Boat Clambering, Blog Rambleings, Oh Man, Boat Stuff To Do: Tired And True And The Best Damn February Summery Days North Of The Equator

The weather here is mighty fine....mighty fine. We jumped right into boat stuff. We started with the easy stuff that teased us into the ease of work. The weather has been in the 70's and 80's. A bit of nippiness on Thursday, bur mostly mighty fine.

We worked all over the boat, inside outside upside down. We are entering the phase where we do many mini projects. We still have a couple of large things. ​I started piling all that electrical paraphernalia in the cat house. It's a big pile.

This stuff all has to be screwed in and wires run. Gobs and gobs of stuff to install and hundreds of feet of wire.

This is number god-knows-what in the myriad of errors we have inflicted upon this build-your-dream fiasco. This is the motor boxes with the slightly too large holes that have to be filled and re-drilled. If we could conceive of the entire juxtaposition of all the parts, we maybe could do this easier. Of course, we had to order a properly sized hole saw and arbor.

Remember those deck beams I laminated and coated with epoxy in December? Oh, never mind..............concentrate, folks, this stuff could be important. Well, anyway I started getting them ready, We left one end unfinished because we have to cut them to the finished length. So I sanded the 4 sides and one end. Then primer coat two sides, let dry, primer coat the other two sides and the one end, of course. Then do it again with real paint and, maybe put a second coat on next week. Repetition is our bailiwick.

Ben worked on finishing up the side deck blocks, whut support the side deck, whut go between the pod and the hull. The decks are lashed to the blocks through these holes, Now, these blocks, glued in place, are also screwed to the hull from inside to reinforce the glue. Boat building tip number 4,627: make sure the lashing holes and screw holes do not line up so water cannot get in. If you do, you have to fill the holes and put the screws in a different place. Do not ask us how we know this! 

Ben coated the adjusted block with epoxy......

Put the final(?) coat of paint on the deck support blocks and...................

Dumped half a quart of paint on the ground. Those three stooges got nuthin' on us! Ben said some interesting things................with vigor. What else did we do this week...............

Ben started working on blocks to support the fore deck..............then decided that we have to check the plans. The plans don't say more than they say, which is less. Ben called the plans "Philosophy with numbers". Inaccurate numbers, I add. 

They go somewhere around here. Plans are vague. They say stuff like "glue hardwood blocks....."

I put the battery box together. Batteries will be in front of  the mast beam/ pod between the motor boxes (we think).

Remember that electrical stuff? It has to be screwed to something. This is a something to screw it to.

There's two of 'em and they go here: Center cabins under the mast beam. No they are not in the plans. This is electrics, the plans don't say anything about creature comforts. That's the panel next to it.

It's got doors, You have to cut out a weird shaped hole to fit the panel.

It's coming together.............

That damn meranti plywood chips like a mother. The panel cut out only allows four tiny tabs to mount it. I'll  have to fill in the chips and use bolts with washers to permit a decent support.

 I'll frame out the doors and make it pretty.

More wood things to screw electrical stuff,

So Happy Ballantine's day, February 14th to those that drink, or did I get that wrong? Anyway happy mighty fine day to y'all, whatever your religious persuasion. ​

The Music♫: The Mountain Goats "This Year"

A series of Ben's songs for a while....................this year................