I hope that you two guys appreciate what I go through to write this blog. I spend about three hours composing (composting) some semblance of cohesion from a conglomeration of random thoughts coalesced by alcohol and photographs! I attempt to bring you the real truth of building a boat. At some point or another along the process you realize that you started an incredibly complex task and that you have to draw deep within your psyche to complete the process, lest you fail and put your dream upon the block for a pittance and thusly announcing your failure to the universe. Sometimes it just boils down to grit. Budge says that I should encourage comments from you two readers. I would increase my stats. He is well versed in the machinations of internet blogs and such. Why would I wish this upon myself? This is bad enough as it is. This is in the be-careful-what-you-wish-for department, for you might receive it. If you ask someone's opinion, you get it, so it's best to just shut up. Thanks to Ken, ATW, for his comment. Sometimes someone somehow likes the music. Also thanks to Sergey, my second Blog follower, for suggesting that I brew my own beer. I have been brewing beer for many years. One of the last things I did before I left Ohio was to brew a batch of beer. I left my equipment with a friend. My hobbies here consist of boat building, catamaran construction, epoxy experiments, vessel vacillations, wood butchery, and eating supper. The day ends with an hour walk and meal preparation. After the evening meal is cleaned up, it's close to 8:00 PM (9:00 PM tonight). There is no free time or space to brew beer. I did other things while on return trips to Ohio, remember? Cone sewing???? The boat consumes our life. There is no space nor time to make beer. We live in a tiny temporary space. We are ragged out at the end of the day and sit down to a bit of downloaded or streaming video from Netflix, comedies for Ben, British who dunnits for me. The boat construction is all consuming and leaves no will, time, or mindset to accomplish other things. Also thanks to Tom, my second blog follower, for the words of encouragement. Martha, my second blog follower, called this week and liked the music and suggested some...........coming soon! See what happens when my two blog followers comment? I have to acknowledge them, thus boring you all to death. So something was accomplished this week. Ben was out of it most of the week with a mysterious malady that left him with diminished capabilities. The week was embroiled in tedium and repetition; deja vu all over the place.
When he was vertical, ben and I worked on beams................ again. Same process as last time. Coat, fillet, smooth fillet, coat, paint. We did this so many times I lost track. I somehow cannot bear to show you beam after beam doing the same process over and over. Let it suffice to say we're almost finished.
All that remains is to finish the beam behind Ben and to paint the four beams. Rain is rolling in, so this may deter progress. The four beams should be finished this week (hahahahahahaha).
Budge worked on the pod eyebrow. First laminating two interior beams by bending them to the shape while they dried.
Two glued up beams stacked one upon the other and drying so they will remain bent.
The two bent beams and the plywood with epoxy applied to be laminated.
Put the plywood down, add the two beams, clamp down so they dry bent. That open area in the center will be cut out for the mast. Dammit, it was national wear blue day and I missed it!
Budge discovered that Styrofoam cuts easily on the table saw.
The foam fills the gap between the beams. Cross pieces of wood are inserted to the edges to be trimmed and...........
The plywood top glued to the foam sandwich.
While the top dried, Budge set up some tick sticks to mark the irregular shape that will support the wheel. Using these points of reference he could cut the shape relatively easily.
He then cut the shapes.
Like this. Wheel goes here!
Like this!
Then he glued a cross piece between to support the steering mechanism.
He then took the top off and rounded the top and bottom and glued it back into place. That was his week.
Ben took some time and glued in the two seat armrests to the pod.
Budge helped position the swim ladder relative to the beam. We had to drill the pivot hole and cut a couple clearance notches to clear the seat supports.
There. We put the ladder back on the bench and I drilled the holes and cut the notches. Douglas fir is quirky stuff and can split along the grain easily, which made us uneasy, so we decided to reinforce it with dowels. So, keeping to the theme of making a simple thing complex, I drilled a buncha holes for dowels.
Those holes with the dowels sticking out. I drilled thirty odd holes, cut the dowels, applied epoxy and drove them in. You can see the straight grain of the douglas fir. Remember, woven rope in the other holes.
The hook and loop pad for our Dewalt random orbit sander on the right with the center worn away replaced again. We are rough on sanders.
Ben touching up a couple gunnel spots.
So keep on, and I will, too. Next week: something interesting........................maybe.
The Music ♪: John Prine "Let's Talk Dirty In Hawaiian"
Sure! Comoniwannalaya!
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