The Learning Curve
28 May 2015 | Puerto Escondido, BCS Mexico
Today was a great example of how much easier a task gets once you've struggled through it a time or two. The learning curve. That's why once we built our first cruising boat, Cassiopeia, we always said we should build another boat because it would be so much easier with all we learned along the way.
Our design for the new tanks involved getting dimensions for one large tank and then cutting it into two pieces (so we could get them through both the hatch and the hole in the floor. And because of the way the hole in the floor is offset from the center of the boat, the tanks could not be of equal size.
We decided to start with the smallest tank figuring the parts would be easier to work with and more likely to fit through the hatch and the hole. We cut the pieces according to our measurements and tried using duct tape to hook it all together. Well, first of all the duct tape didn't stick as we'd hoped (we finally determined it is due to some chemicals they treat the wood with). And some of the angles were a little off. It wasn't pretty but it represented the size and shape we needed and we were very happy to see it easily slide into place.
Today we were going to tackle the larger tank -- the one we really had concerns about fitting through the hatch. We decided to make it to the pattern and if it didn't fit through we would alter it a bit. But we hoped it would -- we wanted to maximize our tank capacity and this design would be the best.
Two of the sides of the tanks are right angles while one side is sloped to lay on the contour of the hull, so there are two odd angles. But if we construct the right angles first, and if all of our measurements are correct the whole thing falls together. Yesterday the challenge was keeping the right angles in place. Today, after cutting all the pieces and dreading the struggle of putting them together we got the bright idea to use L brackets to keep the boards in place and at the proper angles. So off to Loreto we went and found just what we needed at a little hardware store. That purchase turned what yesterday was about an eight hour job into a two and a half hour project!
So today was a very good day, as we not only constructed the large tank in a short time, but it actually fit through the hatch and then down into the bilge! And the two tanks nestled together just as we had hoped -- and planned.
Tomorrow we will redo the 1st tank to make it a nice prototype like its partner. Almost done!