St. Francis 50: "Wayfinder"

[Hugh Howey]

Got some new pics showing the deck and hull together. Great angle to see the new saloon windows. I found a pic I took while onboard hull #18 to compare. You can see how far they extended the glass up and down.

Here's hull #18:



And here's hull #19:





You can also see how the frame is recessed to take a full sheet of glass across each double-window. So where hull #18 took 8 individual pieces of glass to wrap around the saloon, the new hulls will use 4 pieces of glass.

[BlueBuddha]

It is really looking amazing. Can't wait to see the finished interior. When do you expect to take possession of it? Are you bringing it to the U.S. yourself or having it delivered?


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[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by BlueBuddha

It is really looking amazing. Can't wait to see the finished interior. When do you expect to take possession of it? Are you bringing it to the U.S. yourself or having it delivered?


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Should be in my hands July/August. I'll bring it to the States with my dad and two other crew. Not the ideal time for the passage, but we'll be able to wait on weather.

[BlueBuddha]

Wow that is so soon! It's amazing how fast the build process goes once the hulls are made. That sounds like a great trip!


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[monte]

Looks great Hugh. Maybe consider painting the corner upright between the front and side windows black for a full wraparound effect as well. Minor point, you could always use some black adhesive and see if it floats your boat. I guess the graffix guys could do that easily enough.

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by monte

Looks great Hugh. Maybe consider painting the corner upright between the front and side windows black for a full wraparound effect as well. Minor point, you could always use some black adhesive and see if it floats your boat. I guess the graffix guys could do that easily enough.

Funny you should mention this! It's exactly what St. Francis has planned. I've seen the mock-ups, and it's just a black bar all the way around (except in the middle, where the mast and steps break it up).


In other news, I fly out on Wednesday to visit the yard and see the build in progress. Any requests while I'm there? Pics of the build process? Let me know.

[pbr]

Hugh, I am working on the refit of the first 50 and could use some info on parts for the sliding door, some door hinges, locker latches etc. The owner has sent an email but has not received a response. You can contact me at preischmann@msn.com

[Heath68]

Hi Hugh, great pics! As you can pick and choose various items do you have an opinion on marine vs composting heads? When I've looked in the forums almost everyone, once they have one, seems to prefer the composting type.


Heath

[BigBeakie]

Hi Hugh, another question for you

What do you expect the total build time will be from go to whoa?
The progress seems very good so far, the fitout is where things slow down a bit.

[contrail]

when it comes to upholstery, I can't say enough about "enviro-leather" from LDI. Very cost effective, too, particularly if you get a close out. Colors are just as nice. Bleach and oil resistant, and also body fluids, since it was created for doctors' offices. Breathes, is waterproof, wipes clean and isn't PVC so doesn't have the off-gassing. My only relationship is being a satisfied customer. Not big in the marine market, yet, but certainly should be.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by BigBeakie

Hi Hugh, another question for you

What do you expect the total build time will be from go to whoa?
The progress seems very good so far, the fitout is where things slow down a bit.

Good point. Hugh I would be surprised if your delivery date does not blow out 1-2 months. Seems par for the course with custom builders. All those little changes cost time.

All the best

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by BigBeakie

Hi Hugh, another question for you

What do you expect the total build time will be from go to whoa?
The progress seems very good so far, the fitout is where things slow down a bit.

Yeah, I've been planning on the delivery date getting pushed back at least a month. Should have a decent idea by the end of May. I land in Port Elizabeth tomorrow, and should be in the yard tomorrow night or Saturday morning.

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by Heath68

Hi Hugh, great pics! As you can pick and choose various items do you have an opinion on marine vs composting heads? When I've looked in the forums almost everyone, once they have one, seems to prefer the composting type.


Heath

I'm not familiar with composting heads.

[BigBeakie]

Hugh,

So your expected total build time is how long?

[BigBeakie]

Re composting heads, we are definitely having them on our new cat. For liveaboard cruising they are definitely the way to go.

There are only 3 possible downsides to composting toilets which are,

1. bugs
2. time between emptying
3. possibly cost

Bug invasion is when tiny flies use the composting mix as a home and they reproduce, like most insects, quite prodigiously. This is fixed by having fine insect mesh on the breather pipe. Not mosquito mesh, the mesh that will keep out sand flies, noseeums, gnats, that fine mesh.
Also the flies can come from the source of the composting media if you use peat moss etc. The best seems to be to use the dried coir (coconut husk) bricks which don't contain the fly eggs/larvae to begin with.

The time between emptying is determined by how many people are making regular "deposits". If it is 2 or 3 people, it should be a month or more before you need to dump the contents and start a new batch of compost media. If you regularly have lots of guests contributing to the head, then you will have to empty more frequently and the mix will not have had enough time to break down and compost.

The cost is somewhat more than a run of the mill manual flush head, or about the same as a good electric.

I am reliably told by those who have "been there - done that" who have had to work on a regular head to fix choke valves or whatever, that you only ever want to do that once, hence our attraction to composting toilet.