Ocean 40

The dream begins with the building of the boat that will take us around the World.

05 June 2014 | Auckland
05 June 2014 | Auckland
28 May 2014 | Auckland
28 May 2014 | Auckland
28 February 2013
28 February 2013
28 February 2013
28 February 2013 | Auckland
28 February 2013 | Auckland
11 November 2012 | Auckland
11 November 2012 | Auckland
11 November 2012 | Auckland
20 October 2012 | Auckland
20 October 2012 | Auckland
20 October 2012 | Auckland
20 October 2012 | Auckland
20 October 2012 | Auckland
14 September 2012 | Auckland
24 June 2012 | Auckland
23 June 2012 | Auckland

The End of the First Year

11 January 2008 | Auckland
It has now been exactly 1 Year since Ocean 40 was shifted onto it's present site and work commenced by us.

The past 3 months we have done little work on her. We have been renovating our house instead (it had been sadly neglected), sailing our Chico 30 and spending time with our family from Brisbane, Australia (here over Christmas with our Grandson Leo).

Back to the new

17 September 2007 | Auckland
With the inside of the hull below floor level ground back to the bare hull, the main bulkhead below the companionway has been reglassed in and the hull has been reglassed above the lead keel. The first of the two new bulkheads and supports to accommodate the tanks are in place.

Access has now been gained to the fuel tank that is underneath the engine. It had been totally enclosed with a glassed in plywood top, allowing NO breathing or access to either the inspection port or earthing strip (I'm sure the previous owner was a Wombat!). We found it was a proffessionally constructed alloy tank that had been shaped to fit the hull. It was sitting in approx 50 litres of water, which we had to syphon out We attempted to clean the outside of the tank as much as possible, but because the tank is about 800mm deep there is not sufficient space under the engine to lift it out.

Morris has now made another plywood top that helps to position the tank more effectively and allows access to ports and fittings. This will now serve as our grey water tank from the shower which is just above and to the side.

The new engine support blocks have been made and fitted. With the first of the new bulkheads in place this allows us now a free channel both sides of the gearbox to run plumbing services and cables.

It will soon be daylight savings again (end of September) and with the brighter and longer daylight hours we will be working on the outside again soon.

There is just so so so much to do - it is very tempting to start too many things at once and hence getting nothing completed. But in saying that, we must consider other areas in the overall plan, so that essential services are not forgotten.

Thank you for reading. More photos have been posted.

Itch like a Bastard

27 July 2007 | Auckland
THE HEAD:

Beginning of June we roughed out a quick template and screwed it to the existing part bulkheads to get an idea of what would be the most practical setup. We had decided on a manual toilet system with the head on the back wall and a waste tank under the bunk in the aft cabin. The sink and cabinetry will follow down the outside wall and encompass a full height wet weather locker just inside the door. The shower tray will be sunken into the floor about midway and we thought that we will drain the grey water into the existing tank under the engine (originally intended as the fuel tank, we are not sure what it's construction is at this stage).

The plywood components were made up and temporarily screwed together to check the fit. Morris's woodworking skills are perfect!

The last 2 weekends in June were spent in Brisbane on family business.

On our return - cleaning off the hull preparing for glassing in of the components, we noticed that the fibreglass that had been done by the previous owners was poor. The fibreglass was extremely dry - it had not been saturated with resin and was not attached well to the hull (it may have been put on a dirty hull or the hull may not have been dewaxed).

Some new bulkheads, which also formed the supports for the shelves and the wall for the full height wet weather cupboard were made and after preparation/cleaning of the hull we glassed them into place.

The areas inside the cupboards and under the toilet plinth have now been flo-coated and ready for the kitset units to be screwed in for the final time. But before we do this, we will use the plywood components as templates to cut the fibreglass panels for the finish surface.

UNDER FLOOR GALLEY & NAV AREAS:

At the same time, we have been cleaning down the inside of the hull in these areas ready to accept the new diesel and water tanks. Whilst doing this, it was apparent that the two bulkheads which originally were formed into resined tanks and supported the floor were both just floating on the hull in places. They were glassed in with layers upon layers of fibreglass that had not been wetted through with resin also and even though it appeared strong on the surface it had little or no adhesion to the hull. The fibreglass was so dry, when removing it we itched like a bastard.

We have only removed one of the bulkheads so far at the time of writing.

OPENING UP ANOTHER CAN OF WORMS:

The glassing that goes over the top of the lead in the keel and wraps up the sides of the hull, also has the appearance of being poorly layed up. We have been chiseling off heavy layers of glass sheet with little adhesion to itself or the hull.

In very real terms, we feel all this extra work will have put us back about two months in the construction, but had it gone unnoticed and not rectified, our personal safety could have been jeopardised. It also means that new bulkheads can be made up and positioned more effectively to accept the diesel and water tanks.

Oh well back to it!

Check out the new photos under the heading "Itch like a bastard".
Vessel Name: Ocean 40
Vessel Make/Model: Reynolds Ocean 40
Hailing Port: Auckland, New Zealand
Crew: Morris & Sue McLeary

Owners

Who: Morris & Sue McLeary
Port: Auckland, New Zealand