Merrimac (Stadtship 56)

Summer Cruise 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:21:00 +0000

We're off for our summer cruise.

You can follow us on Marine Traffic
-- if we're sailing and in the vicinity of a tracking station you can click on "Current vessel's track" in the left column.

We will be on Twitter as well, but that will be in Dutch.

New mast top camera

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:27:00 +0000

Here's the first image from our new mast top camera:

It will allow us to dock more easily in small harbours, and maybe assess weather conditions. Given that Rommert and I had to more or less guess how to mount the camera and that we were very restricted in how and where we could mount it (you don't want any halyards to snag on it) I'm very satisfied with how this turned out.

Also, the camera has now been up there for about three months before I got round to wiring it up (it needed a new DC-DC converter, and we had more pressing things to do like sailing!) and the image doesn't seem to be affected by any dirt or salt.

Back from summer vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:25:00 +0000

Today is where reality sinks back in. We're all home again after a summer of fun and relaxing. Back to work and school!

The kids have been at it for a few weeks already but the boat had to be prepared for the HISWA boat show, and then I had to take care of the boat there. Some owners don't seem to like to show off their own boat but I enjoyed the process very much.

Just before the yard closed for the summer holiday the double glazed windows in the deckhouse were installed. Unfortunately one of them broke the interior pane but as it was only the innermost sheet of 3 we were able to go sailing anyway.

We started by sailing from Makkum to Esbjerg (Fanø) in Denmark. We logged about 190 miles in 24 hours. The following video shows how the boat is taking the North Sea in its stride with a Force 4 wind from the beam. Ideal situations that were reflected in our boat speed (10+ for hours on end).

After Fanø and Esbjerg (with the requisite trip to Legoland with the kids) we hugged the coast and sailed on the tidal "Watten" / "Wadden" for the remaining 2 weeks and did things we couldn't do in our old boat that had a 2 m draft: anchor a few meters from the coast where we were stuck to the sand about 3 hours of a tide, dry out etc.

Here are some highlights:

Fanø harbour

Walking the beach at Amrum (Wittdünn)

Drying out at Ameland (Nes)

And we're off for the first time

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:25:00 +0000

Another short post. We're off for a week of test sails. Then it's back to the yard to have the 'real' windows and a growing list of small and not-so-small details.

As long as we've got the AIS transmitter running (and we are in range) you can follow us on the internet:

Marine traffic details for Merrimac

If you look at our track for today you can see that there's not a lot of wind around today, but that's great for us as it gives us the chance to get used to the boat, all ropes and lines, the systems etc.

Until now we managed not to break anything!

Update:

Note that Marine Traffic doesn't show anything when the boat's AIS transmitter is OFF or OUT OF RANGE of a shore receiver. This does NOT mean that we have sunk or anything bad!

Boat Launch!

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:21:00 +0000

On the 19th of June 2010 we had our christening party. Nothing to do with religion -- and as far as we are concerned not even superstition! We celebrated this important milestone with our friends, family members, software- and boat-building colleagues. Unfortunately the weather was pretty abysmal, 9°C with intermittent showers. That didn't keep us from having a great party.

Everybody soon flocked inside (shoes off!) where we received many complements on how the interior looked.

And then this week we were able to do the first under-engine sea trial

We've also got the launch up on Youtube, if you are really bored.

Finished boat interior

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:56:00 +0000

After the hectic weeks leading up to the christening party we're now able to show you photo's of the interior that look pretty damn good, if I say so myself. Manuel and the rest of the carpenter crew did a great job. The floors, especially all hatches, aren't done yet, there are no doorstoppers yet so most door handles are still wrapped, and there are still a lot of other small niggles, but it already looks the part!

Here is a slideshow of the interior:

Interior part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sat, 22 May 2010 19:55:00 +0000

Just a quick heads up that there are new photo's up on Flickr.

In the last week the following progress has been made:

The guard rail is going up, in fact it's almost done.
The port side is being prepared for respraying and the topsides for nonskid paint.
The waterline is being prepared for spray painting.
The keel has been placed in the keel box. No surprises here, the keel box fits like a glove.
The galley top has been placed.
The ceiling beams have been placed in the doghouse.
The electrical panel has been put in place and wired up.

We're waiting for the ceiling to go in and the doors & doorposts to be delivered. Once those are in the toilets can be placed and the rest of the electrical work finished.

She's being sprayed today, and may be launched by the end of the week.

And from earlier this month:

Interior part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:00:00 +0000

Another week or so and the interior should be done, or at least in a state that you can see what it's gonna be. The carpenters are taking their time, but progress is very visible these weeks. We're very busy so we're not as good with updates as we'd hoped.

Here's the galley which has now been placed:

The bespoke storage cabinets for glasses:

The bespoke storage cabinet for plates and mugs:

For more pictures watch the slideshow on Flickr:

How paint makes a difference!

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:00:00 +0000

The outside has had the first layers of paint applied.

You can now appreciate what she's gonna look like when finished.

Interior part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0000

The big question once the interior started to being put up was: will it work? As owners we had definite views on how it should look and work. We cannot answer all our own questions yet, but so far we're very pleased with how it is coming out.

Let us talk you through some of the requirements we had and how you can hopefully see how these are being fulfilled.

One of the first requirements that we had was one of airyness and light. If you use your boat for longer periods at a time, which we are looking forward to do, it must feel homely and comfortable but also liveable. Our old boats were very traditional with full mahogany interiors. Although very nice and beautifully made, we were 'done' with that look.

So the first thing was to brighten up the interior by specifying a mostly (cream) white interior, as you can see in Interior part 1. We'll get back to you on styling later when this can be seen in more detail -- we've got a few twists that are not visible yet.

The other part of airyness is to keep spaces open. The main idea here was to keep the doghouse visually connected to the lower salon. Here you see the view from the front part of the cockpit (the pink vertical surfaces are going to be the backside of the doghouse) looking in.

The 'big hole' under the windows on the port side will remain like that. The galley will be directly underneath, and the dining table in front of that, to the left of the keel case.

What this means is that the crew will be able to visually and audibly communicate between all those areas. Here is a look from what will be the dining table looking to the back of the boat to the viewpoint of the photo above.

Interior part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0000

The carpenters put in the first bits of interior late january. As much as possible is prefabricated in Germany and then transported all the way to Makkum.

Here you can see the carpenters placing the first bits of the main bulkhead. As this forms the reference point for all other parts this needed to go in first. Not very convenient, as this limits the access to the front of the boat considerably.

After this was done the master cabin could be set up. Here's where our bed is going to be:

To give you a feel for the scale: the distance between the three bigger frames that have wood glued onto them is 100 cm each. The bed will be 210 by 160 cm. Not too big and not too small. Note that we'll sleep with our heads exactly on the transverse pitching axis, so at sea these will be VERY comfortable. We'll have the capability to divide the bed into two with a lee cloth if necessary, but there is also this bunk bed on the opposite side of the keel:

Those bunk beds are wide at one end (where you're supposed to put your upper body) and narrow at the other (for your feet). This is one of those compromises you have in a sailing yacht. Ideally they would be a bit wider at the feet but the size we have now is OK in harbour and actually better at sea.

All in all this means we have four people that can sleep right next to the keel, which is very nice when there is a seaway. Furthermore it will be a long way from the engine when powering. This makes a huge difference in comfort when underway.

Floor heating installation in a sailboat

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 06:25:00 +0000

The piping for the floor heating has been installed. We're using a hydronic system supplied by Yacht Floor Heating which functions exactly like the underfloor heating used in homes. The boiler is a Kabola forced air diesel boiler that is ultra reliable.

To install this the normal underfloor is installed in a much thicker and higher quality plywood than used normally. In our case it took 17 sheets of 30 mm marine plywood. These were supplied by the interior builder that used their CNC milling machine to cut the location where the interior walls will go up into the floor segments. They also cut a 2nd version that they kept in the factory so that they can fit the interior segments. When these are shipped out to Makkum they know that they will fit! This reduces the amount of work necessary in situ, lowering costs (good for the builder) and increasing quality (good for us).

Anyway, back to the floor heating. Once the sheets were installed the floor heating specialists went to work and routed out the pattern for the water piping:

The router creates space for the flexible pipe so that it lies flush with the top of the floor. The pipe is then tacked down so it does not stick out before it is epoxied. Even the floor hatches are heated; the piping is connected using flexible hose. Every bit of floor is used as otherwise we won't be able to heat the boat enough. The floor heating acts as main heating radiator. We have a 9 kw blower for cases where this is unsufficient, but we plan not to use that much (if at all).

Once the pipes were laid down the entire floor was drenched in two layers of a special flexible epoxy. Once the interior is place an smoked oak veneer will be installed as the top floor; this has to be thin in order to keep the efficiency of the heating system at a reasonable level.

How a carbon mast is made

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:10:00 +0000

The popular How it's made TV series shown on The Discovery Channel has an episode filmed at Hall Spars (I think in Breskens' old site) that shows how this is done.

[Note: Updated the video; the original was no longer available on Youtube.]

Isolation sprayed

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:58:00 +0000

Kees visited Makkum today to show the boat to Kommer-Jan and his son Sietse. They were lucky as work was in full progress, and Sietse got the opportunity to weld a bit of aluminium as well! We also helped out disassembling the Varifold 4 blade screw and mounting the hub.

The hull isolation has been sprayed on.

Where the interior will be and the neatness of the spray does not count a 5 cm PU foam has been sprayed on. All cabling and tubing laid during the previous work is now embedded in this.

The lazarette has been sprayed in a new ultra high density foam called DB / DT that is only a few millimeters thick and has either sound or heat isolation properties. This is the gray / white stuff. The white foam is for heat isolation and the gray foam is for sound isolation.

Wiring and tubing

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:58:00 +0000

The bilges are painted, and they are laying cables and tubing for fluids (water, diesel, central heating).

Finalizing the hull

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:54:00 +0000

The hull is now almost done. The final welding bits are being done now. Next: move into the next hall, spraying, cables, more spraying.

Building the mast

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:54:00 +0000

We've been able to get a good deal on a carbon mast from Hall Spars and we went to visit them now that the mast is actually being built.

They have the coolest factories -- spotlessly clean and impressively long! Hall can build much taller masts than ours in one section -- a 25 m spar is just a 'fair size' to them.

Here are some photo's to show this.

Progress report: the Keel

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:47:00 +0000

The keel has been started.

Turning the hull

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:48:00 +0000

Today the hull was turned. See below for a time lapse video.

And click on the photo for a Flickr Slideshow:

Progress report #3

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:19:00 +0000

The hull plates are going on quickly. A few more weeks and the hull will be turned.

Click the photo for another slideshow.

Progress - August 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:33:00 +0000

Boy, is progress visible now!

Today we visited the yard again and this time took some pictures.

Click on the photo for a slideshow.

As you can see above the aft part of the hull comprising the cockpit and lower part of the doghouse and engine bay has been turned over on its back and joined to the existing inverted front hull section. All frames and longitudinals are visible.

You can see the starboard 15 mm (5/8") hull plating has just been welded to the frame. The hull will be 15 mm up to 300 mm below the waterline and 7 mm from there up to deck level.

Progress - June 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:18:00 +0000

Last Friday I visited the yard again, and shot a bit of video to keep y'all abreast of how far they got in two-and-a-half months.

The first section shows the front and middle sections that have been created out of smaller sections. The deck was built with the underside up, and everything else is now being welded to that. You can see that the front section containing the circular shower and anchor lockers has been turned over and connected to the deck, and that the main ring frame is connected to the flooring area containing the tank areas.

In the 2nd part of the movie you see the rear section, with the engine box and the main entrance, cockpit and lazarette (storage space below the 15:cockpit).

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:15:00 +0000

Yesterday we celebrated the start of the actual build process. Finally, after 18 months of preparation! Marion did this by making the "foundation weld" where she welded the builder's build number onto a bulkhead. Beer and nuts afterwards! Now we have a full year (54 weeks or so) of building ahead of us. Very exciting. Since the wharf is 90 mins away we can go and visit our new ship-to-be quite a lot!

Interior

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:20:00 +0000

It took a lot of head scratching and deliberation, but we've now finished the styling of the interior.

Sometimes the simplest things on paper turn out to be a lot of work in reality. This was one of those occasions. The most important part is that we feel really proud of what we have come up with.

The styling was always designed to be modern, maybe even minimalistic but still 'comfy'. To get that we've decided to reduce the amount of woodwork compared to the more usual 'mahogany cave' that is typical of so many boats.

As you can see in the image, we plan to have the following:

Cream/White walls (RAL 9001).
A coaming stripe at the same height as the kitchen worktop. This is going to be a 30 mm rubber strip.
A high class dark gray Corian worktop
Unvarnished teak cabinet fronts
Rough leather seats in tan or brown
Aluminium dining table top
Unvarnished teak flooring

More renderings after the break, thanks to Cris from Lido 2D/3D.

Oester, the parent ship

noreply@blogger.com (Kees) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:01:00 +0000

Here's what we are getting. A modern sailing ship suited to both pottering and blue water ocean sailing. Oester is the Stadtship 56 'number 1', and we're basing our design heavily on her. We're taking over the entire design including deckplan, nifty features and technical installation. We are getting a different interior and a different electronics package.

Here's our current boat next to Oester.