I drove up the hill (Sacramento is at about 25 feet elevation, my buddy lives in the foothills at about 3200 feet elevation) this afternoon to mill some lumber. I worried all the way as this was the longest trip I've taken in the Jeep since getting it running last month. I worried all the way to Ed's. Nothing bad happened. The ride home was much more enjoyable.
We milled some lumber for my gunwales and inwales. We also milled some lumber for a couple more box booms. I took my rough built mast step to run through the planer to even out the surfaces. The mast step will be done tomorrow.
The material I bought for the gunwales and inwales is some sort of pine - nicely milled but with maybe 3/32" holes drilled through the width about every 15" or so. Based on the bin I pulled this stuff out of, I'm thinking it was intended for door or window framing. My thought was I could fill those holes with epoxy. Ed thought the wood looked good and suggested finding a dowel to fit those holes. Great idea and much simpler than pouring epoxy into a bunch of 3/32" holes!
When we were done with the power tools we had a few beers and talked boats, plans and the future of the universe... normal stuff. Ed asked when I thought I might launch the Goat. I told him my original plan to launch on February 2 - Karen's birthday. He thought that sounded ambitious but asked what needed to be done. Talking through the list of things that "need" to be done we listed: bottom installed, mast step and partner installed, seat stringers, center case, seats, gunwales, inwales, tape the chines, paint and oars. we eliminated the centercase (I don't need that to launch as a rowboat), finish coats of paint (primer would be good enough for a short launch) and oars (Ed loaned me a pair!). Mulling it over on the drive home I got excited - February 2 is not an impossible date. For a launching I can car-top it the short distance (8-9 miles) to the launch site. Mark your calendar - February 2 for my own private pre-launch and February 6 for a public launching ceremony and celebration.
Happy New Year from Chase Small Craft
9 years ago
1 comment:
Are you sure the chine logs shouldn't be planed down some more? It's puzzling for sure, but as you say, not a huge issue, as long as the bottom curve is nice and fair. The epoxy and shims will take care of it.
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