I Have a Big Deck... (ok, it's not that big)

In case no one has noticed I am wholeheartedly amused by inappropriate sexual innuendo. Deal with it. As you may or may not have been able to guess, I have been fitting the interior deck of the boat over the holiday weekend. I purchased some extremely expensive lacewood a week or so ago and realized upon returning home that a large portion of it was unusable either due to cracks or warping in the wood. However I devised a crude and dangerous yet effective method of putting a straight edge on the wood thereby allowing the decking to look somewhat professional.

The key is to start with a similar length of wood that you already know has a straight edge on it and run it along with the warped wood through the table saw using the straight edge against the fence of the table saw. Clamp the rear of the two pieces of wood together until just before you hit the table and you're good to go. Just don't stand directly behind the pieces of wood as you rip them through the saw. The blade can and will shoot them back directly at your groin if you aren't careful. Thankfully I do not speak from experience here, I just know better. This whole operation is much easier to do without the safety guard and pawls on the table saw by the way. In fact, I hate the safety guard altogether. Just pay extra attention while using your saw if you have no safety measures. Girls don't like guys with no fingers. (However guys like girls with no arms apparently.... She has no arms! Long story...)

So upon finishing the sanding of the interior of the boat (and experiencing early symptoms of Carpal Tunnel due to using my sander for so long) I painted the interior of the boat with 2 coats of primer this week and began fitting the floorboards. They looked pretty crude and unexciting at first until I used the router to put a nice rounded edge on them. I must say that a router is the coolest tool I think I own. It can make such a difference between a professional and an amateur job with a bare minimum of effort. Take a look at the pictures of the floorboards that have been fitted so far...

You'll notice the two breakout sections on either side of the centerboard trunk, they are access ports to access the bilge and either store extra gear and/or ballast. I'm thinking of adding another smaller one towards the aft. Mainly because this seems like a great spot to store potable water on longer journeys should I ever feel the need to take one ;)

I'm also having my roommate design a power supply system for the boat so I won't have to worry about plugging in and charging a battery on shore. But that will come later...

Cheerio...

Still Thirsty...

Missing the SEA...

One of the things I have come to realize in the last 4 or so years of my life is how much I enjoy the ocean, it took an amazing trip with friends to Greece and the help of a very nice albeit pain in my ass girl to help teach me that. The combination of such things has been in part the impetus for building my own boat. However, you may have noticed that SEA was in all caps. The title of this post is in fact not about the ocean, but about Seattle. A place I visited for the first time last weekend and have to be honest I kind of fell in love with it. There are many reasons for this, but at the top of that list are the fact that some amazing mountains (Mt. Rainier) and the ocean (Puget Sound) are literally within minutes of downtown. I have a few commitments to attend to over the next few months but upon completion of my boat (and my lease) I may very well pack up and get the hell out of Boston. I'm sick of the crappy winters and crappier skiing anyway. Oh, and the other reason in case you were wondering is that the moment I landed in Seattle all of my problems in Boston seemed as far away as they actually were. Of course, the time I had while I was there helped... as did the hot cougar... but that's another story. ;)

Lots of pics to share today too!

So working from top to bottom, this is looking down into the bow compartment of the lower hull. You'll notice the strips of heavier fiberglass fabric backing up the bow stem and seams just in case I decide to ram someone I don't like out on the water. This compartment will soon get painted, filled with flotation foam and sealed off ne'r to be seen again (hopefully). Next you can see the stern and following that the bow of the boat. The discolorations are just epoxy filling the holes and gaps from stitching the boat together. They've since been sanded down nice and smooth. And the last two photos are the entire lower hull after fiberglassing was completed on the interior. This was a major pain in the ass and I'm glad it's done. I have since almost completed sanding the entire interior including feathering all the edges of the fiberglass perfectly smooth. Since they are the interior of the cuddy where I'll be sleeping I wanted this area to look as perfect as possible.

Over the next few days I plan to go purchase the interior floor decking and am still undecided as to what type of wood to use. My first choice is Lacewood because of it's distinct grain, shimmering qualities, and because I built my thesis project out of it. That is this weekend's project along with finishing the sanding, priming, and painting the entire interior of the boat. The progress is palpable!

I'm thirsty.

I'm Joining the LDS (sort of)

So, the lower hull has essentially been built. The filleting is done albeit messily, but I have come up with an ingenious way of sanding down all the fillets and corners to a smooth and perfect finish. A Dremel tool with a couple of flap wheel sanding bits. It produces a LOT of dust, so much so that I think my respirator is now saturated and I need new filters (it's not a good thing when your throat feels dry after sanding). As a matter of fact I think it's actually quite toxic. Whatever, my liver will give out far before the rest of me. The upside is my fillets are nice and smooth and I can begin glassing the interior hull. The enclosed picture shows what the in progress glassing looks like. Essentially, I'm saturating the fiberglass cloth with epoxy to the bottom of the hull and the bulkhead all the while keeping the fabric perfectly smooth along every surface. This is actually not as hard as it sounds. If you start in the center of an edge of the fabric and work your way from there progressively the fabric smooths out pretty easily. I'm about half done so far. Hopefully by midweek next week when I leave for Seattle I'll be done all of the coats of interior epoxy and ready to fit the floorboards upon my return. Here's the picture:

On another note: does anyone know if it's worth trying to be friends with an ex? That's a hell of a topic change I realize but I have been toiling for the last month if it's worth doing. Obviously I still care for her (I wouldn't be bitching otherwise now would I?) but I always feel horrible after talking to her no matter how the conversation went. I suppose I shouldn't complain, I wanted to break up with her first (shortly after we got together in fact) and in the end I did get exactly what I wanted. I just didn't plan to actually end up having long lasting feelings for her. My fault I suppose for being a misogynistic hopeless romantic. It always amuses me when someone says that love is supposed to be easy. Is it ever? Anything worth doing is never easy. So then why fall in love and stay with one person if it's supposed to be easy?

I should've been a Mormon (for the polygamy, not the no drinking) Ok, I should've been a jack mormon...