Friday, June 30, 2017

If I only had a trailer

Not strictly boat building subject today but I've put together a little trailer for myself. Usually I end up borrowing my buddy Tim's or my Dad's trailer. We sold our Walker Bay dingy this spring (doubled my money) and was left with the trailer. What better thing to do than build a lil' flat bed on top of it!
The old dingy trailer
To try and keep things as simple as possible I used size lumber (minimizing cuts) and bolted the longitudinals to the trailer with steel straps. Four bolts and the whole thing reverts back to a boat trailer.
Decking on and PM coming to review the progress
I used pressure treated lumber and coated it with Thompson's Water Seal.
PM gives his Paw of Approval
 I looked at it and pondered long before deciding to put sides on the bed of the trailer. I think it'll make it a bit more useful for things other than dump runs.
Sides going on
Sides and front glued and screwed
Every board is fastened with 5 screws and PL Premium Construction Adhesive. That stuff is formidable! I don't think it'll be coming apart anytime soon.
All it needs now is a gate
The heavens opened up again, its our Monsoon Season. Boat shed is semi-flooded and I had to pack it in for the day. Will have a look later but I may have to relocate the tail lights.

It's not a heavy hauler. IIRC the max capacity is 800 lbs for the trailer. It'll be fine for boat supply runs and runs to the dump etc.

That's about it till thinks dry up a little bit and I can get back to boat work.

Standby....

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Better Pictures

Ole' Mummy found my shed camera so we have some better pictures today.
Overview midships looking forward
Taped the upper part of Frame B to the sides. This will be setup tomorrow then I'll align and tape in Frame D.
Frame B tabbed to the hull

Frame D forms part of the W/C and the galley section. For our layout we'll move the galley up and use that space for a sewing table & maybe an ice maker.
Starboard side, Frame D on the right. Frame C to the left.
Port side. Frame D forms up the separation between head (l) and vanity (r)
Another overview from farther back. Pictures don't capture the scale of this monster! ;-)
Aft looking forward. The half frame is Frame F.
Paced myself again today and my back was Ok for awhile. Near the end of the 5 hrs it was starting to tweak up pretty good. Up and down the ladders 50 times a day might be helping a little bit!


Thursday, June 22, 2017

Buttercup

Just like the old saying: 'Suck it up buttercup'! Well that's what I'm gonna have to do. The consult with the neurosurgeon yesterday went well. He explained all the issues. Apparently what I have is a 'Tethered Nerve' likely caused by scar tissue, which we already surmised. There is no surgical solution. He'll report to my family physician and we'll decide what to do next. Likely physio and maybe acupuncture plus pain meds.

Today I started aligning the upper section of Frame B. Did a little sanding in prep to glue it in place tomorrow. There's a fair size gap between the frame and the hull sides so I have to fabricobble some filler strips otherwise it'll use up to much epoxy & filler.
Frame A forward, Frame B and looking through Frame C

It took some fancy clamping to get the bulkheads plumb and equal distant. Some of them have twisted over the years of standing up in the corner of the shed.
Clamps & Screws got it!
Another view of Frame C clamping
There's a lot of gaps to be filled between the frames and hull so I picked up this belt/disc sander at Horror Fright for $60 USD. I figure if it gets me through this project it won't owe me anyting!
4 x 36 belt & 6" disc sander from Harbor Freight
Not much to show for 5 hrs in the boat shed but I'm easing my way back into it. Actually feel pretty good today. Little cramps in the legs but nothing major. The Project Manager kept a close eye on me today.
Boots, The Old Tom Cat AKA The Project Manager
Tomorrow: Glue Frame B upper into place. Let the epoxy flow!

Standby.....

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Finally Something

Finally something worth of reporting. I haven't been totally laid out on my back but pretty close. Some days are better than others. I try to get a couple hours of tinkering in the shed each day.

I'll start with the most recent and work my way back. Spent the last couple of days trying to get my 6" x 16' i-beam up into the shed 10' above the ground. This will be what I use to lift the engine into the boat. I explored a number of other options and this one was the most cost effective but more laborious, at least doing it all by yourself.
iBeam, trolley and chain hoist
The beam is currently resting on the shed longitudinal's which are 1x3's with a 2x4 scabbed on. I'll be adding a 6" x 6" post at each end of the beam to support the weight of the engine when I lift it.
iBeam sticking through side of boat shed!
 A couple weeks ago Mother Nature ran through here like a freight train and tried to blow my shed down. She did a good job stoved in both the front doors. Decided to bite the bullet and put a shed end on with plywood.
My buddy Andrew putting some of the finishing touches on the shed end.
Have spent a few days just cleaning up and trying to organize stuff better. Managed to get my work bench cleaned up a bit. Bought some bins and separated out screws from nuts and bolts etc. Still can't seem to find stuff. *sigh*

I've always had to borrow trailers for supply & dump runs. If not my buddy Tim's it was my Dad's trailer. Sold our Walker Bay this spring and kept he trailer. Got inspired one day and turned it into a flatbed trailer. Now I can go get my engine & do runs without having to beg for the use of someone else's trailer.
4 bolts and it's back to a boat trailer
Lori and I took a week to go see the kids in Grande Prairie AB. Lori wasn't able to go with me last time to meet our first Grandson Connor. He'll make a fine addition to the crew. Extremely happy and energetic baby. Handsome too, just like his Grampy! :-)
'sup Dudes? ;-)
Dis My Gramma Too! :-)
Ok I know it's not much but it is what it is. I'm going to try to get back to some serious boat building soon. I have an appointment with the neurosurgeon next Wednesday to see if there are any options to getting my back fixed. *Fingers Crossed*. Until the engine is back from service I'm going to do a bit more clean up then try to get the skeg installed.

Thanks for looking in.

Standby....