He's Moved

Well, he's moved. And let me tell you, that guy had a lot of crap. I knew the guy was a pack rat, but I never fully realized exactly how much stuff he had in that tiny little house. Moving the contents of his house, garage and shed from their original locations to the U-Haul and two pods was like watching a marshmallow expand in a fire, or when a magician pulls that scarf out of his sleeve. All I can figure is that his old house was somehow like a space bag, and mysteriously shrunk shit enough to fit into the little nooks and crannies in the place.

One of the first things we moved was the boat, and I'm pleased to report that it survived the trip without incident, despite the fact that the internal framing isn't even completed -- almost four years later! (Yes, we've been at this for almost four years, and we're still not done!)

The new garage is even cooler than the old one... bigger, warmer, brighter, and it has running water and drains built into the floor. Unfortunately, Greg is currently using the garage and the hull of the boat as an overflow area for stuff while he gets the new house situated. This means no boat work for at least a month or so. The crazy thing is, I already miss our boat/beer/cigar/guy talk time, and I'm looking forward to getting back at it.

In order for that to happen though, Greg needs to organize the garage, which means that he needs to put up shelves and so forth. He's tentatively planning to do that between Christmas and New Year's day, and I'll probably help.

Time Flies

"I'm not dead."

It seems that I've been saying that a lot lately. It's not that I'm neglecting things per se, it's more accurate to say I'm prioritizing. The internet, and my blogs in particular, have been downgraded in priority.

Greg and I are still doing work on the boat, but it's been slow going. I hope that our pace will pick up in the not-too-distant future. The slow pace is really more of a soap opera than anything, but if you're interested, read on.

You see, my ex-wife and Greg's wife are best friends. The ex got evicted from her apartment around the beginning of the year, and having nowhere else to go, Greg's wife agreed to let my ex move in with them. I don't exactly hate my ex, but I don't enjoy her presence either. And while I must give her credit for trying to not infringe on my male-bonding time when I went go Greg's for boat work, the knowledge that I was -- in some sort of twisted way -- hanging out at my ex-wife's place, certainly put a damper on my desire to hang out at Greg's house.

In addition to this, Greg and his wife started house-hunting. They found a new home and will be moving in a couple of weeks. The garage is bigger and better than what we have now, and the ex isn't moving with them. This means that we may have more boat time... but not until after Greg gets moved in to the new place.

Lazy Days of Summer

That's not really a phrase that applies in our situation, but it sounded good nonetheless. Greg and I are still working on the boat, and we are still taking our time. The inside of the hull has been glassed, and we have test-fitted the stringers and frame pieces. Next weeek, we plan to tack the stringers into place, and then after that, it will be time to secure the stringers and frame pieces to the hull.

Greg also purchased a trailer last weekend. It looks nice, but Greg says that he'll have to make some minor adjustmenst to it.

Boat Scar

I've finally got a picture of the scar.

Click on the picture for a larger photo and some notes.

I Almost Cried

I went to Greg's for another round of work last night. When I got there, I saw something that almost made me burst out in tears. Greg had virtually cut the boat in half.

After rolling the boat, Greg measured the width of the boat, and it was something like eight and a half feet wide, roughly six inches over the maximum width allowed without getting a permit to tow a wide load. Greg had originally decided to risk it... after all, the width would be difficult at best to measure. Apparently he changed his mind.

In order to get the width reduced, Greg put a relief cut in each side, from the top to about three inches from the bottom. He then used straps to pull the hull to the width he wanted, and then filled the relief cuts with thickened epoxy and re-taped the hull, inside and out. He cut through the spray rail and everything.

It's his boat, so he can do what he wants. But had I known what he was thinking, I'd have done everything in my power to talk him out of doing that. We could have used straps and epoxy and pulled the hull in, attaching it to the frame pieces, and things would have been much less invasive. Additionally, the bottom is probably ever-so-slightly hooked now, and the spray rails will likely have a noticeable bend at the cutting point. The biggest thing though, is the fact that we're going to have to re-sand and re-paint this scar, and probably re-tape it a couple more times as well.

I almost cried.

Bigger than I Realized

I can't describe how nice it is to be doing something other than sanding and fairing. The stringers have been removed, and we're now beginning to tape the internal seams. Greg taped the front transom over the weekend, and we both taped the rear transom last night. During last night's session, my younger daughter climbed inside the hull and cruised around on her Heelys. That was when I realized just how big this boat actually is. I took a video of this, which is posted here.

Just a shell

Greg and I had an impromptu boat work session today. After about five hours, we had shored up the unstable frame pieces, removed the old frame (which is no longer necessary, since the boat is now flipped) and have removed the boat's structural frame pieces.

Over the next few days, my younger daughter will be removing nails from the lumber that we're able to salvage, while Greg and I remove the boat's stringers, leaving us with a hollow shell. Next comes glassing the inside of the boat, in preparation for re-installing the boat's stringers and structural frame pieces.

Flipped Out!

We got the boat flipped, but it was a day where everything that could go wrong, did. Okay, not quite "everything." Nobody was hurt, and the boat is still in one piece. But it did take five guys four hours to get her rolled.

I've been waiting to roll this boat for years... literally! We've been sanding and fairing for so long that I don't remember what it's like to not be in sanding and fairing hell. Now, after years of making the boat look right, we can continue the structural and functional construction.

Here's a link to a video I made, consisting of photos and comments.

Boat Frame III

Boat Frame III
Originally uploaded by OzzyC

I haven't forgotten about you or the boat. It's simply that we're operating slowly this winter. We're close to flipping the boat, so there's not much to do other than build the cradle for the flip. As you can see from this picture, the cradle is nearly finished. Once the snow melts a bit and the weather warms a little, we'll flip 'er and get back to work.

(Ready to) Flip Out

We're done with the hull and are building the frame in order to flip the boat over. Don't worry, I'll take some pics of this momentous occasion.