Rejected, Unselected, Unstuck In time

With the new videos page on U-2b Ben received an invitation for Google AdSense. Sure, why not?  So he happily filled out the requirements listing this website as our site. It turns out that we are unworthy and they rejected our application in a form letter for a number of very unspecific reasons, pick one. Oh yeah, they want $10 a month for very unspecific reasons. Now it keeps popping up to sign up. Aargh!

Thanks for the comments from Tom (sorry we missed you) and Ken, ATW, for their words of ebcouragement (Yay!). The third annual Port Aransas wooden boat show was this weekend. At least that's what we thought. Every day is the same and we get lost in time. Turns out, it was last weekend- the second weekend in the month. It is October isn't it? We missed it. Who would have thought that the second weekend in October is not after the second week in October? We gotta get a life!  We figured it out last Monday. We are bummed. All in all an OK week. Each day we go out and accomplish something. It doesn't matter what as long as we proceed because everything needs to be done and mainly it matters not about the order. Some things get in the way of others and delay the process in one area.

Budge is calculating the electrical needs of the Dog and compiling a list of materials. I am calculating if there's enough money in the account to pay for it. Batteries??????  Holy checkbook, Batman!  Major money chunks on the horizon: Metal (masts pod roof support, wind generator mast, etc.), rigging (wire, anchor chain, blocks, more blocks, even more blocks), Dinghy, electronics (VHF radio, antennas, big long extension cord (3,000 miles) so we can plug in while at sea), and god knows what else. I save my pennies....................

Budge made a video. It's what we do to make a fillet.

So with the huzzah's behind us on the raising of the pod, we looked at it's fitment. The pod sits on the mast beam and beam 3 (three). She no look so good (of course................nothing goes right). Now I will proceed to describe the situation until your eyes glaze over and you fall from your chair. Suggestion: lie on the floor and read this lest you hurt yourself. 

On the mast beam (fore-no, not like golf) where Ben has been drawing the for last two photos, is a front lip of 9mm plywood and that was resting on the beam. Not good, lots of weight concentrated  on a couple small spots. We needed to distribute the weight more evenly. Ben first trimmed the plywood a mite. After much consternation and wallowing in analysis paralysis, we picked an attempted solution: long wedges that spread the weight.

So lift up the pod (many times) tweak and lower pod (many times) to adjust the fit.

I cobbled together a quick taper jig to cut wedges on the table saw. See? Aren't you glad that you're already lying on the floor? This ain't an exact science or any science at all, come to think of it. It's just the same thing over and over and over.

I cut four narrow wedges 2 foot long and we glued them together to make two wedges 2 foot long. Then ben tweaked them to assure a better fit, Pod goes up, pod goes down, pod goes up, pod goes down. We are sticking ¼ inch rubber between the wedges and the beam to further adjust for the uneven fit.

Then the requisite coating with epoxy, priming, painting, flipping over, coating with epoxy, priming, painting. They're still not in place. Epoxy sucks and slows the process to a crawl.

The butterflies are getting ready for winter (dying). We have a caterpillar busily weaving a chrysalis on the mast case, which we will have to relocate ( both). Oh yeah, boat building.......

We coated the bow bridle holes with a nefarious concoction of epoxy, graphite, silica (pixie dust unnecessary)............. several coats. Ben then reamed the holes for smoothness. I know, I know.............Huh?

I continued to work on the hatch hinges (Gesundheit!). Remove hinge, Put butyl rubber behind hinge re-screw hinge.

Of course I misthreaded (fornicated vertically) one, necessitating a repair that required a three day process.

Between the pod and the hulls, there's a space that must be filled in with deck, lest you fall into the briny deep. Ben (hey, I helped-someone has to take the picture) laminated the material for the cross beams. More to come anon.

Wearing Bozo gloves keeps your hand from epoxy but that's about it. Mostly, they get in the way.

Not trusting the pod-to beam fit we decided on redundancy consisting of webbing reinforcement that runs from beam, under pod, to beam. We discussed and trashed many configurations of this process, finally settling on a continuous loop and a ratchet strap! First hole in beam webbing.

Square up the hole. And............the week ends in a cliff hanger..................

The Music ♪: Buckwheat Zydeco "Hot Tamale Baby"

Stanley Dural, "Buckwheat", Thanks for the music.