I have not completed the fairing yet, there is just not enough room for me to work on the top (actually the bottom) of the boat. I can fit up there below the top of the tent but I just don't have enough room to do a decent job on the fairing.
I have decided I will turn the boat over now and carry on with the build and then hopefully rent a barn for a couple of months in the spring to finish the build. I will be able to do a much better job of the fairing with more room to work around the boat.
I had been thinking about turning the boat for a while, I new it would be a big job if I needed to take the tent down completely and then turn the boat and rebuild the tent. I decided I would try and move the tent without taking it apart, I just needed a day in January with no wind as it would just not be possible with any wind.
I had a weather window for Saturday so I built some frames out of timer to allow me to raise the boat up and then turn her over. I was lucky that I had some good friends who offered to help out for the day.
We decided the best option for the tent would be to just roll it over onto the grass by the side of the boat, this worked well and allowed us the room and height to put the supports in place ready for the lift and turn.
Now the tent was out of the way we could get on with turning the boat over, I used some large ratchet straps to support the hull.
I took up the load on the ratchet straps and then removed the wooden frame that have been supporting the boat since I started the build. We managed to turn the boat within the straps with relative ease.
With the hull turned over we used a trolley jack to lower her a little at a time onto the floor, we removed the frames and rolled the tent back into place. We started at 10 am and by 2 pm the tent was back in place.
The boat is now back in the tent ready for the next stage of the build, I am looking forward to moving on from fiberglass and filler!!
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