On Deck for the Holidays!!

 

Actually, what I mean is..

 

...Working ON the deck for the holidays!!!

 

 

We have been busy during the holidays and that always slows things down. Plus, it's been a bit cold to be working outside on the boat. (I am getting to be such a wuss! Down to 50-degrees and I bitch. Did I REALLY grow up in Montana? What can I say...warm IS habit forming!)

 

It's time to get the deck ready to fiberglass, so I've been fillin' screw holes and assorted dents, etc and I spent time today sanding things smooth. Now I need to put a nice radius on the edges and then it's back to gettin' itchy with the 'glass work!

 

We're getting anxious to finish the deck because after that, we begin work on the "doghouse" portion of the main cabin, and that's exciting! 

 

Sometimes I feel a certain lack of progress, but I just had the opportunity to look back on the pictures and blog posts I've shared recently, and we really HAVE come a long way in only the last six months! Before you know it, we'll be splashin' the bow with champagne!!! (OK, settle down Joel...)

 

Happy New Year to ALL!!

 

Pirate and da Babe!!!

 

 



Cockpit Final Touches...

 

I've been playing in the cockpit area for awhile now, and I'm happy to say that we're about done with this area of the boat for now. I do have to cut the hatches and glue the top down, but I'll be saving the painting for a bit. I tend to drop things that would just scar the final paint, etc....

 

We decided to add a little definition to the sideboards of the cockpit. It added more time to the project, but I'm happy with the outcome and it'll look very nice once painted.

 

It's great to be working on her again after last weeks vacation! Spending a week on the ocean WITHOUT your own boat keeps the dream alive....! :)

 

Sail on...

 

Pirate



Weee'rreee Baaaaccckk!!!! :)

 

Ah, the old saying "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy!" comes so true that we had to change it up a bit and head to the Caribbean for a few days.

 

It was spur of the moment and a great way to find even more "boat building inspiration!!"

 

As much fun as it would have been to be on the S/V Virginia that Kathy has found, that's actually our "ride" in the background. The 936' M/V Eurodam.

 

 

Life would be good on our boat in San Juan...

 

 

...or on the beach!!

 

 

Kathy finds a taste of Texas in the Virgin Islands...

 

...and I find Christmas trees AND coconuts at the same store! As Jimmy Buffett sings, "Christmas in the Caribbean...! :)

 

 

So after several days in the islands recharging our batteries, we are now back in Texas and ready to get back to work on our own 15' cruise ship.

 

Happy Holidays from us!

 

Pirate and da Babe

 

 



 

 



Bathtub turns into a cockpit!

 

After several days of painting little parts, I got to add "big" parts to the project which does wonders to the "boatin' spirit"!

 

I added enough wood to the project that Kathy's bathtub now looks more like the intended part of the boat...the cockpit!

 

 

This is actually the sub-flooring and I haven't had the chance to cut hatches into it or paint it yet. That'll be next, but it's nice to start getting a perspective on the cockpit area!

 



 

 

...the progress puts a smile on our faces....! :)

 

Happy Thanksgiving all!!!!

 

Pirate

A bathtub?

 

After our little road trip, we are back in Texas and again making progress on our little pirate ship! Kathy once joked about having a bathtub aboard.....

 

...in my case, it's more likely a coffin! :)

 

 

Cockpit seats and lockers are next, then we fiberglass the deck, and on to the cabin from there. It really IS starting to look like a boat!!

 

Sail On...

 

Pirate



Ahh, The Smell of Fresh Paint...!

 

After spending the better part of two days on my knees, on my back, on my shoulders, upside down, etc, just trying to cram myself into position to paint every nook and cranny of the inside of our hull, two things quickly become apparent....

 

1) Painting corners is always a pain and EVERYTHING in the bottom of a boat is a corner...

 

2)  I am WAY too old to be doing this kind of aerobic exercise for the benefit of our boat!!! :)

 

(It's actually very nice to see the results..!)

 

 

Gotta head to the snow country for a few days, but will be back later in the week to continue..

 

Have a great week!

 

Pirate



Pre "Sealing" Pix

 

We have enjoyed enough progress recently that it's time to seal everywhere that will be covered up or inaccessible to us before we go much further. That means the stereo comes back out, the anchor light back off, (that was just for fun anyway) and things are cleaned up for sealer and paint.

 

Here are the last pictures before that all begins...

 

 

As I'm looking at these pictures, I have to reflect on the fact that it IS November here, and I can still work outside in 80 degree weather. After spending most of my life growing up in Montana or Seattle, I am really starting to like it down here in Texas...alot!!!

   

Sail on!!!

 

da Pirate

We'll Leave The Light On For Ya!!!

Sorry about the gap between posts, but it's been hectic around here lately and I'm finally able to get caught up.

 

Kathy and I spent the better part of last week in Ohio with her family for a wedding. (Good luck Matt and Julie!) We even had to drive back to Texas afterward due to hurricane Sandy and the effect the storm had on flights home as far inland as Cleveland!

 

Just before heading north, I was able to finish installing the floorboards for the berth. I had decided to use exterior plywood available at the local "warehouse" lumber yards and regretted that decision almost immediately. Quality wood it's not, and I headed back to Clark Hardwoods in Houston as soon as we got back from Ohio. I feel much better now. The "squishy" feel to floorboards is now gone. That would've bugged me every time I got on board the boat, so I'm so glad I fixed the problem right away.

 

The dog likes the new berth boards, too!

As you can see, I've added a few extras, too! Ya just can't build a boat without "Buffett!", so I have already loaded the deep cycle battery on board and tied the stereo to it for workin' tunes. And since I'm curious about battery life with the stereo and the anchor light burnin' away, I've clamped the masthead nav lights to the forward bulkhead. Like I said, "We'll leave the light on for ya..!!"

 

I'm in the process of adding as many parts of the infrastructure of the boat before we paint and seal the interior, so the cockpit structure is becoming apparent, too.

 

Da Pirate relaxes after a hard day at work...

 It's very fun to sit "aboard" for morning coffee...and it's not even DONE YET! :)

 

Sail On....

 

Pirate



Kathy Has A Sundeck!

 

The moment has finally come to cover up all those little mistakes with nice big chunks of plywood!! (shush...don't tell anyone!)

 

Some days I just have to remind myself that this IS an amateur project! I'm completely convinced that if you were a perfectionist with a build like this, you would NEVER finish it! You would keep remaking parts over and over again until you, plain and simple, ran out of gas. Maybe someone has the patience to take 10 years to build a 15-foot boat. I'm NOT that guy!  I just keep pluggin' away and do the best I can....

 

I can visualize the tanning lotion flowing already!



 



I've discovered something else. Shopping for parts has gotten more expensive since we turned the boat over. When it was upside down, a trip to Lowes was about all you needed to keep going. Now, I spend alot of time shopping at BOAT stores! Way more fun, but WAY more expensive! :)

 

Sail On...

 

Pirate

Sail Ho!!!!

 

After starting work on the topsides, I've discovered I'm back in that place where you spend all day working on the boat and if you're lucky, you might have just one or two pieces that you can actually add to the boat itself. It doesn't lend to many pictures to update our blog!

 

But Kathy comes to the rescue! The kit for our jib has been gathering dust, (sawdust actually!) and this week, with the help of my mother who is visiting from Montana, they launched into the effort. It took awhile to decipher the directions, but then they jumped right in...

 

Is it done yet?





The first panels have gone together very well. It's just another dimension  that adds so much fun to this project for both of us. It won't take very long to complete the sail I'm guessing. (Kathy may have a different opinion!) :)

 

Meanwhile, back in the garage, I've been building deck beams and preparing everything for the decking. Like I said earlier, some days are spent cuttin' and sandin' but nothing gets added to the vessel. Today, I finally got to pull the clamps back out and I got to mix up more glue...

 

 

I have to add, since we are now on the trailer, I have the opportunity to pull the boat out of the garage to work on it. With the heavy humidity that I've been fighting all summer in the garage, what a treat it is to at least add a breeze and some sunshine on my face to the daily project. 

 

Pirate



It's nice to be working on the TOP of the boat!

 

Following our successful "roll over" party, we had a very good opportunity to do a general reorganizing of the garage. Nothing major mind you, since we have a boat to build :), but it did provide us with the chance to move some things around a bit.

 

Mostly what we found was SAWDUST!  EVERYWHERE! That's when my train of thought took me back to my younger days and I just figured it'll all get sawdusty again, so might as well just get back to boat building....!

 

Maybe someday I'll be better about things like that......! (ya, right!)   

 

 

The first steps to accomplish on our now upright vessel, remove jagged edges and start building the deck structure. Can't "Swab the Deck" if you don't have one!!

 

Leftovers from the planking and fiberglass process

Installing the starboard side carling

 



When you install "curvy" boards like this, I guarantee you wish you were born with a third hand or had a helper. I found this out the hard way since Kathy wasn't available today. Sigh...

 

 

Pirate

Nothin' Like Rollin' a Boat Over on Your Birthday!!

It turned out to be a lot of work on my birthday, but well worth it! We've been looking forward to the day that we would finally be able to turn the hull over and commence with the top half of the boat. That day came today!! Kathy gave me the plans for our Minuet last year as a birthday present, so it only seemed fitting to have such a momentous day on this years celebration!

 

It was only the two of us, so we had to think it through before starting, but it worked out well.

 

First we removed the building form from underneath...

...and then Kathy just shoves it out into the sunshine!

Ahhh, fresh air!

We enlisted the dog and a few blankets and...

...there ya go. It's right side up!

 It actually went smoother than we expected. I hung a tow-strap in the tree and that handled the bow so the two of us could lift the stern. We gently rolled it over in one motion and didn't even break the skeg off or scratch the bottom paint. Kewl!!!

 

Time to add a trailer to the equation.

Since it's a folding trailer, it made it very easy for us to load!

..one happy birthday boy!!!!!

It took awhile to fit the boat to the trailer, but it works!

even a peek inside...

...and back into the garage we go for part two!!

 

What a fun day of work! Have a great weekend!!!

 

 

Pirate

Back to the build!

 

Following a patient (!?) several days to allow the fiberglass to cure on the hull, It's finally time for the 1-2-3 process to add anti-fouling paint to the bottom. We are using Pettit stuff and that's their recommendation. 1) Bio-Blue to clean, 2) Prime, and 3) Paint. No weeds here for sure!

 

Clean her up...

Prime her up...

Add a little color...!

 

Every little Pirate ship needs a black hull! :)

 

Pirate 



Be Careful What Ya Wish For...!!

 

Was that me whinin' about having to wait for the fiberglass to cure before painting? Was that me implying that I had time on my hands? Oh boy, what a mistake!!

 

It kinda reminds me of the old biker saying, "I just started out changin' spark plugs...the next thing ya know, I was painting the frame!"

 

My buddy (former buddy now) tells me he ordered too much topsoil and I could take as much as I needed for free. I innocently replied I could use a pickup truckload and my back has hurt ever since!

 

Topsoil leads to yard work, yard work leads to....well, WORK!!!

 

I knew our yard needed help, but I didn't expect to fix that problem right now!

 

OK, it needs ALOT of help!
 

 

 

diggin leads to dirt...

 

dirt leads to grass....

 

 

and grass leads to the before mentioned sore back!

 

...but even I have to admit, the "after" picture sure beats the "before" picture!!

 

But having said that, I can't wait to get back to the boat project tomorrow! Somehow, the prospect of painting the hull seems much easier now!

 

(BTW, I did sneak out and finish the skeg so it's ready for paint, too!)

 

 

It can't ALL be work!

 

Pirate

 

 

 

 



Just Killin' Time...

 

 

Here we are just waiting for the fiberglass to cure before we can start the bottom paint part of the project. About the only thing to do is make the pieces that need to be in place prior to paint. Bow eye, some rigging fittings, and today, the skeg! (no, not KEG!)

 

With all that now taken care of, all we can do is wait! :(

 

We are both very excited to finish the bottom paint since after that is applied, it will be time to turn the hull over, place it on the trailer, and start the top half! Very Kewl!!!

 

Pirate



Shine On..!

 

Morning folks! No more timeline in the corner as the blog timestamp will be current! Caught up at last!

 

It's a little weird after several weeks of hard work on our boat, we have to wait about a week for the fiberglass to cure before painting the bottom and sides. There are several small projects of course, but in general, we have a few days to relax. Nice!

 

 

Took my coffee to the boat barn/garage this morning to stare and dream and found the boat making friends with my bike....!

 

 

Quite a reflection! I guess all those "sanding hours" do pay off!

 

Pirate



...More Sanding!!!!! :(

Timeframe: September 19, 2012

In our last episode, we had just finished the basic fiberglass work.

 

 

So what's the next step?

More Sanding!!!...uggh!

 

 

 

...yes I wore a mask..!

 

This whole concept of applying 2 coats of something and then sanding 1 1/2 back off again is enough to drive anyone crazy!!!

 

...until you see the results!

 

 

The fun of creating this blog has been looking back at the early pictures and comparing those to today's progress. I guess we are getting somewhere!

 

Pirate