Tonight I finally finished the trimming and filing back of the epoxy and glass at the joins of the strips. Here's a hot tip (Number 5 if I remember correctly) for you - if you're 6'3 and building one of these, get a work bench higher than your average trestle table. Bending over for even half an hour to do this work makes you feel a little worse for wear in the spine. The dog definitely appreciates the attention while I'm re-sorting my vertebrae though.
I've still got the other sides of the joins to epoxy for the deck, but I'll go through the instructions to see if I can get this stage done around the other stages of construction or if it's better off biting the bullet and doing it all now. I've got a that niggling feeling in the back of my mind that I should follow the instructions word for word because the fellow who wrote them obviously knows what he's doing, but another little voice that says 'go on, get things going!' I really want to start seeing a hull take shape. Insert saying or quip about patience being a virtue or something.
The only reason not to that I can think of now is that there may not be room to finish the deck joins once the hull is sitting on the workbench and taking up all the room. That's it.
No more rain in the last few days to speak of, but the month before that was crazy, I don't think I've seen so much water fall out of the sky before. Ever. Heading away for 2 weeks for a Christmas/New Year Break on Friday, I might get a little more done before Friday but probably won't get around to writing about it.
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Rain delays
With the extremely wet weather we've been having here recently I've not done much work on the Coho in the last 2 weeks. Persistent rains, thunderstorms, flooding and constantly high humidity have meant that I've been a bit hesitant to work on the boat for a couple reasons.
The first of these is that with increased humidity wood expands, and I don't want to be doing any work now that will be ruined when the dry, baking heat of the Canberra summer arrives (if it ever does) and the wood then contracts.
The second reason is that it's generally been pretty ordinary outside with the rain and wind, plus a trillion 'skeeters that seem to be procreating in my backyard seem fairly hellbent on eating me alive. Our backyard has pretty ordinary drainage due mainly to the fact that normally is never rains in Canberra and I've been nervously inspecting the shed each morning to make sure nothing has been damaged. All the ply is off the ground, but there are so many leaks in the shed roof it makes the US State Department look like... umm..... a well sealed roof? Wait, that doesn't quite work. You know what I mean - the flippin' roof leaks a lot.
I've been getting some comments that I've not been updating this blog enough (thanks AJ, Dowlo, Lukas) but it's because no work has been happening. Hence, here's a joke to keep you going until the rain stops, which should be sometime next century. It's good weather for ducks at the moment, so I thought a duck joke might be appropriate:
A duck walks into a pub and orders a schooner of beer and a ham sandwich. The barman looks at him and says, "Hey! You're a duck".
"I see your eyes are working", replies the duck.
"And you talk!" exclaims the barman.
"I see your ears are working", said the duck, "Now can I have my beer and my sandwich please?"
"Certainly", says the barman, "sorry about that, it's just we don't get many ducks in this pub. What are you doing round this way?".
"I'm working on the building site across the road", explains the duck. Then the duck drinks his beer, eats his sandwich and leaves.
This continues for weeks. Then one day the circus comes to town. The Ringleader of the circus comes into the pub and the barman says to him, "You're with the circus aren't you?, I know this duck that would be just brilliant in your circus, he talks, drinks beer and everything!".
"Sounds marvellous", says the ringleader, "get him to give me a call".
So the next day when the duck comes into the pub the barman says, "Hey Mr Duck, I reckon I can line you up with a top job, paying really good money!"
"Yeah?", says the duck, "Sounds great, where is it?"
"At the circus", says the barman.
"The circus?" the duck enquires.
"That's right", replies the barman.
"The circus?" the duck asks again.
"Yes" says the barman
"That place with the big tent?" the duck enquires.
"Yeah" the barman replies.
"With all the animals?" the duck questioned.
"Of Course" the barman replies.
"With the big canvas roof with the hole in the middle?" asks the duck.
"That's right!" says the barman.
The duck looks confused.
"What the f%$#k would they want with a plasterer?!!"
The first of these is that with increased humidity wood expands, and I don't want to be doing any work now that will be ruined when the dry, baking heat of the Canberra summer arrives (if it ever does) and the wood then contracts.
The second reason is that it's generally been pretty ordinary outside with the rain and wind, plus a trillion 'skeeters that seem to be procreating in my backyard seem fairly hellbent on eating me alive. Our backyard has pretty ordinary drainage due mainly to the fact that normally is never rains in Canberra and I've been nervously inspecting the shed each morning to make sure nothing has been damaged. All the ply is off the ground, but there are so many leaks in the shed roof it makes the US State Department look like... umm..... a well sealed roof? Wait, that doesn't quite work. You know what I mean - the flippin' roof leaks a lot.
I've been getting some comments that I've not been updating this blog enough (thanks AJ, Dowlo, Lukas) but it's because no work has been happening. Hence, here's a joke to keep you going until the rain stops, which should be sometime next century. It's good weather for ducks at the moment, so I thought a duck joke might be appropriate:
A duck walks into a pub and orders a schooner of beer and a ham sandwich. The barman looks at him and says, "Hey! You're a duck".
"I see your eyes are working", replies the duck.
"And you talk!" exclaims the barman.
"I see your ears are working", said the duck, "Now can I have my beer and my sandwich please?"
"Certainly", says the barman, "sorry about that, it's just we don't get many ducks in this pub. What are you doing round this way?".
"I'm working on the building site across the road", explains the duck. Then the duck drinks his beer, eats his sandwich and leaves.
This continues for weeks. Then one day the circus comes to town. The Ringleader of the circus comes into the pub and the barman says to him, "You're with the circus aren't you?, I know this duck that would be just brilliant in your circus, he talks, drinks beer and everything!".
"Sounds marvellous", says the ringleader, "get him to give me a call".
So the next day when the duck comes into the pub the barman says, "Hey Mr Duck, I reckon I can line you up with a top job, paying really good money!"
"Yeah?", says the duck, "Sounds great, where is it?"
"At the circus", says the barman.
"The circus?" the duck enquires.
"That's right", replies the barman.
"The circus?" the duck asks again.
"Yes" says the barman
"That place with the big tent?" the duck enquires.
"Yeah" the barman replies.
"With all the animals?" the duck questioned.
"Of Course" the barman replies.
"With the big canvas roof with the hole in the middle?" asks the duck.
"That's right!" says the barman.
The duck looks confused.
"What the f%$#k would they want with a plasterer?!!"
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