Today (Friday Aug 30, 2019) is a national holiday here in Turkey for Victory Day so all of Team Möbius and Naval Yachts is taking a well deserved 3 day weekend. Victory Day in Turkey commemorates the key Turkish victory against Greek forces in the Battle of Dumlupınar (August 26-30, 1922). The outcome of the battle, which took place in Kütahya province in western Turkey, determined the overall outcome of the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923).
Christine and I flew back into Antalya on Wednesday evening after a fabulous time away in Napoli and Sardinia so I was able to spend several hours aboard Möbius taking pictures and discussing all the new progress with the various team members so lets go aboard and see what they accomplished while we were away.
You don’t even need to go aboard to see the most visually obvious bit of progress this past week as the Starboard/Right side Paravane A-Frame pole or boom makes its presence very well known.
Everything is just tacked in place at this point to test out all the various dimensions and fits. 
This triangular brace provides a solid support to securely lock the A-Frame in its stowed position as shown here. The two inner pipe ends of this brace will be bolted to the Arch so they can be removed if needed when the A-Frames are tipped down on deck for canal mode journeys. They are just tack welded here for fitting purposes.
I had to move all the way to the Foredeck to be able to get this more complete view of this vertical pole and give it some relative scale. Overall length from the bottom hinge pin on top of the Rub Rail to the upper end is 6.2m/20.3ft which is easily the highest point on the boat. However both these Paravane A-Frames and the whole Arch beside it can be folded down to dramatically reduce the Air Draft, the height above the water line for situations such as navigating canals or putting the boat in a hunkered down hurricane mode.
This is a much earlier version if the Paravane A-Frames and rigging with much shorter pole lengths but will show you how the A-Frame hinges on the beefy Rub Rails and the basic components of the rigging to deploy and control the A-Frame booms and the “fish” or paravanes which are suspended from the outer ends of the booms and run in the water about 5m/18ft below the surface.
** NOTE: Don’t be confused by the apparent two A-Frames on each side as this design/analysis rendering is showing the A-Frames in both stowed (vertical) and deployed positions. There is only one A-Frame on each side.
For those interested in the rigging:
- GREEN controls the position of the A-Frame from stowed/vertical to deployed. This line turns through a block on the top (not as shown) corner of the Arch and runs down to an electric winch mounted horizontally on the outside of the vertical Arch pipes.
- RED controls the UP/DOWN position of the Paravanes/Fish allowing the depth in the water to be adjusted and for launch/retrieval of the Fish from their storage racks on the outside of the boom poles.
- ORANGE are the Fore and Aft Guy lines which add strength to the fore/aft forces on the end of the A-Frame pole.
NOTE: These are early iterations of the rigging and I will provide an updated version as the build continues.
Here is close up of the top/outer end of the A-Frame boom poles with the plates tacked in place and edges well chamfered to allow full penetration of the welds. The smaller diameter pipes on the left are the angled tension poles of the A-Frame.
Vertical pole is 110mm/4.5” pipe with 8mm thick walls and the smaller pipe is 80mm/3.14” x 5mm wall.
At the other bottom end of the vertical A-Frame pole this massive assembly of 20mm / 3/4” thick plates and the disc inserted into the pole with full chamfer at the bottom of more through welds.
These are some of the same kind of fittings where the smaller diameter angled poles of the A-Frame attach to the outer end of the vertical larger pole.
These are the pair of hinge halves which will be inserted deep into the hull framing through the Rub Rails. These are machined from 50mm / 2” thick aluminium plate and will have SS hinge pins.
The Starboard/Right side hinge at the bottom of the vertical A-Frame pole with all its parts tacked in place for test fitting. Comparing the length of the hinge plates in the upper photo you can see how these plates extend deeply through the 10mm thick Rub Rails and down the hull framing. When fully welded these will be about 5X the required engineering strengths which helps us SWAN when we have the Paravanes deployed.
SWAN = Sleep Well At Night
There will be thick Delrin washers on both sides of the inner hinge cylinder to keep it centered and moving freely. The SS pipe is being standing in for test fitting only and will be a SS through bolt in the final assembly.
We designed the Arch and Paravane A-Frames to do their jobs well and while not compromising the access when walking along the side decks. This picture confirms what we succeeded very well I think.
Safety is the first of our four fundamental SCEM principles, Safety Comfort Efficiency Maintenance and you can see many examples of this in the photo above and this shot along the top of the solid railings on the bow’s pulpit and down the line of stanchions on the Port side. If you look closely (click to enlarge any photo) you can see other examples such as the full set of handrails along the top of the Pilot House roof, the solid hand rail assemblies and stanchion poles and the A-Frame poles themselves all of which combine to make it very safe to walk along these side decks should it ever be neccessary in eXtremely rough seas.
There should never be any need for either of us to be outside the Pilot House or SkyBridge in such conditions as we have designed all the systems and functions of the boat to preclude this, however we also design with “readiness for the unexpected” in mind and when it comes to Safety we try to account for such unexpected “Black Swan” type events as much as possible.
Uğur and Nihat were also busy on the Aft Deck fabricating and fitting the solid handrails for the Aft Starboard corner of the deck where the stairs go down to the Swim Platform.
One of the triangular support braces is tacked up in the foreground.
Yiğit and I were able to continue our collaboration while I was away in Italy using Email and WhatsApp and Yiğit came up with this design for the Aft Starboard handrail.
There will also be a handrail along the side of the “dog house” on the left and there will be three Dyneema lifelines snapped across the stair well opening.
Here is the Aft Stbd Handrail all tacked up and ready for fitting into the same type of Delrin lined sockets through the Rub Rails as with all the other Stanchions and Handrails.
Moving inside down the steps from the Aft Deck, the stepped aluminium and wood grid is all in place and forms an extremely rigid transition between the Galley cabinetry up top here and the Guest Cabin down below. Yiğit and I tried out our own stress test on this transition grid with each of us standing on one of those two aluminum step frames and jumping up and down on them. Solid as a rock!
Several of you asked why this type of stepped transition was used rather than bringing a full bulkhead up and you can hopefully see why here in this photo. The bulkhead running along the top of the photo is the most massive of any on the boat and it spans the entire beam/width of the hull to form the very aft end of the Pilot House and SuperSalon. Then on the left you can see how the top of the watertight Basement area creates the floor of the SuperSalon and the 3/4 wall in the Guest Cabin which along with the stairs forms an extremely strong combination of boxed beams surrounding this transition area between the Galley and the Guest Cabin. Building it in this way gave us both eXtremely strong and rigid framing as well as creating maximum use of both spaces. We are very pleased with how this has turned out now that we can see it in real life.
This transition takes a while to visualise and hopefully looking at this GA plan view and a few of the renderings of the finished Galley and Guest Cabin will help.
Looking straight down at this plan view of the whole SuperSalon and comparing this to the previous photo of the transition grid above you can see how the countertop with the induction stovetop and Speed Oven below at the end of the Galley on the right side here extends into the Guest Cabin space.
It may help if you look at where the bottom step down into the Galley area is in this rendering and the photo above to get an idea of the overlap.
Moving down into the Guest Cabin and looking across to the forward Starboard corner where the Basement bulkhead forms the Guest Cabin wall on the left side here you can see how the stepped transition is used to create the dropped ceiling on the upper left and how the bookcase fits in under this.
Flipping back to reality here is what that transition step grid looks like from the Guest Cabin side.
Meanwhile, forward in the Master Cabin Ömer and Selim have been busy building the wall grid for the shower and Head area in the Cabinetry workshop and then bringing them on board and fitting in place.
The door into the Head up by the Vanity sink is now in place and the outer corner of the shower is framed in at the bottom of this photo along wtih the half wall which makes the transition from the glass wall to the Port side of the hull. There will be a similar header frame for the corner above to provide support for the aluminium channel which the edges of the two etched glass wall panels will fit into.
Opening the door you can see where the toilet will sit at the far end up against the bulkhead with the Forepeak on the other side. Access to all those red handled ball valves on the hot and cold manifolds as well as all the hose connections to the drains and into the water tanks below the floor……..
…… will be provided through removable backs inside the cabinets running down the hull sides and below the seat in the shower which you can visualise better with this quick rendering.
This overhead shot shows the overall layout of the front end of the Master Cabin with the two large hatches overhead and the Vanity sink in the center and wardrobes flanking the Starboard/Right side of the hull.
Standing with my back inside the Head area with my back against the Forepeak wall looking aft you can see the inside of the half wall and the construction of the wall grid.
Not bad progress for a four day work week and we’ll be back to full time again next week.
Hope you enjoyed this latest progress update and please do send in any and all comments, ideas and suggestions in the “Join the Discussion” box below.
Thanks for all your input and for joining us on this adventure. See you again next week for more.
-Wayne
Hi Wayne.
I follow the updates on your wonderful boat with great interest.
Forgive me for jumping in here but; as chief cook & bottle washer on our boat I can’t help looking at your galley sink design with some disappointment. IMHO, the way you have your double sink pushed into the corner near your induction cook top is an ergonomic mistake.
I think the double sink would be far better placed further to the Left so you have room on both sides of the sink: eg dirty dishes etc can be stacked in the corner. Doing dishes is much easier when you have space for dishes on both sides of the sink. In addition, when using the sink you would not be obliged to twist & lean into the sink to use the faucet. I
Accessing the faucet would also place the user closer to a hot stove. Not great. If you think that moving the sink further to the left would eat into your counter space too much, you could always use a sink cover/cutting board to increase work space.
Anyways, I’m curious as to your reasons for placing the sink where it is…
I hope I’m not offending you by my comments but I see many galley designs that betray a lack of appreciation for what a galley sink is for…
Cheers,
-evan
Hi Evan, thanks for the thoughtful questions and please don’t ever hesitate or apologize for asking more such questions. All are very much welcomed and encouraged here.
The placement of the double sink in the Galley has been the topic of much discussion between Christine and myself over the long design process for this most highly used space. And we have still not cut any marble or made the cabinets so it is possible to change it still but we think that the current position you see in the renderings ends up being the best overall choice when all the other ripple effects and consequences are factored in. Here is our logic such as it is as to why we think this is the best position for the sinks for us.
We have mocked up that corner with the actual sink and we think this position is going to work out well for us. The aft sink is the larger of the two and we have placed the center of the divider between the two sinks inline with the edge of the marble countertop going across with the induction cooktop in it. When using this larger aft/left sink you are standing right in front of it looking out at the views through the Starboard side windows and have the taps and faucet at your right fingertips. Similarly when standing 90 degrees of this facing aft while working on the cooktop and needing to fill pots with water the flexible extended hose faucet is immediately available on your left. In both cases the tap handle and removable wand faucet are within easy and partial arms reach, no need to bend or twist. And while we will exercise caution at all times when the cooktop is being used, by going with an induction unit the heat danger is greatly reduced to being just in the pots and their contents rather than in the cooktop itself. As you noted, this sink position does mean that you will be close to the cooktop when using the faucet but as I noted above we see that as more of a feature rather than a “bug” in the Galley layout by having the sink and faucet right at your fingertips when you are cooking.
This position also makes good use of the always challenging corners created when under countertop cabinets meet. With only the two of us onboard we don’t tend to have many dishes stacked up on the countertop and would usually put them in that forward sink and then use the larger one for dishwashing by hand as we much prefer that to a dishwasher and hence will not be installing a dishwasher in the Galley.
NOTE: We designed the Galley to have the option of a standard sized dishwasher if our preferences change as well as for future owners of XPM78’s wanted to have a dishwasher by designing in a cabinet sized, plumbed and wired for a dishwasher directly to the aft/left of the sink so that is another factor in the positioning of the sink. In our case we will fill that cabinet with a full stack of drawers instead. In any case moving the sink and dishwasher cabinet to another location in future builds of the XPM78 would be a relatively minor change to just the cabinetry so quite an easy thing to do. Hot & Cold water supply, Grey Water drain and electrical all comes up from the Basement below so makes access and changes very easy.
The other significant factor influencing our sink’s position is that these ares very deep sinks which we much prefer but come at the expense of cabinet space underneath the sinks. By having the smaller sink up in that otherwise difficult to use corner space we end up with more full height drawer filled cabinets under the countertop which we value highly. We do have as you suggested a cutting board that interlocks with the sinks and adds more countertop area for cutting or placing items there but this doesn’t influence the loss of under counter space.
We seriously considered putting the double sink on the counter on the opposite side of the cooktop but this would put the larger of the two sinks in the aft corner so a bit less accessible and would still eat up the same amount of under countertop space on that side. We also considered putting the sinks at the far forward end of that center countertop area but we felt this was too far away from the cooktop and would eat up even more of our valued under the counter drawer space.
We are new to powerboats having spent all our boat lives on sailboats that heel and roll much more so we may be overstating the importance but we also factor in the added safety factor of having that corner to brace our hips against when cooking and using the sinks.
As with most every decision we make there are usually a myriad of consequences of each change and design decision so we try to run through a series of scenario based planning with each one where we try to simulate every scenario we can imagine for a given design such as the sink placement and see what all the ripple effect and consequences are. We also loop back through our four fundamental SCEM design principles of Safety, Comfort, Efficiency and Maintenance to make sure we have those priorities in place and then also try to maintain our KISS Keep It Safe & Simple approach to all the design and installation. No surprise then that of the thousands, seems like hundreds of thousands sometimes, decisions we involve a balancing act between all these factors. Also important for me that from the very beginning when this was all just an idea, we called this Project Goldilocks because our ultimate goal is to design, build and sail the boat that is just right, just for us and therefore other boats and other boat owners will make very different decisioins which are just right, just for them.
Sincere thanks for contributing your thoughts and questions Evan, much appreciated and hope that rather than be concerned or worried about “offending” us with your questions, you are inspired to send more. These questions and comment threads are one of the biggest reasons and motivations I have for creating this blog and I hope that in doing so we all contribute more value to the world of boat building overall.
-Wayne
Thank you Wayne.
I appreciate the well reasoned & thorough reply. I think your ‘Goldilocks’ positioning makes sense given all the competing factors. (Any well thought out space on a boat is ultimately the final balance of many compromises…)
Best wishes from Victoria.
– evan
Hi Wayne,
I have another question for you regarding your stanchions / lifeline design on the foredeck. (I understand why you would choose Dyneema over SS cable but don’t understand the reason for not having top rails.)
In my limited experience in open ocean, the foredeck seems like a good place to avoid but if one has to go forward, good sturdy hand rails are very welcome.
We have a Nordic Tug 37 & really like the relatively high & burly 1¼” (32 mm) stainless steel rails around the entire foredeck. I have no doubt they would hold me in a rough fall against them. Being able to hang onto the rail in a lively seaway is very welcome.
Sailboats designers seem to favor lifelines over top rails but I don’t actually understand the reasoning. (I could see using lifelines to fill in the space below a rail but would think a sturdy top rail would be safer & easier to live with.)
Why would you not choose top rails rather than lifelines on your foredeck?
Thanks for you willingness to share your rationale. I’m happy to be educated.
-evan
Hi Evan, fun to be reconnecting with Victoria. I grew up as a military brat as my Dad was in the CDN army so we moved around the country and Europe every 18-24 months and then I continued to be very mobile as an adult traveling the world for business so I’ve never understood “home” as a city or a building, just wherever my family was. But over all those many years we lived in Victoria three times and my Dad retired in Victoria and I did my Grade 11&12 there at the newly opened Reynolds High School and then first year of UVIC before transferring to UBC and BCIT. My son lives in Vancouver, sister in Comox and many more friends and relatives on the Island and mainland so Victoria is what I tend to call “home” when asked. All the more apropos my previous boat a 52′ steel Bruce Roberts designed cutter was built by Kristen Yachts in Sidney in 1994 and I found her still there when I bought her in 2005. I spent 2 years fixing her up for single handed sailing and cut the dock lines in 2007 and never looked back. And our new boat Möbius will have Victoria as her home port proudly displayed on her transom so as you can tell Victoria is a very beloved part of the world for me.
As to your question about why Dyneema for the top lifelines rather than solid pipe rails, you may well be right that this is in part the vestiges of our sailing bias. Additionally the top of our 1m high lifelines runs exactly at eye level when you are standing in the SuperSalon looking out through all that 360 degrees of glass and having a 40mm diameter pipe running all along your horizon line wasn’t too appealing.
Safety certainly trumps such things as interrupting our view but we spent a lot of time designing the overall “stay onboard” aspect of the new boat and we think we’ve achieved an eXtremely high degree of safety anytime we are on deck. For example there is almost no place on deck where there isn’t a solid pipe rail for your “boat hand, as in one hand for the boat, one for you, mantra. Along the side decks for instance there is a pipe rail around the entire circumference of the Pilot House so that is available for example as you walk down the side decks to augment the 1m high top lifeline that is there for your other hand as well. Up on the Foredeck, the “pulpit” extends more than 4 metres back from the bow on either side so should you need to be up on that large anchor deck at the bow you are completely caged in by this pipe railing. Similar all pipe railings are found on both side decks where the gates are located as well as on either side of the large A-Frame paravane booms. And then on the aft deck the last 2 meters of the Starboard side are solid pipe railing right up to the stairs, another one from the “doghouse” entrance into the Workshop over to the stairs on the Port Side. The entire Port side is filled up with the large 5m aluminium Tender which extends all the way up to where the side deck starts and there are those railings for the gate there. The result is that as you walk the entire perimeter of the boat there are eXremely strong and safe handholds for you the entire way.
Adding to this we have gone out of our way to preclude the need to go out on deck much at all when the seas and weather are rough. We did similar on our sailboats by doing things like leading all lines back into the enclosed cockpit, in boom furling, etc. to again reduce the need to be out on deck unless you wanted to be. Going over to a power boat now we believe that the likelihood of one of us really needing to go out on deck and especially forward is reduced to as close to zero as possible and if we ever did need to go out there we have great handholds the whole way. As I’ve mentioned in several posts, our primary Person Over Board strategy is “Don’t Go in the first place” and these substantial railings and tall lifelines are a big part of that strategy.
As with most decisions these are the ones that work for us and I agree with you that having solid pipe for the entire top railing would be another good solution and one many others might make.
Rightly or wrongly that is our reasoning and what is just right, just for us.
Appreciate the thoughtful and experience questions Evan and please keep them coming
-Wayne