Thursday, February 26, 2009

new stairs to roof




John and I put in steps to the top deck, one set off the back and one off the pilot house port side, and we're doing the handrails throughout, all of which is big fun. It is so sweet to be out of that boatyard and working on my own.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

so we painted


That's Joyce after she painted the inside of the water tanks. The boat's in the water at its new location and it floats. The guys at the yard were surprised there were no leaks with all the welding done on the bottom. It's been a few days now and it's still bone dry. Now we're doing a bunch of steel work, new steps to the top deck, railings, door frames, etc. and we have to start on all the systems so it looks like I'll be going at it full time for awhile. I've got John working with me and it feels great to have control of the project and be out of the boatyard. For the record, once we got over our little tiff, the boat yard did a stand up job and all the guys that worked on the boat did great.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Saturday, February 14, 2009

happy valentines


(seductive picture of bow thruster)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

bad choices (no, babe-poor choices!)

So when Joyce goes to teach art to her little angels last week, there's half a dozen or so sitting outside the room doing a time-out and they all run up to her yelling " Miss art teacher Joyce, we made some poor choices! " which inspired David Normann to send her this poem:

Miss art teacher Joyce
I made a very bad choice
Womped Lil Dude upside the head
But like Picasso always said
Art's a lie that tells the truth
So give me a hug
And Lil Dude a tooth

Saturday, February 7, 2009

happy ox year!


We made masks in kindergarten this week to celebrate Year of the Ox. These kids were probably born into a particular mardi gras krewe, so they understand dressing up! The masks wound up on their heads, as crowns.
They were very interested to hear about Chinese New Year in SF- I showed them pictures of the dragon with 20 guys underneath. That may be the only parade they haven't been to yet.




.



coming along


The bottom is finally getting painted, two coats primer and two coats anti-foulant  ( to inhibit the growth of barnacles ) all in different colors to insure complete coverage and so I can guage how much is left as it weathers. The big stuff is now in the engine room, the engine, generator and holding tank so maybe next week it will be put in the water to see if it floats. We have berthing space at the port some 400 yds away for 6 months where we can trim out all the various systems.

We got a Miller 250 diesel welding generator to put onboard so we can do steel work anywhere, make repairs and build stuff as we go. There is still an insane amount of work to do, and I'm told in never ends, particularly on a boat this size. Really, we only work 2 or 3 hours a day before we say screw it and drive to the gym and chill. It sure would be nice to get this scow somewhere where we could just dive overboard and grab dinner by its spiny little backside. Maybe a few clams as an amuse bouche.