External Keel Laminations

Got bored working on the house ( or restless ) , so looked at completing some outstanding issues with the stern sections , The External keel on section 4 / 8 still needed to be done as well as the rudder stub and rudder bearing strut .
First item was the lamination's of solid timber to form the External keel , this was made out of multiple pieces of 100 x 50 kauri  , cut to shape and laminated into position .

 , built another stern tube as with previous stern section and added into lamination as required .

The keel line runs straight from mid-ship rearward , the tunnel in the rear section of the hull means less draft and better protection for the propeller .

The capping strip is slightly wider than the lamination's  so used epoxy filler to create a flat surface on the sides , then covered with multiple layers of unidirectional cloth to create a structual component to take the vibration from the prop and possible grounding capability .

Once the external keel was complete then proceeded on the rudder bearing strut and the rudder stub , the stub is required due to the turning limitations of having a rudder inside a prop tunnel .

In this picture you can see the tube for the bearings and the rudder stub , the stub is cut from the blanks for the rudder already created , glued into position around the tube and filled with expanding foam . Additional glass was then added to form the top of the stub .







After a coat of primer we then fitted  the rotating cradle around this section and rotated into the correct orientation .

This way up looks so much better .

In this picture you can see the finished external Keel , sterntube , tunnel and rudder stub , now just have to repeat this on the other hull , ( damn Catamaran )