Morning Star was sold in February of 2010 to a racing sailor from Seattle.
He was able to coax spectacular speeds out of her on the test sail. We are sure she is in good hands.
Buen Viaje Morning Star!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Morning Star was built from Bruce Roberts Goodson's plans for the Mauritius 43 center cockpit aft cabin ketch. She was built in our backyard in the Berryessa District of San Jose over a 19.5 year period. She is 43' 9'' long, 13' beam, 5' draft and displaces approximately 30,000 lbs.
We had a marine surveyor out to survey the work at key points for documentation of the quality of work. We felt this would facilitate buying insurance and for selling her when that sad day came. Dorie says that selling her is like losing a child. Our last survey done for a new insurance company in 2006 and included rigging and an out of water survey, HAD NO FINDINGS. This means that the surveyor found nothing to comment about fixing. He said he seldom was able to make a survey with such good results.
We had a marine surveyor out to survey the work at key points for documentation of the quality of work. We felt this would facilitate buying insurance and for selling her when that sad day came. Dorie says that selling her is like losing a child. Our last survey done for a new insurance company in 2006 and included rigging and an out of water survey, HAD NO FINDINGS. This means that the surveyor found nothing to comment about fixing. He said he seldom was able to make a survey with such good results.
SAILING OFF MAINLAND MEXICO SOUTH OF PUERTO VALLARTA.
Note the teak deck. It is made of individual teak strips that are about an 1/8 of an inch thick laid in W.E.S.T.epoxy that is filled with carbon powder to make it black and resemble polydisulfide caulking used on planked teak decks. It is a W.E.S.T. design. The teak is laid over a plywood composite deck covered with two ounce fiberglass cloth. The top layer of ply is 3/8 inch thick which covers a one inch honeycone core on top of a 1/4 inch 5 ply birch plywood which becomes the cabin ceiling. This sandwich construction makes a VERY strong and stiff deck that is LIGHT and offers sound and thermal insulation.
Note the teak deck. It is made of individual teak strips that are about an 1/8 of an inch thick laid in W.E.S.T.epoxy that is filled with carbon powder to make it black and resemble polydisulfide caulking used on planked teak decks. It is a W.E.S.T. design. The teak is laid over a plywood composite deck covered with two ounce fiberglass cloth. The top layer of ply is 3/8 inch thick which covers a one inch honeycone core on top of a 1/4 inch 5 ply birch plywood which becomes the cabin ceiling. This sandwich construction makes a VERY strong and stiff deck that is LIGHT and offers sound and thermal insulation.
ANCHORED IN CALETA PARTIDA ON ESPIRITU SANTO ISLAND NEAR LA PAZ.
Note the radar antenna mounted on the mizzen mast on a gimbaled mount. It is a 40 mile range Raytheon model 40XX. The boat is also equipped with a single side band/ham radio with an automatic antenna tuner. using an insulated backstay as an antenna. The main mast is stayed with two backstays and oversized rigging throughout.
BUILDING OF MORNING STAR
The hull was built on a male mold planked with C-Flex fiberglass planks then laid up with mat and woven roving fiberglass. When we turned the hull over we removed the mold and laid up more mat and woven roving on the inside of the hull. Solid vertical floors were built equally spaced below the floor. Top hat stringers were laid up parallel to the water line with about 18 inch spacing from the floor to the gunnel. Our surveyor noted that with the preformed fiberglass rods in the C-flex running longitudinally, along with the top hat stringers, the boat was very stiff fore to aft.
The bulkheads are mahogany plywood and are set against a lateral stringer along the hull surface so that the ply never touches the hull to create a hard spot. The bulkheads are glassed to the hull then through bolted through the glass lay up. The surveyor called it belt and suspenders, but very strong. Much stronger than his boat.
The cabin floors are mahogany ply with a overlay of random formed teak tiles.There are three integral water tanks built into the boat amidships, under the floor, 55 gallons each, plus a stainless steel tank in the engine room that holds 70 gallons, for a total of 165 gallons of water capacity. We have a water maker by Crystal Springs, but have never had to put sea water in it because of our water capacity.
The bulkheads are mahogany plywood and are set against a lateral stringer along the hull surface so that the ply never touches the hull to create a hard spot. The bulkheads are glassed to the hull then through bolted through the glass lay up. The surveyor called it belt and suspenders, but very strong. Much stronger than his boat.
The cabin floors are mahogany ply with a overlay of random formed teak tiles.There are three integral water tanks built into the boat amidships, under the floor, 55 gallons each, plus a stainless steel tank in the engine room that holds 70 gallons, for a total of 165 gallons of water capacity. We have a water maker by Crystal Springs, but have never had to put sea water in it because of our water capacity.
There are two heads. The main head has a Sea Land Vacuflush toilet that uses fresh water for flushing, thereby eliminating sea water odor. The second head is in the walk through to the aft cabin and has never been used. It is a standard sea water flush toilet. The main head can be valved to dump into the 50 gallon holding tank or overboard. The second head is direct to the holding tank. The holding tank can be valved to pump overboard through a Sea Land macerator pump or pumped out via a deck fitting. The shower is in the main head and drains into a sump which is pumped overboard by an electric pump. There is a high speed exhaust vent blower in the head.
The engine room is entered through a standard height teak door, (all of the doors are custom made teak)on the port side. The engine room has full standing head room and a work bench with a vice and drawers for tool storage. The starboard side of the 60HP Pisces engine is reached by double doors that can be lifted off their hinges for further access. The engine has dual sets of fuel filters that can be switched by valves while running. There is an electric fuel pump that is available for starting the engine, but is not necessary for starting, however is convenient for bleeding the fuel lines of air.
The engine drives a Borg Warner Velvet Drive transmission which in turn drives a Max Prop which is self feathering and reverses the three blades when in reverse for more reverse power. The engine exhaust is fed to a fiberglass water lift muffler in the engine room, then feeds an expansion muffler at the transom which reduces the possibility of sea water entering the engine through the exhaust system. Under the engine is a full fiberglass pan to catch oil so it can't get in the bilge. The main bilge sump is in the engine room below the prop shaft. There is a high capacity electric bilge pump with automatic water level sensing. The manual switch for the Nilson vertical hydraulic anchor windlass is just inside the engine room door for easy access. The hydraulic pump is mounted on top of the engine and belt driven. The engine room is sound proofed. The one gallon per stroke Edson manual bilge pump mounted on it's board is stored in the engine room. The quick connect hose is under the floorboards amidships. One 70 gallon aluminum diesel fuel tank is in the engine room, the other in the starboard walk through. One set of two six volt batteries is in the engine room and the other set opposite in the starboard walk through. The main electric terminal panel is in the engine room also.
The masters aft cabin has a custom made queen size firm foam mattress with three sets of custom made sheets. The 13 inch TV with built in DVD player is on a shelf above the bed. There is storage of spare parts under the bed along with the autopilot hydraulic/electric ram that controls the rudder quadrant. The quadrant is reached by lifting the foot rest/bench seat of the love seat facing the TV. We also take the TV to the saloon and watch it at the dinette. There is a sink and mirror just to the left as you enter the cabin. Just aft of the sink are two drawers hung under the deck. Over the foot of the bed are more cabinets for clothes. The hanging locker is forward across from the main head. The cabin has a bifold door and the passage way head is isolated by a second bifold door just forward of the toilet. The propane/110AC gimballed refrigerator with freezer is mounted outboard at the forward end of the walk through. There is a three burner gimballed stove with oven and broiler just forward of the refrigerator. The galley counter, cabinets and double stainless steel sinks are forward of the stove. The galley is just to starboard of the bottom of the companionway ladder. The dinette is just forward of the nav station which is just forward of the engine room door.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
APPLYING BARRIER COAT
The tenth coat of aluminum loaded W.E.S.T. epoxy as a barrier coat against blister formation.
The keel is very wide on the bottom so that the boat can stand when she is put on a grid or beach using posts on one side to stablize the boat. Then she can have the bottom cleaned and painted when the tide goes out
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)