Week Fourteen

Rivets and more Rivets

Monday 3rd April 2006.
This is a week of rivets and more rivets, so many so that Steve 2 is now dreaming about them LOL. On the port and starboard side 440 rivets have so far been welded on the hull, and they look fabulous. The ring and rails were made by Steve 1, and will be welded to the outsie wall of the galley bulkhead. The propshaft, and propeller were married up, but there was a problem with the alignment, so the shaft had to be changed.

Tuesday 4th April.
Bow fender brackets were welded on the bow. Steve 1 fitted the propshaft and propeller.The fixing plates for the false front cratch were welded into place. More rivets were welded on by Steve 2, infact in all between Steve and Roger they have welded on 781 rivets. There are still quite a few to go as well. The Anode beackets were welded on, and the Anodes were fitted.

Wednesday 5th April.
Today it was the day when Hadar was jacked up, ready for welding underneath. They used hand held jacks at each end, whilst using wooden blocks to hold her up. Jacking one end at a time they found the pivot point so they could block her up little by little. It was a bit like trying to find the centre point of a slide. But gradually they got her a few feet off the ground, and set about welding the base plate underneath, and the lowest rubbing strake.The timber arrived from Jewson for the framing out.

Thursday 6th April.
Both Steve's spent the day welding and grinding back, on the base plate and hull.

Friday 7th April.
Both Steve's again were welding and grinding back, they also did some work on the stem post, ready for the false rivets to go on.

Both Keith and I can now see how Hadar will look, now that the hull is almost complete. For us seeing Hadar come this far, means that soon she will be launched. The next phase will be the fitting out, that's when the fun will start for me in particular. It is always a woman's dream isn't it girl's to have thing's fitted the way we would like them. Keith and I have pretty much decided on the detail's for the fit out, but like with most thing's there is always room for change or improvement. So keep watching this space, because it is an exciting time.