I'm Beaming

This morning it's cleats, floors and beams. The first of many more similar days I'm guessing. At the end of all this there's the reward of having to scarf join the sides.

Already I've been nervous. Worried that my first laminated Deck Beam would stick to the mould. But happily at lunchtime I took the clamps off (no movement at all), still worried, but a good thunk against the jig loosed it up fine. I mean it was covered in grease proof paper, but better that than half in plywood. 

I gave it a quick blast with the sander and it actually looks quite good. After it sets fully, I'll take it down to timber. Spot the rooster in cognito?

The procedure I use to laminate the beams varies little from that detailed in the Paradox Builders handbook. One technique Ihave been adding is to alternate the grain of each strip. 

To achieve this, before ripping back a batch of strips, mark one end of the blank with pencil, then as you lay up the strips switch the direction of every second strip. One obvious benefit is to strengthen the finished piece by distributing weak spots in the natural wood. It's not something I can take credit for, I read it somewhere, possibly in a Wharram building guide. 

FAST FORWARD: 

I now have four Deck Beams prepared & although we need six I'm holding off from building the other two till later. These are "Intermediate Beams" because they float between bulkheads 1 & 2, 4 & the transom. They are not needed for first dry fit (bulkheads & Side Panels), & their length is not accurate ly identified in the drawings. It is possible to make them extra long & just cut them to size when the sides & bulkheads are assembled, but I feel uneasy about building waste. It's cool though, I'm a patient fellow. 

A Wonderful Paradox Story from Western Australia

Yesterday, while trawling the net for information about sailing the Paradox, I came across ASHIKI's blog. In a post from Shark Bay WA ASHIKI's skipper expressed surprise that Paradox named SMALL FRY had sailed from Fremantle, some 370 nautical miles to the south in 5 days. ASHIKI's skipper described SMALL FRY as tiny (he initially thought she'd been launched nearby), but fast through the water ... "no need of an engine" and well stocked with food ("mostly muesli and baked beans). To add to the reputation of her seaworthiness, the skipper reported having sailed SMALL FRY around Cape Leeuwin (that's one of the five great capes BTW). 

So ... I couldn't rest without knowing more. I revisited the blog for any detail, and discovered a photo credited to Geoff Davis, I knew the skipper's first name was Geoff. So I Googled Paradox, SMALL FRY, Freemantle and Geoff Davis in all combinations without winning any direct hits until I read about an incident involving the rescue of a 4.2m sail boat which had rolled and been dismantled off Freemantle. The skipper was a "Geoff Davis". I wondered if this could be the same fellow and whether SMALL FRY had been wrecked.

Scanning for more detail, the news article claimed that Mr Davis built the wooden and fibreglass boat over a period of three years. Davis described the design as "unusual" how she was sailed from below decks, lucky for him, he had the hatch close when the large wave rolled the boat over and dismantled her. Davis said he owed his life to the boat's design saying that if he'd been out on deck on any other yacht, he would have been washed overboard. I'm thinking, surely this must be a Paradox?

So what's good about a Paradox capsizing and dismasting, even of the solo sailor survived? Well the authorities that winched Mr Davis to safety, described the weather as "terrible", not a day to be offshore, with winds to 125 kilometres per hours, or 60 knots. They went off at Davis saying:"his decision to leave port was foolish. Broadcast warnings of heavy weather and winds had been made for over 24 hours". Meanwhile Davis said he was heading off for a few days cruise along the South Coast, before the weather closed in and he attempted to return to the port of Freemantle,  in hindsight reckoned he should have "stayed on the river". 

So the Paradox negotiates hurricane force winds, and even when dismantled and capsized by a rogue wave as it closes shore, the occupant emerges claiming how safe he felt. 

Then much to my delight, when I checked the dates of the sighting at Shark Bay and capsize off Freemantle I learn that the capsize happened first, in fact many years beforehand.  The wreckage of what we can assume is a Paradox off Freemantle sailed by Geoff Davis occurred in 2009, the sighting of Geoff Davis on the Paradox SMALL FRY was last year, in 2014! 

We can't know whether the original paradox survives or another one was built, but for a fellow to be caught offshore in extreme weather and face disaster, to take to sea so bravely in the same design over many subsequent years, says much about Paradox ... or that Mr Davis is more nutty than the rest of us :) I'd love to meet him on the water one day. 

Now, about a jury rig? 

How good are chine runners instead of a keel or centreboard?

In the words of Sven Yrvind: "I am now convinced that the chinerunner concept, created by Matt in 1982, is the greatest innovation for small cruising boats in the last century."

End of Week 1:

So far Bulkheads 1-4 & the Transom are ready for cleats and sealing up. 

I have made the jigs for the Deck &Cabin Beams & am about to glue my first laminated Deck Beam. 

Sailing SCOUT

I lifted these three images of Paradox SCOUT under sail from a YouTube video . 

# 1: interior. Looks cosy but with large portholes airy. 

# 2: very fast under sail, alongside another trailer sailer,aradox looked very fast. 

# 3: This is one happy sailor. Busy driving his boat hard, dry of spray, out of the sun, and he could easily reef her down in a few seconds. Note the torch standing on end by the hatch. 

Bulkheads 1,2,3 & 4

It's been drizzling rain this AM so (without anyone else around), I took the work in the house and chopped up a new sheet of ply here. 

Anyway, by lunchtime I'd marked off B1, B2 and B4, then had these roughly cut out. Afterwards I sanded the sides and centre cut outs (B's 3 & 4), to finished dimensions. I didn't bother with the cambered tops, I'll do these after the beams have been fixed in place. 

Next, add cleats and epoxy coat. One mod' I am looking at with B2 (front end of the cabin), is to forego a plain large opening and install a watertight hatch. This will keep the area between collision bulkhead #1 and B#2 dry and provide floatation in the event of a serious dunking, capsize or holing. 

There's no way my partner will catch me out working in the house, she's halfway across the Tasman Sea heading east. 

Cutting Timber

.Today I got to cut out my first bulkhead which happened to be number three or "B3". Easy, then three more plus the Transom to go. 

B3 before sanding, Construction Grade with no checks. Note Terrier doing his own woodwork?

Already this boat feels strong and compact. 

With this Western Red Cedar tongue and groove, I will first trim the t & g, then cut four equal strips of 25mm, then slice these in half to turn 18mm into 7.5mm strips for the Deck and Cabin Beams. These are laminated on jigs I have made. 

Today my partner and son are paying passengers on the SEA PRINCESS going from Sydney to Aukland via South Cape. This is bridge cam halfway across the "ferocious Tasman Sea". check how flat the seas are!

Apple Simplicity in a Capable Little Boat

Matt Layden: some say he's an evil genius, others that he can live on salt water & seaweed alone, we Paradox sailors call him The Stig. (Apologies to Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear).

There is something's about Matt Layden's small boats that I find are freakishly Apple-like in design. The Paradox for example, has been perfected, not by adding, but by taking away, simplifying. On the delete list are:- 

> headsail. It takes the lone sailor forrard in heavy weather, whether to dowse it, replace it, lash it or remove it, then threatens to whip your eye out as approach it. leave it out! 

> keel or centreboard. prevents entry to shoal waters, creeks and rivers, careening, parking on sandy beaches & drying out. It literally is a 24 x 7 drag on performance.

> cockpit and companionway hatch, those great scourges in heavy weather sailing, their to catch & store bast amounts of seawater. 

> Standing rigging. prone to breakage, chaff, clutter & create windage.

> tiller or wheel steering. self-steering is designedit into the Paradox, the design is balanced so as to provide selfsteering & a neat arrangement of tiller lines below provides a tiller lock as well as remote steering. 

> exposure to the elements. whether they be dollops of chops, heavy spray or green water, the ceaseless drying winds, rain, hail and snow, or the slow bake being out in the direct sunlight all day, are dealt with by the provision of a fully sheltered cabin. 

Other benefits include; access to all internal spaces for maintenance & repair, plenty of stowage, moveable ballast. In all areas it's: simplicity, form and function over complexity, cost & unnecessary bling. 

A small cruising yacht that can be built in months, is affordable to build, & can be towed by a small car, launched in knee deep water then sailed offshore with a great measure of comfort and safety.

 

Paradox fits my desire to do "off grid"  longshore solo sailing with comfortably and safety. 

An added bonus is that she provides something uniquely personally for me; for many years I've daydreamed about building a "submarine" type boat - an enclosed sailing vessel that I can sail while below drinking coffee, reading & occasionally peering out the porthole to check progress. All very womb like in a Freudian sense. In Paradox I can sail this way across lake, bay or stretch of coastline before shipping the stick & towing her home for a bit of care and maintenance. Simple. 

For a detailed description of Paradox and it's younger sister Enigma copy this address into your search engine: https://aiki.pbworks.com/w/page/1594232/Advantages%20of%20Matt%20Layden%20mini%20cruisers