Girders down!

The girders and floor pieces are in place. The square tubing across the top holds the shape of the boat.   We had more rain today and the lake continues to cover the lawn.  John spotted a big turtle down by the big oak. Unfortunately, no one was there with a camera.  We will take a few days off and back to work late next week.  

Girders and a very wet yard.

Looking the other way.

Great egret stalking fish in what is normally our back yard.

Getting there

The six plates forming the lower hull have been welded together.  Welding in the constant rain over the past few days was a problem until John rigged up a curtain using tarps.  

It is so wet that whistling ducks have moved into the yard

The shop is long enough for the boat, but other projects keep it from going all the way in.
A couple old blue tarps make an effective but very hot way to block the wind and rain.  The little diesel Mitsubishi tractor pulls the cradle/trailer around.

The next step is to put in the girders and weld in these cross pieces called "floors".

Last week

More work on the tunnel - to keep the the water flowing smoothly through the tunnel, John cut out a section for a pocket to hold the base of the strut.

above and below: Trial fit for the tunnel 

The black rectangle is the cut out for the pocket.

Early in the process, we marked an outline of the dimensions of the boat on the floor of John's shop.  Here you see the ZF transmission bolted to the motor.  The motor and the tunnel for the shaft and propeller are laid out to check the spacing:

A closer look at the transmission.

A

Of course, he needed to buy a Miller 350P welder with a "push-pull" gun.  

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Taking shape

The bow section has been tack welded:

The trailer came with the donor boat and has been modified to hold the boat as it is fabricated.  The small tires will help it fit into the workshop as it progresses.

The Beginning

The dream is to design and build a shallow draft aluminum boat with a tunnel drive.  The boat will be comfortable and ready for anchoring out for a few days.

This is one of many mock-ups John made trying to figure out proportions
 and how the metal would bend.  

   The plans are drawn and the materials have arrived:

The motor came with a bonus boat:

Motor is a 351 Ford (5.8) -

The panels for the bow and tunnel drive have been rolled by a machine shop

 in Fort Myers and are back at home.

  The tunnel is being transformed: