I Hate Filleting

Filleting is one of the most miserable experiences I have ever had in my life. I might even be willing to put it on par with having to carry on a civil conversation with an ex. You always start out thinking it will be nice and neat, but it always ends up messy. Always. So you might as well just do it drunk, make the mess, and worry about clean up later.

Speaking of clean up, does anyone have a good suggestion for sanding corners? Especially the acute angled corners along the bulkheads? I am not looking forward to this. I haven't taken any pictures of the fillets themselves yet, they're too abominable to show anyone as of yet. They are very functional, just ugly. I plan to finish the filleting and start glassing the bottom of the boat this week. Hopefully I can get a fair amount done because the weather seems like it will be fairly warm all week.

More to follow soon...

In Search of Natural Entropy...

So, with one of the last few naturally occurring entropic days of the year I decided to take advantage and "tack weld" the boat together using the "fast" hardener in my epoxy mix rather than the "slow" hardener I had been using until now. First off, the faster stuff is awesome. Granted it is slightly more manageable due to lower temps but I like knowing that my chemical reactions are occurring at a pace where I can see the immediate results. (Patience has never been a strong suit of mine) The other reason I like it so much is that it is slightly more reliable at the lower ambient temperatures I will sadly be experiencing over the next 6 months. I am hoping this will not have a catastrophic effect upon completion of the boat. Thoughts? I have included a pic below that shows the entire lower hull assembled and ready for filleting. I have already done the tack welding step and will complete the fillets over the weekend. I'll be honest, I am absolutely petrified of removing the wire stitches tomorrow once the tack welds have cured. I keep having the horrific reoccurring waking dream where the entire boat and all it's seams pop apart just as the last wire stitch is removed. I made sure the fillets at the bow were extra wide just to assuage any fears of mine. They have not been assuaged as of yet.

On a more personal note, I am thinking of getting a puppy. I'm leaning towards a beagle but I'm still torn over whether or not I will have enough time to properly care for it. The biggest reason I want one is so I can have a companion while sailing and just in general. My friends that live around here don't really give a shit, and frankly a dog will be about a 1000 times more loyal than a girl. I could make a witty comment now about how women and entropy could be equated but I will save that for a night when I'm feeling a little more bitter... Chicks blow...

Now... back to my delicious Chocolate Stout!

My Apologies

Sorry to all my fan(s) who have been waiting patiently for updates on the boat building progress. I'm fairly certain only one person reads this, or at least he is the only one who mentions reading it! Well, rest assured just because I haven't been updating this blog it does not mean I haven't been making progress. I had to wait for my landlord to move some snowplow blades out of the garage about a week ago but in that week the progress has been significant. I gotta be honest I don't really have anything exciting to say about life other than I am wholly disappointed in the attractive lesbian that I know after having met her girlfriend for the first time. I mean, it's cool that they're lesbians and all, but that doesn't mean the girlfriend has to be an anti-social bitch. I mean, she wasn't a butch lesbian or anything so in theory she could still be cool. I guess I'm just pissed off that an attractive blonde girl is going to waste by dating an annoying anti-social chick. I feel as though the blonde is still capable of being saved...

Anyway, onto the boat. So once the snowplow blades were moved out of the garage I put the cradle together and immediately began assembling the bottom of the hull. After more than a few puncture wounds and scratches, along with some spilled DNA, the hull began to take shape. The most interesting part of putting together a boat hull is stitching together the tip of the bow; this is done using your hands to tighten the wires while squeezing the panels together with your inner thighs. Needless to say, I have a large quantity of scratches and bruises on my inner thighs. Not really the place I expected to injure myself in this process. Now that the hull is together there are sharp pieces of heavy gauge wire protruding all over the place on the boat. My ultimate fear is that I will catch one of these wires in the eye while crawling underneath the boat.

That being said I am doing my best to haul ass and get all the bulkheads in as soon as possible so I can low down all the epoxy fillets this week while the weather is warm for one last time. Yup, that's about it for now. Enjoy the pics...

Been Busy....

Ok ok ok, first off my apologies for not posting something more recently. I have been rather busy with work b/c apparently for no apparent reason the beer industry gets quite busy this time of year. I have absolutely no idea why. The other reason for a lack of blog posts recently is that there has not been much progress on the boat worthy of any pictures. This is not to say there hasn't been progress but still. As you can see by the photo above I have taken the time to cut out most of the bulkheads including the most complicated one you see above. I also have the cradle constructed and I am just about ready to begin assembling the hull. Then the real pictorial progress will begin! Sadly, after this weekend I will be even more busy with work. But the upside is my busy weekends will involve Octoberfests in Boston and Vermont. (read: lots of work buts lots of drinking) and some extra pay for working the festivals. Oh darn.

Other than that not much else exciting going on in my life. At least nothing more than having money extorted from me, but that's a story for when I care enough to bitch about it more. I should probably care about that one more but nothing that people do surprises me anymore. I suppose it's a good thing to be cynical sometimes. At least you're never disappointed in people when you're expectations are already at the bottom of the barrel.

I need a drink.

I Think I Might Have Lead Poisoning

So, I have accomplished quite a bit recently. Including casting the lead ingot into the centerboard and ballast into the keel. I sourced my lead by visiting the shadier (i.e. non-corporate) tire dealers in the local area. The funny thing is I didn't have to pay for it at all! Of course I did barter for it, but beer is a powerful bartering tool ;) Oh beer, what can't you do?

So, used my tiny but uber-powerful backpacking stove and a small old pan with a spout to melt down the lead, and a slotted spoon to remove the steel clips from the tire weights once melted. A pretty simple process actually. That backpacker stove melted the lead in a matter of a couple minutes! It also smoked profusely whilst burning off all the dirt and such, and I'm sure it smelled bad (I couldn't smell it seeing as I had a respirator on) But it does make me slightly concerned seeing as that I have several neighbors in close proximity to my house (think in terms of feet) and they all seem to be old people or small children. Whatever, I'll chalk it up to having slight sociopathic tendencies.

The other part of melted lead which caused me concern was that I decided I ought to learn what the potential symptoms of lead poisoning are just in case I notice myself acting strange. I have listed them below for your convenience:

Behavioral symptoms in adults

• Irritability
• Unexplained changes in mood or personality
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Inability to concentrate
• Memory loss

Neurological symptoms (caused by effects of lead on the nervous system)

• Poor coordination
• Weakness in hands and feet
• Headaches
• Seizures
• Paralysis
• Coma

So now I know. The problem is that each and every one of these symptoms can quite readily be found in my normal course of life anyway. (Ok, maybe not the last three... but if I ever experience those symptoms I'm kinda fucked regardless) As for the rest, based on my current social life and my propensity to consume large quantities of alcohol... I may already have lead poisoning. I'll let you know if I experience any of those final three symptoms... if I can. ;) (Or worse, you will see an abrupt end to this blog if any of my neighbors have these symptoms, oops)

Anyway, back to the boat. The centerboard ingot was cast and I have begun glassing it. And finally, you can see almost the entire keel assembled. (It looks like part of a boat at least, right?) It's only missing the aft lead ballast and the keelson. Hopefully I can get that finished by the time I head to NYC for Labor Daybor... After the weekend it's on to the big time, I have to build the cradle and start scarfing the hull panels together. Then the boat will really begin to take shape!

If Only I Had Some Vicks VapoRub...

So, is it a bad thing when you're hands feel like they're vibrating 2 hours after you're done using an oscillating sander? I'm pretty sure I've lost blood flow in my hands today and collapsed a few capillaries. However, the centerboard is taking shape after sanding away for more than 2 hours on it. I'm pretty sure my neighbors hate me, but they need to suck it up b/c I have many many more hours of boatbuilding to go. I must say though, using the epoxy to create a leading and trailing edge on the board is a pretty cool idea. It will now stand up to many underwater hazards in it's hopefully long life. Next step is to find some lead, melt it down and pour it in that hole. The centerboard trunk is essentially done too, I'll finish sanding that down and rout down the sharp edges that will be part of the cockpit upon completion tomorrow afternoon. I also need to start epoxying the keel together tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the keel blocking right so the keel isn't twisted.

On another note, I have decided I love my respirator. I feel like Darth Vader in that thing. I can literally hear the funky breathing sounds as the positive and negative pressure valves release with each breath. I'm thinking this should be part of a disturbing halloween costume somehow. Hmm, how can I rig a respirator to supply alcohol to my mouth? Thoughts? Also, at the suggestion of my roommate, I will now use this apparatus to clean my bathroom (I do share my bathroom with a stinky mexican after all) It's probably not a good idea to inhale as many noxious Tilex vapors as I have in my lifetime anyway. I also want to use a public toilet with it on, pull it off as I'm walking out and say to an incoming user, "Good Luck!"

Oh, and if you understand the title of this post then you understand my sordid past ;)

"Those Who Understand History, Are Condemned to Watch Other Idiots Repeat It"

Therefore, I officially label myself an idiot. I am absolutely no good at judging how much epoxy to use at a given instance, especially in hot weather. See... epoxy is a funny material, it acts in the exact opposite way you would think a strong adhesive would act. Most glues when spread thin tend to dry quicker than if they were a solid blob of goo. Epoxy reacts in the exact opposite manor. A big thick mass (as in a mixing cup) will actually cure much more rapidly than a thin film spread across a large surface area. Oh, and when it's a thick mass it generates lots of heat. You can see what happened to my mixing cup in the above photo. Apparently thickened epoxy doesn't agree with polyethylene. On a more progressive note, all the pieces for the keel are now cut out. I would have epoxied more pieces together today but I ran out of clamps. I need more clamps. Lots more. Oh well, it will be a fairly simple thing to do after work during the week. I also hope to get the centerboard shaped and the full keel assembled and ready for the lead pours next weekend. Hopefully I'll have pictures that actually look like they came from a real boat soon!