Monday, March 28, 2011

A steady pace

Its been a little while since last post so I figure I would give folks an update on the Pathfinder destruction and rebirth. The stove is getting a good workout and keeping the shed at a nice temperature. It makes work in the sub zero temperatures and snowstorms bearable.
The cleanup is complete and the construction of the cabin is well under way. The sides and bulkheads were installed with no problems and things are looking up.
 The compression post design changed for the availability of wood on hand but it looks better than my original idea, not to mention much stronger.
 Once the compression post was installed with a new oak king plank support beam, the roof panels were installed.
 Of course no fillers or coatings are applied until all my construction is complete so the screw heads and seams will be seen until then. Only a basic trimming of the extra plywood has been done yet. With my limited daylight after work and shed warm up time, I save my epoxy work for weekends. All measuring, cutting and fitting is done in my main workshop as much as possible until then.
It's looking as I expected would. But progress pace must be kept, spring is technically here and it won't be long and it will be sailing season.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Order in the chaos

The 10ft x 20ft car shelter is up. and turned into a temporary boat shed for my spring modifications to the Pathfinder. The little wood stove was picked up at my fathers place. Its a recycled old hot water tank... with some modifications. I sat in the cockpit for a while before I made the first cut to the boat. It's a shame the spray rail has to go.
Within a short time, I had completely torn the railing from the Pathfinder and made a big mess. Chaos. But it has to be done to make room for the supports and cabin structure that is to come.
The cabin parts were shipped out to the boat shed and some initial cutting was done to the deck to accommodate the fore and aft bulkheads. The wall jig was installed and used to mark where the cabin walls go through the deck. The walls were temporarily installed and marked for trimming in the main shop later.
Once everything was sorted out I disassembled everything and brought it all inside to get a couple of coats of epoxy. The remaining side rail bits and scrap was ground off with the disk grinder with a 24 grit disk and the jigsaw. It was cleaned up with the sanders after. The cabin will get installed this weekend and it will start to look better.
I have been busy, and I kept putting off adding this to the blog. This is hardly cruising, but its a necessary part of this coming seasons journeys.  More to come soon.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Blog upgrade

I have been toying with the idea of making some small changes to the blog. If anyone who visits this site has suggestions of what to add, please feel free to do so. I will try to make a separate section for the build and a area for logging trips. Other than that it will be mostly cosmetic.

Enough to get excited about

This is an up to date forecast for this weekend in my area. To some it may look sour, but it's the best stretch of weather I have seen in some time. The area around the boat is cleared, the shelter is partially assembled in my basement, and I picked up my little wood stove. Time to get the temporary boat shed up and get this cabin put on. Spring is definitely in the air. 

Today

Sunny
  • -2°C
  •  
  •  

Thu

Chance of flurries
  • 0°C
  • -5°C
  • 60%

Fri

Chance of flurries
  • -8°C
  • -8°C
  • 60%

Sat

A mix of sun and cloud
  • -4°C
  • -12°C
  •  

Sun

A mix of sun and cloud
  • 3°C
  • -6°C
  •  

Mon

A mix of sun and cloud
  • 8°C
  • -1°C
  •  

Tue

Chance of showers
  • 2°C
  • 2°C
  • 40%