Still flush from the successful day yesterday I started on the next task of the weekend soon after breakfast. The task for today is the construction of the trailer guides. These are not required for launching Naiad but are pretty essential when recovering her, as we found out last year.

The idea is that since the trailer is in the water and Naiad is being positioned such that when the trailer is pulled out of the water Naiad sits on the trailer correctly, the exact whereabouts of the trailer cannot be seen, even with clear water. Naiad blocks the view by floating above the trailer.

So, one or more sets of trailer guides are clamped onto the trailer and these stick up out of the water. Thus, locating Naiad above the trailer becomes very straightforward.

First thing then, is to build a prototype since accurate measurements on Naiad and the trailer are difficult. After some work with a straight batten clamped to the trailer user Naiad and a plum bob I had the measurements to make pattern.

This is made out of pieces of wood I had in the wood pile and since it is just a prototype I didn't cut off the bits that extended out past the edges of the guide.

I wriggled it under the hull and clamped it to the trailer and as you can see, it's not a bad fit this side...

...nor this side. There will be a pad on the diagonal brace about 20cm (8") square with piece of old carpet fixed to the side that will touch the hull. This pad will be adjustable by means of a bolt in a slot so that it can be perfectly set up. At the moment Naiad is stilling a little skew on the trailer so before she goes back in the water, I shall wheel her into the workshop and lift her off the trailer a little so that I can position her properly. Then the pads can be adjusted to fit. There will be a second pad each side on the upright section just above the diagonal brace also adjustable to that it can be moved closer to the hull and the angle can be changed to fit against Naiad snugly.

Just to see how much difference there is between the front guide and the rear guides, I slid the pattern into place in the aft position.

Very conveniently, it looks like the same pattern may be used for both guides.

Again this aft guide will have two diagonal pads and two vertical ones like the fore guide.

A slightly disappointed note for the day, I don't have enough glue to make this. Well, I do, but it's the expensive waterproof glue or expensive epoxy and it would be a total waste to use it to glue up two guides that will only be in the water once a year. So, I ordered some ordinary weatherproof wood glue which is about a sixth of the price. 

This is only a sight disappointment since I probably will not finish cutting and dry-fitting the pieces for the two guides until later this evening and I'm unlikely to have time to glue them up anyway.

Never mind. Time for a tea break and then back to work.

So moving on to the first guide.

I cut a few lengths of 12mm (1/2") exterior grade plywood into strips 45mm (1 3/4") wide.

These were then cut to the correct lengths. Each guide will consist of four layers of the strips glued together. But the strips are cut so that the joints are interlocking. A bit like using mortice and tenon joints without having to cut the mortice and tenons. I'm starting the second layer in this photo.

A closer look showing the the brace on the second layer overlaps the base and upright pieces.

The second layer all cut.

The third layer is a repeat of the first...

...and the fourth is a repeat of the second.

When glued up, this overlapping construction will result is very strong joints.

Now I have to repeat this all over again for the second guide.

But first a tea-break.

Cutting out the parts for the second guide was a fairly easy and straight forward task. All I had to do was to duplicate the parts from the first guide since I already had the pieces cut to the correct size, it was an easy job to use these pieces to mark the wood for the second guide. By the time I had finished the cutting I had a pile of pieces ready for sanding and glueing. But that is a task for another day.

The parts stacked neatly out of the way. The longer pieces are on the floor.

A good day's work and not having the glue wasn't a problem. Having cut all the parts for both guides it was certainly time to stop work and rest for the remainder of the day.

And have a cup of tea, of course.