Building outside, we are subject to the whimsy of the elements. In the summer, it's too hot to work. In the winter, it's too cold to work. In the spring it's too damn nice to work! The terrible too's. Budge made a comment this week "I can see why you named it 'Dog' 'cause it's a bitch to build!" That said, I find myself alone. Budge took off for a few days to his annual freedom fun fest, camporee and coffee klatch, 0r something like that. Ben also took off for a week and a half of family fun fest, bivouac, barbecue and boat escape, or something like that. Spring has been good. Nice wildflowers, the official yard roadrunner is hunting, and we progress.
Mmmmmmmm.......wildflowers. Enough to inspire impressionist painters. I looked back at some of my early posts to see the evolution of the boat then to now............and the devolution of my mind then to now. This blog persists, though none of us knows why. On day I'll emerge from my fog and find myself staring at some body of water scratching my head wondering how and why I got there. A bit of a weather thing this week. Oh we worked, surely. Yeah, I know, "Don't call me Shirley". So, after firmly arriving on a plan for the swim ladder last week, we changed it.................... again!
Ummmmmmm, knee braces! No, that's not it.............................
Oh yeah, extra edge supports. Examples shown on both sides, neither used.
So Budge seized the day and glued up a couple supports of doubled Doug. Fir. Ol' double Doug will do his duty. Budge sure loves clamps!
Budge dabbed epoxy on the dual doubled Doug Fir and.......................................
The dual Dougs dogged down and clamped..........
Sometimes you have to improvise the clamping procedure.
A quick clamp, only good to hold something so you can go get a real clamp. Works OK as a spreader clamp with the head reversed.
An "F" clamp, good to hold most anything. Buy these.
Pat C. Dog frolicking midst the flowers. Mmmmmmmm........wildflowers.
The oak pieces that Budge cut a week ago..............Ben reinforcing dual double dawg Doug with whitey the oak to make the swim ladder strong.
Ben 'n Budge worked epoxy coating the bottom reinforcing pieces......
and on the pod fore and aft followed by.....
Paint, what else?
Fancy expensive paint.............
One coat coverage..........hahahahahahahahahahaha!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............................wildflowers! What did I do? Sanded and sanded and sanded the beams............Drat!
First you have to make room for it.
Budged tweaked his pod (sounds dirty). I'm always afraid of Budge's drawings. It inevitably means he'll change it..... Turns out that it looks like this in real life.
Well, waddaya know............it's in the plans! The aft mast nestles in this crook (not Ben!). Budge will glue it all up when the weather clears next week.
The first thing this week, before we did any of the stuff featured above, Ben painted the stern posts. They're so pretty-----Paint 'em. I milled about this week, assisting when needed, sanding beams and working on the swim ladder part of the swim ladder(?????). We knocked about the idea of finding an old aluminum ladder and using that as a swim ladder lashed to the contraption, but decided what?????/ To follow the plans, so I knocked a set of ladder steps to be lashed to the swim ladder. They are just some 2½ " X 16" boards of white the oak with a hole on each end in which the rope will pass through knotting each one in place.
Mmmmmmmmm..............................wildflowers! Friday was the big county wide Garage sale. We scored some wanted tools, a small $4.50 table saw that screams like a banshee and a coupla buckets of stainless bolts,......and a 6' aluminum ladder that could have bolted on the swim ladder (God mustn't have gotten the message that we cancelled the idea).....................too bad we went back to the plans! So, you out there, dig your head out of the electronic screens and appreciate life around you and.....................
See what's really out there! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm................................................... three days of bad weather, that's what!
The Music♪: Trio "Da Da Da"
For Budge, who says he doesn't listen to lyrics............. Ok, Budge, concentrate!
RSS Feed
