October to January 2017

Visiting the Tree Capital Museum in Perry Florida.

John has been making progress on the boat.  We went to the big International Boat Builders Expo -IBEX in October to search for a fuel tank manufacturer.  Even though John can make them, it's best to have USCG certified tanks.  We ordered them custom made from a great company - RDS Aluminum in Perry, Florida.

The cockpit deck hatches are finished and it's time to close up the stern.  

Closed, but how does he get in and out?

John built a custom stairway on wheels.

August

After a wonderful few days in San Antonio, it is back to work. 

Here is a nice shot with tarps removed.  We have spent a lot of time pumping rainwater out of the boat lately.  The bow rail is finished.

 Chocks installed.

Helm is taking shape.  Real seat bases are under construction.  Bar stools and pillows just won't work, LOL.
 Two 25 gallon water tanks arrived today

It is starting to really come together.

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June and July

Here is picture of the bow rail in progress.  John used 1" aluminum pipe, bent and rolled to fit

 Here is the anchoring hardware.  A roller, holder and king post.

April and May

It really looks like the vision.  The front window frames are fitted.  The center one will open for ventilation.

This is the underside of the hatch for the front deck.  It needs to be large enough to climb out to handle anchoring.  Lower photo shows how he used square tubing to fit the hatch onto a curved deck.

 Our handy pipe bender is making a new canopy for the Bronco.  We are tired of the old one blowing apart in every bad storm.  John got a deal on rectangular steel tubing from our good friends at ALRO metals.

February and March

The camera person is back and ready to post all the work that has been done.  The finished cabin top is being raised so that the hull can go underneath.

Top is installed and a perfect fit.

All of the side window framing and track was milled from Starboard.  Corners were drawn using a Corelle plate from the kitchen.  Bottom photo is a trial fit of the frame.

Cabin Top Progress

The cabin roof is all welded and John is ready to add the side pieces.  After a few trial fits, the window openings are cut and sides are in place.

The cabin top is facing the opposite way it would be placed on the boat hull in the background.. 

More flipping

After the boat was flipped, we discussed the best way to keep rain out since the shop space is occupied by the cabin room.  We agreed on pvc and tarps.  The rain arrived today not tomorrow so we spent part of the day pumping our rain water.

Tarp are now in place.

Tonights project was to flip over the cabin roof.  John devised a plan to run long pieces of angle iron above and below the roof panel and clamp them together.  The ends were connected to the two chain falls.  We raised it off the table and rotated the roof piece like a rotisserie. Sounds simple?  Actually it went pretty well.  We had to push the table aside and clear the open garage door but it worked.