500 Hour Milestone

500 HOURS!!!

I finally hit that milestone! It is supposed to be a 500 hour build, but actually I never thought I would do that simply because I'm building from plans and not the kit. But I'm not too far away. In my estimation it was going to take 18 months. Considering there have been about 3 months during which I was almost completely inactive, that estimate is going to be very close. 

Today I worked on the mast step. This morning I laminated four pieces of 9mm ply. This evening I cut them out and glued them into the boat. 

I was going to wait to do the mast step, but I spent a good bit of time figuring the placement of the step. This was after I tried to get the mast stub closer to the center of the mast with the cardboard mold etc. I figured it was still off by maybe 1/16", so I have determined which way the mast will go into the step. The side with the plug will face aft. 

I routed the groove on the underside which is for draining any water that might get into the step. I used a hole saw to cut the hole (go figure - LOL). I had to cut through from both sides. I drilled a pilot hole, but I still missed lining the two sides up by about 1/16". I filed it even. There may be a small bit of play in the step. If it's too much, I'll put some fiberglass around the stub on the mast. I don't think there will be. 

I did cut out the two sides of the step. I'll glue them in first of the week. I may get to start painting this coming week! Yoohoo!!

Here's something of a bit of interest. Some of my calculations. In fact, my whole work bench looks like one big math problem. Who said you wouldn't use fractions in your adult/daily life?

The top photo shows the a hole the size of my mast stub. The circle around it comes from the outside diameter of the mast at the base. I did this to see how close I was to being on center. Again, about 1/16" off. 

The other calculations are mast measurements as well as offset measurements for the mast placement. Plans gave two dimensions: one at the mast partner and one at the step. I had to adjust for some slight variations on my actual build. They are close but not perfect (there I go again).