Do the easy stuff first.

In the past I've been known to post a few pics with the promise that I would add descriptions at a later date and then let the fans down. Although I've been extremely busy I will now attempt to fill the blank space to the left and right of the four photos with interesting ramblings. You may be noticing right now that I have almost filled one of the spaces with a description of what I "am going to do" as I'm doing it (old blogging trick). Anyway the construction of the 32' Osmond has begun and as usual the first thing we did was install the spray rails (pictured left) and the quarter guards (pictured right). First the rails have to be cut to length using a chop saw. Holding the PVC rail tightly is the most important thing when using the chop saw, if the rails moves at all it can kick violently and cause damage to the saw, rail, or the operator.

The rails have been drilled out every 6" this way when the stainless steel is installed (also drilled every 6") none of the screw holes will hit each other. 1/4" stainless steel machine screws are tapped into the fiberglass hull and the rails are put on the boat. After all the holes have been drilled and the screws have been tightened all the screws are removed and the rails are taken off the boat. 5200 marine sealant is squeezed onto the boat and the rails are reinstalled for the final time. The excess 5200 is scrapped off with a plastic scrapper and then the entire area is wiped down with paint thinner until the 5200 residue is removed. Washers and nuts are spun onto all the machine screws inside the boat and then covered with hull and deck putty. Once the hull and deck putty hardens all the nuts and washers are fiberglassed over and then the rails can be considered completed. Its much easier to install a rail then it is to type all the steps on how to do it. All these words could have been replaced with a 4 minute video, that type of thing would help the "average time on site stats". Since June 1st the state with the highest "average time on site" has been Tennessee (8minutes 37seconds per visit). Not really boat related yet.........

The deck hatches on the 38' Northern Bay are rounding into shape. Aluminum gutters have been installed with couplings where hoses will connect to drain water overboard and keep the areas under the deck dry. Fiberglass panel has been glued to the sides of the aluminum using plexus and now the back deck is ready for finish sanding and gel coat. On Wednesday the owner of the boat made the trip to Maine from Georgia to inspect our progress, he seemed pleased. I was able to have a representative from Nautilus Marine Fabrication at the shop for the visit and we were able to make all the decisions about the anchor roller, bow rail, hand rails, ladder, fly bridge rail, and radar arch. All these stainless steel parts will be made off site and using all the measurements and patterns they will fit the boat perfectly and thanks to the owner's input they will be exactly what he is looking for.

Monstrous steering system pictured to the right has been a huge pain but is now completed (except for a couple of hoses). Choosing the style and manufacturer of the steering components took longer than expected then waiting on parts for much longer than anticipated were the first two hurdles to jump. Then making an adapter arm that would attach to the rudder posed another set of challenges. R. E. Thomas fabricated a split collar that could be bolted onto the rudder and John fabricated and welded an extension arm onto that part and after Dan spray painted it white the steering was finally completed.

Things are happening at CIBW, three boats in the shop, people calling about new boats every day, skiffs keep bouncing down the driveway for repairs, I hired another worker (possibly mentioned in the last post), boat owners are making trips to the shop, and we are the leading edge of the economic recovery in the boat building industry. This post was worth the wait??? Check back often. New content will be released every day for the next 10 days. Tell your friends. What's with no one leaving comments anymore?

Steering Issues

One of the things that I tried to accomplish today was to order the steering system for the 38' Northern Bay. You would think that this would be a simple task, it was not. Let me first say that Kobelt is an excellent company and all issues that I ran into were my fault. Again let the record show that Kobelt rules and I would recommend their products to anyone. 95 percent of our boats are fitted with Kobelt control heads and we've always been happy with the performance.

So the steering system for the 38' Northern Bay was never really set in stone. The brand of manual steering system wasn't decided on until very recently. Anyway, once the owner decided on going with Kobelt he contacted the company and talked with Don Zane. All the important information was provided: size of vessel, size of rudder, speed, desired turns of the wheel, etc... (putting etc at the end of the list would fall into the "glossing over things" category)

I contact Mr. Zane to check the status of the order and he tells me that he already has a quote ready to rock. During our conversation I hear that the boat speed is 22 knots. The top speed of the boat will be closer to 27-29 knots and I ruin everything by telling this to Mr. Zane. "Well that's going to change a few things let me work the numbers and get back to you." (anything in quotation marks is just an approximation of what was said)

Within minutes I receive two faxes: one with the original quote and the second quote with the longer hydraulic cylinders and different helm pumps. Through another phone call with Zane he assures me that the first system that he quoted won't work for this boat. Fine. the second quote is only 350 dollars more and should be just the thing were looking for. I call the owner and explain the changes: how the longer cylinders are needed for added torque and the variable helm pumps will give the user adjustment. "The first quote had fixed helm pumps on it, and I don't see the need for variable." (that was the owner of the 38' Northern Bay, again not really what he said)

For the rest of this I'm not going to explain myself at all.

The longer cylinders can't be used with a fixed helm pump.
Call the owner on Friday, tell him all the details, we'll get it solved by Tuesday.
Zane is leaving for a boat show on Wednesday.
On Monday the owner calls Zane to order the parts, speeding up the process by paying with credit card.
The parts don't get ordered and I'm back on the phone with Zane.
A measurement of the lazzerette show that the longer cylinders won't fit.
Shorter, but larger cylinders are quoted, with larger helm pumps.
This quote is 2400 more than the previous quote.
I call the owner, then call Zane, then I call the owner, then Zane, etc....
Compromise to the 3rd quote cylinders, and the 2nd quote pumps.
Rethink my original measurement of the lazzerette.
Accomplish nothing.

It is possible that the equipment on the second quote will work, a couple of modifications might need to take place but I'm confident that in the end things will work out. I would like to again throw my support behind Kobelt and thank Mr. Zane for his time and patience.

Actual work that happened today: 38' Northern Bay: fiberglassed the inside and outside of the benches on the flying bridge, sanded some of the fiberglass work that we did last week, started building the arch for the back of the wheelhouse. Boat with the new motor: tied up more loose ends (speakers, lights, cables, oil pump, oil crank case, heater hose manifold, etc....(3 times))

Two post in one day, back on track. Are these posts getting longer? I don't read them so I really have no idea. Boat from Rhode Island arriving tomorrow, needs lots of work. This almost guarantees stuff to blog about for the next 25 days.