Tonight was one of the more tricky twilight races with some pretty big holes in the breeze and some large changes of direction.
We were early on the start line and had to slow down to stay behind the line while Worlds Apart came in below at great speed, tacked onto Port right in front of us and cleared our bow with ease. We tacked in their wake and followed them into Humbug. Aggrovation was first into Humbug and sailed low along the Woolwich shore. We got a squirt from behind and went above the fleet only to run into our own dead patch just as the fleet below picked up the new breeze around Greenwich Point.
On the reach to Cockatoo Island no one could match the speed of Aggrovation and we were sailing along in Worlds Apart’s wake. Along the Cockatoo shore we got our one lucky break of the evening with another private gust from behind in close to the island. A few yards to leeward Worlds Apart was in dead calm with Tartan and Izzi while ahead Aggrovation had her own good breeze. Tartan emerged first from the group and tried to sneak inside us at the west end of Cockatoo Island but we kept them out and went off after Aggrovation.
On the work to Goat Island we stayed in phase with the breeze and were not troubled by the following fleet but Aggrovation built up an even bigger lead.
Worlds Apart and Izzi followed us out of the lee of Goat Island and we had a very nervous run back to Humbug. Our line back to Humbug was a little oversquare with the breeze so we gybed the boom leaving the genoa poled out to starboard and sailed a slightly higher angle for a while then gybed back with the genoa still poled out but this time to windward. This allowed us to sail a slightly higher line into Humbug and enabled us to just hold out Worlds Apart.
Into Humbug we sailed square to the Woolwich shore then dropped the pole off the genoa and hardened up along the shore. It was pretty crowded at Onion Point with Black and Green fleet yachts converging but somehow we managed to keep Worlds Apart just behind us at the finish.
The third second place on fastest time has us in the lead on fastest times but perhaps we have used up all our luck for the season in the first three races.
Our Didi 40 Cr topsides painted with Perfection but not perfect. Still very happy with the result
A bit of the starboard side of our Didi 40 Cr after painting today.
For the first time in at least a month we had perfect painting conditions today. The 50:50 undercoat and topcoat mix had cured enough for a light dry sand with 400 grit paper and the surface was wiped down with a tack cloth. The first side was painted when the O rings in the spray gun gave in to the strong solvent and blocked the air flow. This was rather inconvenient as I had already mixed the second batch of paint. When I realised the spray gun was not recoverable I reached for the spare and found that blocked. Fortunately I usually expect the worst and had a brand new back up ready.
Now the new gun worked just fine except that the paint flow was a little greater and I was putting on little more than I had with the old gun. I soon adjusted the number of passes but in the transition from slow gun to fast gun I have a section where the paint is a little thicker than ideal.
Post the painting I recovered the No 2 gun and will give it another clean before putting it back into storage for another ten years while the gun with the dud O rings will have a quick trip to the dump. Memo to self. Don’t leave the gun full of solvent overnight.
After lunch I mixed up the last of the Interprotect epoxy primer for painting the second coat on the underside of the deck in the saloon area. That done I had had enough of wearing gas masks all day and took to the garden.
Now I have been neglecting the garden during my boatbuilding but I need a place to store all the offcuts until we get a bin to take everything away. As my storage place was overgrown with weeds the logical solution was to get out my 35 year old two stroke trimmer and do some power weeding.
On the upside the garden will look neat when I take all the tarpaulins down and remove all the masking tape and plastic off Passion X.
There is still some two pack epoxy to paint in the bilge areas but for the most part the rest of the interior painting will be single pack paint and I have an enormous area ready for undercoating.
For a light air night we had quite an interesting sail around the western islands. At the start we positioned ourselves at the club end of the line but in the light conditions had trouble tacking to the line at the start signal. That meant we had to take the stern of Takana and then the stern of Saoirse. All was not lost though as the yachts that carried on on starboard right up to the club found the same light air that had prevented us tacking quickly. And so it was that Aggrovation and Takana lead us out of Humbug by a small margin. Worlds Apart did not want to be left behind and made good time through Humbug to make it a foursome. There was plenty of shifts on the tack towards Cockatoo Island and on the work along the Southern shore of Cockatoo and it was Worlds Apart that prevailed. We were not far behind Aggrovation and with the big black genoa poled out felt we would catch up quickly. The out of the blue Izzi appeared and carried fresh air right down on top of the two of us.
From Spectacle Island to Clarkes Point there was nothing to separate Izzi, Aggrovation and Passion. Just ahead Worlds Apart was maintaining a handy lead she had taken at Schnapper Island.
Now some would call it luck and others cheek but our tacticians noted the breeze was fresher on the south side of the course and there was a large wind shadow in the lee of Onions Point so I was directed to take the long way along the Greenwich shore. As luck would have it the wind followed the shape of the shore and we were able to carry the genoa poled out for much longer than we had expected.
When we had to drop the genoa to starboard it was a big shift so we were now beam reaching to the finish.
In that cheeky finish we passed Izzi and Aggrovation to score a second fastest behind Worlds Apart.
Meanwhile back in the fleet the breeze had sprung up and the huge margin we had over the fleet disappeared and none of the early finishers featured in the handicap honours.
I hope that the top coat of two pack polyurethane turns out as well as the first undercoat. Friday was marginal painting weather due to the breeze but under the tarpaulins I managed the first coat of undercoat quite well and am pleased with the result. The weekend was for Laser sailing with both days gusting up to 25 knots so by today I needed a rest. After coffee we found a package on the front doorstep and it was the mast base for the new rig. It is a very fine base indeed and the Ronstan blocks fit perfectly on the swivelling studs.
For a rest I picked up the mainsail and boom bag and some more top coat for the topsides. Hopefully that is the last I will need for the exterior. After the weekend the undercoat was ready for sanding and this afternoon it sanded down very well. The overspray on the masking plastic sheets was however peeling off in thin flakey pieces so I had to remove all the masking and will need to redo it for each of the next two coats.
The new mainsail was laid out for inspection and the ball slides for the batten ends removed from the cruising sail and added to the new racing main. It is a big sail and weighs 32 kg so we will want to put it on the boom once and leave it there.
For interest I photographed the cruising main on top of the new one. The cruising main started life as a large roach main on the standard SO37 rig. We added 1.7 metres to the mast height and extra panels were added to the foot. It worked very well so I had another 900 mm added to the foot so we could use it as a cruising main on the Didi 40 Cr in case we should we ever take off for a long cruise.
Very happy with the two pack polyurethane undercoat on our Didi 40 cr
A very nice mast base was on the doorstep this morning
The new fat head main with the pin head cruising main sitting on top
This shows the size of the original SO37 main compared to the new fat head main on the Didi 40 Cr
Aggressively sanded first coat of primer in the quarter berth ceiling
2 mm of epoxy glass across the keel of our Didi 40 Cr to be sure to be sure.
Two coats of primer under the V berth deck of our Didi 40 Cr brightens up the whole area. The colour will be softened by the light grey mattresses and side cushions. The hatch fits just perfectly.
It is like groundhog day around our Didi 40 Cr yacht. Every day I wake up and have to sand the same parts of the boat. Sand the raw timber, sand the primer, sand the second primer, sand the undercoat but at least that should be the end of the cycle. Today for variety I sanded the topsides from stem to stern with 240 grit paper on the random orbital sander with the vacuum dust extraction. At least that was out in the open and I was able to stand for much of the operation. The topsides are now ready for the first coat of two pack polyurethane undercoat which will go on the first fine still day.
Inside I sanded the underside of the deck in the V berth area and in the lockers on both sides. That is a tricky operation requiring a certain flexibility and patience. The random orbital sander did help to speed up the job but there is still quite a big of hand sanding needed.
I completed the last of the filleting of the locker fronts to the hull and deck over the past two days so the underside of the deck and the fillet areas of the lockers got their first coat of primer. One more coat in the lockers and I will be able to undercoat the whole of the V berth area back to the mast step.
Back in the quarter berth I added 2 mm of epoxy glass to the last section of the keel. The keel now has either 12 mm ply or 2 mm of epoxy glass across the grain on the inside. This matches the 9 mm ply plus 1 mm of glass on the “V” on the outside of the hull forming a sandwich. The interior cross grain reinforcement is not required by the design but if it is a good idea for one side of the timber then it is even better on both sides.
The last task of the day was to add a second coat of primer to the roof over the V berth and take a photo. Using a roller and brush it is not too difficult and even inside the lockers the roller works quite well.
I have rescheduled the launch date to post Christmas. I never expected it would take a month to paint the deck but it did and I figure it will take a month to paint the insides even with the head start I have with primer over most of the furniture. I need to finish painting the undersides of the deck and cabin so that all the fittings can be bolted on. There is little point in launching on Christmas Eve and then going to Adelaide for the Laser sailing so mid january seems like a good time. The Dock was very happy to reschedule as they are very busy to Christmas and the mast manufacturer had not started so it seems they are both happy.
In the meantime the mainsail is finished ready for inspection and the boom bag should be done by the morning
The reason we set the No 2 genoa last night was because we did not want to put in the three long battens in the leech of the No 3 Genoa. We figured No 2 and a reef would do if the breeze stayed up at the 25 knots we saw across the deck up in the Lane Cove River. As it turned out the No 2 was the perfect choice for the evening. We were sent out on a short course around Cockatoo and Goat Island in anticipation of the breeze dying. Well it did abate but not by much. We made a well timed start and Izzi, Avanti, Saoirse and Passion rounded Onion Point line abreast. We had Izzi to windward and Saoirse to leeward and were delighted to keep clear air and climb over Saoirse. When we had to tack we took Izzi’s stern and came back in front on the next tack. We rounded Cockatoo first but with the big sails on Saoirse blanketing us we did not get far away. Saoirse, the leeward yacht took us up into the wind shadow of Cockatoo allowing Izzi to fly down the Balmain shore and into a never to be headed lead. We managed the doldrums around Goat quite well and emerged with a good lead over Saoirse but with Worlds Apart charging through. Fortunately for us Worlds Apart was kept on starboard tack by the Green division Rex well past the time to tack for Humbug and while she made up a lot of ground by bearing away a few degrees we did manage to keep our nose in front courtesy of a final whirlwind around Onion Point. First honours of the season went to Izzi with their new mainsail I spotted on Ben Gemmel’s facebook page.
At last i have non skid on the deck.
Non skid finished except for the cockpit floor and boarding platform which will be in light grey.
Friday started as a bright sunny day and despite the possibility of rain I applied the last coat of two pack polyurethane to the non skid area on the deck. Rolling the overcoat on the non skid was a quick process and I was soon having a morning coffee and reading the Financial Review. Mid morning the clouds rolled over but the rain stayed away all day much to my relief. It took longer to remove the masking tape and touch up the gloss stripes between the non skid patches than it did to do the whole deck but by evening the job was finished and the paint well dried. In between I was patching and undercoating the cabin sides inside and also started priming the ceiling in the V berth area so I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I had hoped to get up to the gloss on the cabin ceilings but some last minute spot filling was needed and that did not cure in time.
It has taken a full month to do the deck with four coats of primer, two of undercoat and two of top coat. I had to do the cabin top non skid separate from deck non skid just so I could work safely around the deck. The undercoats and top coats needed two days cure before they could be sanded so the time just dragged on. The end result is pretty pleasing and the cabin top has had long enough cure to be able to be walked on. In a couple of days the deck will also be trafficable and at last in safety.
I have been working to fit in with the variable weather. Saturday was a nice sunny day with little breeze so I gave up my afternoon Laser racing to overcoat the non skid on the cabin top with a second coat of two pack polyurethane and spray an extra coat on the cabin sides. The job did not go to plan as some of the non skid material was displaced with the spray gun air flow and ended up in the gloss coat on the sides. Sunday was a good day of Laser sailing at Middle Harbour Amateurs and Monday was a good day to repair the damage. I removed all the masking to make sure all the loose non skid material was out of the way and applied a second overcoat to the non skid and redid the cabin sides. It is not perfect but it is as good as I am going to get working in the open air.
Tuesday was windy with so much rubbish blowing around that painting and even sanding outside was not practical. I did lots of sanding inside including the anchor locker and applied two pack epoxy in the anchor locker and the bilge area under the locker. It has had a second coat since and so the first metre and a half of the yacht is completed.
On Wednesday it was at last a sunny day and the wind was not blowing the clothes off the line. With all the non painting weather I had quite a bit of boat sanded ready for painting on the inside. I was up at seven drying off the deck and masking up the non skid areas. A quick sand with 240 grit and a second layer of tape later I was ready to apply the first coat of non skid to the deck. That went well and now there is just the boarding platform and cockpit floor to do. The deck still needs a second coat of two pack polyurethane but that will be a quick job. Later in the day I applied the first coat of primer to the cabin sides and then it was time to rest.
Today was also wet so I ran some errands picking up all the fuel lines, some more paint and extra cartridges for the dust and gas mask. As the rain abated the primer on the cabin sides was sanded and a second coat applied. With two coats of primer on the ceiling and cabin sides the cabin is looking much whiter and brighter.
Non skid completed on the cabin top and first coat on the deck
At least the anchor locker is finished.
Lots and lots of epoxy in the bilge area under the anchor locker
Cabin sides with one coat of primer and ceiling with two
The cabin of our Didi 40 Cr is looking white and bright.
Just one coat of undercoat and a top coat to go and I hope the cabin ceiling and sides will be complete.
The forecast is not good for topcoating the non skid on the deck with more two pack polyurethane but there is lots to do whatever the weather.
Passion had a very successful Winter Wednesday series. We won the series with three weeks to go and finished with a handicap about four and a half minutes more than at the start of the series. The only change we made from last year was to take out the 200 kg of lead from under the floor and remove about 100 kg of surplus equipment. Apart from this there were no changes. We did reef down earlier due to the lighter weight and we did get to use the black carbon genoa on more occasions due to the conditions we had. Our final race was a bit of an anticlimax. We did beat Viva. Rainbow and L’Eau Co over the line but the light conditions on the reach home suited the early finishers and the freshening breeze from behind rescued the tail enders. In the circumstances an 11th place was ok and off a handicap much harsher than at the start of the season when we had our last 11th place.
After ten years of sailing Passion there will be mixed feelings entering the new yacht in next years series. I am hoping we can have a year in the same division so that we can see how the new Passion X will fare against the likes of Allegro and Amante.
In the meantime there is much to do to get Passion X launched and gain experience but I am confident enough to book a marina berth at Port Stephens for the regatta next April.
Finally a very big thanks to the loyal crew who fronted up in all the wet conditions. In some respect the good result is a good attendance record because on the miserable days even a place in the second half of the fleet can be a keeper.
Tacking angles look superb due to the outgoing tide. Others did even better.
The top coat of two pack polyurethane paint on the yacht has cured nicely so I have been able to sand the cabin top ready for the non skid. It was all masked out ready when black clouds came over and dumped rain on my work. I retreated inside and masked up more or the cabin timber that will be clear finished and applied more epoxy primer. I did a bit more epoxy filling and faired all of the carlin area ready for primer. With two coats of primer on some of the ceiling panels the cabin is looking lighter and brighter.
I am debating with myself whether or not to cut back the cabin side paint and put on a third coat so I put the portlights in to check the appearance. Still undecided hence time is the enemy of perfection.
Some panels have come up just brilliantly. These are the areas where I had applied two layers of 6 oz cloth with epoxy resin. The extra thickness of the epoxy glass meant I could sand out most imperfections in the plywood. For weight saving I did not cover the cabin sides with epoxy glass so the finish is not as flat. When I apply the non skid to the cabin top there will be a second layer of paint applied over the top so I might give the cabin sides a third coat, because I can.
Meanwhile the mainsail is in production and I am very pleased with the Hydra Net Radial cloth we have selected.
First look at our Didi 40 Cr paint job in daylight.
Trying to make up my mind about a third coat on the cabin sides so I put the portlights in place for a photo.
The top panel of the mainsail showing the modest fat head.
After a weekend of sailing it was back to sanding the undercoat on Monday. We did take time out to get the car serviced and to have coffee but the rest of the day was sand away. Today there was more sanding before applying two coats of two pack polyurethane topcoat to the cabin sides, gunwales, coamings, cockpit seats and transom. The cabin top has a single coat as I could not get to it to do a wet on tacky second coat as I could the rest. The rest of the deck and cockpit floor will have non skid with the pain roller applied and the non skid shaken on. The weather forecast is for another good painting day next Tuesday so I might try and get the undercoat on the topsides that day.
Meanwhile Elaine had bought a nice colour coordinated doona cover to go with the light grey we have selected for the seat and mattress covers. We are thinking of mid grey towels with the yacht name in yellow stitching.
First glimpses of the finish on the cockpit coamings of our Didi 40 Cr
Elaine showing off the colour coordinated Doona cover for the quarter berth of our Didi 40 Cr
It took a day and a bit to sand the first two pack polyurethane undercoat to my satisfaction and half a day to put on the second coat. Painting the deck and cabin is a lot more difficult than painting the hull. For a start the hull was fully fibreglassed and then bogged and filled where required. Then a sandable primer was applied to the round bilges to take our the last fraction of a millimeter bumps. Then there are all the angles and corners to do.
Only the Interprotect two pack epoxy primer has been used on the deck as much of it will be covered in non skid which will hide the small imperfections. Martin says that the high gloss of the finish on the cabin sides will reflect the light and any small deviations will not be noticed. The gunwales which are a pretty solid construction have sanded up well and after two coats of undercoat I am confident that I will be happy with the finish gloss on those bits.
I did a better job of applying the second coat of undercoat but there are still a few runs which will have to be sanded out before I can apply the top coats. The top coats will be a two stage affair with the glossy bits completed first and the non skid areas done one at a time. I will have to let the glossy bits cure enough to take masking tape for the non skid areas. I am keen to get the non skid on the deck for obvious reasons.
To protect the deck from flying debris I raised a second tarpaulin along the long side of the awning and now the hull is protected on three sides. With this added protection finishing the topsides should be easy.
The first coat of undercoat was surprisingly glossy but I did get a lot of runs in it.
The second undercoat used just as much paint but was a better job which took a lot longer to apply.
I am surprised at how glossy the gunwales are and am pretty confident the top coats will be ok
The handicapper did his best to send us to the back of the handicap results with a .9333 multiple but we did particularly well in the conditions to score seventh fastest and seventh on handicap. The seventh place now becomes our second drop as we still have a sixth place drop in reserve.
The wind on the Harbour was almost due North but with plenty of big shifts. It stayed around the 10 to 13 knots with gusts to 17 knots which suited Passion fully powered up with the carbon headsail and a loose backstay.
We opted for a pin start which was the windward side of the course. At start time the breeze freshened so we had clear air and first use of the breeze on a tight reach to the Heads. At least we had clear air after the first light patch which allowed us to sail over the top of the big heavy Viva. After that it was a matter of keeping powered up as the breeze changed from reaching to beating conditions.
By the time we turned at the Heads we had a handy lead over the usual company we keep. Rainbow and Larrikin were threatening and with Larrikin we had a great tussle all the way to the line.
We square ran into Rose Bay with the pole fully extended and then reached to Point Piper.
The beat from Point Piper could have been better executed as we tacked below one of the big first fleet yachts and suffered both a header and disturbed wind. The header probably explains how the leading yachts were able to dominate the handicap results as they has a straight beat to the mark and also a nice patch of breeze for the reach back to the finish line.
The header was a lift for Larrikin and this is where she made up most ground on us. We did however manage to round in front and protect the inside position on the next mark. That kept Larrikin in our dirty air for the tight reach to the last mark. The final broad run to the finish line was Larrikin’s chance to blanket us but the breeze went square enough in time for us to cross with our bow in front.
I don’t know how we got away from our usual company. Perhaps the lead we built up on the first reach was enough to put us in more favourable wind but it is not as if the breeze died. It kept up for the rest of the afternoon and even seemed fresher for the late finishers.
It has been a happy season for us and we wish two of the crew safe travel on their overseas trips next week. The rest of us will front up and see if we can prove worthy of our handicap.
It seems like nothing has been accomplished in the past six days and while I know that is not true there are no new photos to show for the effort.
With help from the crew we have masked the cabin roof beams, sanded the fourth coat of primer and drilled more holes. This time the holes are for the toiled system and somewhere I have the size of backing ply written down and somewhere I have the size of the box I need to fabricate for the holding tank written down.
I have achieved a few things. I have worn out two random orbital sanders and bought a third which I hope will last to the end of the project. Elaine and I have selected a nice light grey covering for the cushions and mattresses. I have taken Martin’s advice and touched up the oversanded areas of the primer with light brush strokes. This worked out better than I anticipated. On the other extreme I have ignored his advice and done a second round of patch filling on the gunwales and given them a second extra coat of primer. The acrylic washboard has been drilled for the lock and the sliding hatch has had a slot routered to match the lock. It looks just like the lock on Passion.
With paint left over from priming the gunwales I have rolled and brushed the first coat of primer on the ceiling in the cabin. Also with paint mixed up for the gunwales I have sprayed the last coat of primer on the deck locker lid and the hatch garage. It would be nice if the boat was under cover and I could spray the lot. The neighbours are taking off for three days tomorrow but the weather is turning wet and the opportunity to spray may go missing. We will see what the morning brings.
Locker lid and hatch garage have been sprayed with primer.
The deck primed last week. Since then it has been spot filled, sanded and the gunwales have had two extra coats of primer.
Tidy tracks to windward but our big move was off the breeze and at Steele Point
Sunshine and a light Nor’easter made for a stunning day on Sydney Harbour. We wanted to be at the boat end at the start but a late knock meant we were below the boat and did not have the speed to make it to the crowded line. Larrikin held back so that they could take the windward edge of the fleet and at first that looked like a good move. Allegro tacked back to the windward side early and she too looked to be in a winning position. Aggrovation was also above us and with the lifts moving further ahead. When the breeze knocked we tacked back to the line of Larrikin and managed to tack back ahead of her . She was now in our dirty air and having trouble breaking through. Izzi a little further back was in clear air and managed to climb above us on the next series of lifts. We tacked back to the shore side of the course on a header that lasted too briefly and rounded well astern of Aggrovation with Izzi in the middle and Larrikin astern.
On the broad reach back to Steele Point we did not fare well. Rainbow came up from astern and Aggrovation and Izzi cleared out. Still Larrikin was close by and Ellipse who normally clears out was not getting away.
At Steele Point it is our normal practice to go wide to avoid the wind shadow. We have gone wide in about 200 races at RANSA and done well. Today the breeze was dropping over the hill quite close into the shore and there were random dead patches to leeward. Coming up with wind and speed we headed high and almost straight into the dead patch next to Aggrovation. We then carried on with momentum until we reached the new wind. This time it was our turn to hold the windward position and stay high until we reached the Rose Bay rounding mark ahead of Aggrovation. We got away with it this time but will probably not try it again for another 200 races. Now we were square running to Point Piper and in the process running down on Izzi and keeping up with Larrikin.
I had forgotten that windward and return legs had been our strong point after several weeks off reaching up and down the course and doing quite well. At the mark we had an inside overlap on Izzi and Larrikin was just clear ahead. Now that Larrikin was in clear air she started to move away on the leg around the island. The last long leg was almost square to the naval buoys and we did relatively well keeping clear air from Izzi. On the windward side of the course we could not make the mark without gybing and rather than try to gyby the big black genoa over we kept on until the line to the mark was tight enough for us to leave the genoa poled out to leeward and then gybed back at the mark with the genoa already poled out. This move gained quite a few seconds on the fleet to the extent that we caught Ellipse and pulled away from Izzi and Aggrovation.
We were happy to beat Izzi and Aggrovation over the line and were content that we had beaten Larrikin on corrected time. The sixth place was a surprise as we just edged out Rainbow by three seconds and Izzi by eight. Allegro finished fifth and took one point back from us but we could not be beaten before todays race and after it we cannot be beaten by a wider margin.
It would have been a stunning day even without the sixth place. No one who has the good fortune to be able to sail on the Harbour on such a day can be unhappy with any result in the race.