M/V She:Kon - If you can't stand the heat....

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the boat shed! So if Global Warming is a myth where is all this heat coming from? It definitely is unusual for this part of the world to have serious heat and tornado warnings!!!

The thermometer in the shed showed 32 C (90 F) and add on the humidex & the fact it's about 5-10 degs warmer in the boat I'd venture a guess it was 42 C (107 F). Zoinks!

32 C = 90 F

Yesterday I worked on getting some fasteners made that'll hold down the waste tanks. These will come up through the deck of the tank bed and will need to be fastened so that they can be tightened without the ability to get a wrench on the head of the bolt. Stealing the idea of a 'blind nut' I made up something I think will work.

Prototype fastener

Using a cutting wheel on my air grinder I cut slots in the washer and bent little tangs downward that'll dig in when you tighten the nut.

A dozen, six for each tank

I'm definitely not a welder. Find it hard to see what I'm doing with my poor eyesight. My right eye has a cataract and I'm near legally blind in that eye. Anyhow I struggled through and got them made up.

One of my better efforts

I don't know if stick welding stainless steel is harder than mild steel but I had a lelluva time getting the stick to spark up. My little $100 Powerfister welder only goes to 65 amps, the lowest rating for 1/8' stainless electrodes.

The First Six

I test fitted the tank to the bed deck and it actually fit. Sorry forgot to take a pic.

I glued the bed decks for the port side fuel & b/w tank down yesterday afternoon so I could go in this morning and sand them up getting ready for fillets & tape. I knew it was going to be warm today so I got an early start till my neighbor showed up to chat! *Sigh* Anyhow I enjoy his distractions.
Had to make a filler piece for the fuel tank deck to hull side and get it glued in. Fillets & tape.

Port side fuel tank deck

Port side b/w tank deck

As I was taping in the tank decks it was so hot the epoxy was kicking off in the cup. When it does this there's no way it'll wet out fiberglass. I got almost all of it on but eventually had to quit with about 3" to go. I'll sand that off and finish up tomorrow.

I think this will be the last blog entry for this year. Time to switch my attention to getting our RV, Meander (Me and Her) rigged for our trip out to Grande Prairie AB. We'll be travelling mostly through the US this time. Planned stops near Deadwood SD so we can see a few sights, Mount Rushmore, Mastadon graveyard & Devil's Tower etc.

If you feel so inclined to follow us on our road trip here's the URL to the blog site Lori writes.

https://adventuresofmeandher.blogspot.com/

So I didn't get as much done as I would have liked this year. Got a lot done all the same. It was a short building season with work and our road trip coming up. Next year will be better (fingers crossed). The starboard side tank decks should go a lot faster now that I have an idea of how to make them. All the components are in place for the drive train which is good. It's coming along.

Thanks for sticking with us. I know it's slow going sometimes but there is still a heck of a lot of repetitive work and sanding ahead. *Eeesk the 'S' word*

Standby.....