Our boat is progressing faster now. Harwood's Shipyard is behind schedule and they really want our boat finished. So they are working overtime. The welding of the hull continues, and the stanchions, rails, chain plates, and deck hardware are being welded on. The welding of thin aluminum is time consuming because they need to be careful not to overheat a section which will cause it to warp and be deformed. They start by tacking pieces together and then go back and make longer welds, never remaining in one area too long.
Steve had some help starting the interior framing -building out the structural supports for all the interior furnishings, so it is going well. We have a friend from California, Sandy Tanaka, who came out August 8 to help with the electrical installation. It looks like we will finish the first phase by the end of August (we hope).
Up at the beach boatyard they are fabricating the interior gel-coat panels for us.They make one panel a day so it is a good idea to have a stack of them ready ahead of time. We will probably come home at the end of the summer for a break before the boat is completely finished and then return and continue on. It is more work than we thought and Steve will be kept busy learning and doing many new things.
Here is a view of our boat from the starboard side taken July 29. The hard bimini/dodger has been completed, the windows and ports have all been cut out and the seagull striker on the bow has been attached.
The workers are now finishing tasks that are harder to see, such as completing interior welds, fabricating daggerboards and rudders and welding on winch and mast bases.
We will have a raised cockpit seat to starboard and the primary visibility will be through the dodger windows.
We moved into a two bedroom unit in our apartment complex in Cebu City while Sandy is here. When we are finished at Harwood's, we plan to move about 40 kilometers north to Carmen, near the beach boatyard where we will relocate the boat, and work on the interior.
We rented the top floor of the only four story building in the small village of Luyang, a Carmen suburb, on August 15. It has a large living/great room that catches the breeze with the windows open, one bedroom, OK kitchen, and a large balcony with an oceanview. Why so early?- Well, the rent is $175.00 per month and it is the only place close by that we would consider living, so we grabbed it when it became available. Strange place, the Philippines, tools are about 50% higher than in the US, and made in the Philippines, even brands like Bosch are made here, hence have pretty poor quality. Wine is higher than the US, but good beer is cheap, so we are trying to change our beverage preferences from wine to beer, the hot weather helps, but wine is so nice with food (darn).
It turns out that while the boatyard that is building our boat did build two Mumby cats before us, they are still learning fabrication details, so Steve is spending a lot of time just making sure that things are done right. Being as he knows very little about aluminum, this is a real challenge. But the boat is getting built and she will be pretty amazing. Probably everyone who builds a boat thinks that way, kind of like everyone thinks their children are the most wonderful, but we spent so long looking for the right design and this particular one is so far in front of everything else around that we are pretty confident it will be a really good catamaran. Being as we have the time, and life here is so different that it is interesting and enjoyable, all is well- Except we miss B.C, families and friends, and are eager to fly back for a while and visit.
Now, in mid-August, we are just about finished with the interior framing (see above photos of saloon area) and are about to install the engines and deal with the last few bits and pieces of welding and assembly. Sandy and I will start the electrical and plumbing installation tomorrow. Rails and lifeline stanchions are getting installed and it looks like all the welding will be completed in a couple of weeks.
Gall
ey framing- door leads to fwd cabin and head.
Stern rails for safety
