The wind shifted from being out of the ccccccccccCold North to coming off the Med to the South so our temperatures here in Antalya when from low single digits and night time temps a few days down to 1C/34F to a high of 19C/66F on Thursday so a very welcome change even though the warmer winds did bring some rain with them.  However, Team Möbius powers through with more progress this past week no matter what the temperatures dipped to inside the Naval Yachts shipyard so let’s jump right into this week’s XPM78-01 Progress Update.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS:

We will start off with our “Sparkie” Hilmi and his excellent electrical work.  With electrical systems, wires and cables spread throughout the entire boat Hilmi really gets around but I managed to catch him here in the Basement early in the week as he was wiring up two of our 14 Johnson Viking 16 24V diaphragm Bilge Pumps. 
Here is what the finished setup on these two pumps looks like now.

Cihan has already done all the plumbing work and connected all of the bilge pumps to their respective Sea Chest outputs with the clear 25mm/1” hose so the low level bilge water system will soon be ready for testing. 

The larger 38mm/1.5” white hose with the green stripe is for the independent high water capacity Bilge Pump system.  He has left the grey protective wrap on these hoses to keep them clean and protected until the build is done.

To help with orientation, this is the front Port/Left corner of the Basement WT Bulkhead with the Master Cabin on the other side.  Just visible on the Right is the large AL “heat sink” panel holding all 14 of the Victron SmartSolar 100/20 MPPT controllers which you have seen being installed previously.
At the Aft end of the Basement on the WT Bulkhead with the Guest Cabin on the other side, Hilmi was busy this past week doing all the wiring for the three circulation pumps for the In-Floor Heating system that is in each of the three living areas; Master Cabin, SuperSalon and Guest Cabin/Office.
Wiring now all done for the Circulation Pumps.

Cihan has two of the three zones Red PEX tubing run here where they will soon be connected to these beautiful SS Hot water manifold on top  and the colder Return manifold on the bottom.
Here is the photo I was missing for last week’s Update with a good shot of how the low level Maretron BHW100 solid state water sensors are being installed in the bottom of the “V” shaped Gutters where the Margin Plate bend down to meet the hull and run down the full length of each side hull. 
These V shaped Gutters are in lieu of us having more typical bilges because everything below the WL is tankage on our hull.  A small aluminium.  With no moving parts these Maretron sensors are SO much better and longer lasting than the typical float switches I find to be so failure prone.  The internal sensor in the Yellow plastic rectangle switches “On” when water reaches the middle of that white Maretron label which is about 15mm / 5/8” of water in the bottom so we will know right away when any water should find its way here.

The 38mm White hose is the backup High Water Bilge pickup.

PLUMBING

I didn’t manage to catch the equally fast moving Cihan as he was working on Möbius’ plumbing a few days this week but di manage to catch him installing the PVC ball valves for the Domestic Hot/Cold water manifolds behind the back of the Couch in the Guest Cabin. 
We were very surprised and disappointed when more than half of the original German built ball valves that were shipped to Naval were leaking on the very first pressure test.  Fortunately Christine was able to pick up a full new set when she was back in Florida for her 100 Ton Captain’s certification and brought them back with her on the plane so Cihan was able to replace them all this week.
These access openings are a good example of how we are ensuring that even when we have system components behind cabinetry, there is still plenty of space to work on them in the future.  We do our best to keep all such access happen where there is no cabinetry such as in the Basement, Workshop and Forepeak, but some cannot be avoided and we have designed in access ports such as this.

Just off to the Right or Aft of the Couch, Cihan was also busy this week putting in the plumbing connections for the Air Handler for AirCon and Heating in the Guest Cabin.  This 12k BTU/3.5Kw-h Air Handler exchanges the heat energy in the fluid flowing through the Chilled for AirCon or Hot for Heating tubes with the air being blown through them which is then fed up through ducts to vents along the ceiling.

This is a peek inside the cabinet which Cihan is working on above, which holds this Guest Cabin Air Handler to show the Supply/Return cooling/heating fluid lines going to the Air Handler.  The round disc on the Right is the large squirrel cage fan that pulls the air through the internal heat exchanger and then blows it up the soon to be installed duct up the side of this hull.

We will most commonly  use these Air Handlers to cool off the rooms in the boat in hot tropical climates and then we’ll use the In-Floor heating in cold climates but there are times when a quick heat up of the air volume in a room is the most efficient way to quickly heat up a space so we have these dual purpose Webasto Air Handlers in both Cabins and two larger ones on each side of the SuperSalon.

GUEST CABIN:

Still in the Guest Cabin but switching to Omer and his Cabinetry team hiding all their handiwork after installing the now fully varnished cabinetry to protect it from the likes of Cihan and others as the systems all get installed.
He used the super robust AL frames above to help push this Ro$ewood cabinet top behind the couch into position while the adhesive sets up.
Over on Omer’s workbench in the Cabinetry shop he has been assembling the elegant Rosewood and White upper Bookshelf that wraps around the front and Starboard/Right corner of the Guest Cabin.
I got lucky and timed my stop in the Guest Cabin just right to get this shot of the Bookshelf being installed.

Pullman Berth is on the upper Right and houses a full size single bed that folds down for an additional guest to sleep.  More often though our Guests will sleep on the Queen bed that pulls out from the Couch at the bottom of this shot.

Then before you can blink twice, they have it all covered in protective cardboard!

Christine’s Office Desk is covered up on the far Right.
You can be forgiven for not being quite as excited by this shot as I am but what you’re seeing is Omer on the Left and Muhammed assembling what will soon be MY workbench/desk which is located in the Corridor just outside the Guest Cabin.
They soon have the lower cabinet of drawers mounted to the Port hull.

Two rectangular Rosewood panels covered up on the bottom …………………..
…. looked like this a few minutes earlier.  These panels flank the opening for my knees when I am sitting on the fold out seat.

WT door into the Workshop is on the far Left
Stairs up to the SuperSalon are on the far Right.

MASTER CABIN:

Şevki continued making great progress on the “Storm Bed” area on the Port/Left side of the Master Cabin bed and now has the center divider in place.  The 12k BTU/3.5Kw-h Air Handler for the AirCon and air Heating in this Master Cabin will be installed in the rectangular space in the foreground and the aft space is more storage.
Şevki has cut out these slots in the stair risers for the intake air supply louvers for the Air Handler.
On the opposite side of the bed, Selim has the 10mm/ 3/8” marine plywood flooring all in place now.  The Red PEX tubing runs immediately under this atop the 50mm / 2’ thick rigid foam insulation which will keep us toasty warm in cold locations and nice and cool in the tropics.  Finished flooring will be some of the new high end vinyl planking that you will see in the coming weeks.
At the foot of the bed, Omur and Muhammed are working at covering all the floors, ceiling and walls of the Master Head and Shower with more marine plywood that will then be fully covered and sealed with fiberglass.
They have the plywood walls all in place and are now fitting the corner boxed frame to make the transition from wall to ceiling. 
The two openings in front of Muhammed are for access ports where the two mirrored Medicine Cabinets will be mounted overtop of the lower cabinet drawers with the sink mounted on top.

We are also using this inside of this corner to be the perfect chase or duct for the N2K cables that run from the Forepeak in the background across to the Basement.

Here Omur is fitting the attachment blocks for mounting the plywood ceiling panel.
This is one of the intake air vents coming into the Head/Bathroom from a Dorade Box on the Deck above.  Omur has wrapped it with the same super flexible wood strips used to laminate curved components.  This creates a good thermal break and a spot for the ceiling panel to attach to.
Aft Ceiling panel in place around the big 700mm / 28” square hatch that brings in light and fresh breezes to either side of the vertical glass half panel that divides the Shower area from the Head.
Ceiling above the toilet area now in place with that air vent hole easily seen. 

The two plumbing fittings poking through the end wall is for the hot water flowing in and out of the heated towel warmer and the fresh water inlet for the VacuFlush toilet can be seen at the bottom beside the rectangular cut out for its outlet pipe.

Shower seat on the bottom Left and access to one of the underfloor tank access plates.  Vanity sink on the far Right.
Şevki was also busy installing the snap in place FastMount system we are using to fasten all the removable wall and ceiling panels to their underlying grids.  I had used FastMount clips on previous projects years ago and they were fabulous so we are using them again on XPM78-01 Möbius.
Zooming in on the lower Right corner of that white grid in the middle of the photo above you can see this white plastic female half of the FastMount fitting which Şevki has threaded into the wooden grid.
This FastMount system is a fantastic way of mounting panels with these snap in plastic fittings.  You then snap one of these ingenious red center markers in each White female half and hold the outer plywood panel in place, give each corner a good tap with the palm of your hand and …………….
……….. these steel center points put a little conical dent into the plywood that marks the exact center for you to drill the hole in the outer panel for the matching Black male FastMount fitting. 
These FastMount clips come in a variety of different “strengths” based on how much of a pull it requires to snap each FastMount fitting In/Out of its socket as well as many different types for different materials and panel mounting situations.

There is a nice set of special drills and clip installation tools that fit into a hand drill for you to cut the right sized holes and then thread the Male and Female fittings into the wood.  Fast, simple, accurate and strong! 

While not cheap, this FastMount system is very long lasting and makes removing and installing panels on walls and ceilings extremely easy and keeps the panels eXtremely securely fastened to the walls and ceilings.

Last Update from the Master Cabin this past week was the installation of this dropped ceiling box that goes overhead of the Master Cabin bed. 
As with most components this is multi-purposed providing both a visual break in the ceiling, a spot for overhead lights and then a voluminous storage area under the Main Helm Station that you will soon see immediately above in the SuperSalon.

It is visually matched by this boxed in corner soffit where the leather covered side wall panels transition into the ceiling. 
As we’ve done in the Bathroom/Shower this corner box also provides the Goldilocks place to run our N2K cables and Black Boxes as well as providing a place for the AirCon output vents.

To ensure that the dropped ceiling box is very solidly mounted, Omur had Nihat whip up three of these AL corner brackets.
These will mount out of sight inside the dropped ceiling box
and then be bolted to the thick AL frame member above.

SuperSalon

As with all our other craftsmen, Omur is simultaneously working on lots of different projects so let’s move up into the SuperSalon and catch up with what he’s been doing with the Main Helm Station up here. 
These two quick renderings will give you a good perspective on how the Main Helm and overall SuperSalon areas are laid out.
And here is a rough render of the current layout of most of the key items that will be at the Main Helm, including the angled wall section on the Right side of the Helm Chair, not shown, which will sit on the centerline of the boat. 
We have designed this angled wall to be another multi-functional component. 

• It will be part of our Main Helm “dashboard” with a place to mount instruments and Helm based devices such as the engine throttle and CPP Pitch levers
• the space inside this wall will have a door facing the Helm Chair which will be home to many of our AC and DC circuit breakers and some electrical data displays.
• and it ticks the Safety box being a super secure enclosure of the stairwell down to the Master Cabin and a spot to push you hip onto when standing at the Helm in heavy seas.

For those who have been following the previous posts you will recall seeing Omur and Selim laminating this very odd shaped and angled component of the Main Helm with its matching Rosewood veneer.
If you look closely at the rendering above (click to enlarge any photo), you will see a half wall that extends aft at an angle on the Right side of the Helm Chair and that is the part which Omur is assembling in these photos.
Turned 90 degrees to work on here, this boxed end with the angled top surface will soon become the main electrical panel holding over half our AC and DC circuit breakers of which number over 150 in total for the whole boat.
Back onboard Möbius here is the current state of the SuperSalon looking forward towards the Main Helm in the center.  50” monitor on the angled wall on the far Left and 43” on the far upper Right, Dinette on the lower Right and stairs down to the Master Cabin between the Right side of the Helm and the Dinette.
This view of the inside of the Dropped Ceiling Box in the Master Cabin shows how much volume this provides for mounting electronics and steering gear inside which is one of the main features we designed into this multi-purposed box.
Omur has now brought the roughed in angled Helm wall onboard and it mounts atop the white rectangular foundation where Şevki’s Left hand is resting.  You might note that the oblong hole in the bottom of the wood cabinet matches up with the oblong aluminium penetration in the SuperSalon AL floor just in front of Şevki’s hand,
The angled top surface will have a Black Leather covered surface to match the rest of the Main Helm surfaces and reduce window reflections on night watches.  We will mount engine/CPP controls and other navigation equipment here as well as on the Main Helm dashboard.
This angled wall cabinet will be mounted a bit more to the Right in this photo but this shot should make it easy to visualise and you can refer back to the rendering above.

Mr. Gee our Gardner 6LXB Main Engine

Mr. Gee finally started to get some much needed TLC from me these past few weeks and I have finally begun the big reassembly process now that all the individual components have been scrupulously cleaned with sand blasting, degreasing solvent and a LOT of elbow grease supplied by Christine and myself.

This is the recently built plastic tent that helps keep all the dirt and dust out and keep all the spray paint inside as I start to apply the final colour coats as I assemble the engine.

Cast aluminium crankcase on the far Right, Chrome/Moly Crankshaft in the foreground and Cast Iron Cylinder block on the Left.

For some historical perspective:

This is my “Love at first sight” photo the day I first met Mr. Gee in person at Gardner Marine Diesel in England after their fabulous CEO Michael Harrison pictured here had just plucked him out of a tugboat on the Thames after over 55 years of uninterrupted service.
For a glimpse at what the “after” photos will look when I finish this renovation, this is what a fellow Gardner lover and restorer, Jamie Gabb’s 6LXB motor looks like, minus the polished AL valve covers.
Shot of the aft end of Jamie’s 6LXB with the same oversized flywheel and SAE cogged flange for the rubber flex drive connection to our Nogva CPP Servo Gearbox.
Here is what he looked like when we offloaded Mr. Gee at our friends home we were house/pet sitting in Albufeira Portugal for his first round of dismantling and cleaning.
The first of several complete disassembly rounds begins.
Unboxing the complete set of brand new OEM Gardner parts of which we have a duplicate of pretty much EVERY “bit and bob” as my British friends would say from new pistons, to every bearing, gasket, meter and nuts and bolts.  Pretty much every part other than the primary cast or forged parts such as the cast AL crankcase, dry sleeved CI cylinder block, heads, etc..
After pressing in new cylinder liners, grinding head and block surfaces, new valves & springs and lots of pressure washing, I put Humpty Dumpty back together again along with his trusty sidekick the 2 Ton hydraulic lift and ….
…. wrapped him all up in shrink wrap for his next land based journey being trucked over to Antalya Turkey where we now pick up the story.

It might be questionable if I have all my Ducks in a row but I present this photographic evidence that I do have all my main bearing shells in a row.
along with all their matching Main Bearing caps lined up in wait of being assembled.
With all these primary Gardner engine parts weighing in the hundreds of Kilos I’m using all 2 tons of my trusty hydraulic rolling lift such as in this case where I’m using it to gently lower the surgically clean crankshaft onto its bearing shells you saw in the photo above.
And I’ve also been getting great use out of some of my Dyneema line as it is stronger than steel yet very soft and forgiving when going through highly machined surfaces such as the journals of the crank. 
I will have LOTS more coverage of this Mr. Gee’s full renovation and new lease on life for my fellow gearheads and for those less interested you can just skim over these parts of future Progress Update posts.

NEW ARRIVALS @ NAVAL YACHTS

Floorspace in Naval’s shipyard diminished dramatically the past two weeks with the arrival of several new renovation boat projects. 
On the far Left inside the plastic tent is “Twinity” a 22m/70’ all composite power catamaran which arrived as a bare hull and superstructure and Naval is now building out the interior and will deliver a fully finished boat.  Beside Twinity is the newly arrived Bravo II which is a 70ft Princess power boat and then directly  in front of Möbius where she used to be is the 26m/85’ steel Legacy which has returned for some additional work after extensive sea trials over the past 3 months.

And that’s the week that was February 10 to 14, 2020 here at Naval Yachts with the Good Ship Möbius.  REALLY appreciate you taking your highly valuable time to join us on this latest leg of our journey to build our Goldilocks home and magic carpet as well as the first of what we hope will be many more XPM type boats that will join us as we continue our adventures cruising around this awemazing planet of ours.

Even though it takes me an embarrassingly long time to respond to them PLEASE do add your comments and questions in the “Join the Discussion” box below and let me know how I might increase the value and enjoyment you get from following these blog posts.

– Wayne