Next month
In the fi nal of the three-part series
Oloff tells of lessons learned the hard way during
the build and the excitement of launch dayreasonable price. We melted the lead pigs
in an old cast iron pot and bit by bit we
fi lled the keel by pouring it in, or by
stacking whole pigs in when space
allowed. This process was a lot of fun, but
we worked slowly and carefully, for our own
safety and for that of the keel, because
distortion to the keel had to be avoided.
Water sprinklers were fed onto the outside
of the keel all the time to keep it cool.
Lastly I have to say something about
sealing the top of the keel. Several
sources indicate that it is suffi cient to seal
the top of the lead with epoxy or tar.
Fortunately for us Peter Smith visited us
around this time and warned us to rather
weld aluminium cover plates onto the keel
and to pressure test it again.
This ended up being a very big job,
because we didn’t plan for it at the start,
so some of the fl oors were in the way.
We are, however, thankful to Peter for this
good advice. There are many stories on
the internet of people who had problems
years afterwards from not having done it
correctly in the fi rst place, and I have
personally met someone who had so much
galvanic corrosion inside the leaky keel of
an old aluminium boat that he decided to
cut off the keel and have it rebuilt!
101 other things
The biggest welding jobs were now
behind us, but a lot still had to be done.
We put in the frames onto which the
plywood bulkheads were to come, as well
as three sets of chainplate knees for our
double spreader mast. We carefully
incorporated the knees into bulkheads or
inside cupboards to keep the interior
uncluttered.
This was followed by stringers to support
the benches and bunks, and a watertight
compartment under the front half of the
V-berth. A very deep anchor locker made
sure that the weight of the chain would be
as low as possible.
The mounting bed for the engine was
made and the engine with it’s saildrive
was installed.
The sole in the saloon rests on top of the
fl oors, while the sole in the forepeak is the
hull itself. This step up from forepeak to
saloon, together with the upright front side
of the coachroof, means you can stand in
the saloon and look out through forward-
facing portlights – a rare privilege on a
modern boat.
Next came the decks and coachroof
followed by the cockpit, which simply
drains back out through holes in the
transom. Both the cockpit benches and
sole are long enough to sleep on, and
there is a large lazarette to portside.The swimming platform has continuous
welds, and the cavity underneath serves
as an integrated water tank. When the
decks were eventually painted, this part
got a darker colour, so the water for the
transom shower gets heated by the sun.
The last job was the building of the
rudder. This was mounted in the special
self-aligning Jeffa bearings, which means
that the rudder will keep on functioning,
even if it takes a hard knock which bends
the stock. The rudder was mounted at the
transom plate, and thus the cockpit
remains open and without obstruction.
At last, then, the hull and deck were
completed. It took more than two years of
planning and building, but there it stood,
like a giant modern sculpture next to the
house. We were thoroughly thrilled and
decided to throw another big house party
which we called ‘The Halfway Mark’.After years of self-
taught boatbuilding
Ongemak is getting
ready to taste the seaPractical Boat Owner • http://www.pbo.co.uk 81
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