How big is it?

Our visitor's first question after seeing the project is "how big is it going to be?"  Well, it started at 28 feet and now is 30 feet.

Masonite trial 

Longitudinals are finished.

Starboard longitudinals.

Tool of the day:  Lever punch

Weep holes (little notches) in longitudinals made with lever punch.  In case water gets inside hull, it can drain down to bilge and be pumped.

Yippee!!! A new tool!

Last week we drove up to Dade City to look at a tool for sale on Craigslist.  It was a Large Radius three Roller pipe bender and it is now ours.  It came with three metal rollers - two of which can be seen on the right.  Aluminum needs a gentler roller so John called Alro Plastics and ordered a Delrin cylinder and quickly made two more sets of rollers.  The two white rollers to the right are for 2" square tubing.   The rollers on the machine have a groove to bend 90 degree angle aluminum.  The vertical part sits in the groove on the roller. Life is good if you own your own lathe.

New tool - side view

Did I mention that this is a manual bender?  John's arms were a little tired by the end of the day.

Finished product with just the right curve for the roof of the  boat

A bittersweet week

On Wednesday we said goodbye to Clyde, the Eagle Trawler that John owned for 22 years.  The new owners are wonderful people who plan to use her as she should be used.

Clyde, us and the new owners.

Building the new boat was put on the back burner for a few weeks as we unloaded 22 years of gear and tools from Clyde.  John is back at work happily welding the roof in place.

The forward cabin.

The view of the forward cabin roof looking aft.

A look at the forward cabin roof looking forward.

On