Back to work

After a great weekend away, John is back at work on the boat.  With the help of a friend, the forward cabin roof was installed for a trial fit.

Cabin roof

This shows the "knees" that support the beams.

Aluminum boat building is both science and art!

Too cold to get much done.

You can't weld when it is cold out and we are chilly again this week.

The v-berth area (or forward stateroom in yacht talk) now has deck beams.  The round uprights mark the opening to the sleeping area.  I climbed up and it is going to be very comfortable. There will be an overhead hatch to climb out to the bow for anchoring and catching lines.  The front cabin windows will be forward of the opening (doorway)  with the cabin roof about two feet higher than the front deck.  The top of the opening will be cut back so that you can stand in the v-berth area.  Very ingenious. 

Sleeping/storage area will have berths on each side. 

Here's another shot looking from the stern through the whole boat.  

The trawler is now officially for sale and listed with Orion Wholean, at Best Boat Salesman | ISELLBOATS.COM.  Now John has to finish this new boat.

Out for a ride

The boat came out of the shop Saturday to be turned around in the yard.  She is looking more like a boat every day.   

How do the lines look?

We are finally getting an idea of how part of the boat will actually look.  It takes a lot of c-clamps to test the frame.  Fortunately we have a Harbor Freight store near by.

Here you see the cross beams for the cockpit deck.
 Part of the motor and exhaust will be in a box on the deck. 

Checking our the sheer line using aluminum bar.

And for the bird watchers - here is an anhinga enjoying the wagon that John left on the dock to keep birds from using the dock.  I just missed getting a shot of a great blue heron watching the anhinga.  Now we have a wagon full of bird poop instead of just a splats on the dock.

Our yard has finally dried out.

We know some of you enjoyed the bird photos. 

The lake is now level with the top of the dock. The wagon is permanently parked on the dock, why is a mystery.

There are still ducks swimming about, but most of the interesting birds have moved on. 

Progress on many fronts

The shaft log for the rudder post has been bolted and tack welded. It looks like a Mayan mask.

It's hard to see but the strut that holds the propeller shaft is temporarily bolted on.

The exhaust hose arrived yesterday and John has done a trial fit.  He made brackets to hold the mufflers and hoses in place.  The strings won't be permanent.

Early November

John welded in all of the top bars on the ribs.  He didn't realize that this was an important part of the structure until it was almost too late.  The welding method was described in an earlier post.

After climbing up on the hull to give John a hand, you can feel how much more solid it is.

Here is a fiberboard mock up of the transom shape. 

Machining to true up the strut.  The heat from welding warped it. The finished strut is on top.