I picked up the keel today from the shop ( thank you Chris H ) and it is looking great. On the Plans, it shows a measurement for the fillet weld as being 14mm through the throat of the weld. Generally, in Canada anyway, welds are measured as the perpendicular height. So, this 14mm throat depth equals a 20mm height for the fillet. This size of weld is quite substantial especially when the Plans specify an 8mm base plate fitted to a 15mm keel plate. My thinking was that with a 20mm fillet on both sides of a 15mm plate there would be a potential for a lot of distortion. I opted to increase the base plate to 10mm to help with this issue. In addition to that, I had to increase the keel plate size as well to a 5/8" plate which equals 16mm due to availability in Canada. I anticipate my keel to be a few pound heavier than those where the 15mm plate is available. You will see in the photos that the shop used a stongback type of jig to minimize the distortion while welding. This proved to work quite well but even with a heavier plate it's still pulled a little bit. Nothing we can't handle though!
I drilled the 3 holes for the lead bulb bolts this afternoon and I just need to do a bit of clean up and it's ready to be weighed, documentation completed, sandblasted and epoxy coated. We now wait for the confirmation of the bulb weight that needs to be fitted. Trekka II should be launched soon so then Don will advise us.
In the meantime, the Crew ( when I say Crew, I mean me, myself and I ) will be :
finishing reinforcing the aft cockpit coamings, making them ready for pushpits and cleats
bolting in the anchor plates for the daggerboard supports
Hooking up all of the emergency pump piping in the cockpit
Cutting holes for the cockpit seat hatches
Installing supports for the mainsheet traveler
Installing 2 safety harness anchor point backing pads in the cockpit
Gluing down all of the cockpit plywood
Filleting and fiberglassing all of the plywood joints
Applying the fiberglass cloth in the cockpit and the deck
There are probably 5 more things that I am forgetting but that's a long enough list for now.
Oh, by the way, I counted all of the mounting holes that are in the stern of the boat ...... how many do you think?
40 holes!!
And that's not counting the rudder mounts yet .....
Anyway, back to work I go .... the Crew is calling !
As you taught me...check then recheck...before assembly..Great forethought