Haul the Decks.

An orang-utan goes into a bar and says to the barman:

“May I have a gin…………and tonic, please?”

The barman says: “Why the long paws?”

We are well into fitting out the boat and the list of tasks to be completed is really quite short. It’s more interesting, now, as we are fabricating parts where there’s plenty of room for creativity (it’s not an exact science). The big item left will be the application of multiple coats of epoxy, varnish and (for the gunwales and thwarts) oil.

We tackled making the decking in the last month. A series of joists were fitted across the bottom planks to support the removable deck. This will allow us to walk the length of the boat in order to get to the drinks cabinet (design not finalised), or to enable the rowers to have a stand up fight over some fine point of technique.

Simple: three planks (Fijian Kauri), shaped to match the curve of the hull, braced with ply battens, which we made from the scrap from the original kit:

What was very exciting was the result of applying several coats of Danish oil,which gives a soft, durable sheen. We shall have to remember to refresh it every couple of years, but it’s what the yacht builders use, so it should be good.

Joe after applying the oil: the shine wears off leaving a smooth satin finish. This will happen to the deck, too.

In the meantime, we have also been working on knees, breasthook, thwarts and cleats. Cue for a song? Joe will probably tell you about our new toy, too. With a week to go before we stop for Christmas, the aim is to have all the bits made and ready for fitting...here's hoping.

Up to the Gunwales in Sawdust

Welcome back.

Well, the Rugby World Cup imposed a bit of a go-slow on the boat building process. Priority being given to watching the matches over standing over the boat sanding the inside.

A word of warning, if you ever build a boat, and in particular a boat that you build upside down on a strongback, take an extra ten minutes wiping the excess glue off the inside of the hull after you've glued anything on the outside. I would say that we have spent about 20 hours sanding and scraping the inside of the hull. A particularly tedious and soul destroying task.

So, to break the monotony, we did some other jobs in parallel, mostly to stop us going insane with boredom.

Firstly, we've fitted the gunwales. This involved more clamps, a couple of brass retaining screws, a lot of glue, some steam, a router, a spokeshave, some sandpaper, and a firm conviction that "it's not an exact science". To describe the process would be complicated - so I used all my wordart skills and drew this cross section.

Stick the side bit to the boat, then the glue the cap to the side bit and the boat, then remove all the bits that are outside the dotted line with a curved router. It says on the instructions that you aren't to use those blades "freehand" but I couldn't see a problem. Anyway, as with the "David", start with a lump of wood and chip away all the bits that don't look like Michelangelo.

And just to show you that we are doing something, here's me, manhandling a very dangerous power-tool, covered in bits of gunwale. You can see the gunwale side has been added to the starboard side of the boat. You can also see I am losing my hair at an alarming rate!

Don't put your fingers there!

Beervana

I went to the beer festival, I was looking for the dogfish head guy, he seems to have the best job in the world, but he wasn't there. I did manage to chat to a couple of the brewers. One in particular only revealed himself as the brewer after I had described his  "Rex Attitude" beer  (Yeastie Boys brewery)  as "Like mud on a hospital floor, a combination of peat and disinfectant." I was surprised to find that this was the effect they were aiming for.

Anyway, none of this is getting our boat built.


It is however an opportunity to describe to our faithful readers (thanks to both of our Dads) what other projects inhabit my garage.


Being a good father, I have helped my sons in their various academic endeavours - in particular Jack's design tech projects. One of which was a re-cycling project. What better project than a recycled fridge a light bulb and a thermostat - the perfect environment for brewing beer. Jack built it, I took photo's of him working and he got a merit at school - the fact that he was 16 and making a brewery didn't seem to bother his design tech teacher. 

Anyone who brews beer knows that the worst part is bottling. There's a similarity between boat building and bottling - if you don't clean up immediately after yourself, the gunk, be it glue or sediment, it dries and its a bastard to clean. So, I discovered the concept of the kegorator, to use the vernacular. Instead of bottling you keg, and then you force CO2 into the keg at 4 degrees Centigrade for 48 hours and you have carbonated beer. For this you need a keg, or two, some tubes, a CO2 bottle, some CO2, a tap and an old fridge - here's one I prepared earlier.

Nice Kegs, shame about the face.

This is the 20ltr keg in the donor fridge, I picked this up from a really nice guy on Trademe for $40. The reconditioned Kegs you can pick up for about $80. The real expense is the bloody CO2 bottle, that little feller is a reconditioned unit from Porirua, a mere $220. Although it does come with 2 and a half litres of CO2. The regulator, tap and pipes weren't that cheap either.

"Kegarator"

So, here's the finished article,we have extracted 20 ltrs of Redwood Ale and 20 ltrs of Wheat beer from that tap so far. You will note I have improvised by using the floor as a drip tray.


If you look above the fridge you'll see a complicated nest of wires, an amplifier, an Airport express, an outdoor speaker (one of a pair) and a speaker switch. From my iPod, I can pipe music from here to the garage, outside on the deck or downstairs into the spa. Or any combination of the three. More on that another day. If you look closely in the foreground - there's a tub of Vaseline. Answers on a postcard....

Meanwhile, up North

It has got a bit nippy here in Wellington: they say it's the worst weather for 35 years. It is certainly unusual - I have never seen snow here in the 7 years since I arrived. Of course, much of the disruption it causes is simply because people are so unused to it.

Brooklyn in the snow

One effect of this is that it has not been possible for Joe and me to crack on with the task of scraping and sanding excess glue from the inside of the hull: I had to abandon my car this afternoon and Joe has no beer left, so it's too much to ask for him to go into his garage to face the desolate sight of an empty beer fridge.

In the meantime, Jock and his chums (see one of the earlier blogs) are making great progress towards the Magnetic North Pole.

Jock (centre, front) appears to have got his leg stuck in the ice.

Have a look at their website: it's exciting stuff: www.rowtothepole.com

Turnover Part Two

While Calico Joe was lounging under the boat, I was organising the hired help to do the important stuff: lifting the boat, carrying it out of the garage , turning it over and settling it onto the handmade cradles.



I was amazed at how light it was, even with half the moulds still in place: of course we need to fit decks, thwarts (seats) and foot stretchers, but even so, the challenge of the portages on the Great Journey down the Mighty Waikato might be a little more manageable than anticipated.

The moment when I saw the inside of the boat properly for the first time was quite special: I had steeled myself to seeing a mess of epoxy stalagmites, but it was surprisingly neat and the confluence of the planking on the inside of the boat was very beautiful.

We've kept the moulds in place to ensure the hull retains the correct shape until we are able to fit the remaining bracing components, though they do have the advantage of enabling us to have separate cabins in case we argue...

Just in passing, I note that everyone who came to the party urged us NOT to paint the hull. I'm just saying, that's all.

Photo Blog - Turnover part one.

This entry will be largely dominated by photo's of the big turnover, cos we took a lot.

The garage has never been so tidy.

Here she is, covered in epoxy. The garage is clean and for those who have been following the blog, you'll recognise Harry's bike in the foreground.







Below is a last look at her upside down. Note the classic wine glass shape of the transom.

Chris and I spent the penultimate evening cleaning the garage and unscrewing the molds from the Strongback. Oh, and we built some supports for when she was the right way up. The big day was a busy one as Chris prepared food and Harry and I cleaned the bbq. Oh, and I went to get some sponge and calico (I'll explain later). We had invited the masters rowers, and anyone who was paying attention to the blog.

"Hands on!"

As you can see, Chris is talking and although you can't see it, I am under the boat working. No surprises there. The moment of truth was captured on video, but I think Chris has it, so you'll have to wait.

Click on the link - its a time-lapse gif (two seconds a frame).

Keel Over Party - Saturday

Party Party.

I heard a story of an Australian kid who posted a party on t'internet and 1/2 the town turned up, him and his sister had a great time.

A similar story about a kid in the UK posting her party on Facebook resulting in 250,000 pounds worth of damage, nobody actually turned up, she just happens to live in Hackney.

Anyway, the outside is done, we have sealed it with epoxy, sanded it, sealed it again and there are no more excuses, we're going to have to turn it over and see how much of the very expensive glue there is on the inside of the hull.

Is is traditional to invite your friends to the turning over ceremony - if only to lend us a hand.

If you know where I live, you are welcome to come and help us turn the boat over on Saturday afternoon "slash" evening, I'll try to knock something up on the bbq and will have a keg of "ale" that I have brewed. It needs tasting.

If you don't know where I live - get in touch - via the blog (leave a message and I'll get in touch).

Saturday from 4 pm bring a bottle or a glass. I'll make some burgers to feed the workers.