Weekly Progress Update on XPM78-01 Möbius

Sept. 30-Oct. 4, 2019 @ Naval Yachts

The models of the GN60 and XPM78 that were at the Cannes Boat Show last month made it back here and are now gracing the reception area of Naval Yachts.  A great welcome to all visitors and I’ll get more shots of these models for you in an upcoming post.

On the other side of these Naval offices inside the shipyard itself, It was another very busy week for Team Möbius here at Naval Yachts with lots of  progress made by the teams working on the cabinetry, plumbing and aluminium so let’s jump right in and start by checking into what the Aluminium works team was up to this week, which will also reveal the meaning of this week’s title.

We have finally been able to extract Enver (foreground) and Okan from their hectic work getting Legacy all finished so they picked up on the fabrication of the two large Vent Boxes which sit just behind the aft end of the Pilot House.
Like many components on the XPM, these Vent Boxes are very multi functional with their primary purpose being to provide venting in and out of the Engine Room as well as venting for the Workshop, the Aft Cabin and the Corridor area beside the Aft Cabin. 

The flat bars tacked to the sides are to ensure that the AL plate stays flat while the internal baffles are being welded in place.

In addition these two Vent Boxes will also create our outdoor Galley with an electric BBQ which goes in the lowered area you see here on the Starboard/Right side Vent Box. 

Peering inside the Stbd Vent Box you can see some of the various compartments which contain the different vents.  The large rectangular opening seen here in the middle is for the exiting air being extracted from the Engine Room enclosure via that rectangular duct in the bottom right corner which in turn connects to the same size duct inside the ER.  This warm air exits out a grill that will soon be installed on the top side of this section.
The Port side Vent Box has two venting functions, primary being the supply of clean, cool, dry air for the Engine Room which is the upper area in this photo and then the bottom area is where air is extracted from the Guest Shower. 

The top surfaces of these Vent Boxes will be finished with Corian covered countertops and there will be a deep sink in that bottom area.  Both Vent Boxes also have areas inside that will serve as storage cabinets with hinged doors for things like deck washdown hoses, electrical outlets, BBQ equipment, etc..

Once they had the internal baffles all tacked in place the Vent Boxes were taken onboard to their respective new homes and then tack welded to the deck for final fitting.

The large rectangular hatch in the deck between these Vent Boxes opens up along the whole length of the Engine Room so that the entire engine and CPP servo gear box and be taken in/out.  It is hinged and dogged down so this will also provide lots of daylight and fresh air for me when I’m working on the Gardner or the Nogva CPP.  What a luxury THAT will be!

Moving back on the Aft Deck helps to see how this area all fits together.  This cantilevered roof with temporary supports for now, will provide plenty of shade in sunny weather and then lots of shelter from the rain as well. 

You can also see how this roof and those two Wing Boxes on either side of the Pilot House create a very well protected area for the stairs up to the SkyBridge and the entry door into the SuperSalon.  There will also be three full size 360-380Wp solar panels mounted on top,

Not to be outdone Uğur was as busy and productive as ever and he started building a whole new component which was very exciting to see happening.  Can you guess what it is?
Does an end view help guess?
Getting warmer?

If you guessed Rudder, pat yourself on the back. 

Sorry, no free T-shirts just yet, but we do have the Mobius.World logo all done so maybe T-Shirts are next?
If you also look at two photos up and then this one, you can see how Uğur has fabricated a set of horizontal frames which will be welded to either side of this center plate.  That plate gives you a good idea of how bit his rudder is, a bit more than a meter square which should give us eXcellent steering capabilities in all conditions.
Uğur is very precise and yet fast so he soon has all those frames tacked together and to the center plate.  The series of angled 10mm/ 3/8” plates in the foreground form the top surface of the rudder with the holes where the solid 127mm / 5” OD rudder shaft will soon go and be welded to all the frames.
This top surface is angled like this to clear where it sits inside of the prop tunnel in the hull.

Once the rudder shaft is machined and fully welded to each frame and the center plate the curved outer surface plates will be fully welded in place to create a very strong yet light rudder. 
Two features some of you will appreciate are that the shaft only extends into the rudder for about 2/3rds of the length and the bottom third is purposely made to take the brunt of the damage in case of a grounding and leave the rudder still very functional. 

Second feature is a hole that will be bored all the way through the rudder body when it is hard over at 45 degrees and lined up so that the prop shaft can be removed without having to remove the rudder.  Removing the prop shaft is not a very common occurrence but it sure does help when you do.  Ask me how I know?!!
Still no T-Shirts for the winner but one more Quiz for you today.  Can you guess what this bit of hardware is going to be used for?

Hint:  It is related to the title of this week’s post.
Here is the other half it mates with if that helps?

Hint:  They create a very solid hinge point.
Does it help if you see how it will be assembled?
BINGO!!  These are the hinge pivots for raising and lowering the SkyBridge roof.
Here’s what it looks like on the other side.
If you have not seen it previously, this short animation shows how this works and allows the whole roof to be lowered and raised.  A VERY cool setup which our brilliant designer Dennis (Artnautica NZ and EU)worked out with us.  Yigit has now perfected it even further. 


We have since changed those forward two hinged support rods with a simpler design by mounting them on the outside.  These two hinged supports can be quickly installed when we want to raise or lower the SkyBridge roof and normally be stored down in the Workshop.

Uğur had the crane in and out so fast that I missed it but here are a few shots of how it looks now that it is set in place for the very first time.  Looking aft from the bow.
Here is a view that the fish will see looking up from underwater.
The eight framed openings in the roof will eventually be filled with eight of our 360Wp solar panels which will be bolted and adhered in place to do double duty as the roof’s outer surface.  There will also be venting in the front edge to keep breezes flowing over the undersides of the solar panels to keep them cool and efficient.

Now up on the Aft Deck looking up, if you look closely (click to enlarge any photo) you can see how the rear hinge points connect the roof to the Arch.

My first time seeing this roof in place when standing up in the middle of the SkyBridge floor.  Stairs on the left and Helm Station on center with nice big hatch to the right so Christine and I can talk to each other when on different levels, pass up coffee and meals and add more fresh air into the SuperSalon in any weather as this hatch is now fully protected.
This is your view when seated in the SkyBridge Helm chair with great sightlines over the first three meters or so of the bow.
A few steps forward to the front of the SkyBridge provides you with this vantage point with most of the foredeck now fully in view. 
The large angled bay set into the PH roof you can see here, will be home to three of our solar panels mounted on a single rack which hinges at along the bottom edge here.  This enables the whole set of solar panels be lowered down and locked to the very front edge here when on passage and then once on anchor easily unlocked and raised up so the panels are flat and then form a huge wind tunnel to capture all the breezes blowing over the bow and direct them through a mist eliminating grill and then down into a plenum overhead in the center of the SuperSalon ceiling where they are controlled by five 100mm / 4” adjustable round diffusers which you may recall from a posting a few months ago.

Sightlines are eXtremely important for safety and navigation, especially when docking or other close quarter manoeuvres so we worked very hard wtih Dennis to be able to get them just right and with full visibility around the entire perimeter of the hull.  For example, if I move over to the Starboard/Right side of the SkyBridge I can see the entire length of those massive Rub Rail edges.
Moving to the aft corner of the SkyBridge and leaning out let me get this shot to show how those rear hinge pins work.  The arm coming out to the left is the support rest for the Paravane A-Frame pole when it is stowed vertical.
Looking straight up provides this closer look at how the hinge pins work.  The center hinge pin itself has been machined from solid 316SS with a close sliding fit into the aluminum cylinders on the outside.  A bit of TefGel when they are finally assembled will keep these hinges well lubricated and corrosion free and can be easily checked on annual services or as needed.
Inside Möbius, Cihan was busy putting in more PEX lines for hot and cold water.  Here he is in the Master Cabin starting to put in the Red PEX tubing you see in the foreground into the hot water manifold on the left of the hull with the four red handled ball valves. 
Zooming in on that manifold you can see that he has one of these Red PEX lines already on the manifold and mostly wrapped in black EPDM insulation foam which makes it difficult to see at first.
A short while later both hot and cold manifolds have their respective PEX lines connected and the outgoing hot lines just need to have the final insulation added below the red handles similar to what you see on top.
Sorry for the poor lighting but up in the SuperSalon Cihan is installing the white PPR/PVC lines for the AirCon air handlers.  There will be one 18k BTU air handler on each side of the SuperSalon.
Last but definately not least Omur, Selim and Omer had another super productive week in the Cabinetry shop and aboard Möbius so let’s go take a look at what they’ve been up to.

Omer is responsible for the cabinetry in the Guest Cabin and this was the status of the pull out Queen bed unit on Monday morning and we can watch it progress through the week.
This recent rendering will show you about what the finished Guest Cabin will look like when you are standing over on the far aft Port/Left side where the shower will be.  We are looking towards the forward corner on the Stbd side here to show the couch/pull-out bed, Christine’s desk on the far right and the bookshelves above both.
Omer is demonstrating how these thick strong slats which form the foundation of the bed have these sliding tongue and groove pieces which alternate with one attached to the wall side and the other to the pull out section of the bed.
Fresh out of the shaper here are all those slats ready for sanding and then mounting.
The first slat is attached to the seat frame …………
……. and soon joined by the whole Slat family with the Rosewood pull out end ready to ……
…….. head off to be test fitted onboard in the Guest Cabin.
Looking through the entry into the Guest Cabin we can see it fits just right and ….
….. works just right as well.  I have built this style of pull out extensions in other furniture before and it works very well.  Very strong, no hardware required, simple to operate, what’s not to like?  I sometimes rub the tongues with some hard wax to allow them to slide even easier but the fit is purposely loose so often not needed.
With the pull out bed fitted Omer heads back to the workshop to start preparing the next parts for the couch assembly so let’s go find Omur and Selim and see what they are working on.
We find Omur setting up the shaper …..
…… with a 50mm / 2” radius cutter he will use to turn this laminated Rosewood into a fully rounded corner.
Given the size of this cutter and the length of the board this is best done with two people so Selim lends a hand.

Over in the middle of the shop, they have setup this temporary platform as they start to assemble all the cabinets for the Galley.  This is looking at the back sides of two of the Galley Cabinets which form the corner against the Starboard side windows with the settee running along the back of the cupboard on the right here.
Zooming in on one of the renders they have on the easel will remind you how the Galley cupboards in the upper right corner and the other areas of the SuperSalon are arranged. 
Moving counter clockwise from the bottom right: Stairs coming down from the WT Entry door with the Galley on your right hand side, L shaped dinette forward of that with stairs down to the Master Cabin in the upper left corner, Main Helm center left, then Lounge with the four unit fridge/freezer cabinet just right of bottom center and then the stairs which take you down to the Corridor to the Workshop and the Guest Cabin.

Back to the Cabinet shop looking from the right side of that same mock up above, the long edge extending to the right is the edge paralleling the windows and the far right end of this is about the middle divider of the double sinks you can see in the render above.  All the spaces under the countertops are filled wtih different size drawers as we much prefer drawers to shelves.
Moving in a bit closer to show you some of those drawer sizes and layouts.  And of course catch a glimpse of one of those eXtremely beautiful solid Rosewood rounded corners.
Sitting upside down another Galley drawer unit gets its toe kick panels attached.  The tall skinny opening is a single drawer with no sides that will have a series of racks inside for storing spices, cans, jars and the like to give you ready access to these often used items from either side of the drawer.
Something like this perhaps?
Still upside down and seen from the opposite side this is the panel that will be on your right hand as you descend the stairs into the Galley. 
There will be dimmable LED indirect lighting in the grooves above these toe kick recesses and throughout the whole interior.
With the cupboards all assembled they too get moved aboard for fitting.

This Rosewood is literally costing us a fortune but we expect to live aboard this boat for most or all of the rest or our lives and being surrounded by this beauty every day will add to our joy of living, loving and learning so we think it is a great investment in ourselves.  What do you think?
Standing up in the WT door looking down and towards the bow, all three Galley cabinets are now onboard and ready for outfitting.
All the interior cabinetry sets upon these epoxy covered solid wood foundations.
which Omur and Selim painstakingly level to within 1mm
By using these little wedges and then filling the space underneath with epoxy filler to secure to the floor.
With the foundations all leveled and waiting for the epoxy to dry Omur whipped up this ingenious little pattern to precisely replicate the angles and dimensions of ….
…. the aluminium stairs which that one cabinet intersects.
Exacting and time consuming in the eXtreme but this kind of craftsmanship produces this degree of fit and finish which makes it SO rewarding for both these craftsmen AND lucky us.
Whew!  I’m tired just typing this all up and reliving this past week so I’ll finish for now and thank all of you who have made it this far for joining us in this grand adventure.  You are encouraged to add any comments, questions or suggestions in the “Join the Discussion” box below and while it does sometimes take me a few days to respond I do my best to do so to each one and learn much in the process, so thanks in advance for your contributions.

– Wayne