Days remaining 220.
[Stop] Review. Plan. [Go]
So with November's milestones pretty much reached, it's time to take stock and make sure things are going to plan so far...
Here's the plan for December I wrote out on Day 1.
- Tech. Ideally by the end of December, I'd like the boat, foils and rig all ready to go together, with maybe just the fitting out and control systems to put together...
- Diet. Christmas and New Year will be tough - but I should be able to keep the deadly sins to a minimum if I focus.
- Exercise. OK, so I'm going to try and jog 2 miles and cycle 4 miles every other day all month... Sure i'll miss a day here and there with work, but on average, that's my target.
And here's where I'm up to on December 10th....
Tech.
The hull is coming on just fine... All of the frames in, the mast bulkhead made, transom to gantry arrangement figured out, the bow shape just about right.. It's taking a bit of time, but I want to get it spot on... I'm pretty quick at making things but I hate doing jobs twice, so the way I work is lots of thinking, sketching, rethinking, a fair bit of maths, then finally when I have what I want in my head it's just the easy bit of making it happen. To say the boat is 'low profile' is an understatement! My aim is the lowest Cd of any moth to date and that takes a bit of courage with a jigsaw I can tell you!
The wing socket tubes are made and I'm about to jig them up and start fitting them. The gantry isn't made yet - but I've only just figured out how to do what I want it to look like.
Foils. I'm initially going with the main leg from the Velociraptor programme with a torpedo on the join, so a little alteration to make to the mould and I have a million ideas on the rudder but will start with a cut down 'raptor rudder, but that might change very soon! No materials have been cut yet, but a set of foils is a weeks work, so I have some time on my hands. I'll make them over Christmas.
Pit head gear for the main foil is a little unusual on the Blackbird, as is the way the wand mech works - but I think I am on to something and I know it's new and a little left field, but I can always just plug in a standard mech and bellcrank. No it's not hydraulic - Too much resistance...
Rig. I've done a deal and am buying a very high quality 'pre loved' mast and sail from a very fast sailor that weighs about the same as me... This will be my first programme purchase outside of buying the mould tools.
So, in total pretty much on course and provide I don't get too many problems building foils, I'll be starting the fit out in January... Launch target of Jan 15... Yeah, I won't be fair off that.
Diet. I feel as if I have lost a LOT of weight but in fact there was a dip of about 1.5kg to 72.5 and since then it's come back on a little to 73.0. The classic mantra of 'fat turning to muscle'? - which is of course impossible.... Most likely I lost a bit of lard and then just a small fluctuation. I don't feel any stronger. I think my scales are shot anyway, and the kitchen scales won't be up to weighing the whole boat, so I get some new ones anyway. I'm trying hard to just eat less (easier than it sounds) and avoid processed meat (very easy) and carbs (very hard) and the biggest help has been starting the day cereals and fruit as opposed to missing breakfast and then stopping at 10 for a bacon sandwich... Still not drinking enough water, but have knocked the beer down to maybe 2 or 3 pints a week... (yes that says week!) and the odd glass of red to keep my blood the right colour. Pretty pleased really. I actually think for me diet is about what I call The Peninsular Effect. ie what I buy at the big supermarket each week - because I live right out in the sticks and the two village shops near me sell nothing I would ever eat, and you can only eat what you have in the house!
Exercise. I ended November running twice a week and doing lots of stretching and so far this month I've kept that up and added some ab and shoulder work, which as there are a couple of park benches on the run around the peninsular to use, has been pretty easy to add in... Yeah, I feel ok on it and running for 30 mins every other day is pretty easy to keep up... I haven't got my bike serviced but time is ticking so this evening I'll get some boat drawn up and then switch to getting the treader up to scratch...
Foils. I'm initially going with the main leg from the Velociraptor programme with a torpedo on the join, so a little alteration to make to the mould and I have a million ideas on the rudder but will start with a cut down 'raptor rudder, but that might change very soon! No materials have been cut yet, but a set of foils is a weeks work, so I have some time on my hands. I'll make them over Christmas.
Pit head gear for the main foil is a little unusual on the Blackbird, as is the way the wand mech works - but I think I am on to something and I know it's new and a little left field, but I can always just plug in a standard mech and bellcrank. No it's not hydraulic - Too much resistance...
Rig. I've done a deal and am buying a very high quality 'pre loved' mast and sail from a very fast sailor that weighs about the same as me... This will be my first programme purchase outside of buying the mould tools.
So, in total pretty much on course and provide I don't get too many problems building foils, I'll be starting the fit out in January... Launch target of Jan 15... Yeah, I won't be fair off that.
Diet. I feel as if I have lost a LOT of weight but in fact there was a dip of about 1.5kg to 72.5 and since then it's come back on a little to 73.0. The classic mantra of 'fat turning to muscle'? - which is of course impossible.... Most likely I lost a bit of lard and then just a small fluctuation. I don't feel any stronger. I think my scales are shot anyway, and the kitchen scales won't be up to weighing the whole boat, so I get some new ones anyway. I'm trying hard to just eat less (easier than it sounds) and avoid processed meat (very easy) and carbs (very hard) and the biggest help has been starting the day cereals and fruit as opposed to missing breakfast and then stopping at 10 for a bacon sandwich... Still not drinking enough water, but have knocked the beer down to maybe 2 or 3 pints a week... (yes that says week!) and the odd glass of red to keep my blood the right colour. Pretty pleased really. I actually think for me diet is about what I call The Peninsular Effect. ie what I buy at the big supermarket each week - because I live right out in the sticks and the two village shops near me sell nothing I would ever eat, and you can only eat what you have in the house!
Exercise. I ended November running twice a week and doing lots of stretching and so far this month I've kept that up and added some ab and shoulder work, which as there are a couple of park benches on the run around the peninsular to use, has been pretty easy to add in... Yeah, I feel ok on it and running for 30 mins every other day is pretty easy to keep up... I haven't got my bike serviced but time is ticking so this evening I'll get some boat drawn up and then switch to getting the treader up to scratch...
It's going ok.. But there's a long way to go and not much time to do it in!
D
D
No comments:
Post a Comment