SEAYANIKA - Cal Vader 49

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS / SECOND YEAR

10/18/01 Primer! The entire cabin house has been sanded and faired to Erik's exacting standards. Finally today, the primer coat was applied. Now white, the cabin house looks strangely lower. Seayanika is definetely looking sleek.

10/23/01 Misc. Projects Here's a list of other projects that Erik is currently working on: Designing and attaching the bowsprit, fabricating engine mounts, and attaching vertical ribs to the hull's interior for future attachment of furnishings and equipment. The cockpit still needs to be faired and primered also.

11/12/01 Sailing We've just returned from the Baja HaHa. Basically it was 12 days of partying and sailing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. We were lucky enough to be invited as crew by Steve and Angel Phillips on their Catalina MK42 "Fruitcakes", along with a friend of theirs, Doug. We could NOT have asked for a better group of people. Erik got some well deserved R&R and I (finally) warmed up once we were south of Bahia Magdalena. We also learned a lot about different systems, what would work for us and what we'd like to improve upon. That's what I think is one of the biggest advantages of building our own....we can build to suit our exact needs. Guess it's time to get back to work!

11/26/01 Berths! Erik has been working on the interior, adding ribs and attaching a couple pieces of furniture. This surely has to be some of the (nearly) instant gratification we've been waiting for. He has installed the forward v-berth and part of the hanging locker and shelf. In the library the settee is in place. It is going to be a great place to kick back and rest or read and will also function as a good sea berth. I've been busy varnishing the mahogany slats that will be used on the walls above the berths. Erik insists on 6 coats.....sure takes a long time!

1/22/02 More Progress Ok, so call me lazy, but I haven't done a construction progress entry for nearly two months. After the forward v-berths and settee in the library Erik began working on the forward head. Between the generous size of the room and the curving lower cabinets, it is really turning out wonderfully. Finding the perfect placement for the toilet required some "sit" tests as shown in this photo. We had to make sure there was sufficient elbow room. I really like the look of brass on a boat and finally convinced Erik to allow me this concession in this head. I had found a brass sink at a garage sale which I really liked. Then, of course, I had to go purchase a brass faucet to match, which I found at Home Depot.

Erik's next project was to work on the passageway between the main salon and the aft cabin. This is where he decided to place the U-Line ice maker, the day tank (down low), the Village Marine No Frills-450 watermaker, and a sink and countertop where he can wash his hands after coming out of the engine room. We will be installing "Corian" type countertops on most horizontal surfaces. Expensive, but it really adds to the overall look of the interior.

The engine room is coming along also. Erik has installed 1" soundproofing insulation which is taped on all the seams. Over this he placed an aluminum perforated sheet to protect the insulation and to give him places to attach equipment to the walls. Most of the bilge pumps and their plumbing have been installed and the valves for them are located in the engine room. Last week Erik built the workbench for the engine room on the port side, where he has stand up room. Hopefully by the middle of next month we will be ready to install our 80hp Lehman diesel engine. We will be hiring a crane to not only install the engine, but at the same time our 12.5kw generator and the washer/dryer. Erik said we will also have the crane operator place a piece of the mast into the step (just for an hour or so) so we can do some measurements for chainplate locations.

2/18/02 Crane Day! Last Friday was Crane Day. (Sounds like some kind of national holiday.) We had been saving up all the heavy items to be installed in Seayanika for a day when we would hire a crane for hoisting. We installed the 80 hp Ford Lehman diesel engine, our 12.5 kw generator, the washer/dryer and a 35 foot section of the mast. Everything went without a hitch as Erik was well prepared. The mast piece was removed after about an hour because we just needed to take some measurements. We used a local crane company, Horizon Crane Services, and the owner/operator Ed, was punctual, knowledgeable, and efficient. He was in and out of here in less than two hours, keeping the bill from being too painful. Be sure to check out the Photo Page for a couple of new pictures from Crane Day.
On another note, we recently purchased all of our hatches and portlights from an excellent vendor, Marine Depot in Chino, CA. They are the distributor for "Manship" ports/hatches, which Erik feels are of superior quality. They are constructed with 316 stainless steel and are really beefy and beautiful. We have also ordered our rudder to be fabricated by Foss Foam in Costa Mesa. It should be ready in about three weeks.

3/15/02 Varnish Erik has been busy this past month installing the interior window frames and veneer on the interior cabin house sides. He fabricated all of the mahogany pieces and moldings for the windows and his craftmanship is wonderful. No wonder it takes so long! We have found that it is imperative to add one coat of varnish over the veneer the same day it is installed. The one day we didn't, it was humid overnight, and the veneer swelled. We won't do that again. This month was the annual meeting for the Cal 46 Association and the guest speaker was Bill Lapworth, the designer of the Cal 46. We had the opportunity to dine with him and his wife Peggy, and Bill and Erik discussed Seayanika in detail. Aside from adding the bow thruster, Bill seemed to approve of our project. Erik says Seayanika will be in the water this summer, but summer goes through September. Once she's in the water, we're moving aboard. I'm ready!

3/25/02 Bulwarks The past few days, Erik and his crew of two, Danny & Kevin, have been working on the bulwarks. After connecting several 12 foot lengths of teak with scarf joints, they manhandled these pieces into place bending them to follow the curves of the boat. After a dry fit, the pieces were removed and epoxied and bolted into place. Teak plugs were inserted into the bolt holes before sanding and shaping of the upper edges. We have been going back and forth about installing teak decks. If we were going to do them, we needed to do so before attaching any of the hardware (cleats, hawse pipes, deck fills, etc). Erik has decided in the past couple of days that teak decks it is, so that process will begin today. I suppose there are a lot of reasons why NOT to install teak decks....but then again, there are also a lot of reasons why not to build your own boat.

4/6/02 Teak Decks OK, teak decks are not necesarily practical because they require more maintenance than non-skid. They also add weight to the boat and generally attract more heat. BUT, WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The decks are not completed yet, but I can already see that I love this addition. One of the usual drawbacks to teak decks is that they are installed with screws to the deck, and each screw represents another hole and another possible leak site. Erik has resolved this problem by attaching the teak slats with screws only long enough for the epoxy he was using for the bond to set, holding the teak in place. Once the bond was good, he pulled out the screws, filled the holes with epoxy and put teak plugs where the screws were. Then the seams were filled with 3M teak sealer and the result looks like a traditionally fastened deck. I am estimating that the entire process will end up taking about 6 weeks and that includes milling the wood, figuring out the process he was going to use, laying the deck, sealing and final sanding. The cost (and this is an estimate) was between $800-$1000 in teak and $500-$600 in sealant and epoxy, for this relatively small (140 sf) deck area.

5/9/02 Still Teak We're at the end of the teak process. It's taken a bit longer than we figured, but we did take a week off to attend Pacific Sail Expo in Oakland, which gave Erik some inspiration. The entire deck is now down, seam sealed and sanded. (See the new pictures on the Photos page.) After he put the deck down, he installed the hawse pipes and pull up cleats. Erik is now finalizing the trim pieces around the hatches but he needs to go down to Frost Hardwood to pick up a few more pieces of teak. He still wants to install some teak on some step areas that lead to the cockpit. I think his next main task is to install the chainplates which he fabricated on a couple of rainy days last month. And, we are waiting for backorders for the stanchion bases which he wants to install before going back inside to fabricate more furniture.

5/22/02 Windows We're closing up the boat! Erik has installed all the portlights and hatches, and is now installing the cabinhouse windows. We debated back and forth between glass and Lexan. Finally, after taking into consideration that the glass would have to be special ordered, bent and shipped, we opted for Lexan from a manufacturer in San Diego. Erik made templates for the windows from marine ply and then cut the Lexan. Installation was made simple by (costly) 3M double-coated urethane form tape and caulking. For added security, Erik will be fabricating stainless steel frames that match our beautiful Manship portlights. Yesterday, he also finished drilling the chainplates which he made and polished from raw stainless. I'm not sure what's next on his to do list.....maybe some more interior???

6/20/02 Panels
Aside from miscellaneous smaller projects, Erik has begun work on the electrical panels for both the DC and AC power sources. He has purchased two ProSine inverters; two because he wants one dedicated inverter for the computer, TV and stereo. And, because we have a 3-phase 12.5kw generator and quite a bit of electronics/gear going on Seayanika, the panel wiring will be a bit time consuming and complicated. It's a good thing he's organized. I'm already lost looking at all the wires!

7/24/02 Misc. Time keeps flying by and Erik is still working on the exterior. I'm impatient for more interior progress. One of the things he has done this past month is the prefitting of our stainless lifelines. We have decided to use solid rails for safety around the entire boat. He has also been applying the first three coats of varnish to the exterior teak (not on the teak deck, obviously). His part-time, summer helper, Cory has been cutting and fiting 2" rigid foam on the interior roof. It's making a big difference on the temperature inside. There has also been a fair amount of fairing and sanding going on. (Me thinks this will never end.) Drains and thru hole have been installed as have the framing and fittings for our dorade vents. And finally, and most recently, Erik is fabricating the cockpit sole. He's made an aluminum frame and is heat-molding starboard to cover the frame. Over this will be a teak grate. We've been debating back and forth about the color we are going to paint the hull. We KNOW white, off white, or something very light is the intelligent and prudent way to go. But sometimes sentimentality rules, and Erik envisions Seayanika as a blue boat. So.....looks like she's gunna be blue!

9/1/02 Transom The modification of the transom has begun. Erik, and his new carpenter helper, Lea, have begun the fiberglass lay up. First they attached slats to the existing transom to help define the curve. Then thin pieces of wood were used to make the form, which were waxed before the fiberglass cloth was applied. See the pictures on the Photo Page for a visual. There has also been significant work done on the interior. Mostly this has been in the form of tearing out what was put in temporarily, painting the pieces and then permanently attaching them. I helped with the painting and cutting of the trunk liner which is being installed inside some of the drawers and compartments. There should be significant interior progress in the next couple of months, now that Erik has some experienced help.

9/22/02 More Misc. Interior progress is in the works! Erik and Lea have installed the bulkhead separating the aft head from the aft stateroom. It's funny how adding bulkheads and separating areas into rooms actually makes the space look bigger. Erik has also built in the cabinet for the washer/dryer and will install it Monday. (I think just to get it out of his way.) Lea and Erik also cut and attached the mahogany veneer to the large curved bulkhead in the salon and applied one coat of varnish to protect it. I have been helping out in my small way too. I've been detailing all the exterior teak by scraping away stray paint drips and I cleaned all the teak decking and applied teak oil. The deck looks great!

Homepage Next Page

10/18/01	Primer!	The entire cabin house has been sanded and faired to Erik's exacting standards. Finally today, the primer coat was applied. Now white, the cabin house looks strangely lower. Seayanika is definetely looking sleek.
10/23/01	Misc. Projects	Here's a list of other projects that Erik is currently working on: Designing and attaching the bowsprit, fabricating engine mounts, and attaching vertical ribs to the hull's interior for future attachment of furnishings and equipment. The cockpit still needs to be faired and primered also.
11/12/01	Sailing	We've just returned from the Baja HaHa. Basically it was 12 days of partying and sailing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. We were lucky enough to be invited as crew by Steve and Angel Phillips on their Catalina MK42 "Fruitcakes", along with a friend of theirs, Doug. We could NOT have asked for a better group of people. Erik got some well deserved R&R and I (finally) warmed up once we were south of Bahia Magdalena. We also learned a lot about different systems, what would work for us and what we'd like to improve upon. That's what I think is one of the biggest advantages of building our own....we can build to suit our exact needs. Guess it's time to get back to work!
11/26/01	Berths!	Erik has been working on the interior, adding ribs and attaching a couple pieces of furniture. This surely has to be some of the (nearly) instant gratification we've been waiting for. He has installed the forward v-berth and part of the hanging locker and shelf. In the library the settee is in place. It is going to be a great place to kick back and rest or read and will also function as a good sea berth. I've been busy varnishing the mahogany slats that will be used on the walls above the berths. Erik insists on 6 coats.....sure takes a long time!
1/22/02	More Progress	Ok, so call me lazy, but I haven't done a construction progress entry for nearly two months. After the forward v-berths and settee in the library Erik began working on the forward head. Between the generous size of the room and the curving lower cabinets, it is really turning out wonderfully. Finding the perfect placement for the toilet required some "sit" tests as shown in this photo. We had to make sure there was sufficient elbow room. I really like the look of brass on a boat and finally convinced Erik to allow me this concession in this head. I had found a brass sink at a garage sale which I really liked. Then, of course, I had to go purchase a brass faucet to match, which I found at Home Depot. Erik's next project was to work on the passageway between the main salon and the aft cabin. This is where he decided to place the U-Line ice maker, the day tank (down low), the Village Marine No Frills-450 watermaker, and a sink and countertop where he can wash his hands after coming out of the engine room. We will be installing "Corian" type countertops on most horizontal surfaces. Expensive, but it really adds to the overall look of the interior. The engine room is coming along also. Erik has installed 1" soundproofing insulation which is taped on all the seams. Over this he placed an aluminum perforated sheet to protect the insulation and to give him places to attach equipment to the walls. Most of the bilge pumps and their plumbing have been installed and the valves for them are located in the engine room. Last week Erik built the workbench for the engine room on the port side, where he has stand up room. Hopefully by the middle of next month we will be ready to install our 80hp Lehman diesel engine. We will be hiring a crane to not only install the engine, but at the same time our 12.5kw generator and the washer/dryer. Erik said we will also have the crane operator place a piece of the mast into the step (just for an hour or so) so we can do some measurements for chainplate locations.
2/18/02	Crane Day!	Last Friday was Crane Day. (Sounds like some kind of national holiday.) We had been saving up all the heavy items to be installed in Seayanika for a day when we would hire a crane for hoisting. We installed the 80 hp Ford Lehman diesel engine, our 12.5 kw generator, the washer/dryer and a 35 foot section of the mast. Everything went without a hitch as Erik was well prepared. The mast piece was removed after about an hour because we just needed to take some measurements. We used a local crane company, Horizon Crane Services, and the owner/operator Ed, was punctual, knowledgeable, and efficient. He was in and out of here in less than two hours, keeping the bill from being too painful. Be sure to check out the Photo Page for a couple of new pictures from Crane Day. On another note, we recently purchased all of our hatches and portlights from an excellent vendor, Marine Depot in Chino, CA. They are the distributor for "Manship" ports/hatches, which Erik feels are of superior quality. They are constructed with 316 stainless steel and are really beefy and beautiful. We have also ordered our rudder to be fabricated by Foss Foam in Costa Mesa. It should be ready in about three weeks.
3/15/02	Varnish	Erik has been busy this past month installing the interior window frames and veneer on the interior cabin house sides. He fabricated all of the mahogany pieces and moldings for the windows and his craftmanship is wonderful. No wonder it takes so long! We have found that it is imperative to add one coat of varnish over the veneer the same day it is installed. The one day we didn't, it was humid overnight, and the veneer swelled. We won't do that again. This month was the annual meeting for the Cal 46 Association and the guest speaker was Bill Lapworth, the designer of the Cal 46. We had the opportunity to dine with him and his wife Peggy, and Bill and Erik discussed Seayanika in detail. Aside from adding the bow thruster, Bill seemed to approve of our project. Erik says Seayanika will be in the water this summer, but summer goes through September. Once she's in the water, we're moving aboard. I'm ready!
3/25/02	Bulwarks	The past few days, Erik and his crew of two, Danny & Kevin, have been working on the bulwarks. After connecting several 12 foot lengths of teak with scarf joints, they manhandled these pieces into place bending them to follow the curves of the boat. After a dry fit, the pieces were removed and epoxied and bolted into place. Teak plugs were inserted into the bolt holes before sanding and shaping of the upper edges. We have been going back and forth about installing teak decks. If we were going to do them, we needed to do so before attaching any of the hardware (cleats, hawse pipes, deck fills, etc). Erik has decided in the past couple of days that teak decks it is, so that process will begin today. I suppose there are a lot of reasons why NOT to install teak decks....but then again, there are also a lot of reasons why not to build your own boat.
4/6/02	Teak Decks	OK, teak decks are not necesarily practical because they require more maintenance than non-skid. They also add weight to the boat and generally attract more heat. BUT, WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The decks are not completed yet, but I can already see that I love this addition. One of the usual drawbacks to teak decks is that they are installed with screws to the deck, and each screw represents another hole and another possible leak site. Erik has resolved this problem by attaching the teak slats with screws only long enough for the epoxy he was using for the bond to set, holding the teak in place. Once the bond was good, he pulled out the screws, filled the holes with epoxy and put teak plugs where the screws were. Then the seams were filled with 3M teak sealer and the result looks like a traditionally fastened deck. I am estimating that the entire process will end up taking about 6 weeks and that includes milling the wood, figuring out the process he was going to use, laying the deck, sealing and final sanding. The cost (and this is an estimate) was between $800-$1000 in teak and $500-$600 in sealant and epoxy, for this relatively small (140 sf) deck area.
5/9/02	Still Teak	We're at the end of the teak process. It's taken a bit longer than we figured, but we did take a week off to attend Pacific Sail Expo in Oakland, which gave Erik some inspiration. The entire deck is now down, seam sealed and sanded. (See the new pictures on the Photos page.) After he put the deck down, he installed the hawse pipes and pull up cleats. Erik is now finalizing the trim pieces around the hatches but he needs to go down to Frost Hardwood to pick up a few more pieces of teak. He still wants to install some teak on some step areas that lead to the cockpit. I think his next main task is to install the chainplates which he fabricated on a couple of rainy days last month. And, we are waiting for backorders for the stanchion bases which he wants to install before going back inside to fabricate more furniture.
5/22/02	Windows	We're closing up the boat! Erik has installed all the portlights and hatches, and is now installing the cabinhouse windows. We debated back and forth between glass and Lexan. Finally, after taking into consideration that the glass would have to be special ordered, bent and shipped, we opted for Lexan from a manufacturer in San Diego. Erik made templates for the windows from marine ply and then cut the Lexan. Installation was made simple by (costly) 3M double-coated urethane form tape and caulking. For added security, Erik will be fabricating stainless steel frames that match our beautiful Manship portlights. Yesterday, he also finished drilling the chainplates which he made and polished from raw stainless. I'm not sure what's next on his to do list.....maybe some more interior???
6/20/02	Panels	Aside from miscellaneous smaller projects, Erik has begun work on the electrical panels for both the DC and AC power sources. He has purchased two ProSine inverters; two because he wants one dedicated inverter for the computer, TV and stereo. And, because we have a 3-phase 12.5kw generator and quite a bit of electronics/gear going on Seayanika, the panel wiring will be a bit time consuming and complicated. It's a good thing he's organized. I'm already lost looking at all the wires!
7/24/02	Misc.	Time keeps flying by and Erik is still working on the exterior. I'm impatient for more interior progress. One of the things he has done this past month is the prefitting of our stainless lifelines. We have decided to use solid rails for safety around the entire boat. He has also been applying the first three coats of varnish to the exterior teak (not on the teak deck, obviously). His part-time, summer helper, Cory has been cutting and fiting 2" rigid foam on the interior roof. It's making a big difference on the temperature inside. There has also been a fair amount of fairing and sanding going on. (Me thinks this will never end.) Drains and thru hole have been installed as have the framing and fittings for our dorade vents. And finally, and most recently, Erik is fabricating the cockpit sole. He's made an aluminum frame and is heat-molding starboard to cover the frame. Over this will be a teak grate. We've been debating back and forth about the color we are going to paint the hull. We KNOW white, off white, or something very light is the intelligent and prudent way to go. But sometimes sentimentality rules, and Erik envisions Seayanika as a blue boat. So.....looks like she's gunna be blue!
9/1/02	Transom	The modification of the transom has begun. Erik, and his new carpenter helper, Lea, have begun the fiberglass lay up. First they attached slats to the existing transom to help define the curve. Then thin pieces of wood were used to make the form, which were waxed before the fiberglass cloth was applied. See the pictures on the Photo Page for a visual. There has also been significant work done on the interior. Mostly this has been in the form of tearing out what was put in temporarily, painting the pieces and then permanently attaching them. I helped with the painting and cutting of the trunk liner which is being installed inside some of the drawers and compartments. There should be significant interior progress in the next couple of months, now that Erik has some experienced help.
9/22/02	More Misc.	Interior progress is in the works! Erik and Lea have installed the bulkhead separating the aft head from the aft stateroom. It's funny how adding bulkheads and separating areas into rooms actually makes the space look bigger. Erik has also built in the cabinet for the washer/dryer and will install it Monday. (I think just to get it out of his way.) Lea and Erik also cut and attached the mahogany veneer to the large curved bulkhead in the salon and applied one coat of varnish to protect it. I have been helping out in my small way too. I've been detailing all the exterior teak by scraping away stray paint drips and I cleaned all the teak decking and applied teak oil. The deck looks great!