Elmer at Work

Elmer was put to work yesterday taking Gardens off the trailer and placing her on boat stands. Elmer performed quite well and tolerated my rather poor efforts to balance Gardens in the lifting straps. Of course, once I remembered what that blue tape on the floor meant (Elmer's position over Gardens), and adjusted Elmer, Gardens balanced well and came off the trailer nicely. The point of this exercise is to give me room under Gardens to repaint her centerline. I have no intention of doing any interior work while she rests on the stands.

On the trailer.

Boat Stands:

Positioning the boat stands properly under Gardens took a bit of back-and-forth-and up-and-down work. Finally, Gardens sat on the stands. A brace across Elmer's legs support struts that are intended to prevent Gardens from tipping (belts and suspenders). Props at the bow (more belts and suspenders) also act to prevent tipping. I kept slight tension on the lifting straps to, hopefully, minimize catastrophic failure (last bit of belt and suspenders).

Warmer weather (70s) in the forecast should give me a window to inspect, prep, and paint the centerline. The trailer bunks will be adjusted slightly while the trailer is empty.

An Experiment...

Videos? YouTube? Me? Really?

Well, yes - as an experiment. Two short (but similar) clips taken last summer near Port Dolomite (the industrial complex off the starboard bow) on McKay Bay at the north end of Lake Huron.



I need to experiment more (treated myself to an entry level action camera for Christmas) and practice editing. Taking the video is easier than editing clips into a finished product. Hopefully, I can create more content. We'll see what happens.

A Bit of This and a Bit of That

Plenty of time on our hands these days. And yet, time has slowed in a way I haven't experienced very often. I usually jump into a project or task full of enthusiasm and optimism - which lasts until the next project pops up and work on that first job gets pushed to the back of the workbench. Oh, I get back to each project but "old" projects lose their luster with each new idea that comes along.

So, I've been plodding through "works in progress" and bit by bit, and I find time seems to have slowed to give me more time each day for projects. I'm making progress.

The hinged-tiller project has taken its sweet time heading to a conclusion, but the Hinged Tiller, Mark IV, is very nearly a reality. First a plywood hinge, then a hardwood hinge, and finally an aluminum channel hinge (plus a rebuilt handle and stub) have taken me through an evolution to a workable hinged tiller.

The name boards are done and, for the time being, installed.

A new wiring arrangement for the trolling motor came about rather quickly (compared to my normal process). A new socket/plug combination replaced the alligator clips from last year.

An electric bilge pump will be set up as a portable unit with its own battery so it can be moved about and used where needed. Last summer I had to pump out the (very full) bilge spaces on either side of the centerboard case twice following consecutive nights of heavy rain. Not sure on the details for this arrangement but I'll work it out before leaving Gardens out in the open to collect rain water.

The white fir tree we took down this past winter has been milled into a good bit of lumber. It won't be useable for a year or more so I've got plenty of time to figure out what to do with it. And, of course, I didn't mill the lumber myself. A local sawyer brought his Wood Mizer and tractor to our place and did a fine job creating a pile of 570 bf of lumber.

Apparently winter isn't quite done with us just yet! The forecast for the next two days calls for temperatures in the upper 20s to upper 30s, frost warnings, and a mix of rain and snow. Painting will have to wait a bit longer.