It is GREAT to be back together with Christine after our various trips to see family & friends in the US and Canada as well as each of us looking after some professional things with two author conferences for Christine in Florida and a keynote for me in Sao Paulo Brazil.  Thanks to Dincer we were able to spend several hours on Saturday walking all through Möbius catching up with all the progress that our fabulous Team Mobius had made while we were gone and you saw all that in last week’s post.  This week work continued up on top as window frames went into the Pilot House and the two “wings” that extend aft from it to the Aft Deck were welded up.  Meanwhile down on the bottom the last of the hull plating started to go in place sheathing the framing for the keel and prop shaft skeg.  Lots to show you so let’s start up top.

This quick render looking from the aft Starboard corner of the Aft Deck will help you see how this area will look when finished.  Note how we have extended the thick glass of the side windows aft to create those two wings which along with the cantilevered roof creates a very well protected space when going in and out of the door over on the far left Port corner that leads down the stairs into the Super Salon and similarly protects you when going up the circular stairs on the Starboard corner taking you to the SkyBridge.  The two large red boxes house the Engine Room vents which have been designed such that even in a full roll over there would be no down flooding of sea water.  We have also shaped these to provide spots for the BBQ, deep sink and countertop as well as storage for wash down hoses.

Here is what the real thing looks like which gives you a good sense of how the Port wing protects that WT door into the SuperSalon.

A bit closer look at the opposite Starboard side wing with its plating tacked in place.  The two holes are where the thick tubular legs of the large arch come down and tie into the frames under the deck.

These two aluminium wing boxes will be home to some additional ducting and fans providing lots of fresh air down into the Guest Cabin and Christine’s Office as well as waterproof spots for the wiring that goes up through the arch tubes for all the antennae, Radar, GPS and many other components that will be mounted on the top of the arch.

Inside the SuperSalon Uğur and Nihat continued tacking the window frames for the 30mm / 1” thick glass in place.

Looking at the window frames from the outside you can see how they get welded to the 10mm thick mullion bars to create these eXtremely stiff and strong H shape beams.  Note too the wide surface area where the glass will be adhered to similar to the way many of the glass high rise buildings are constructed.  This type of construction provides the assurance that these windows can easily handle gale force conditions and safely deal with direct hits from possible large side waves.  These glass window areas are engineered to significantly exceed the strength and impact resistance of these areas if they were covered wtih aluminium plate.

While all this was happening up on top of the decks work began on this aft area on the bottom of the hull.  A very critical and busy area of the hull with the rudder and the skeg that extends down from the prop tunnel.  The Skeg is eXtremely strong as it is the lowest part of the boat and would be most likely to take the brunt of bottoming or striking something.  You can see how it is shaped in section to be a carefully engineered foil shape to provide very clear water into the prop and also protect the prop, prop shaft and rudder.

This is what the framing looks like at the aft end of the Skeg where the prop tube exits.  That vertical plate is part of the 25mm thick keel bar that runs from the bow all the way to the very aft end of the Swim Platform and you can see how the frames bars extend down the full height of the Skeg and wrap around the prop tube.

All this is 25mm plate which is capped off with the 50mm / 2” thick shoe plate that tapers to a point just ahead of where the prop blades will be. 

This shoe is what the boat will rest on when we are hauled out from time to time and also provides critical protection to the prop from anything we happen to run over such as logs or ice or lines in the water and will also be the first point of contact when, never if, we hit rocks or coral or bottom out.
Over on the Port (left) side the first of the 12mm / 1/2” Skeg plates has been fitted and tacked in place.

More of the 12mm plates awaiting their turn to be tacked onto the framing and you can see how complex the compound curves are on these plates as they make al the transitions from hull bottom to prop tunnel to Skeg.  The plate standing up against the Skeg has the elongated cut where the prop tube protrudes and all the oval slots for welding this plate to the vertical frame plates underneath.

If you look closely (click to enlarge) you can see the edge of the 12mm Skeg plate as Uğur watches it being pulled tight against the thick frames by that yellow hook going to a chain block on the other side.

Looking forward along the Starboard side of the Skeg shows how more of the 12mm plates have been fitted and tacked in where the hull bottom makes the transition to the prop tunnel. 

Uğur and Nihat work their way around each edge using this jack to get the two adjoining plates perfectly flush with each other and then tack it in place and move on to the next spot. 

Turning around to look aft helps to see how these three curved surfaces of the hull bottom, prop tunnel and Skeg all merge together.  In the bottom left of this picture you can see the hole in the top of the prop tunnel plate where the rudder post tube will soon be fitted.

Climbing up into the Engine Room and looking down on the Skeg area provides a good view of the foil shape of the Skeg.  Those two long sloped surfaces on either side of the Skeg are where the mounts for the CPP gearbox and the Gardner engine will be attached and you can see the upper radius of the prop tunnel and its frame near the top of this shot.  The framing along the outside of the engine beds is for two more water tanks.

While all this was happening on the shop floor, can you guess what showed up on the other side of our building? 

Something very closely related to all the work you’ve just seen above. 

Something we have been working on with a team in Norway for over a year now. 
Let’s take the top off that big box to see what’s inside and see if that helps you guess?

That’s right our Nogva CPP propeller system has arrived!  I’ll explain much more about this in future posts as we install it but basically these CPP props have blades which rotate to change the pitch to anything from neutral where the blades are lined up with their rotation so that there is no thrust forward or back, and then can be rotated from there to either provide more and more forward pitch/thrust or reverse. 

The big deal for us going with a Controllable Pitch Propeller system is that it allow us to dial the just right pitch for any speed and any sea conditions.  This in turn lets us have the just right load on Mr. G, our Gardner 6LXB engine which keeps him VERY happy and very efficient.  A CPP also gives us eXcellent control when maneuvering in close spaces, fuel docks, etc. as there is no shifting from forward to reverse, just feathering back and forth and being able to hold the boat in a fixed position in varying conditions.  We’ll explain and show you more when we get to installing this in Möbius.

As with all important systems on Möbius, and the propulsion system is certainly up at the top of that the critical systems list, we always provide for redundancy and self reliance as we go through the “What if this fails?” scenarios.  As part of that we carry all the spare parts, hardware and tools to be able to fix, repair and rebuild all our systems.  This is one of the four spare propeller blades I ordered along with all the seals, bearings, etc. for our CPP system.  We hope to never need or use these and it certainly adds to the costs of building a bullet proof boat, but well worth it for the confidence is gives us to know we can get ourselves out of just about any situation and that we are fully following our approach of “Readiness for the Unexpected” no matter where we go.

The other exciting progress is on the new shipyard being built for Naval Yachts a few blocks over from where we are now.  If all goes as planned we should be moving in next month!  Very exciting for all of us here.

Those are all full height sliding doors you are looking at here and if you look closely down the right side of the building  you can see the office building section at the other end.

Dincer kindly took me on a tour of the buildings and this is now looking at the inside of those sliding.  The bay you see here is the “small one” though only relative to the double wide bay to the left here which is where Möbius will soon be taking up residence.

Here is a look from the 2nd floor of the office building looking at that double bay and the yellow crane truck and people will give you a sense of scale for this fabulous new facility Naval Yachts will soon be occupying. 

Möbius’ new home will be up against that white wall you see here with lots of space for another ship that will be on the right side of this bay with plenty of room between, in front and behind for machines and materials.

A deservedly proud Dincer showing me some of the the 2nd floor office spaces with large windows into the yard area.  Gives you another sense of scale as the shop floor space you are seeing through the window here!

Reversing the view above, now standing back by the sliding doors this is those same windows Dincer is standing in above and shows you more of the size of these two bays.  Can’t wait to move into these fabulous new facilities and be able to start using all the new equipment that is arriving every day as well. 

This is where all the work on fitting out and finishing Möbius will take place over the next 14 months or so.

Congratulations Dincer, Baris and everyone at Naval Yachts for this awemazing progress on your new facilities and on Möbius.

I have not had time to put together another video walkthrough for this past week but will work on doing it this week and have it for the next update.  In the meantime, here is a short video collage of the work of the past week.

Thanks again for joining us and as always please be sure to add your questions and suggestions in the “Join the Discussion” box below.