We took delivery of the 4-person RFD life raft on Friday. Brenda and I experimented with possible locations of the raft. The easy way would have been to put the raft athwart ships at the centre of the deck with the the fiberglass supports running along the deck, forward and aft. Unfortunately we had one big constraint: a solar-powered fan servicing the head (toilet, or "bath room") was just port of the centre line, and we deemed it and the light that it provided too valuable to lose.
Eventually we settled on a fore-aft placement just starboard of the centre line. Unfortunately the amount of curve of the deck necessitated the fabrication of a platform rather than the trimming of the provided fiberglass supports.
I spent about two hours producing a cardboard template of the curve and on Sunday I made a one-day dash to Darlington with the goal of producing something acceptable. I really needed a band saw but only had a jig saw. Normally I would have simply gone out and purchased a band saw but it seemed wasteful to purchase one when I expected to depart in only two months for a long absence. So jig saw it was. This meant somewhat rough curves and no jarrah (too hard).
Fortunately I had a nice sheet of 12mm marine ply on hand ( Robert's Boat Chandlery comes through again!) and was able to knock something up and return to Fremantle at 7PM. The supports are of 12mm marine ply, held together with 2-part epoxy glue and nails. They look like boxes but inside there is an internal third longitudinal.
I have filled in the nail holes. Tomorrow I will finish the sanding by hand the put on the first of two coats of 2-part white marine paint. I will also fabricate backing plates of 20mm jarrah to take the bolts inside the cabin. I will use Sikaflex to hold the platform to the deck, relying on the weight of the raft and the curve of the deck to help keep the platform from sliding around. The raft will be held down by three straps attached to stainless steel fittings bolted through the deck (hence the jarrah backing plates).
I've attached two photos that will reveal all.
5 comments:
Only two months until you both depart...I can't believe it. I can't wait for Pachuca to get to Esperance. Jim will love seeing it too; so will Mal and Sue McKenzie who now have a 40ft wooden boat to replace their splintered 24ft one. At this stage it must look like a royal yacht ... much improved from July!! Robert, you have put in so much work. Lucky you have support from Brenda.
Hi Bob
Jim says is your 16MHz radio a HF frequency?
Hi,Chris,
I have two different transceivers on Pachuca.
The 16MHz transceiver is for line-of-sight communication. It is particularly useful for contacting ships on ch 16. It uses a small antenna at the top of the mast to maximize the range.
On board is also a Kenwood HF transceiver. This is the short wave unit for long distance communication. A section of the back stay has been isolated with electrical insulators and is used as the HF antenna.
Hi Bob
Jim says please can you tell him more about the HF transceiver. Can you make telephone calls on it? Is the Kenwood brand just for at sea? What frequency do you use? and anything else you can think of...please....
Hi, Chris.
Yes, you can make telephone call via the HF receiver, but quite frankly it seems like a fading option given the advent of mobile telephones. My understanding is that it is a coastal-only service, and restricted to proximity of stations that can service this requirement. Mobile and satellite telephones seem to have finessed this.
Kenwood makes all sorts of electronics equipment, including home hi-fi stuff.
There are all sorts of HF frequencies at my disposal. For any service I am given generally given a choice of 3 or more frequencies that I can try, each suitable for a different atmospheric condition.
What else can I think of? Well, I have done the course and I do have a license but to be honest, I won't really know much about it until I take to the sea.
One of my first priorities is to figure out how to get weatherfax from the HF transceiver.
For Jim, tell him that satellite and mobile phones are fast overtakng HF radios.
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