One Authors Opinion

The conventional "minds-eye" image of the life of an author could be that of someone sitting on the porch of their Malibu beachfront cottage, jotting down words as they come to mind, avoiding calls from the late night talk shows, without a care about anything but the plot of their book and the daily glance at the New York Times ratings of the last book... ...the life-threatening intrusion of "writers block"... ...the miraculous insight that leads to a night of furious typing to create a 400 page novel that immediately hits #1!... ...movie rights!... ...Broadway!...

Nice fiction...

Over the years, Ive known a number of authors; some in my family, whove been "up there", so to speak. I can now say, with great pride, that I am an author, too. With that pride also comes a certain humility that I am among many, many, whose works are far more important in peoples lives than mine. Still, I know that I worked honestly, carefully, and very hard to make something that I hope lasts longer than I do, understanding that once I let it go I have very little control over its future.

It hasnt taken long to learn that we live in a time that threatens the existence of authors and other artists, especially musicians, because our technology is growing at a rate far greater than our ability to control, or even understand, what the effects of it can be. Its already been decades since musicians and music writers started losing livelihoods due to cassette and then CD reproductions of materials that were sold openly on the street.

More recently, almost every household has scanning and/or digital photography equipment. While it may not seem like the same thing as counterfeiting currency, the ease of which anything on paper can be copied has resulted in a world-wide market of pirated books. In an era of unprecedented material acqusition, as well as personal debt, the idea that you could acquire a book that youve always wanted to read for a very low price or even for free, is very compelling. Its sadly amazing to see what is offered.

That concept should be balanced with an understanding of what would never have been, if authors didnt get paid to do their jobs and if publishers tried to print books strictly out of their own pockets. I cant imagine and I am not sure if anyone else could.

You can counter this with the rationale that we are living in a new world. There are certainly benefits to the new technologies. Im sure that I have a lot of advantages over my grandfather, who typed on manual typerwriters, due to word processing programs and spread-sheets. This new world type of thinking has also led to a new way of doing business that has been developing in recent years...

In more recent times, extremely large, multi-faceted corporations have developed with goal of marketing virtually anything that exists. This means that they have, within their corporations, companies that make product A, companies that make product B, companie that make product C, etc., etc.. This gives these large corporations unimaginable resources and leverage.

If such a corporation wants dominance in product B, for example, they can give product B away to customers for free, Company B operating at what, for other companies, would be a severe loss, the other various companies within the large corporation providing the capital to keep Company B going indefinitely. Other companies that make product B, starting with the smallest, go out of business until the large corporation largely, if not totally, dominates the market for product B and then can raise prices to whatever they want, now being "the only game in town". That "town" just happens to be known as the planet "Earth".

This same leverage can be used to force other companies, whose function they may not be so interested in replacing, to operate under unfair terms.

As an author, who relies on the fair selling of the books that I write, I would simply like to be paid for the years of research required, the writing that kept me up late many nights and as a token of the enjoyment that I hope that you are getting from the book that you reading. As someone with a small, but developing sense of what is involved in bringing a book to fruition after the author has submitted their manuscript, I would like to believe that my editors, book designers, marketing staff, warehouse workers and everyone else, that Ive seen work very hard, get fairly treated for what they do.

It is not acceptable to simply copy someone elses work for free. Please look carefully at the "bargain" that is in front of you to be sure that it is a legitimate copy. If its a good deal, Im all for it. I want you to ready my book, after all. If its not legitimate, please think about whats behind that "bargain".

Id like to commend Peter Schiffer for his work in trying to help authors.
See this link: http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/press_release.php?id=48
I hope that others will follow suit...

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A Kind Of Hush

I wouldnt say our engine is particularly noisy, indeed as its getting a few hours on it it seems to be getting a bit quieter.  We had no soundproofing under the 18mm deck floor.  We have a local firm  

who specialise in acoustic and thermal insulation.  Ive know the owner for many years and contacted him for some advice.  He offered a 43mm laminated foam panel with 10kg man made lead type core wrapped in heat reflective foil as a solution.

The process started a few weeks ago with me making and supplying templates as TAP will make to exact size rather than just buying it in slabs as is the norm from chandlers.

 Starboard floorboard underside

Last week I got a call to say the panels were ready and today I fixed them under the floors.  The backing is self adhesive but I decided to add some mechanical fixing too.

Engine hatch before

Engine hatch after

I did some dB checks with the trusty iPhone db meter yesterday while we were on the move and will do some more tomorrow when we move again.  I have to say though just with the engine on tick over there is a noticeable difference.  Of course the engine is not the only noise source, a fair amount of prop against water is present too so a static test is not really valid.

On another noise note Ive had an annoying metallic buzz at 1050rmp and again at 1900rpm which can be heard in this video.

I think Ive now solved it.  Theres a plate covering the turbo and I think this is the cause of the problem.

I have put it back with a few dollops of high temperature silicone in the hope this will stop the vibration.

RESULTS

First off the vibration has stopped, so thats cured.

I wish I had done some more noise comparison tests at different RPM as the difference on general cruise RPM is measurably better:-

Before

After

But this really isnt the whole story as I later found out.  The sound proofing actually works better the louder the engine gets, so as the RPM and prop noise builds, the sound insulation damps more of it out, so its much much quieter when the RPM is higher and the prop thrashing more.  Now its much quieter when its working harder something I didnt expect.


Another test I never considered measuring was the generator.  The genny is already cocooned but with the new under deck sound insulation the difference is very noticeable.  I will be going back to TAP to see if they can help with quieting then Mikuni CH boiler.


So in conclusion:-  Well worth installing.

 

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Getting ready for the chine

      My little brother came in yesterday, and he, Ramon, and I spent the afternoon at the boat shop ripping 8"x2" rough-sawn oak into 8"x1" halves with my cheap little Harbor Freight table saw. Ill be using these for the chine lamination after running them through the thickness planer. 
      Lots of time on this build has been spent trying to morph the wood I have into the wood I want. First, for the keel I bought construction-grade Southern yellow pine which promptly warped. Ramon and I used all manner of clamp configurations to get that stuff to laminate up into semi-straight pieces. Then, I milled the frame lumber from rough sawn white oak. Ripping the full oak pieces thickness-wise has been our toughest challenge yet. My table saw doesnt quite cut through half of the 8" width so we today we ran the pieces through on each side three times so we wouldnt blow a fuse (though we did manage switch the breaker multiple times anyway) and then ran a Sawzall down the middle to finally split the thing. Overall, though, we had a great day and worked off the beer and sushi from last night.

Boatbuilding in Hindsight:
1. Pay the little bit extra to have the wood milled.
2. Get a bandsaw.
3. Id really like to have some nicer power tools for the next build, but I certainly dont regret going with the cheap stuff the first time around (particularly because my shop is so exposed to the elements).

Here the frames are squared and braced from the outside. Ill add bracing on the inside before laminating the chine, then remove the exterior bracing to install the stringers.

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Electricals

Another few days of going background stuff. I have now wired up all the senders for liquid levels and wired up the helm switches for things like nav lights, tunnel lights, pump out pump, deck lighting, horn. The horn and tunnel lights are served by a rely each as the distance from the switch will cause a voltage drop. The power for these heavier items will come from the heavy cable the runs the length of the boat which will charge the bow thruster batteries.

I have also set about putting the first of the ceiling lining up, but it is a 3 person job. Ill show more on this if my plan works, if not it will be back to the drawing board.

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Not Another Storm Surge

In the last few days weve again experienced "storm surge", which is something that caused a great deal of havoc here along the Chesapeake Bay during hurricane Isabel, back in 2003. That seems minimal compared to what has occured in the past few days from New Jersey to New York City and beyond because of Hurricane Sandy.

Storm surge has to do with water rising in response to winds from a storm. Storm surge along ocean beaches is usually larger and more intense than in bays and tributaries, where the intensity is controlled by a number of factors. Not being a Meteorologist, mine will be a loose explanation.

How storm surge occurs in a body of water such as the Chesapeake Bay has to do, not only with a storms strength, but where the storms center is relative to that Bay. The main winds of cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere spin in a counter-clockwise direction, thus a storm traveling on a Northwest track and coming ashore South of the Bay will create winds that move from the Southeast to the Northwest, which is to say up and into the Bay. Isabel traveled just such a path and piled great amounts of water into the Bay, resulting in a large Storm Surge. Many people were severly hit by flooding; some losing their homes to that storm surge, both along the Bay and throughout its major rivers and tributaries.
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Track of Isabel is South of The Chesapeake Bay.
Image from NOAA.Gov

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Our shop, which is along the water, was badly flooded in Isabel and ever since we have been wary of any major storm that comes up the Atlantic to our area.

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Our workshop after Hurricane Isabel in 2003 (in the early
days of digital cameras).

Sandy,unlike Isabel, traveled a Northwest path, but came ashore North of the Bay and the counterclockwise push of water was largely out of the Bay. That is, during the initial impact. As Sandy moved inland part of that circular motion began to push from the Southwest, but with far less impact than Isabel. You may want to play with a compass and piece of paper to illustrate the principle.


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Hurricane Sandys path was North of the Chesapeake Bay.
Image from NOAA.gov

Twice, the storm surge from Sandy moved to within a few feet of our shop, causing a lot of stress, but neither time did it quite get inside. We were extremely lucky. From the information I could find I believe that our storm surge was probably about 3 feet above mean high tide. Here are two, very different photos of David and the Annie Buck, one from the first day that the rain bands came ashore, the second taken during the storm, but a short time before the peak of the surge. Notice the differences in, not only the height of the water, relative to the pier, but also how much higher the boats are floating.

An average high tide here is not much higher than this.

This is a dangerous situation. The storm surge has reached a little under 3 feet.
If you could see the shorelines, the creek looks much larger than normal.

We were lucky around here. A lot of other people faired far worse and our thoughts are with them. I know that there was a whole lot of damage North of us. Depending upon how bad that damage is, this storm may be remembered for taking the tall ship "Bounty". Like most hurricanes, there are a lot of stories that will come out of it.

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Boat Break Austin in Bloom

It is just past Mothers Day and Rio Grande City is already ablaze with daily highs over 100 degrees, white-hot skies, and a dry wind that blankets everything in dust. Here on the ranch, calves are failing to thrive, and the ranch owner has sold many of his cattle at auction. My lovely crimson mandevillas turn pale pink after a couple of days in the sun, and everything else is just a crunchy, grayish brown. Even my lines plan blueprints, tacked onto my workbench in full shade, have aged 50 years.

I was beginning to feel like I was living in Cormac McCarthys “The Road,” so last weekend, Ramon and I escaped this post-apocalyptic landscape to Austin, Texas. I wasnt after live music, food (although something not fried and not filled with meat sounded awfully good), or night life. This Iowan wanted to see something, anything green. We poked through gardens anywhere we could find them-- in neighborhoods, restaurants, parks, and the university. It was wonderful.

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Side Plywood Installation

Prefitting the side involved getting a 8 x 18" piece of plywood in place from the front of the boat back to where it ended just forward of the middle frame. Once it was bent in place and rough fit, a countersunk screw hole was put midway along the chine and one midway along the shear. These screws provided a repeatable location so the panel could be removed for trimming and re-fit in the same location. Once this piece was fit, then it was removed and put on the other side to determine if the fit was close enough to use as a template. The picture is of this trial fit on the other side of the boat. It was a decent fit, so it was traced onto another piece of plywood and cut.

Going back to the first side, towards the rear of the boat, 4 x 18" piece was fit and aligned to match up to the 8 long piece. An angular cut was made to establish a butt joint between the two pieces of plywood. Lines were traced onto the back side to show it locations along the chines, shears, transom and stem. Then the pieces were removed and laid out on a long make-shift table. Screw hole locations were determined for placing screws every 3" along the chine and shear. Location holes were drilled from the backside (which had the traced lines) every 18" or so. Then the pieces were flipped over and the final holes were marked on the face side and all holes drilled with a countersinking bit.

Butt joint bonding: A piece of plastic was put on the table and then a piece of painters tape adhered along the underneath side of the joint to prevent epoxy from flowing everywhere. One side of the board was screwed to the table using the predrilled holes, the second piece was butted tight and also screwed in place. A liberal application of clear epoxy was applied and a 4" wide strip of fiberglass tape was laid into the joint. After sqeegeeing the epoxy, a piece of plastic sheet was laid over the whole mess, a plywood piece of wood laid on top and clamped down.

The next day, after removing the clamps, the area over the fiberglass tape was fairly smooth but other areas had too much epoxy needing sanding. The second picture is my second panel for the other side of the boat and it did not come out as nice as my first one. It took quite alot of hand sanding to get this one smoothed down, but eventually it started to look better. Then I flipped it over and applied epoxy and fiberglass tape, but kept the tape shorter so it would not interfere with the fit to the chines and shear. A little more squeegee action and tighter clamping helped smooth it out. The whole surface of the plywood was epoxied as it will be on the inside of the boat and this is the easiest way to get it coated. This inside surface is the one shown in the prior picture showing the butt-joint clamping.

Securing to the boat: It was a marathon session gluing and screwing the plywood to the side of the boat. After mixing up a batch of epoxy, the frame surfaces and bonding area on the plywood was rolled and brushed with epoxy. Then a colloidal silica filler was added to the epoxy and this thickened goo was brushed onto frame members back to the middle frame. The panel was located to the frames with the previously mentioned locator screws. I rigged up a chain from the ceiling to support the rear of the long panel while I began clamping and screwing the front portion.

After clamping forward to the stem to ensure proper location, then clamps were placed adjacent to each screw hole and redrilled to put a pilot hole into the frame member and a #8 7/8" long silicon bronze screw was screwed into the hole. Progress was from the front of the boat rearward, removing clamps from previously screwed areas and re-clamping and drilling and securing three screws at a time. When I got to the middle of the boat, another batch of thickened epoxy was made and applied to the frames from that area rearward. In the forward and rear portions of the boat where the wrap is severe and a screw head may have pulled through, small blocks of wood were used with 1 5/8" drywall screws to secure the plywood in place until the epoxy cured. After 100 screws and almost two hours of non-stop action it was done. I worked up a good sweat and needed a beer.

The next day, the screw blocks were removed and replaced with a silicon bronze screw one at a time. Everything held in place. The overhanging plywood was trimmed off with a hand saw and planed and filed smooth with the chine, stem and transom. The portion along the bottom of the pictures will not get trimmed until the boat is flipped over. The last picture is at the transom after trimming off the excess side panel and sanding smooth with the surface of the transom. The way the side of this boat twists and rolls into the transom ("tumblehome" as its known in the auto and boat design community) is really cool. Since the boat is upside down, this roll is towards the bottom of the picture.

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