Coamings: Dry Fit

The coamings have been cut, trimmed (and trimmed multiple times, butt-joined, sanded, faired, sanded and now, today dry fit and ready for installation.

The blue tape in the cockpit area marks the location of the carlins (hoping to improve my aim with the drill). The blue tape on the foredeck marks where I'll scuff the epoxy coating before gluing the coamings in place. A side note: the decks (fore, side and aft) that are now epoxy coated (and look pretty good finished bright) will be painted along with the outside of the coamings.

Actual installation would have taken place today but for the weather. Afternoon temperatures in the 90s made me nervous about the epoxy going off before the entire coaming could be pulled/clamped into place.

So, tomorrow morning is the planned installation. And, the coamings are the last 'big' components to be installed... really getting close.

Getting Closer

Lots of nearly ‘invisible’ progress this week.

Seat tops and platform deck prepped for paint (sanded, epoxy, sanded, epoxy, sanded). Decks sanded and epoxied (almost ready for paint…)

Decided on a paint color : a light tannish brown called Eagle Ridge. The small sample looks more gray than brown in the photo… After a lot of what-ifs and maybes about color, we realized we can always re-paint if we don’t like it.

The cockpit needs work and the coamings need to be installed. Mast step and step base have been pre-drilled for installation and both need epoxy before going into the boat.

Mast/coaming anchor block fitted to foredeck and ready for installation (one more check to make sure mast fits the slot… )

Busy Again!

After three-plus months of doing nothing, I am suddenly very busy!

Gardens: working on the interior; sanding decks, fiddling with the coamings, prepping the mast step for installation, prepping for paint, and much, much more.

Karen Ann: refinishing the foils, sanding the interior, new varnish, cleaning the exterior, getting the trailer road-ready, checking the rigging, and much more.

OZ Goose Project : Yep, since I don't have enough to keep me busy, I'm planning a community boat-building project based on the Philippine phenomenon.

(No images of the OZ Goose Project as yet, although work on Karen Ann and the OZ Goose Project will be documented elsewhere.)

Light of Day

Gardens emerged from the barn today so a big clean up of the boat bay could happen today.

The clean up involved the removal of plastic sheeting suspended across 2x4s 12' above the floor. It was placed there years ago to protect vehicles from pigeon droppings... After the pigeons departed (we have no idea why), raccoons took over and decided the plastic sheeting was great as a latrine... Needless to say, it was not a pleasant chore but we got it done: remove the droppings, pull out the sheeting, remove the 2x4s. My theory is that without the sheeting and the 2x4s to walk on, the raccoons can't use the overhead space as a latrine...

With Gardens out in the open, I decided to see how the mizzen mast fits. And it does:

I didn't test the main mast in the mast slot as that mast step is not ready. I left the yellow webbing used as slings to lift Gardens in place.

Gardens went back into the barn. Elmer Gantry lifted her off the trailer and set her back on her supports. The trailer went to another part of the barn and things are very much as they were this morning - except for the big overhead clean up changed the overhead space and gives me clearance to raise the mast inside.

Yes, there is a lot more to do but the sight of Gardens out of the barn and on the trailer is inspiring...

Weather, Shoulder and Gardens

Weather has improved.

Shoulder is improving.

Work on Gardens has resumed.

Work on the coaming has gone from door-skin pattern stage...

to the real 9mm ply pieces...

Despite using patterns there is a good bit of fitting to be done - for several reasons: the patterns were only used to draw the outline of the pieces on the ply - so the 'line' on the ply actually described a 'larger' piece; I still had to cut accurately; and the bottom edge of the ply needs to be beveled to sit flush on the cockpit seat tops.

So much more to do... but I am glad to be back to working on Gardens.

For One Brief and Wonderful Day…

Thursday was beautiful. Temperatures in the mid-60s. Sunshine. Very light winds. It was great. And I got to spend three hours working on Gardens! Yes, working - not just puttering around tidying up - on Gardens.

The deck was prepped (sanded, wiped down) for another coat of epoxy.

The mast block/coaming anchor was cut to size and fitted but not installed (not quite ready for that).

Photo

Photo shows the block in an early stage of development.

The template for the coaming was finalized. It may need a bit more tweaking but it is close enough to the proper size that I can lay it out on the plywood to determine if I need another piece of 9mm ply.

Photo

Again, the photo is from early work on the coaming and doesn't show the transition to the foredeck. (Didn’t have my phone with me Thursday afternoon.)

So, on Thursday I felt great. I was pleased that I could work on Gardens without any ill effects to my shoulder. I was pleased that, after four months, I was able to make progress on Gardens. I was looking forward to getting more done this weekend.

And then, the weekend arrived: Friday was cloudy, windier and 20 degrees cooler than Thursday. Things got worse on Saturday: A Winter Storm Warning was issued. Temperatures hovered around freezing. Winds of 25+mph made the temps feel colder. Rain, sleet and snow took turns making life miserable. Saturday night and Sunday produced more rain, sleet, freezing rain (the kind that coats everything with ice) and snow. For the time being it looks and feels more like mid-January than mid-April.

But for that one brief and wonderful day I was back at work on Gardens. I'm looking forward to getting more done as the weather improves.

Soon...

Nine-plus weeks out from surgery and the shoulder is improving rapidly. Not improved enough for boat-work but improving nonetheless.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading over the last nine weeks - nothing too serious, mostly just light, fluff reading for entertainment. I also enjoy watching videos on a number of topics: woodworking (Matt Cremora, Paul Sellers, Samurai Carpenter), blacksmithing (Alec Steele), and various tutorials (Sketchup).

Recently, Alec Steele has been returning to basics, focusing on Fundamentals, Hand Tools and Practice. I find this is as applicable to woodworking (or any other endeavor) as it is to Alec’s blacksmithing, so I plan to further develop my skills with hand tools - not to the exclusion of power tools, but to improve my overall skill set. I plan to incorporate hand tool work more into the completion of Gardens and other projects. My primary focus is, however, finishing Gardens.

So, the projects listed in my most recent post have not been worked on at all, but the calendar is calling… sailing season will be here soon (no, really!) with events to attend (preferably with a boat!) and races to be sailed (again, with a boat!). I need to get back to work on Gardens - and Karen Ann, my GIS. Soon, my friends, soon…