Boat Building

Dispatches from the shop: Progress reports on our boat building projects, plus some useful information for those of you who are building, restoring or repairing your own boats.

Crossbeams Closed In

With the temperature now dropping below zero on a regular basis, temporary permission has been obtained to bring boat parts indoors for short periods so that the epoxy can fully cure. (In this weather, the resin will kick off and gel just fine, but the reaction slows down dramatically once it starts to solidify.

Crossbeam details

The crossbeams of the Starwind 860 are its most complicated parts, from a construction standpoint. Today I'll show you a few internal details from the aft pair.

Crossbeams, little by little

Trimarans are finicky to build. There really aren't too many ways to simplify the highly loaded crossbeam structure, particularly when (as in our case) it has to be able to fold for trailering.

Our Starwind 860's aft crossbeams are now sitting partially assembled in the garage. The webs, the strut blocks and the centre blocks are in place, and it is now time to start closing them up.

Guide to Thread Compounds

There's a bewildering array of mystery goops available for use on threaded fasteners and fittings. Which one's right for the job?

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