Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five

The last of the honedo's are honedid. One little bench and a couple lids still hada' be re-varnished. Now, the boat building season can begin.

The last of the non-boat shop projects.

Time to do a little rippin' & tearin'

A small pile of junk always starts a Frankenböt project

And, a quickie floor job.

Stiffening the old 3/8” ply sole with first layer of ¾”

Full sheets are too big and heavy, so lots of small pieces

Sheer panels to re-level the decks. And, a scientifically placed "engine room" bulkhead.

Sheer panels to support side decks, engine room bulkhead

Still a few supports to create, up forward. But, with enough ¾" A-CX, I could probably build a mine shaft.

Sagging foredeck still propped up with scrap 2x4’s

The engine hatch support frame has to be strong enough to walk on, but light enough to lift out. That one took a couple minutes of head scratching.

Frame for engine hatches

But, it seems to be both solid and stable. This is with the hatch "blanks" just set in place. One day they should have hardwood overlay and either hinge or lift out or maybe both.

Aft end boxed in, far from done

Tomorrow, comes the aft seat riser, and all that stuff. More deck supports, etc.

Strumpet Project, Day Two

I get nothing but excuses from the Engineering Department over a bunch of no-'count stuff called "trim, and balance." They think I put too much weight in the stern. I tell 'em, "That's OK, go ahead and put more stuff in the pointy end too." The lumber yard guy told me that those ¾" AC sheets are over 50 pounds apiece. Subtracting, about 10 pounds per sheet in sawdust and off cuts, that's only about an extra couple hundred pounds, so far. And, besides, Gene is the one who gets to take the Dallas cheerleaders in his boat, I don't probably get to take so many passengers. So, anyway, after messing around with those exotics, like measuring and fitting and planning; progress sort of slugged down a bit today.

The 3-section engine cover business got spruced up a bit, and can probably do the job, now. Although those panels might turn into foam blocks with veneer and tigerwood overlay. They are some kinda' heavy, this way. TBD.

Good access to 45-year old Detroit Iron

And the re-done cockpit sole was sort of lumpy, so it got a second layer to smooth things out, and to give a place for the forward sheer panels to rest. Total pain getting them to mesh with the curves of the hull and all those bumps.

Sole grows stiffer.  ½” plus ¾” on top of original 3/8”

And, the seat had to be fitted to both stay put and take the weight, and pull out. The engine bulkhead and hatch frame both lift out, to allow for major engine work, etc. Lots of screwing around with that old bugaboo, measuring and fitting.

First experiment with passenger seat

Yep, that's a floor jack under the seat. I still have to tweak the foredeck a bit to take 40 years of gravity-sag out. Dunno if there will be lift lids in the seat, or a drop-front panel. Probably lift lids and an angled seat back/full width cushions.

Now, the next moment of truth. I think my knees don't like the idea of clambering over a double-cockpit sort of arrangement. And, that would have to have cambers added to the transverse decks. Sooooooooo, I'm thinking that I'll maybe make some sort of egg shell seat for El Capitan, and maybe a drop/jump seat for somebody else up forward. I tend to stand at the helm, anyway. So, open floor space is probably better.

Tomorrow is ate up with taking Cliff to the ray gun place, and Saturday with helping Sam put a slider in his dining room wall. (Now, that either takes balls, or no brains, to cut a 6 foot hole in your house, and then not be able to get the damn door to fit in January in Almostcanada.) Well, Sam was an aerospace engineer, so he may have a special deal with God.

So, the Ripntear Boat Shop will stand a bit quieter for a couple days, I guess. Maybe a 2nd shift tomorrow.

Strumpet Project, Day Three

I was out doing "other things" today. Boat work got shoved a bit to the back burner. Anyhow, we do have an impressive pile of fiberglass dust, splinters, and chunks to show for the old vinyl covered and padded dash board. There is a shaped header under the foredeck to hold things up better.

Well, yes. That IS the steering, and instrument panel, and shift control unit, and tilt control box hanging there in a heap.

Well, no. I DON'T have the haziest notion of what I'm gonna' do with them. Or, where they are gonna go, or how they'll hook up. But, that's for next time.

But, some how the dash board area is going to extend back a bit. Somewhere between about six and fourteen inches. Or, so. The big idea is to be able to step up behind the windshield and then step over it without breaking either bones or glass.

So, while I'm getting my evening dose of Motrin, as antidote for the day's activities, the beam is awaiting the TBII to harden. Next , it has to be shaped to the camber, mounted transverse, covered with a plywood "sub-floor" and ultimately done in hardwood planking to match the engine cover.

Hell-for-stout deck beam and camber pattern

That's a 4 inch wide by 3-course ¾" ply beam. It should hold most anybody agile enough to stand on it. Now, I just wonder how big that platform should be. And, I wonder where I'll put the steering wheel.

This is the stuff that drives people with orderly minds absolutely nuts, huh?

Strumpet Project, Day Four

Another day, off doing good things, for other people. While I don't mind that a bit, it doesn't get a lot of boat building done. Anyhow.

I did get in a short shift after dinner, and got the new dash board from the laminating state,

To the framing state,

Two feet deep, and strong enough to sit or step on—by a baby elephant

To the closed in state.

“Mine shaft” supports for sagging foredeck

The idea was to allow for a place to step over the windshield to, from the foredeck. And, it will become the substrate for tigerwood strips. In fact, all this fir plywood is supposed to become substrate for more decorative wood coverings. At least, that's the plan from this vantage point. Some have suggested (gently) that this project is gonna' take a lot of lipstick. And, hopefully, that wood overlay will be just the lipstick required.

'Nuther half day, yet, of getting a steering wheel mounting board up and closing in the focs'l, and I should be able to start cutting up perfectly good hardwood into small strips, large piles of dust, and lots and lots of noise.

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