My First Sail

I grew up in Puerto Rico where the strong tropical sun would burn me to a crisp in no time! To combat the harmful UV rays, I would wear long sleeve rash guards and a sheet over my legs. It wasn't long before I realized that this sheet could turn my simple kayak into a square rigger!

This simple queen size bed sheet was tied to the kayak and raised to catch the wind. Here you can see my dog and I riding the wind effortlessly! I tried many variations, using the paddle as a mast, a yard, and even as a dagger board. 

Back then, I never imagined myself owning a sailboat; let alone living on one! It's incredible how much can change in just a decade!

Crevice Corrosion

Stainless steel is a wonderful metal that "stains less" than regular steel. Regular steel will begin to rust when left exposed to air and moisture as the iron in it will form a layer of iron oxide. Stainless steel will not rust as quickly because it contains more chromium which forms a protective layer of chromium oxide on the surface. This protective layer shields the rest of the metal from the corroding, giving stainless steel its wonderful qualities.

While stainless steel won't rust the way regular steel will, it does corrode in a distinct fashion: Crevice Corrosion. Crevice corrosion occurs in areas where the chromium oxide layer has broken down, usually in areas that are deprived of oxygen or very moist or exposed to acidic vapors.

Chainplates usually live in closed up and tight areas of the boat where crevice corrosion can begin. This in combination with the immense stress placed on these metal pieces can lead to fractures and breaks in the chainplate.

While crevice corrosion does show warning signs, they are often overlooked as they are miniscule. The most common sign of crevice corrosion are horizontal fracture lines running perpendicular to the loads placed on the chainplate.

One recommended method to find these fracture lines is to remove the metal fitting, wash it with acid and scrub it completely clean; then inspect the metal piece under a bright light with strong magnification. As you can imagine, this method is highly impractical!

The method I use is to look closely at the metal fitting with a strong light source aiming at it. I do not use magnification or any other fancy gadget. As a dentist I have a lot of experience with finding microscopic cracks in teeth. I am able to see these fractures with my naked eye, and you can too if you take the time to look closely at the metal in front of you. Imagine that there is a crack in the metal and you need to prove that it's not there. When you see it, you know it's there; alternatively, when you can't find it, you were proven wrong. With this frame of mind, you will be more focused on finding the smallest of flaws in the item you are inspecting. 

Do you see the fracture line?

This is the same image but heavily zoomed and contrasted to accentuate the fracture line, along with some helpful arrows point to the crack. Can you see the crack line on the original image?

These cracks are tiny and tend to occur horizontally across the surface due to the combination of stress and corrosion. Eventually, they will lead to catastrophic failure!

Keep a close eye on your stainless steel fittings for these tiny cracks. The moment you see them, it is time for immediate replacement of that part. 

We're Getting Married!

Maddie and I are getting married today! 

We met on Tinder 2 years ago and she moved aboard right away (per my request). It was a rough adjustment for her at first, transitioning from living in a land house with lots of space to a narrow sailboat. 

The first year was a mixed bag, there were fun times when we would relax on the deck, and then there were the not-so-fun times when we were re-powering and on the hard. We worked on projects together, like when she helped me paint Tooth after I finished building him, or choosing the colors for the synthetic rigging on Wisdom.

During her first year, she learned the basics of sailing and came to trust Wisdom through all sorts of weather. Then we set off on a month long sailing trip out into the ocean where she really fell in love with sailing!

It was on that trip that I proposed to her and we became engaged.

One year after that, and a lot of planning later, we are getting married. We will tie the knot and start our journey as a married couple. I figure if we can live together in a small boat, we must be compatible. 

I always maintain one rule on the boat, I am captain and she is Admiral! Following this simple chain of command, we work very well together and make decisions as a couple in a way that makes both of us happy. I look forward to a long lifetime of cruising together.

Installing the Rafters

The structure is now rather flimsy with all that weight aloft and hardly any support to it. The structure wracks in the wind since it lacks support from the roof.  The rafters will connect to the ridge beam and tie them to the wall frames. On a boat, these rafters are analogous to futtocks leading to the chine log.

The rafters are connected to the ridge beam with strong-ties and to the wall frames with hurricane anchors. The rafters are set 24" O.C. with exception to the butt block bolts. The rafters near the change in pitch of the roof are doubled to give each point more strength as the roofs change pitch.

The trusses sit a bit lower than the rest of the rafters to allow a sandwhich plank to be set between the truss and plywood roof to add the extension.

The tiny house is starting to take shape as it looks more and more like a house. Later on, boards that will be analogous to floors in a boat will be installed in the rafters below the ridge beam to tie them all together and make the structure even stronger!

Bedding Hardware

Whenever you make a hole in your deck, you need to seal it to avoid water intrusion. This is easy enough when you are repairing a hole in the deck with wood or fiberglass, but what about when you install hardware through the deck?

This is where bedding compound comes into play! Bedding compound will seal up any voids that may exist between the item and the deck. This seals out water and moisture, while adhering the item to the deck. Bedding compound also needs to be forgiving, allowing it to stretch and wiggle as the boat twists through the waves and expands during the heat of the day. 

My preferred bedding compound for marine hardware is 4200, manufactured by 3M. While not as popular as 5200, 4200 does an excellent job and is much more forgiving. 5200 is considered a "permanent" adhesive. When 3M (a company famous for making things that stick) says its product is permanent, they mean it! I have seem the top layer of a deck be ripped up with deck hardware that was bedded with 5200. 

4200, on the other hand is just a hare's breath less "permanent" than 5200. This means that it will still seal out all traces of water and firmly adhere the fitting to the deck, but it can be removed with enough persuasion in the future. 

I like retrieve-ability in everything I do. The thought that something is now permanently installed and can never be removed irks me! Whether it be an implant crown that I place in my dental office or a chainplate, I want to have a method to remove it should the situation arise. 

When you use bedding compound, the concept is simple: You want to fill all the voids so that it occupies all the space between the fitting and the deck. To ensure that you have enough compound in there, you need it to squeeze out. Bedding compound is very gooey and is rather hard to clean up; but if you follow a few easy steps, cleanup could be much easier.

In this example, we will be bedding chainplates. The first step is to cover everything you don't want bedding on with tape. Then trim off all the excess tape with a sharp knife. 

Next set the plate over the chainplate on the hull and outline it with tape as well.

When you load up the space around the chainplate with 4200, be sure to get some into the  screw holes as well. 

As you push down on the cover plate, you will see the excess ooze out of the space and onto the tape. You want to see excess ooze out of all the sides. If one area didn't ooze any, it means that there wasn't enough bedding compound in that area and it might be dry. It is strongly recommended to pull the fitting off and add extra compound to the lacking areas, although this will be very messy! This is why it is best to load it up with way more than you think it will need that way you only have to do this step once.

Once the excess has oozed out, simply peel the tape up and the majority of the excess will come off with it. Any extra squeeze out can be wiped off with a paper towel. 

Be sure you see some squeezing out between the cover plate and the chainplate. Many people will focus on sealing the edges of the cover plate but forget to seal along the chainplate, resulting in a leaky deck that will rot out the deck core!

This is an easy process to do, it just takes some time and patience to get it done right.