My requirements other than that of the hull being steel, were for a yacht that could stay at sea for long periods if necessary, with a less voilent motion than that of many ocean cruisers, the crews of which tend to suffer fatigue before the boat. While I have, as a result, a boat with bilges somewhat more slack and a ballast ratio somewhat less than many yachts gracing the Waitemata, the motion is noticeably more steady.
I desired adequate bouyancy forward as I contemplated running before the seas of the Forties and considered a bowsprit was desirable to provide sufficient spread of sail and to provide an overhang for suspending and handling heavy anchors and chain well clear of the hull. I therefore considered the bowsprit a practical extension of the hull and planned it to be 15" wide. It has proved stable and safe in all conditions and we find no difficulty dousing or raising sail at any time. As a convenient gangway to a dock it has been successful in keeping the hull clear while providing safe passage to guests of all ages including art Octagenarian.
I cannot help feeling a very useful and practical appendage has fallen into disrepute because of the lavish desire to conform to fashions the origins of which are dictated by the designers of R.O.R.C. and C.C.A. rules.
A flush deck was mandatory for the resulting deck space, strength, and not the least, a sense of spaciousness below. I wanted no bulwark or toe rail. Their absence allows water to clear easily both in heavy weather and calm, as corrosion by warm water- lying behind that bulwark can cause so much unsightly rusting.
With a graceful sheerline, a fairly low least freeboard of 33", with a balanced and pleasing overhangs and a moderately long keel we were content with a beam of eleven feet on a water line of 35 feet. For two people the resulting internal volume appeared adequate but I believe that I would now increase the beam to at least twelve feet, if only to take advantage of extra space below. This of course would allow me to stow aboard the goodies I am reluctantly obliged to leave behind following any protracted stay in port.
In short Haparanda is what I felt incorporated all the best qualities of the many designs of ocean cruisers I had studied over the years. Being free to design a sizeable yacht for oneself, regardless of racing considerations, is a rare pleasure today, and one that I enjoyed to the full. In the year prior to our marriage the final drawings were made and Jill's mathematical abilities were impressively demonstrated as she wielded planimeter, slide rule and calculating machine at Melbourne University. Late one night the night watchman, while performing his rounds in the Science Building came upon us quietly pouring over our figures and reacted to our presence by producing a revolver with alarming speed. We quickly made our signal but little further progress was made that night.
Living on a steep hillside 800 feet up in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne I was beset by difficulties of a topographical nature. Heavy haulage contractors believed it impossible to extract the boat from the proposed spot, but being possessed of more confidence than accessible building sites, I decided to cope with that problem later and made a start in 1960 by removing twenty odd trees and digging out a shelf upon which the frames could be set up. The difficulty of access may be appreciated by the fact that the truck delivering the first four ton load of steel plate could not be backed down the drive to the site. Using a 10 ton tree puller Jill and I winched the load the remaining distance after five hours of cranking and the long bereaved loss of our anchor tree. Tree lovers while not usually numerous in yachting circles , may note that our sorrow was not entirely due to the existent situation.
Although round-bilge hulls are now commonly built with rollers, there was ten years ago no evidence of success if one could judge by the results sailing on Port Phillip Bay. Rollers hired from Sydney at great cost and used in Melbourne had produced some very lumpy vessels. Plating was usually done in four foot long strips 18-wide, applied diagonally. Fifteen hundred weight of electrodes was used in one yacht followed by hundreds of pounds of filler, almost all of which fell out later. This distressing situation was not alleviated by the necessity to weld 300 separate spots. mainly along the seams, caused by corrosion due to a wiring blunder. Electrolysis had resulted, causing a rejection of the protective coating and filler.
Being unimpressed by steel hulls that resembled Aunt Maud's quilt, we had decided upon a multi-chine construction requiring no rollers, and proposed to use seven plates a side. Each 30 feet in length. These "strakes" would "wash out" into a large bow and stern plate and eliminate an unsightly concentration of welding, as the chines closed at the ends.
Plate cutting and welding causes a contraction along the edges resulting in a fullness, or round to the plate. This was allowed to remain, no effort being made to force the plates into the frames.
We had prepared these frames on a huge table, erected under the house, room for which had been made by removing the stumps and bracing interfering with the work area. Until the stumps were replaced, it was unfortÂunate that the doors of some of the rooms could not be closed. The deck beams had been shaped and welded in position, so that it only remained to set them up, by concreting them into the ground, after aligning them correctly by means of piano wire. As the hull was built upside down the frames acted as a dressmaker's model serving to support the shell which, while being set up, was only tacked lightly to the frames. During welding it was interesting to observe these tacks break away, allowing stresses to dissipate and giving the hull the opportunity to resume a fair shape.
The only disadvantage to building upside down is that the interior must be welded overhead. Working inside a dark hull in mid summer heat while welding overhead produced temperatures of 120 quite readily, and as welding progressed from the keel down, the heat and fumes being unable to escape provided an atmosphere somewhat less than salubrious.
The keel bottom thickness is 5/8", kee; sides and garboards 1/2, 1/4' while the rest of the hull is 3/16". The thicker the plate the fairer the result. 1/8" steel is far too light to give fair results and in welding it distorts badly even with care. I had determined to make hull of pressure vessel quality and so before commencing the backstep sequence of downhand welding on the outside, I ground out all welded seams and inspected closely all the previous work, carefully removing any traces of slag or inclusions and rewelding where necessary.
The last heavy job was turning the boat over almost within its own width. After being assured by a crane operator that it was a difficult job requiring two cranes, strongbacks and extra men, we rejected their expensive quote and did the job ourselves with a tree puller , which happily pulled the boat over before pulling out the trees. While on its side, we winched the engine up a ramp, into the hull, chained it down and continued turning. The overturning and setting up of the hull occupied two days.
During the 18 months it had taken to reach this stage I had been working in Melbourne up to 65 hours a week, with a 50 mile drive and every available moment had been spent on the boat. We derived a tremendous boost from seeing the boat set right way up and looked forward to the next stage in the building of Haparanda.
With all respect to Mao Tse Tung, the year in which turned Haparanda's hull right way up was that of our great leap forward. To those visitors who came to upwey, in Melbourne's Dordenong ranges at that time there must have appeared ample evidence of our satisfaction with progress. Once gaunt and haunted, I now appeared plump and buoyant, happily deluding myself that the completion of the hull indicated a promise of the end in sight.
Nothing could have been further from the truth, but happily no maritime prophet appeared to depress our spirits with the realities of the situation and so we continued to press on, sustained by our hopes and delighted with progress we were making, and the reality of having a 45ft steel hull actually towering over us.
After gas cutting the sheer and providing the deck openings with flanges, we laid the deck in 14 guage steel sheet, a seemingly straight forward task, which upon completion bore, due to welding contraction, a marked resemblance to the proverbial Aunt Maud's quilt. The distortion and buckling was appalling. I had, however seen panel beaters; men, who incidentally enjoyed "most assured future" in Australia, shrinking the surplus metal on motor body panels by heating the excess metal to a red heat, fairing by hammer and finally qenching. Experiments along these lines, encouraged by the knowledge that we had little to lose (as we could hardly lay a wooden deck over such a lumpy surface) made me so proficient in the elimination of bumps that I was soon hunting out and rectifying spots that I had formerly considered acceptably smooth.
At all points of stess plate thickness was increased to as much as 1/4inch to provide adequate strength. At this stage consideration was given to the chain plates. After shaping, drilling, bending and galvanising these 3 inch and 1/2 inch steel plates were inserted in slots in the deck and welded to the inside of the hull plating. While I finally chose the schooner rig, a rig that I am most unlikely to change, I did not overlook the difficulties of altering it at a later date. There is provision for changing the rig to a ketch or a cutter. In the case of the ketch schooner change, the masts, booms and most sails are interchangable. As the sail plan for a ketch rig was worked up with as much care as that of the schooner, I should be surprised if it did not balance as well, the weather helm of the Haparanda being met by finger pressure only; but more of that later. Preparation and welding of the steel bulkheds at the intervals determined by our idea of the accomodation, and the fixing of the engine bearers completed the steel work and the hull was ready for sandblasting.