| The set-up for Coquito - laminated teak stem, teak inner keel & transom (a sliver of its edge visible at the far end), and the temporary moulds. The blocks on these are for the cramp feet when fitting planks. Already one of the owner's requirements - "to be fitted out in teak ..." - is being fulfilled. The challenge for me was to ensure that the transom would not split under the gruelling exposure to sun & wind, stored on the deck of Copihue, 74ft, on her round the world voyage. I made it as a sandwich of 2 x 10mm teak with a 1mm 'filling' of Formica all through. Each piece of teak was made of two boards, joined with a halving (step) joint, to make the required depth (top to bottom) of transom. The halving joints were backed up with long 'dowels' of 3mm stainless threaded rod, epoxy glued into holes, and the joints arranged so as not to be directly opposite one another in the sandwich. It turned out that she was not subjected to the voyage, but most of the beautifully built yacht tenders that have survived from the beginning of the 19th century have suffered from transoms split right across. I dare to hope that Coquito's will be faultless after just as long a life. N.B. This picture taken as an experiment on a Russian camera with an ultra-wide angle lens. Definition not brilliant but a nice curve on the joists. |
| Close Window |