KerNess

Afternoon sail

2011-07-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

After finding a spot for Lady C. (http://sportboat18.blogspot.com/2011/07/looking-for-place-for-boat.html), I , launched Kerness from the Seabrook Sail club yesterday. The wind was coming from the south, the the club's slips are really exposed. When the wind is coming from the North or West, there is not enough water there and when it is coming from South and East, it is very exposed. I am not sure why the club does not try to protect the area better. In any case, yesterday launching and recovery of Kerness what not easy. No damage though. I was very careful!
The wind started to blow around 2:30 pm. I was done with rigging up Kerness around 4:00 pm. I went south accross the Clear Lake channel, very busy at this time, against the 15 knt wind. I sailed for about 2 hours against the wind, maintaining 3 knots. There are so many pelican fishing and flying around in that area, it was amazing. At half way, about 20 pelicans flying in squadron passed me at full speed, with the wings at about 1/4" from the not so calm surface.
Around 6: pm, it was time to turn around. I could see one fin, from what I believe was a dolphin. Then I sailed downwind along the coast, average 5 to 6 knots, with some surf at 7.2 knots...! The beach is covered with luxury houses that all maintain a nice front yard and off course a boat ramp! I took a look at one smaller offshore artificial port, where boat are all kept out of the water through well designed winch systems. Passing Kemah boardwalk, there was a lot of disorganized waves and that is certainly a place that I will avoid next time! Plus there is plenty loud music and noise. Keep away!

Kerness is really a nice little boat, with great sailing capability and yesterday was really a lovely sailing day!

Thanksgiving eve

2009-11-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

Today was a cool clear sky and an unstable 10 knot wind coming from the north sector.

We sailed from Seabrook with a friend and his proa. OK, Kerness is not a racing beast, so there is no point in comparing the proa and Kerness. I was doing a 3-4 knots going up wind and 4-5 knots going down. We sailed for 2 hours and I enjoyed every second of it.

New boat

2009-10-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today, I thought about building a new boat: Sport Boat 18. It is a very wide boat for its length and looks a bit more sophisticated to build than Kerness. I bought the set of drawing to have a look...
http://www.bateau.com/studyplans/SB18_study.htm?prod=SB18

Seabrook Sailing Club

2009-10-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

Last year, before we started the construction of Kerness, we went to visit the sailing club in Seabrook. I found the place very friendly and we decided to go there last Saturday. The weather was perfect, nice wind and temperature, beautifull sun. It was the first time Kerness was in the water since we came back from Britany. We were very busy until now and Kerness needed some care after the Texas 200. During my inspection, I found that the rudder was cracked and had a big dent caused by an unidentified submerged object. I sanded and filled everything and applied one layer of fiberglass with some epoxy on each side of the rudder. I did so on the centerboard, at construction. But for several unexcusable reasons, such as lack of time, didn't do it on the rudder. So what should happen, indeed happened: the centerboard is still in perfect shape and the rudder was cracked. I don't know exactly when, but for sure during the Texas 200. So now, it is repaired. I also sanded slightly the bottom and laid a new coat of black paint. At the Texas 200, several razorblade oyster shells came scratching Kerness hull. Now it is like new again.

So the kids and I went for a little sail at Seabrook. We did very well going north, upwind in the bay. We sailed side by side with a Sunfish, Pol was steering Kerness, following the Sunfish ahead of us. Then Pol wanted to follow a much bigger blue sail boat, I imagine she was around 50 ft. We almost beat her in the calm, but the wind pick up again and we were left behind. Joël was affraid to have Pol steering with the brise coming, so I took back the control bar at this point. At some distance the Sunfish had capsized, so we turned around to see if some assistance was required. Arriving on location, the Sunfish was back up right with the upper portion of her sail covered with sticky mud, that the mast had dragged from the bottom. Both sailors were safely back on board, so we continued our way toward the coast. Then we turned again and headed back to Seabrook, downwind and surfing. The Sunfish was going faster than us in those conditions...

On arrival, Joël took the camera and got a couple pictures...

Origine

2009-07-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

This is summer time, time for the Breton familly to go back to our roots in Brittany. When we are not in Houston, we stay here in a quaint traditional little farm at the extrem westernest tip of the old Europe.

My first try at boat building was a tender for our first boat . The boat was replaced last year, but the little tender pram is still in use. This little pram is ideal for oar sculling and the kids started to learn the right movement. Around here, they say that kids learn this just after they start to walk! It is so simple. One can barelly see the oar movement and the boat goes forward gently.

I made my own drawings for this pram, using a freeware: "carene". The constraint I had was to cut the planks in one 8 ft plywood sheet only, because I did not know how to join 2 planks in a scarf at that time. I used exactly the same stitch and glue technic as for KerNess, with the exact same success: quickly built, strong, light and good looking. After about 9 years of careless use, it is still in good condition.

More pictures from KerNess at the Texas 200

2009-06-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the participants who published those photos.

Texas 200 links

2009-06-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

A few links to some 2009 Texas 200 stories and pictures:
The story of John (many lessons to learn there): http://www.wwpotterowners.com/JohnTurpin3.html
Some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39529531@N07/3633516849/in/photostream/
The story of Tom (lessons learn): http://www.texas200.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=388
The story of Cathy and Meredith (really funny story about a fisherman): http://www.texas200.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=395
The story of Laurent (incredible story): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proa_file/message/23308
More pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39499367@N06/3632853564/in/set-72157619827294520/
And more pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17493676@N03/3095185098/in/photostream/
Pictures and story: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27708975@N02/3625694457/in/set-72157619656591605/
About PDR: http://waderweb.com/events/090608_tx200/index.htm

Texas 200 Armada

2009-06-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Kerness at the Texas 200

2009-06-13T14:06:00.001-07:00

The group of skippers with our grand guru.

In Port Mansfield, ready to go

On board Kerness, wing to wing in Laguna Madre, between Port Mansfield and the land cut. 6 knots average speed, one surf at 8.8 knots. Not bad for a 12'6" dinghy!

I enjoyed sailing through the land cut. It is comfortable, safe and reminds me my first experiences of sailing and kayaking.

Kerness ready for the night at the first stop, at the end of the land cut.

Kerness ready for the second day, between the land cut and Corpus Christi Yacht Club.

When the wind is not blowing too much, the auto-pilot takes care of the main trajectory. I have only to move my head to starboard side to have the boat going toward port and vice versa.

The chart table, with compass and GPS plotter. This was a very efficient setup.

Kerness moored at Corpus Christi Yacht Club after the second day.

Begining of the 3rd day, leaving CPYC, before the Corpus bridge. Very strong winds, up to 30 knots according to weather forecasts are heading in our direction. This is one of the last pictures I have, my camera decided the conditions where too difficult to work thereafter.

GPS

2009-05-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

Finally, I bought the Colorado 400C. Nice, compact and user friendly...

Texas 200

2009-05-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

Now that I am registered, now that I have some days off in June, what do I need to take for the Texas 200:
Maps: I bought the Hook-N-Line maps F115 - Lower Laguna Madre, F116 - Upper Laguna Madre and F108 Matagorda Bay. They are waterproof, colored and will cover the area of interest, from Port Mansfield to Magnolia Beach. I am used to wide open Oceans and this looks more like Mussoulou bay in Angola.
GPS: I still need to work on what I need to buy... With map or without map! Portable anyway!
VHF: Arrrfff, it would be better to have one!
Flares: Same, same...
Anchor: Sure, I need one with a piece of chain and some rope.
Compass: My step mother offered me a deck compass. I need a hand one as well.
Binoculars: Probably won't use it much, but can be usefull.
Tent: I don't know if it rains at that time of the year in South Texas... By the way, Hurrican Season starts on June 1st!
Solar cell: I am thinking to buy a small one to charge the VHF and GPS and avoid too many batteries... we will see what I can find.
Clothes: Cotton or synthetic, I do not know, but I need to protect myself from the burning sun.
Food: for one week... simple!
Water: 1 gallon per day, I was told. That is about 25 to 30 liters.
Bags: I will need some watertight bags for the few things I want to keep dry...
Rudder: I need to find a way to attach it, because I won't steer the boat for 8 hours, without the help of a little piece of rope!
Rigging: I have a few modification and re-inforcement to make on the mast. I ordered a bit of material to Chuck, hopefully I will get that on time.
Leak: I have one very small leak in the forward compartment, probably at my bowsprit attachement point. I need to fix that as well!
There are more to think about... I f any one knows where I can find the right material for the right price, let me know...

Lake Livingston - Christening

2009-05-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

Lake Livingston State Park is well organized and a good place to camp. The kids love camping and Texas as well!

Perfect conditions on this very nice Texas Lake. For the event, all the friends came and we took every body for a try on the lake.

Picture is from Cecile B.. Thanks

Woodlands lake

2009-05-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Who knew there was a little friendly lake there, in the Woodlands.

Again, the wind was very unstable, from too much to too little.

Lake Bastrop

2009-05-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Again, too much wind to try the boat with the sail. Lake Bastrop is a nice little lake, between Houston and Austin. I will be back there for another try.
We met with the messabout group and held nice chats around Kerness... and talked about our participation to the Texas 200. Why not?

Hunstville

2009-04-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

So our first trip was to Hunstville State Park. Little lake about 75 miles North of Houston. Today was probably the second windiest day since we arrive (windiest day being Ike...). So we wanted a well protected area for our first in water test. I like that video on this park :http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/videos/state_park/pineywoods/huntsville.phtml.

In every story, there is a starting point. Ours is at the gas station close to our house.

The park offers a nice little slip way, just close to the picnic tables. That's familly boater friendly!

We started with a little stability test. First of all, my rowlocks are not good. I will need to modify that. They must be pushed backward and raised or pushed outside, now the oars interfer with the outside gunwall.

Any way, after this first experience, We concluded that the boat is very stable and we had no water ingress (it's a boat, the water is supposed to stay outside). Inspite of the wind, I decided to make a trial with the sails.

I reduced the sail area and....

Go!

I crossed the lake 3 to 4 times, trying to survive in a highly gusting wind.

After taking on board more water than reasonnable, I went back to the shore.

There was definitely too much wind for us today.
I am very pleased with this boat behavior, very stable and capable of sailing up wind really well.

Details for Pop

2009-04-04T11:44:00.000-07:00

Shop acceptance test

2009-04-04T11:39:00.001-07:00

Ready

2009-04-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

Good looking

2009-04-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

After 3 coats of paint inside, the result looks good. It seems the paint I bought does not adhere so much on the epoxy. It looks there is no problem outside, but inside, I put 3 layers and it is not perfect yet. We will see how it goes in the next few days, after everything is fully dryed.
I covered the PVC white hatches with a piece of 4 mm plywood, It looks good. My rawlock are a bit ugly, that's all they had at West Marine last week! Note for the mast, I only put a small piece of rope to hold it against the fwd deck plate, instead of the steel plate propose on the drawing. I did so, because I have no steel plate and I tried with some aluminum, but it breaks when I bend it at 90°. My little cheap rope will do it fine. For the dagerboard, I made it simple as well...

The trailor

2009-04-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Though the dinghy is very light, I finally decided to buy a small trailor on internet from Northern Tools for our dinghy. I was disapointed, it is made in Taiwan, I would have preferred a US made one! Anyway, it arrived as a kit and is now ready to go, pending the registration (hopefully tomorrow after 2 unsuccessfull atempts at the county court house this week).

Coating

2009-03-28T07:59:00.001-07:00

After sanding, sanding, sanding,..., the top coat is black on the outside.

I used a polyurethane single component paint.

The good, the bad and the ugly

2009-03-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful day in Houston. No wind. Ideal condition to dress Kerness with the sails.

Very good looking little boat!

Keel laying

2009-03-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

Main sail

2009-03-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

So we received the main sail and the jib.
The mast, gaff and boom are finished and rigging could started.
The mast was up outside on the boat and we rigged up the jib as well. It looks very nice...
For the moment, we placed deck clips, where it was seen most practicle, this may change...!
We are learning to splice the ropes, and will do a post on this subject!

Hull

2009-03-01T20:14:00.001-08:00

So this week end, we went to buy more epoxy and some fiber glass to finish the hull. After turning it up side down and some sanding, we filled in all shines. This week, we will need to sand this clean and smooth and apply the fiber glass straps on the outside shines. After more sanding we will lay the final fiberglass wooven cloth.

Status tonight

2009-02-01T20:54:00.001-08:00

Inside is almost finished. Still a few hours for fileting and fiber glass.

Next week we will finish the bowsprit to make it strong and removable.

Tools

2009-02-01T20:50:00.001-08:00

Often, I have had questions about tools.

So, that's about all I have... Not the best, not perfect, but enough for what we need...!

Bow sprit 2

2009-02-01T20:42:00.001-08:00

We changed our mind for the pillar attachment. Original design is the pillar goes down to the bow. With such design there is no acess to the bowsprit cable attachment point. So we glued with plenty fiber glass a horizontal plank accross the bow and the pillar is resting on that plank.

The deck is now in place and the plank that will hold the mast as well.

Side view, not easy to find the right angle for the bow sprit!

Side bench

2009-02-01T20:08:00.000-08:00

Side benches are in place and the supports are glued to the hull.

Nothing difficult there, but requires some time to put in place properly.

We extended a bit those supports compared to the original drawing, in order to gain more strength.

Bowsprit

2009-01-26T21:40:00.000-08:00

I was wondering where and how to install the attachement point for the bobstay (around the first chine on this boat)?

I can screw in a stainless steel ring. But I do not like this solution. The stay pulls in the wrong direction and I am not sure to be able to dismantle it due to the post glued right behind it.

I have seen pictures of modern catamaran where such stay is directly attached to the hull with a simple hole through the bow. Very strong solution, very light, nothing protruding... We will think about it!

Forward deck

2009-01-26T21:18:00.001-08:00

One more deviation to talk about... On the original drawing, there is a forward bench, made for rowing. As we mainly plan to sail, we decided to replace the bench with a deck. The opening in the frame A will be closed by a 10" hatch.

The forward post goes through the deck and will be glued to the bow.

The aft frame C will also be closed with a small 4" hatch.

Aft bench

2009-01-26T21:12:00.001-08:00

I always wondered from the original drawing, how it was possible to install the aft bench. There is a filet inside, but no real access...

After thinking probably too much about it, we decided to glue pieces of wood along the 4 sides (hull stbd and port, transom and frame C). The bench; once cut will come and rest on these support at the right place. We will then filet the external side of the bench and put some fiberglass to reinforce everything.

Mid bench

2009-01-26T20:59:00.001-08:00

We made good progress over the past few days. The bench is in place. We deviated one more time from the orginal drawing. The wood beams that goes accross the boat to support the bench are cut at dagerboard case. We managed to keep it in one piece.

The mast, boom and gaff planks are all cut and glues together, nice and as strait as it can be...! Now it will be long work to make them round

Gunter rig

2009-01-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

I am starting to gather information on how to rig properly the main sail. I am wondering if I should use one or two halyard to hold the gaff...?

Extract from François Vivier "Construction bois LES TECHNIQUES MODERNES"

Housekeeping

2009-01-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

Gunwall

2009-01-15T20:55:00.001-08:00

I wanted to install the inboard gunwall 15 mm x 35 mm in one go... But I found it difficult and was afraid to damage the fragile nut...

So I cut 2 pieces of wood 7.5 mm x 35 and will instal them in 2 steps instead of 1.

Starboard gun wall is in place with thickned epoxy.

On this picture, you can as well see the center frame and dagerboard cage (24 mm wide inside).

Learning curve

2009-01-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

I found a spot on the upper chine, around the aft frame, where the chine was deviating in and out... One would not noticed, but once I saw it, I could not leave with it. With the circular saw, I reopened the chine...

And then play a bit, open here and close there. Once I had the right curve, all was glued together and covered with fiber glass.

That's my learning curve!

Note that I found similar problem, much more obvious on the bottom of the boat. You must be very careful with that center chine, otherwise the bottom of the boat will be looking like a wave!

Dagerboard cage

2009-01-15T20:23:00.001-08:00

Le puits de dérive...

Plywood 6 mm on both sides. Note that I covered the inside with fiber glass, to avoid premature wood wear.

The holes for the shaft must be drilled before to install the frame in the boat, as the access inside the boat is very limited on both sides once in place.

Once all the boat chines are covered with fiber glass, you can remove the center frame, it was there temporarily only.

Then you cut the frame into two pieces and glue it together with the dagerboard cage. The hull will be cut off later.

Filet and tie raps

2009-01-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

To answer the questions about the tie raps for the stiches, above is a picture of a tie rap in a fillet of epoxy. Once the epoxy is dry, you can cut or grind the tie rap.

Once the tie rap is cut off, you can lay the fiber glass.

In areas where the wood is highly stressed, I leave the tie raps and increase the thickness of the fillet to hide the tie raps. There are great chances that the filet opens without the tie raps, prior the fiber glass is in place.

After stitches----->Glue

2008-12-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

Frames

2008-12-28T20:23:00.001-08:00

C'est le moment de la pose des couples.

It is time for the frames.

A shape named boat

2008-12-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

Lorsque quatre des cinq planches sont cousues avec le tableau, voila le resultat.

After four of five planks are stitched with the transom, here is the result.

Keel laying

2008-12-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

Pose de la quille.

Once the planks are all cut, the two first ones are stitched together. Here is the keel!

Petit scarf

2008-12-28T06:52:00.000-08:00

Il y a trois dimensions importantes dans une planche, deux nous importe ici, la longueur et la largeur. Joindre deux planches bout a bout... Tout un programme! Le trace des planches est donne a partir d'un bord droit. Il faut donc constituer une grande planche a partir de deux plus petites. Voila le shema de pincipe du montage pour faire la decoupe du chanfrein qui va bien et une photo du collage a l'epoxy (avec chauffage, il faisait froid ce jour la).

There are three important dimensions in a plank, two are of importance here, the length and the width. Glueing two planks together is "a" task. See how we did that, easy...

Wood cutting ceremony

2008-12-27T12:49:00.000-08:00

Toute la famille a fait le voyage pour Noel. C'est donc avec une equipe consequente que nous celebrons la premiere coupe.

All the familly came over for Christmas. We celebrated the wood cutting ceremony with a consistent team.

Which boat?

2008-12-27T07:50:00.000-08:00

Joel veut un bateau avec une seule voile. Pol veut un bateau avec des rames. Je veux un beau bateau, leger et facile a construire. Miracle, Internet nous permet de trouver la perle rare. Ce sera un Coble, petit bateau de peche ecossais: Northumbrian 12'6" http://www.selway-fisher.com/Cobles.htm. Avec les plans en main, nous achetons le bois chez Harwood Lumber a Houston. Pour l'annecdote, le CP marine est importe de France. Comme je connais la qualite de ce bois, je decide de diminuer l'epaisseur du borde de 6mm a 4mm. J'espere gagner une dizaine de kilos avec ce petit changement. Vu la forme du bateau, je ne pense pas que cela influencera la rigidite d'ensemble. J'ai aussi vu que la mise en forme de l'etrave n'etait pas evidente avec du CP de 6mm, cela sera sans doute moins complique avec du 4 mm. J'ai donc pris six planches de CP marine 4mm, trois de 6mm et une de 12 mm. J'ai aussi pris environ 100 m de planche de pin de 19mm x 90mm dans les quelles je ferais tout le reste.

Joel wants a boat with one single sail. Pol wants a boat with oars. I want a nice light and easy to built boat. The web allows us to find the one we need. This will be a Coble, small fishing Scotish boat: Northumbrian 12'6" http://www.selway-fisher.com/Cobles.htm. With drawings in hands, we bought the wood from Hardwwod Lumber in Houston. For the record, the marine plywood is made in France. As I know this manufacturer, I decided to reduce the thickness from 6mm to 4mm. I hope to save 20 lbs with this change. Seeing the boat shape, I doubt this will change the overall stiffness. I noticed as well that the bow shape was tricky to get with 6mm plywood. This will be much easier with 4mm planks. I bought six planks of 4mm marine plywood, three 6mm and one 12mm. I also bought around 300 ft of pine fir 3/4" x 3"1/2, in which I will make the rest.

A dinghy in the head

2008-12-27T07:07:00.000-08:00

Ou que j'aille, ou que je vive, je ne me sens jamais vraiment bien sans un bateau au quel penser. Un peu comme une femme, il faut que le bateau soit a mon cote, la ou je vis, ou pas trop loin. Il faut qu'il soit proche pour que quand je pense a lui, je puisse aller le voir, le regarder et en prendre soin.
Wherever I go, wherever I live, I never feel right without a boat to think about. Like my woman, the boat needs to be close to me, where I live, or not too far. I need to be able to see my boat when I need and take care of it.