It is Monday August 3rd here in Antalya Turkey and everyone is enjoying the last of this big four day Kurban Bayrami Holiday weekend.  Tomorrow is also our anniversary so Christine and I decided to join in and take a much needed break from boat building so we rented a car and drove East along the coast to the lovely town of Alanya for two nights away.  It has been a fabulous break and we are now back and I’ll do my best to get this week’s XPM78-01 Möbius Progress Update off to you at last with apologies for the delay. 

This will be a shorter update due to both having only four working days last week and also due to the launch of the GreeNaval 60 hybrid boat “Mega-Guard”.  This was a long overdue milestone for both Naval Yachts and Mario the owner as this build began a few months before Möbius so this launch has been three years in the making and it was all hands on deck at Naval Yachts to splash Mega-Guard this past Wednesday.  I’ve got some photos of that big event as well as this weekly update on the progress aboard Möbius so let’s jump right in.

Mega-Guard Splashes!

The GreeNaval 60 or GN60 is an all aluminium 60’/18.25m diesel electric hybrid yacht which has 2x 370 HP Volvo Penta diesel engines and 2x 150 kW electric motors. GN60, which offers 16knot cruise speed with diesel option can achieve 11,5knot cruise speed with electric motors.  This GN60 brochure will give you more photos and details if you are interested in learning more about the GN60.
Getting her first full shot of sunshine on her bow as Mega-Guard emerges from the Naval Yachts shipyard this past Wednesday.  She is setting atop one of three such boat moving machines that are on call within the Antalya Free Zone and as you can see this one can take much longer and larger boats onto its all hydraulic controlled bed.
Looking out of my first floor Workshop/Office inside the shipyard this is the view from the other end as the boat mover starts the several block trip over to the launching equipment at the launching basin within the Free Zone.
While the boat mover goes slowly it takes less than 30 minutes to make the trip from Naval Yachts to the launching basin.
Next, the big Blue Travel Lift straddles the boat mover and lifts the GN60 up within its slings and moves her over to the launching basin.
Where she gets slowly lowered down into the sea water for the first time.
 
And what do you know?  She floats!

Mega-Guard is all the more special being the new prototype and test bed for Praxis Automation Technology based in the Netherlands.  Praxis technology is usually found in very large shipping and other commercial vessels but they are now offering equipment for smaller boats in the 18-40m and recreational range so they wanted to have this real world testing and demonstration laboratory and she leaves Antalya on Thursday bound for Rotterdam and then on to Praxis HQ in Leiderdorp NL.  We wish Mario and Praxis our very best and hope to be anchored with them in the near future.

We Are Floored!

This week’s title is in reference to the multiple places inside Möbius where the flooring has begun to be laid.  The majority of the interior flooring will be interlocking planks of industrial vinyl flooring made by the big Turkish company Ado and you can see a sample of the White/Silver “Aperta 2010” colour we’ve chosen HERE on the Ado website.

One of the key features that makes this vinyl flooring the Goldilocks just right flooring for XPM78-01 Möbius is that it has a significant amount of texture on the top surface which I’d describe as similar in appearance and texture to that of well weathered wood.  This a critical safety factor for us to ensure that even when walking with wet bare feet there is no slippage.
This LVT or Luxury Vinyl Tile as Ado refers to it is primarily aimed at very high traffic scenarios such as airports, shopping malls and the like and it is also 100% waterproof, fireproof and extremely quiet when walked upon. 

It is also specifically designed and engineered to be used overtop of In-Floor heating systems such as the ones we have installed in Möbius.
The Flooring team chose this area in the Head/Bathroom of the Guest Cabin to begin to cut and fit the individual planks of LVT and are just getting started but this will give you a good idea of how these interlocking “click-lock” planks are laid down. 

In order to access the integral fuel and water tanks below all our floors, there are aluminium tank access plates bolted down throughout such as the one you can see here in the middle of the photo partly obscured by the Rosewood sink cabinet.  The flooring overtop each of these hatches will be removable and will be secured by a special SS twist lock device to ensure that these access squares can not fly out in the unlikely event of a full roll over.
Directly across from the Head is the Guest Shower and it is having its all composite based flooring installed which is the same material as all the walls and ceiling so everything is fully bonded and sealed.

Same style of lift out section to get at the tank access lids below the shower floor.

The aluminum suction tool in the foreground is how we lift out flooring hatches, wall panels and the like and works eXtremely well.  No unsightly handles required, simple, quick and easy to use.
Once the flooring was fully cured the pre-installed drain was routed out for the SS drain fitting to be installed flush with the floor which slopes down to this point.
The finished floor in both showers will be made of inlaid Teak as this has that just right amount of underfoot non-skid texture and is naturally waterproof.  These are two of the three sections of flooring for the Guest and Main showers and there will be a third matching one for the adjoining Head/Bathroom floor in the Master Cabin.
Same construction technique as is used for installing all teak decks on yachts, each individual Teak plank is cut, fit and glued to a template underneath and then once the whole panel is laid up, the template is removed and the teak panel is attached to a composite/fiberglass panel underneath.
The grooves between each Teak plank allow for expansion and flex and will be filled with a Black rubber like waterproof filler and then the whole panel is sanded flat. 
These are the two floor panels for the Master Cabin.  The longer one in the foreground will become the floor in the Master Cabin Head and the one in the back will be the floor in the Master Shower.

You will be able to see this in great detail in the upcoming Weekly Progress Updates as these floor panels are built and installed so say tuned for more.

Finishing the Corridor:

Just outside the Guest Head Omur has been busy deftly applying the finishing touches to the cabinetry in the Corridor area.  This is a very busy area where you make your way down the stairs from the SuperSalon above to get to either the Guest Cabin or the Workshop & Engine Room.

This past week Omur finished installing the “hockey stick” shaped Rosewood BHL or Blue Horizon Line which provides a safe, secure and eXtremely Beautiful handrail when you are transiting these stairs.
Biscuits are used to join the Rosewood sections of the BHL Handrail to the wall panels to ensure they are up for several decades of hand traffic.

The ubiquitous aquamarine epoxy strip spans the space between the upper and lower halves of the BHL.
And with a bit of ingenious clamping techniques Omur soon has the bottom section glued in place.
I’ve peeled back a bit of the protective cardboard and tape coverings to show you how the two halves of the BHL Handhold terminate up at the top of the stairs.
Omur has also been finishing off the cabinetry on the opposite side of the stairs where the tall Electrical Panel sits part way down the stairs and then my long skinny Office desk and storage area runs along the Port/Left side of the Hull.
Here is what the Corridor area looks like viewed from the stairs looking aft through the WT Bulkhead door into the Workshop.
Seen through that WT Workshop door you can just make out the Blue/Green leather covered Corridor wall panels on the Right side and the Office desktop and drawers on the Left.

If you have your orientation down you will know that the Guest shower is behind the foreground wall on the Right and the Guest Head is behind the wall after that.

GALLEY GOODNESS:

Up those stairs and on the Right is the Galley and over in the finishing shop they are finishing all the Rosewood fronts for the many drawers in the Galley, some of which you see here.
More here ……………………
…… and more here.

Yes we have a LOT of drawers in the Galley and can’t wait to start filling them with food, plates, utensils and our extensive collection of kitchen tools.
Once they are all hand rubbed and polished, all these drawer fronts are brought onboard Möbius to be installed.
Which is what Omur is busy doing here to some of the drawers under the side “peninsula” of the Galley.
And pretty soon they all look like this bank of drawers on the opposite peninsula behind the Dinette Settee.

Temporary Blue painters tape handles for now and just wait till you see what these look like when their permanent SS latches are installed.

ELECTRICAL:

As always, the handiwork of  Hilmi and Selim can be found throughout the boat as our two Sparkies aka Electricians, continue to install the wiring and start connecting all the various electrical components together.

This is the inside of the control panel of the 40k BTU Webasto BlueCool V50 chiller.  Hilmi has removed the outer cover to make the internal connections to the boats wiring.
A few steps away inside the Engine Room Enclosure, the helpfully tall Selim is busy pulling wires into the ER through the penetrations you can see (click to enlarge) up near the ceiling and then securing each wire to the cable trays mounted on the Alucobond covered ER walls.
Those cable trays continue to run forward behind the exit manifold on this Sea Chest at the front Port end of the ER.
Meanwhile, Hilmi has been busy running more cables across the Front of the ER for things like the High Water pump out valves, Grey Water pumps and various tank level monitors.

FYI, Hilmi is sitting where the front end of Mr. Gee our Gardner 6LXB engine will soon call home.
Right here.  The two inner facing Engine Bed extensions are where the front engine feet or motor mounts will set and be bolted in place.

Engine Room Hatch Hinges:

Uğur and Nihat didn’t get much time to work on Möbius again this week as they were busy getting Mega-Guard finished and launched but they did get time to make some progress with things such as these hinges for the big Engine Room Hatch which forms almost the entire ceiling of the ER.
These hinges are one of the latest examples of the overarching KISS or Keep It Safe & Simple approach we try to use throughout XPM78-01 Möbius.  Uğur is very handy on the metal lathe so he quickly turned out these three hinges by drilling out three lengths of sold aluminium round bar to accept the 10mm / 3/8” SS pin he machined. 

After leveling this big ER Hatch with the surrounding deck and centering the Hatch in its frame Uğur tacks the ER Hatch in place and welds on the three parts of each hinge to the Deck and Hatch.
Removing the tack welds the door swings open easily and is locked in the open position using pin locks to the Vent Box on the Right here.

For those wondering why this ER Hatch is so huge, we designed it such that the complete propulsion package, the Gardner 6LXB mated to the Nogva CPP Servo Gearbox, can be lowered in/out of the ER as one single large assembly.

That won’t happen very often but WILL happen often is that I can open up this big ER Hatch whenever I am down working in the ER and have all that fresh air and natural light pouring in which will make working in there all the more of a treat.

SkyBridge Solar Panels:

However the most exciting bit of progress Nihat and Uğur made the past week was this!

If you were with us last week you will remember that we had lowered the roof frame over the SkyBridge to its  hunkered down position that we will use for going up canals with low bridges or when leaving the boat in locations during hurricane seasons.  Part of the reason for lowering the roof was to make it easier to install the eight 340 Watt Solar Panels which also form the waterproof roof.
I chose to use Sikaflex 292i which is their strongest industrial adhesive to bond the aluminium frames of each panel to the rectangular aluminium tubing that the SkyBridge Roof frame is built from.
Prep is always the key to a long lasting bond so all the AL surfaces were cleaned first with a wire wheel and then wiped down with Sikaflex thinner.
Then an even bead of 292i is laid down.
and each Solar Panel is then carefully set in place. 
We used a laser level and straight edges to ensure that each panel when in just the right position before being pressed tightly down to squeeze out the Sikaflex on all sides.  The tops and side of each panel were also bonded to each other using 292i to create a very well sealed and fully waterproof roof.
Using this eXtremely strong adhesive eliminates the need for any mechanical fasteners and made for a very fast installation and met with Uğur ‘s satisfaction as you can see.

In addition to these eight roof top panels, there are three more in a hinged frame on the front and three more on a sliding frame aft for a total of 14 panels with a combined total output of 4.4kWP
I did manage to make a bit more progress on Mr. Gee but I’ll keep you waiting and save that for next week’s Progress Update.

Thanks for joining us and special thanks to all those who add their comments, questions and suggestions in the “Join the Discussion” box below and I hope more of you will do the same and add to the richness of this blog.

This coming week will also be shortened down to just four days but hopefully we will have most of Team Möbius back working with us now that Mega-Guard is launched.  See again then.

-Wayne