Steve Day

Mike is on the road in Texas this week. I'm sure he isn't getting anything done on the boat right now. I'm waiting patiently for his return to the shop. Steve

I really had a success yesterday. I was dreading the hunt for a piece of oak at the local lumberyards. It needed to be oak and a "full" 2 x 6, and it is impossible to find that kind of thing at the "big box" stores. I just didn't know about the local yards. As I was driving over to a friend's office to pick up a computer, I drove past a yard that deals in such things as trailer flooring, equipment mats, and other large dimensioned lumber. I went in and, about 20 minutes later drove out with the oak pieces necessary to make the stem piece and stern piece for the prop shaft, and the knees that support them. The stem is now in position on the frame and the stern piece is epoxy laminated and ready to be placed in position today. The 14" band saw earned its cost yesterday. Forward progress is a good thing! Steve

Konrad, I'm just pointing out the obvious - with my tongue solidly in my cheek! :lol: Keep on doing what you do. We need a little humor in our lives. Steve

The guys have the right idea. Bondo is NOT what you want to use on a boat. Use epoxy thickened with micro-balloons, or some other comparable, easy to sand filler. You do not want to take shortcuts in this stage of construction. Steve

Konrad, Only you...........! You really have to get a life. Try building another boat, or some other activity to keep you out of trouble. I hear it's pretty cold up there already. I'm sure you have put up the boat by now. Steve

The secret is out with this note. We decided to let the location of the barn out to the forum. Wally's Barn is at this approximate location: Latitude: 30

Mike, I would expect nothing less! We might surprise you and have a boat pretty soon, ya never know! This goes a bit slower than stitch & glue, but I still like to do one like this every now and then. I'm surprised Larry Brewer hasn't weighed in yet. Steve

We got frames 1 through 10 in place tonight. It is really starting to look like a boat! :grin: :cool: Here are several shots of the progress. BTW, that's Wally trying to get out of the picture in the first shot. Steve

All of the frames are glued up and ready to place in position. Tonight we built the framework for the jig and got frames 1 and 10 into proper position. Here are a couple of pics of the progress. Steve

Charlie, God to hear you are doing OK. That can be a long sail to Tarpon Springs from there if the wind is "wrong." I know, I did it the other way with NW winds for most of the trip. Sorry we missed you on the way by, but we understand how it can be. See you the next time around. Steve

Quick update: We now have 11 of the 12 frames glued up and standing in the back of the shop. One more to go tomorrow and then we clean out the shop and build the jig for the frames. We may have a boat shape this week! Pictures to come when we get the frames in place. :grin: :cool: Steve

Hey Guys, I lucked into a 10.5 cfm, 60 gallon air compressor a couple of weeks ago for very little money on a church auction. Now that I have the 240 volt service wired to it, I have a fully functioning compressor. The next step will be to get a few air tools to use with all of that capacity. One down side is that the electrical cost nearly what the compressor did in the first place. O well, it's only money and it supports my boatbuilding habit. Steve

With our busy lives, we are having trouble getting time to devote to the project. Maybe it will slow down soon, but I don't think so. We'll just have to fit time in when we can. Steve

Well, we finally got to the point where something worth taking a picture has happened. Wally and I got two frames together and have them laying up against the wall. All of the other frames are cut and stacked on the workbench and are awaiting assembly. Here are some pictures of the shop, the unassembled frames and the two frames that are built. It is slow getting started, but we are under way. Steve

We had a good trip with the Scouts this past weekend. Took the big boat down to Petit Bois Island and overnighted. Came back Sunday and saw three twisters that could have easily turned into waterspouts (they did not touch down on the water). We did row the Spindrift a bit, but did not get to sail it. Going to try again this coming weekend with family. Your Spindrift looks pretty good there in the driveway, but it would look better in the water. Steve

I like the looks of that one! We haven't spent as much time on the boat as we would like. We have all of the frames and gussets cut and got two frames epoxied together this evening. I have a couple of pictures, but don't have formatting software on this computer yet. I will start another thread and post the photos soon. We have both agreed to up the priority on the boat. Hopefully, we can get a bit more done soon. I have been spending a lot of time working on the big boat as I am replacing the Lexan in all of the hatches on her. Steve

Well, you finally got your Spindrift done! All we have to do now is get Frank to do something with his. We're camping with the Boy Scouts this weekend and I am taking my Spindrift along as a dinghy. Gonna take the sail kit along and do a little sailing, too. Steve

I've got one of those that my grandfather had. It is almost exactly like the one on the website, but it was built in 1903. We have a lot of fun with it on the big boat. I had a little Hobie Cat from the hotel coming up on my quarter one afternoon and I quickly pulled the cannon out and loaded it. When they came alongside, I yelled "Repel all Boarders!" and fired the cannon at them (they were a good distance off). The kids on the cat LOVED it! We also render honors with the cannon to one of the other charter boats out of the Grand hotel on occasion. The cannon and a pirate flag go well together, under certain circumstances. Steve

Well. it finally has happened! :onfire: I went over to Wally's barn this evening and we started to cut frames for the Rescue Minor. After a bit of uncertainty with angles :-? on the first frame, we were able to get two cut out. We will continue that process to get all the frames cut and glued together, then position them on the building frame. It will be a while, but we have actually started the process. For the moment, the location of Wally's barn is classified. However, we will meet someone who would like to visit, blindfold them and take them there to look at the boat under construction. :lol: Seriously, when someone would like to visit, they are welcome to drop by. Just let me know and I will give you directions and times to visit. Steve

Charlie, Let us know when you get near Mobile Bay and we'll at least wave at you on the way by. Steve

All Right!!! :grin: :-D :changes: I suppose these emoticons are like boats - a man can never have too many. :shock: :-? Right? That is too cool, Frank. :cool: Steve

Hey Guys, Getting back to the original idea of this post, we received the plywood and epoxy orders Friday. Now we have no excuses to put the build off any longer. Not a bad response from World Panel Products and Raka. I ordered both on Wednesday and we had them Friday. More to come on the build as we get started. We are working on the engine system as we get started. I will share your comments with Wally and we will include them in the considerations for powering the boat. I don't think Robb White's drive design will be in the plans for our boat (Too "Rube Goldberg" for us). More to come as we get going, Steve

A little update on the progress toward actually getting a build going. Wally and I met out at his house Tuesday evening and went over the plans again and took off some quantities for ordering. As a result of that meeting, we have ordered the plywood, the fasteners, and the epoxy. The cypress is in hand and looks pretty good. Nice grain structure and straight. Wally found out that the place he got the wood from deals in truckload lots. We are too small for him to fool with under normal circumstances. We were able to get our wood, but I think this is a "one time" deal. All of the other stuff is supposed to arrive here next week, so we are about to actually get started. We will probably start to cut frames early next week. As things get going, we will send photos. We are starting the search for an engine and have found a couple of candidates on E-Bay. Not real good candidates, but we are getting a feel for the market. We're starting to get a little "pumped up" about this build. It has been too long without a building project. My last one was the Diva II kayak about two years ago. Steve

I haven't seen or worked with the cypress yet, but I will let you know how good the source is after we get it and make a few frames. Wally didn't get it the other day due to rain and work priorities. Steve

We really haven't decided who will own the boat. Right now, we both will own it. If we like it, we'll build another and each have one. The engine will be something in the 22 HP diesel variety. We currently favor a Yanmar or Kubota, but will be looking for what becomes available as we build the boat. Steve