So busy accomplishing "DICK ALL"

Well sort of. It was a weekend of running around mostly. Saturday was a supply run to the "Burg" and Sunday we took in, for the second time, the Tackaberry Collection. I don't know if I told you about the Tackaberry Collection before but this is an amazing collection by a large mining/construction family in Athens On. Their collection spans many many buildings and two sites and contains all manner of truck, tractor, car, boat, snow mobile imaginable.


We took these pics two years ago during our first visit.

http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff166/KnottyBuoyz/2010/Tackaberry/?start=all

This time I wanted to just look and not be worried too much about taking pictures.

We had the opportunity to bring along some friends, Gary and Annette Tracey. I knew Gary, a lifelong mechanic and gear head would truly appreciate this collection. I think he was truly amazed! Just for fun they came along in their Hemi powered PT Cruiser!

Lori's got some new pics on her camera and I'll upload those tonight.

Another productive day

in the boat shed even though I was totally on my own. My primary Epoxy Glue Mixer Upper is down with the Flu and the project supervisor was attending to her needs with some snuggles and sharing of warmth!

I trudged on out in the cold and the damp and soldiered on. Mixing up my own epoxy glue to start the fillets on the keel to hull joins. These are fairly big fillets (biggest I've done so far) because the fiberglass cloth that we'll use on the keel and hull is a lot heavier than normal and doesn't bend quite as nicely as the lighter glass we have. I've started adding "microspheres" (microscopic glass balls) to the glue mix. This makes it lighter (easier to sand) and it doesn't sag as much. You have to be careful wearing a respirator when working with the microspheres though. You don't want to be breathing them in.

Once these are cured I can do a little light sanding and then lay on some tape. This will fix the keel sides and then I can finish the bottom of the keel. That's going to be a bit of a challenge because of the depth of the keel makes it quite a reach to get to it from the underside. I'll figure it out.

I hope summer gets here soon. There's snow in the forecast for tomorrow! *sigh*

If it appears that I may

actually know what I'm doing, then I apologize. I don't have a clue what I'm doing! :-) I make this stuff up as I go along! Thank gawd I have a few fellow's who've build this boat document their builds. I'd be lost without them.

It was cold and damp in the ole' boat shed today. Rained all day. I did manage to get a few things done. The gap at the very front of the boat between the two bulwarks was closed and gooped. Plenty of goop I may add.

That'll take awhile to setup even with my little heater on it. Next task was to fill in the very back of the keel. This piece was missing from the CnC kit but no big deal to cut from the leftovers.

I'll have to get the laser level back out and mark the guide hole for the propeller shaft. All measurements on the plans are from a base line drawn on the plans. This particular measurement happens to be hanging out in space so it'll be a bit tricky to do single handed. Most of the rest of the day was spend with various sanders trying to get the sides and transom in shape for fiberglass.

A little more work on the other side and the hull sides will be pretty much ready, as far as I can figure, for fiberglass. I do have to complete the keel which needs a fair amount of work. Fillets have to be made between the keel/hull join to allow the fiberglass to make a nice smooth transition without any hard angles. It will never lay down otherwise which isn't good to have air gaps in the fiberglass.

Spent some time fingerin' out how I want the rub rails to go on the sides even though that won't be for quite awhile yet. That's the beauty of building your own boat. You have plenty of plannin' and strategizin' to do! :-) That's about it for today. There'll be more work on the keel tomorrow. Standby.....

Today was a good day

I got to spend some real quality time with Mr. Belt Sander. :-)

I had some work to do around the thruster tube and especially on the side with the kefts on the outside. More fill and sanding.

There's still more filling and sanding to do before this section will be up to my usual high standards! :-) I did find you kind of get into a groove with the sander and it's not all that bad a job, till you rub your eye with the back of your glove and it kinda goes down hill from there.

Mixed up some more epoxy glue and stuck on the bulwark sides. It was cool this morning so plenty of working time with the epoxy. It eventually warmed up to about 70 degs in the shed in the afternoon so this side will be ready to have the clamps taken off tomorrow and the other side glued on.

For those of you who know about the LPBC here's a token shot for you of a LPBC cap with sawdust on it.

I'm sure Peter Lemonhands will be proud of me. Where ever he is!

Later folks.....

Cold & Damp

here today so I puttered a bit again. I cut a few pieces for the remainder of the side panels that extend from the bulwarks.

I had the heat on in the shed for a couple of hours this morning and could only get it up to 10 degs C. Still too cold for epoxy work. I did get the thruster tube squared up ready to be glassed in. Removed some tape that was holding back areas I glued last fall and generally just puttered. If it warms up this afternoon I'll go back out and putter some more.

:-)

Epoxy! Wohoo! Epoxy!

The bulwarks are now permanently part of the hull! :-)

Sorry no pics. Boring stuff anyways.

Notice to all involved: The cats are fired. Every last deadbeat, fat, lazy and furry one of them. I reached into a box to get a pair of latex gloves and low and behold some rodent had set up a sunflower seed restaurant there sometime this winter. This is totally unacceptable. Almost as bad as letting a mouse sneak unmolested into the house last fall! Humph!

Side panels next then the keel taping.

Puttering is really work too!

Still a little too cold (+2 degC) to do any epoxy work in the shed so I puttered around this morning.

First task was to eliminate the gaps in the bulwark panels. I started working inwards from the ends, which I know were aligned properly. When I neared the middle I cut a few kerfs to ease the stresses on the panel. A few screws and it's in it's proper place now.

The next think I wanted to do was dryfit the bow thruster unit so I can get it properly aligned with the tunnel before I glue it in place.

It was only pure luck I got the hole cut in the thruster tube correctly so that the propeller will be accessed from the port side, which I'm told is traditional, but not mandatory. Anywho working upside down doesn't help much either! :-)

Oh well, that's about all the puttering I found I could do today. Slow and steady. When it warms up I have to glue the bulwarks in place then tape the keel. Once that's done it'll be hull laminating time! :-)

Standby.....