Dorade Team
July 30, 2011
The rudder is nearing completion. The blade has been fastened to the bronze rudder stock. The rudder shoe and gudgeons are fitting well. The issue of wear over time has been addressed by installing replacable high density plastic bushings, where the rudder stock meets the gudgeons and shoe. These bushings also ease the pressure on […]
July 28, 2011
This sequence of photos shows the construction of the galley and nav station. Everything has been built off site, and Marty has begun the assembly process. These pictures take us through the veneering shop where the construction is happening. Back on the boat you can see the  build out  is well underway. Note the pewter […]
July 26, 2011
DORADE'S name and original hailing port are back on her transom. For many years the transom did not list a hailing port. Before the new paint job, the name was a sticker. As seen in photo 5, the letters were dark blue with a gold outline. The correct format of gold letters with the dark […]
July 22, 2011
The bow and stern details of a yachts cove strip are a very important and unique feature. Much research has been done to find clear enough photographs to accurately reproduce these figures. Dorade's arrow head and feather have been changed many times over the years. With the help of Doug, who is publishing a new […]
July 22, 2011
Gabe has been charged with making the forepeak an efficient space for sail handling and stowage. His first job has been to build a raised platform to reduce the depth of the aft section of the forepeak. Previously the drop in was nearly six feet. Â Now the average person will be able to hand sails […]
July 22, 2011
Last night Joe from Diversified Finishes sprayed the boot stripe. We checked and rechecked to make sure the painted stripe sat true to the original plans. When Joe pulled the tape this morning we all got a glimpse of what is going to be a fantastic finished product.
July 21, 2011
All hardware for the masts is being cut by a computer driven high pressure water jet cutter. In photo 1 a test piece is being cut. The computer screen shows Greg's drawing in purple. The green line shows the route that the machine will take to pre-cut the holes. In picture 3 Tom quickly polishes the cut […]
July 21, 2011
Just after lunch today the engine made its final trip from the shop floor up into the boat. I am happy to report that the engine is resting on its mounts, ready for the prop and shaft to be fitted to the aqua drive. All wiring and equipment fittings have been assembled on the engine. […]
July 21, 2011
Nels and James have retro fitted the interior lighting with LED's. We worked hard to be able to reuse these beautiful cast bronze fixtures. Finding lights like this is a difficult task in 2011. We managed to find modern LED light fixtures of similar size. Nels and James disassembled the modern lamps and modified their […]
July 13, 2011
Scoured the web for waxed whipping twine in multiple colors. The idea being to provide Rig Pro with twine to color code lines during the splicing process. Each eye splice receives a whipping where the cover is inserted back into itself. Why not beginning the color coding process here. The tail whippings will match the […]
July 13, 2011
At long last the new bow fitting has been permanently fastened to DORADE. Picture 1, 2 and 3 show the fairing of the hull and shaping of the bow piece to match. Picture 4 shows the custom through bolts that were fabricated. In picture 5 splines are glued in to some checks in the new […]
July 12, 2011
The main mast is in final shaping. Â From a box section it has gradually been rounded and tapered. Â Section shapes at given lengths are templated from the drawn plans. Â The templates are used to check progress of the shaping. Â The planes are sharp and the work looks really good. Â Grabbed some shavings off the […]
July 12, 2011
Ben and his team at Diversified Finishes have done a fantastic job on the topside paint. After two sweaty weeks of long-boarding in the hot shed, all fairing was complete. This past saturday Ben sprayed four coats of Awl Grip topside paint. As you can see from the photos the results are top notch.
July 12, 2011
Tom has been busy readying DORADE for the arrival of her new winch package. The winch pads outside the cockpit combing have been removed. New bases to fit the larger primaries and a different set of running backstay winches have been laminated out of mahogany. The under-deck blocking has also been replaced and improved both […]