The Certificate of Inspection. process is thorough. To date we have done a preliminary inspection,  a rigging inspection (pulling the mast), a haul out inspection, a weight strength inspection of the bow webbing (the “tramps’), a deadweight survey ( measuring the depth of keel so the designer can compute  the volume of displacement, and hence the weight of the boat) and some drills: man overboard, fire drill and abandon ship.

Meet “Oscar”.  A real dummy.

The man overboard drill was an eye opener. Oscar is heavy. Getting an unconscious person into the boat after a calamity is a challenge. We worked out a  retrieval  system after doing the needed maneuvers to get the boat quickly back to the victim. It is a good exercise.

We are getting closer to being awarded a Certificate of Inspection! Today’s inspection  was another milestone, after the initial inspection, then the mast pulling inspection, then the haul out inspection. This was to make sure the bow nets  (made of seatbelt webbing) and their attachment points, were sound. The  procedure called for figuring the allowable number of  passengers for each net, using a square foot allowance, then multiplying the total by 180 lbs per person, then doubling that, and adding an equivalent weight to see what happens.  Fortunately nothing happened.

We used  a gasoline pump and 20 of those 30 gallon totes from Home Depot, ten per side, filled with 20+ gallons of seawater each.  3770 lbs total.

Next thing is the deadweight survey, which is a measure of the boats displacement. Then we have a couple of plan submissions yet to be returned from Washington DC. Then the final inspection, where they will count the lifejackets etc.  

The webbing used for the tramp is made for car seat belts, and comes in rolls. It suffers from UV in the Georgia sun, but if you keep it covered when not in use you can get several years out of it. Its not that expensive, but is a pain to reeve through the slots and around the fiberglass rod inserts. We used sleeves bought from the same supplier to cover the spots we had to sew at the ends. The whole thing is tensioned with a stainless steel ratchet made for truckers.

Finally finished the new lifelines and rails. They now meet USCG requirements for inspected vessels. 7/64th dyneema with spliced eye thimbles and lashings for tension, instead of turnbuckles. The lashings are covered with cutoff pieces of pex tubing. After 96 total eye splices, I have the technique down for working with 7/64th cord. The trick is in getting the taper just so and covered with snag free tape so it will work back up the inside of the weave. I used a sail needle as a kind of a fid, though you can’t attach the line to it, it makes separating the strands easier. You tube has some good tutorials.

Found a soft spot in the back corner of the bridge deck. Using a hole saw, I cut out some “biscuits” from the 4mm ply on top and dug out the saturated balsa core. The blowdryer fit nicely and after a few days off and on it was bone dry. Mixed up some phenolic microballons, aerosil, chopped fibers and resin and parged it in re- using the cutouts. All is well now.