To sea on a NOAA ship

I just found out Ill be spending a few weeks this summer aboard one of NOAAs survey or research ships as part of the Teacher at Sea program! I hope to bring lots of knowledge and wonderful experiences back to my classroom to share with my students.

The isolation of small-town living, coupled with the traditional character of family life on the border, means that most of my students have little notion of the opportunities outside of the Rio Grande Valley. Many have internalized negative stereotypes of Hispanics, immigrants, and border life and thus have developed a limited view of who they are and what they can become. They worry about “fitting in” or “getting in” to “Anglo” opportunities. It is my job to counteract this by pushing my students to get the best from their minds and achieve more than they thought was possible for themselves. 

Making careers in science seem real and attainable to students is a priority in my classroom. These careers often seem very distant to my students because most of them have never known anyone in scientific research or engineering. I have seen over and over again how a strong relationship with a caring, approachable adult can help students expand their world view and make positive life-altering decisions. I cant wait to leverage this experience to create stellar lessons on waves, buoyancy, pressure, and thermodynamics. Most of all, Im excited about introducing my students to this line of work and showing them that there is a big, beautiful world out there worth protecting and that they too could have an adventure!

NOAA ship "Rainier" www.noaa.gov

I wont know which ship Ill be sailing on, where Im going  or even when Im going until about a month before departure. Maybe the Atlantic? Hawaii? the Arctic? the Gulf? So many possibilities!

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fiberglassing the boat hull

      After 1340 working hrs in two years time,the hull is finally ready for fiberglassing.By reviewing numbers of articles and info gather from some boat building forum regarding method for fiberglassing.I guess Im ready for the job.

After cleaning the surface ,a layer of seal coat with epoxy has been applied prior to applying the cloth.

the surface has been lightly sanded again to remove dust,dirt and any amine blush after curing by using self made sanding board.Cleaning the surface is needed with solvent by using a rag soaked with thinner and ready for the second coat,which is the glass coating.

8/5/2013   

                                                                                                                       

Layout and precut the fiberglass.

With the help from my brother to prepare the resin,it took us 6 hrs to finish the fist layer of mat to the bottom of the hull.The side of the hull and I thought  I can finish it myself.It took me 11 hrs just to finish one side of the hull,crazy job.

Time and strenght doesnt allow me to continue to apply the second layer of biaxial to the precure of the first layer.After the first layer turn full cure,just have to prepare the surface again by sanding.

Sanding the surface in progress.

 Laying up a full lenght biaxial

completed fiberglassing the second layer of biaxial

fitting the spray rail

 

15/06/2014

Wow,didnt notice so long not updating this blog,sorry,been busy with business,work on this project bit slow.

Anywhere,I had already finnish laying up those rail and glassed two layer of matt on them.The hull was cotted two layer of epoxy to cover the wee and for sanding purpose.

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All Hands on Deck

The next task in the deck planking was to fit and epoxy down all the longitudinal planks. Beginning at the center king plank, I worked my way outward fitting and "clamping" each board in place using 3/16" fender washers with #8 round head sheet metal screws 3/4" long. I used the grid lines already on the subdeck to establish hold downs every 4" along each plank. A pilot hole was drilled prior to putting in a screw. Where the leading edge of a plank mated to the perimeter cover boards, a rough angle cut was made on the chop saw or band saw. Then holding the plank in place, a final line was marked using a spacer. I sanded to the line on my 1" stationary belt sander. (Actual work took a lot longer than writing about it.)

A box of 100 washers allowed me to get two or three rows done on each side of the boat at a time. I used pieces of luan plywood as spacers which happen to measure 3/16" thick. Once I had a batch ready to go, all screws were removed and the unthickened epoxy spread on the subdeck areas to be glued and the underneath side of each plank. Then thickened epoxy was spread on each plank and the plank put in place. The washer/screws were hand started and then beginning at the forward end, spacers put in place and the screws tightened to lock the plank in place.

After a set of planks were fit and screws tightened, the spacers were removed so they wouldnt get bonded in place. I put in some 3/16" tile spacers just to make sure nothing moved, but they were not necessary. After the epoxy set overnight, the screws and washers were removed. Any washer that stuck to the wood was unstuck with a chisel. I put the rounded edge of the spacer towards the wood to reduce the chance of marking the wood and helping with removal if stuck.

The process was tedious and my shoulder hurt at times from holding the cordless screwdriver, but seeing the deck transform from boring to way cool was worth all the fuss. It took four days of work but Im ready to move on to the next step if I can figure out what that is. On the last day of epoxy work I made some sample boards with planking scraps so I can experiment with staining, finishing, and gap filling.

However, I have a few more screws to remove first.

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We Got This Email The Other Day

Our book, “Fundamentals of Model Boat Building”, has received many excellent reviews from some very knowledgeable people, but I dont think that any is more meaningful than this one. Its not a review in the standard sense, but I think that it speaks volumes.

I am going to let Joe Szymanski do the talking through the email that he sent us, along with the photos of the model that he made, the first model boat that he has ever done, after reading our book.

“JOHN - Back in 2011, I picked up a copy of Fundamentals of Model Boat Buildingwhen you were at the PRAD Festival at the Calvert Marine Museum. I enjoyed reading the book last winter, but then just added it to my library. Then late this summer & fall, I kept paddling by a pretty like crab skiff on St. Johns Creekand your book came back to mind -- I thought "that would be a fun little boat to try to model from scratch..." So I remembered my camera on subsequent paddles, and tried to snap some pictures of the boat in the water. I had some extra time over the Christmas holidays, so I launched into the effort of trying to estimate dimensions, develop 3-view scale drawings, etc. After several matboard prototypes, I was happy with the basic hull shape and proceeded with a wood model. (See the attached picture for the model in its current state of completion.) I had never built a model boat before...”

This is the photo that he sent with his email...

He continued...

“...it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience & mental exercise to go through the process as guided along by your book. Thanks for the inspiration and hopefully Ill see you back at PRAD some year in the future.

Sincerely,
Joe Szymanski”

Here is Joes finished model:


Heres a shot of the subject boat:


We think that when you look at the original boat and look at the first model boat that Joe ever made, he deserves an excellent review. 5-Stars!!! Thank you, Joe!

Joe and I have corresponded by email following this one and he offered to send more photos of his model during the phases of building it. Here are some of them...

 

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

 

 

 

Have you made a model after reading our book? Wed love to hear from you with photos or not. Our emails are johninto@intothings.com and nancyprice@intothings.com.

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Lofting

Lofting began in March 2011. Just in case you are new to boat building-- lofting is where the builder takes the "lines plan" from her blue prints and draws it out life-size. This way, the builder can be sure that the sheer and the chine are fair (not lumpy). It is then possible to take more accurate measurements from this big drawing.

I approached the lofting step with a bit of apprehension- it seemed that it was something that people were afraid of, as evidenced by boat designers advertising, "NO LOFTING NEEDED! Full size patterns included!" I figured that if those designers were selling full-sized patterns, then there must be some sort of demand for them from boat building folk. I also figured that all boat building folk are more experienced than I am. It then follows that if those people preferred full size patterns, what was I doing thinking I could loft-- much less build a boat?

But I tried anyway. I ordered some Tyvek housewrap on eBay to use as my lofting paper. The more traditional approach is to draw the boat directly on the floor, or use builders paper-- but the Tyvek ended up working out really well. The morning dew didnt do any damage, and the sand that inevitably gets into everything here (even my bed) didnt grind its surface away. Plus, Ill be able to re-use this tough stuff later to make ultra-light duffel bags and a sail for the dinghy. 

Maybe I could even plate the hull with it like this guy.

In any case, the process ended up being really simple:

1. Draw a bunch of straight lines.

2. Draw five curved lines and make sure they arent lumpy.

3. Measure everything.


The only materials I really needed were an 8 x 32 ft. piece of Tyvek, duct tape, a long piece of pine trim from Home Depot to use as a batten, several different colors of marking pens, a tape measure, some 8D nails, some 1/4" staples to staple the Tyvek to the lofting floor, and a straight edge (ripped from a piece of 1/4" 4 x 8 ply).

I was about halfway done when I came to the shop one afternoon to find that a little over a quarter of my lofting had been eaten. I found the culprits in the mechanics garage next door, but they were just too cute to scold. I cut out the chewed-up parts, made a big patch out of builders paper, fortified the lofting floor, and finished up a few days later.

The puppy perps

I made patterns of the keel pieces using strips of quarter inch ply and staples. This made the chunks of keel easy to cut out accurately later. Note the jugs of water-- Mrs. Alvarez took pity on me when the dogs ate my lofting and brought me the jugs saying it would keep the dogs away. Im not too superstitious, but it was a nice gesture.

Ramon measuring angles to use later in beveling the frames.

Honestly, it was pretty easy. Granted, I wont know if I did it right until the frames are up, but hopefully my sheer and chine dont look hilly.

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