows how I solved the problem.

The hardware is secured with 47 screws. Each screw is good for about one hundred kilo. The anchors weigh 15 and 6 kilos.

First, the shank of the 15 kilo anchor is secured.

Second. The Shank of the 6 kilo anchor is secured.

Third. The heavy head of the 15 kilo SPADE anchor is secured.

Finally the head of the 6 kilo anchor is secured.

I can remove the shaft and head of the 6 kilo anchor while the 15 kilo is secured.

Information for the landlubber: When at sea, seagoing lashings will be used.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind.

The frames of the hatches are now in place.

Here with glassfibre added.

This is the more complicated way of doing it. It would have been more simple not to divide the lid into pices and sink it in. The advantage of this way is that I can be pretty sure of having no leaks between the individual hatches. This way I have five different flotation chambers, about 135 liters. For peace of mind I do everything as safe as I can. It will be a long stormy voyage and then its nice to be able to relax and not worry.

Time spent on details is only temporarily.

To be continued…

Regardds Yrvind

For some time I have been ockupied buildning waterproof hatches for the aft cabin.

Belov are some pictures of my efforts. Click on the pictures once or twice to enlarge.

First: The five frames in position.

The edges of Tufnol, that goes into the gasket are glued into place.

The nuts are set in MN-epoxy and glassfibre choppings. The frames are now uppside down. One nut is laying on top to show the size. The thread is M8. The material is aluminum bronze 22 mm across to give good surface.

A close up.

Here is Rikard and his beutifull Weiler lathe that is bigger than mine Blomquist helping me making the nuts.

Centering the hatch on the frame with the help of spacers before marking the holes for the bolts.

A pointed screw is inserted to mark the hole in the hatch. The clamp gives a more precise mark than a hammerblow.

Two M8 bolts gives pressure.

The hatches. The gakets made of EPDM-rubber is set between plywood strips. This eliminates difficult gluing and makes it possible to change gaskets at sea. The gasket dimensions are 20×15 mm

Testing the essembled hatch/frame upside down shows its waterproof. The first one was good. A little piece of wood is floating on the water, trying to indicate the water level.

So was the rest. Clear water is difficult to sea, but trust me.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind.

Laboratory manager Jonny Augustsson at Epoxy company Nils Malmgren has now tested an other fastening for my anchor attachment. Below is a link to a video

http://www.nilsmalmgren.se/ISO/SY20150811.mp4

Abowe is a few pictures. Maximum load about 270 kilos. This will be ample for my needs. The total weight of the two anchors is 21 kilos. Exactly how many fastenings I will use I have not yet decided as at the moment I am working on the hatches in the back end of the boat but a guess is that there will be more than 4 as I like the 15 kilo big anchor to be attached when I use the small 6 kilo.

A big thanks to Jonny and Nils Malmgren.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind

On friday I drove to the Swedish west coast.

First stop was in Göteborg where Henric from Teufelberger was happy to donate some ropes to project Ex Lex. Picture below.

After that it was Tony at Navimo in Henån who was happy to outfit Viktor and Dan two of my adepts with anchors chain liferaft inflateble and more for a long voyage in an rebuilt Vega. Dan to the left Tony to the right.

2007 I had sailed to Florida with Thomas an other adept. Now he had found himself a beautifull bride. It was a party of three days. Friday was only for yong people, persons below 30 years of age. An exception was made for me being 76 years of age.

Here we are geting ice to cool the drinks.

The bottles being cooled. I never touch alchohol in any form. Maybe thats why I was let in on the friday party.

The ceremony.

Me with the newly married, hat and jacket is against the sun.

Sunday afternoon I drove back to Västervik. With me I had a good supply of NM-epoxy from the Nils Malmgren factory in Ytterby.

Now I am back in production.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind.

The forepeak arrangement has after mockup been modified slightly. The water containers are now arranged longitudinal instead of athwartships. It was a bit cramped before. This gives me more space to move around. Now it is comfortable. The price is now there is 4 instead of 5 plastic cans. I can live whith that.

The original idea was that this boat Ex Lex 3/4 version of the 5,4 meter Boat Ideal was to be a test boat. However as I grow into her I realize that she probably have enough space and displacement for my things and me. If I use 2100 calories a day and bring food with an average calories density of 300 calories per hundred grams 168 kilos will give me 8 months of food.

Back to the forepeak. The anchors have obviously to be lashed down. The question was how strong would a fastening be. For a test I screwed a screw into H80 Divinycell through 450 gram glassfibre.  Into the drilled hole I put some glassfibre flock and injected NM-epoxy.

I found it was good for 6 14 kilos lead weights. Surely strong enough for my two anchors 6 and 15 kilos especially as Ex Lex is made of Divinycell H100 which is much stronger. There will also be more layers of laminate. I am going to use several screws as well. I hope to be able to do a more serious test later.

Below same pictures.

The anchors and the water containers.

The strained screw.

The load. Six 14 kilos weights. 84 kilos.

More water next to the bed. This gives me 8 cans each can be filled with 5.5 liter.

I will also have six one liter bottles, the ones in the bed. Total 51 liters. I use less than one liter a day. A good rain catch system will replentish my supply.

Next to the water there will be place for two Sonnenschein gelbatteries each 40 Ah.

More stowage below the aft deck.

The stowage to the right at the top of the picture is my lunch box.

All these compartments will have there individual waterproof hatches.

This arrangement divides the boat up into a good number of compartments making her strong and safe.

To be continued…

Regards Yrvind.

AN IDEA BORROWED FROM THE OLD EGYPTIANS.

Archeologists where surprised to find that the four corners of the great pyramids where level to within a few millimeters.

Later they found out that the ancients had digged a channel around the pyramids and filled it with water. What could be more precise?

When making waterproof hatches its important that level surfaces matches level surfaces otherwise the gasket cannot take up the play.

To achive a level surface blow the gasket I poured a few millimeter epoxy into the channel. See picture.

The other surface, that on the hatch. I ground it flat on a big flat surface. It was sandpaper on particleboard. Particleboard is very flat. I had found a roll of sandpaper on a flea market. The roll was five feet vide. It cost me 2 €. See picture.

Below the sandpaper on particleboard. The hatch being grinded.

I will have a gallow to lean against and hold into. It will also serve as the aft end of the awning/water catchment system.

Pictures below.

from the back.

The watercatchment on the model.

To bee continued…

Regards Yrvind.