Ventilation

You can have a lot of problems with skin conditions due to poor ventilation. Condensation inside a small boat can cause major problems with all your systems and everything inside is constantly damp. Mould will grow uncontrolled and it will become a living hell inside. The average person exhales between 300 and 500 ml of water vapour per night, which is much more than what people actually realise. Read Serge Testa’s book and you will see very good examples of what I am referring to. I prefer “forced” electric ventilation. That is why I installed two 12v extractor fans.You only run one at a time. It extracts the air out of the boat and fresh air enters the boat via the duct where the fan is not running. Should it brake, you simply switch the other on and replace the broken one easily. The outside entry to the air ducts are above the water line – both when the boat is upright OR UPSIDE DOWN. The air ducts run in-between the outer and inner hulls and are fitted with deflection plates that act as a labyrinth so that water is prevented from just splashing directly upwards. I have tested the system and it really works exceptionally well. Also keep in mind where I want to go it is cold and wet. Average temperatures 4 to 12 C and rain virtually every second or third day.

October report

The roof and cabin interior of the boat ended up being a daunting task. It is much more work than what I anticipated and obviously it also took much longer than expected. The results speak for themselves and we are getting a lot of support and approval from many people all over the world. We are very grateful for the support and from the bottom of our hearts, Anthony and I thank everybody for the wonderful messages of support. Big Thank You.

These pics are where we are now and the path to get there. Please believe me when I say that if I had a magic wand, I would be on the water in Houtbay celebrating with a beer. The anticipation is killing me and I have to count to ten often everyday, just to calm down and get on with the job. This is a test of skill and unimaginable patience. Building a boat is ultimately about hanging in there day after day, relentlessly. You basically have to eat, sleep, drink the boat and the project. It gets very difficult for your family, because you are solely focussed on one goal – on and on and on – nothing else. But proudly we carry on with a song in the heart. Cape Town here we come!

Serge Testa

I am a very happy man today, after hearing from Serge Testa. What a privilege, what an honour. His note (and my reply) is under the “about” section. Here is just a fun photo and a drawing of the keel. The horizontal stabilizer at the end of the keel is primarily to protect the rudder and then to act as a horizontal fin to reduce the vertical motion of the aft end of the boat

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