Ramps 'R Us

 31 Aug 23:

We used more found boards and what we had bought to add more bits of ramp. Easier to roll trailers into place now vs the Marine Corps vertical lift method I had used a few times. 

A Tall Ship Visits

30 Jul 23:

A wee Skipper brought her tall ship to the pier today, left without paying customs fees.

Boat Yard Update

 29 Jul 23:

Despite the heat we got a few things done today. I was staring at a pile of stored lumber and realized that the boards I was looking at had been part of the ramp for the Wheel Deck, which we removed last year after we got the gangplank and work deck built by the Carriage House. So woo hoo, I have about 16 pieces of ramp to transfer to the Sunfish Shack expansion.

I put some of the boards in front of ST. JACQUES, still need to screw them down. Would have been nice to have them all in place yesterday when we were rolling the boat out and in. 

Next we removed the shade sail from over the Wheel Deck, as SMEDLEY's slip is almost ready for occupancy. This will be a nice area to sit on a sunny Winter day, vs under the shade trees. We also spent a few minutes routing the wisteria and scuppernong over the area that the shade sail vacated. The wisteria is leading the race to reach the Sunfish Shack, for those keeping  score.

Now to the scrap pile. We need an app where we can take a picture and the app gives us suggestions on things to build. Any ideas?

There are discussions to add a bay window type french door and a couple of windows to the end of the Heuer Garage. The 4x4 chunks might be good to support the floor. t It only has one window and I feel it gets a little too toasty in the Summer for my liking with wooden boats stored inside. The windows have screens and we can leave those open for airflow. We're not so concerned about security as we are keeping critters from chowing down on the wood. The shed does have  wooden floors, so that is beneficial to the boat's health compared to concrete. 

Stay tuned.

Small Boats Nation

 29 Jul 23:

Small Boats Magazine, a digital imprint from the WoodenBoat family, sharing knowledge of all things small and nautical, is now known as Small Boats Nation. Skipper and I came aboard in 2018 as contributing authors and we have had a blast trading sea stories with our editor Chris. 

We invite you to check in, read, subscribe and share. One of the features we enjoy the most is the ability to comment on the articles, share your experience or ask questions to gather more information. Once onboard, check out the great Search function, to look for specific boats, gear or adventure areas of your interest.

Here's a link to an article on Skipper's Sailrite LSZ-1 sewing machine, from Oct 2020.

(Image: Small Boats Nation/Lewis)

Hope to see you soon on the water or on the digital waves.

Cheers,

"Clark" Kent and "Skipper" Audrey

Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES Road Mode

 28 Jul 23:

Our Penobscot 14 was a dolly boat in Florida, stored just a few feet from the beach. Since our move and our transition back to being trailer sailors, we have added a trailer and are now figuring out what goes where and how to secure it during road mode. 

Video: https://youtu.be/QmARacBr-FI

If you have suggestions, please post in the comments!

Skipper Sighting

28 Jul 23:

Skipper hamming it up for the camera, we were out for a photo shoot for the digital magazine that we write for. Look for our article in the August issue of Small Boats Nation.

 A little mess about was planned for after the photo shoot, trying to get in a little voile et aviron before the heat index cracked 100F. But the weather pattern bringing us rain tomorrow had the winds blowing 15+, right up the ramp. Might have been fun in cooler weather, but we decided to retire and play boat after the front brings us cooler weather. We did spend some time working out some trailering issues though, see the next post.

Screws

 28 Jul 23:

A few notes on wood screws. We like Frearson head bronze from Fair Winds Fasteners. High quality, fair price and fast shipping. 

For installation we use Fuller combination pilot and countersink bits. Without the pilot the screw head will strip and the wood will split.

Purchased from the WoodenBoat Store.

Video: https://youtu.be/B8fq4ngkyNY

Why? Knots

28 Jul 23:

While rinsing out the Penobscot we had the sail up and there was a light breeze causing the sail to flap a bit. This is usually when Skipper's sailing navy ancestor Lt. Ben Hunter shows up to tie fun knots in lines. The first one was interesting, we watched the mainsheet wrap around the tiller two to three wraps, then unwrap. This went on for about ten minutes. Wrap. unwrap. I wondered if there was some mechanical advantage to this, to easier hold the sheet in a blow.

We went inside to cool off for a bit and came out to this. Very creative.

ACR Electric Visual Distress Signal Night

28 Jul 23: 

ACR sells some excellent safety gear, we are adding a kit that came with day and night visual distress signals that meet USCG requirements. The ResQ Flare light fulfills the sme requirement as pyrotechnic flares, and while it may not reach high in the sky it flashes for 20+ hours.

This kit also came with a personal strobe that flashes SOS, a signal mirror, waterproof bag for a phone and a day visual distress signal flag, which all fit easily into a dry bag. 

ACR

Rabbit Report

 26 Jul 23:

We bought a little hibiscus for the flower bed... the rabbit thinks it is delicious. The plant did manage to grow a bit, so it must be a short rabbit.

Crappy Plywood

 26 Jul 23:

We'd never use basic exterior grade plywood for a boat, but we had some scrap that we used for this sign. While it looked good in the store, it turned out to be the sneaky type that has a very thin veneer face, to hide the ugly wood below. This fell apart in about a year.

Guess we have some work to do!

Alcort Parts 'R Us

26 Jul 23:

We have a sizeable supply of Alcort parts, and got an order today for the old style swivel boom block on eyebolt. It's heading out to a happy Super Sailfish owner.

If you are looking for Sunfish and Sailfish parts, drop us a line. My email can be found on our About page.

Cheers,

Clark and Skipper

Seawall Bench

 26 Jul 23:

Our little seawall bench went surfing during Hurricane Sally, wood floats, who knew? We thought it was long one but when the rolling waves subsided we saw it jammed into the cradle lift bunks. It has a few chunks taken out of it but is living a better life now, holding up plants so that Skipper can get to them easier. 

We plan to add some river rock to this area, mostly for Skipper to play with. Give her some rocks and a bucket and she's entertained for hours.

Wood Screw Installation Tips

 26 Jul 23:

A few tips for installing silicon bronze Frearson head wood screws. We use a Fuller combination pilot drill and countersink. For this install we drilled a marker hole then swiveled the eyestrap out of the way to get a little deeper. It is important to drill at least a pilot, as without it there is a good chance to strip out the soft bronze.

Fuller Countersink bit available from the WoodenBoat Store.

Video: https://youtu.be/B8fq4ngkyNY

We must apologize for the crusty appearance of ST. JACQUES, she still has Florida scum on her and PODS grime. We remedied that situation with a freshwater rinse and some TILEX. Skipper mostly played with the water vs doing actual work. Once it cools off ST. JACQUES is due for some hurricane repairs (cosmetic) and a recoat. We're in discussion with George Kirby and his fabulous paint company to create a fancy paint color for the interior, something with a little more cream than the current Oyster White. Maybe it will hide scum and grime better :)

Discussions with George go something like this... 

Us: "Hey George, can you make us some fancy paint?" 

George: "Sure."

Us: "Okay, we'll send you some info."

Details

 26 Jul 23:

Centerboard uplock on the Penobscot 14 ST. JACQUES.

Pin rail on the Penobscot 14 for halyard and brailing line.

Finishing Dolly

 25 Jul 23:

We borrowed a design from Laser Performance for a finishing dolly that they used back when they built Sunfish in Rhode Island. FOlks have asked for measurements, they are mentioned in the video.

Video: https://youtu.be/b9zknddmGBY

Holler if you need more info!

Noland Trail Newport News

23 Jun 23:

The Noland Trail is located in Newport News, it is a 5 mile trail through a coastal plain forest, circling the Mariners' Museum and Mariners' Lake.  

Mariners Lake is where we kayaked a few weeks back, nice and peaceful. 

Skipper led the way. 

There are several sections of the trail that are accessible for the handicapable. 

Noland Trail Map.

Our First Sunfish Shack

25 Jul 23:

We've stored Sunfish in the garage, leaned up against a fence and out in open fields. Some spots worked better than others, damage from wind, hail and critters happened when we stored the boats outside without proper covers or security.

The big problems we see with the boats that we restore is damage from time spent ashore, ranging from severe sunburn to being crushed by trees. So as funds allowed we built covered structures to store our boats. Here is our first metal structure, which went up in Texas, famous for hail and windstorms.

Yes, those are metal posts, they will not rot in our lifetime. We kept the roof low to comply with our Home Owner's Association restrictions, our other option would have been a more expensive shed built to match our home's brick siding. The dirt was okay but it is not optimum to rest tires on dirt over long periods of time, and mud can splash onto trailer components leading to accelerated corrosion. We keep trailers for a long time, and do what we can to minimize damage.

One other structure we had for boats was a hoop house made from PVC pipe and poly tarps. It protected boats from the sun in Arizona, and worked well for the year or so that we used it. 

Log of the Sunfish Shack.

Lighthouse

24 Jul 23:  

Major improvements to the lighthouse.

Highly accurate compass. Not sure why a lighthouse has a wheel, maybe the Skipper knows...

Sunfish Shack Roofing Crew

 16 Jul 23:

We had time today to get another section of the metal roof installed, just in time for the rain showers to pass over. Actually, we worked on the roof between bands of showers, it was nice to have some cloud cover at times and a little shade from the tree. 

We left the purlins long as they will be trimmed to fit after the last panels are screwed down.

The top plate that holds the rafters will also get trimmed and ogee-ed, once the last rafter finds its permanent spot. 

Can you make all of these final cuts early on? Maybe, if you know you have panels that are all from the same batch and you align each panel overlap perfectly, every time. Each panel "spans" 36 inches but measures just over 39 inches, including the extra for overlap. There is a here is some wiggle room in those laps, and over 39 feet of paneling  a16th of an inch every 3 feet can add up. Plus the wood framing is only as square, plumb and level at the time you put it up, the framing moves with changes in moisture content and the free will of the wood grain. 

The metal panels can also fan in or out as you lay rows and columns, fun. The pros must have ways to deal with this, maybe they just put trim pieces over all of the ends? Anyway, this is just some of our experience to share to help prevent head scratching for future metal roof panelists. 

Now the fun part. The fun part is the screws, they have a micro bit head design to pilots the wood screw threads through the metal and the screws are driven with a hex head socket. There is a tiny EPDM washer under the head create a weathertight seal. Quick and easy.

And here's the note that we should have lead with in regards to this method of metal roofing, THE SCREWS NEED TO BE THE GOLDILOCKS LENGTH. Too short in no bueno and too long means the screw pierces the purlin below and creates a pointy puncture problem for the noggin, especially with our low profile slope design. (Quiz: You do remember why we set the back side of the shack so low, don't you?) Each panel manufacture has fun information buried on their website somewhere about which screws to use, proper installation methods and materials. Did we read it? Your guess is as good as ours :)

So where were we? Oh yes, 54 more square feet of roof installed!

(Quiz answer: We wanted to have head clearance at the front of the shack to grab dollies and trailers, but keep the rest of the shed as low as possible to prevent side entry of rain and leaves. Plus we needed some slope for rain runoff.)

Log of the Sunfish Shack.

Windsor Castle Park Kayak Rental On Cypress Creek

15 Jul 23:

New kayak rental spot at Windsor Castle Park, self serve dawn to dusk. Nice spot to put in on Cypress Creek which leads to the Pagan River, good floating dock and a roller chute for easy embark and debark.

Lighthouse Operational

 11 Jul 23:

The lighthouse id finished, but if we'd read the Warning placard before we started, maybe we wouldn't have. Luckily the squirrels can't read and don't wear hoodies or sandals.

Our good friend Paul IV taught us a lot about carpentry, passed along from his Dad Paul III.  Lumber can have surprisingly sharp edges, one thing they liked to do was to ease the sharp edges of a piece, like we did below. We used a 1/8th inch roundover bit on a DeWALT compact trim router, and we also ran over the surfaces with 120 grit sandpaper. to take off any grain fuzz left behind If power tools are not handy, you can flatten the edges with a hammer, and Paul would do that on some new build furniture just to give it a vintage feel, years of loving use, passed down generation to generation. 

Bruce approves.

There was a bit of family conversation over how long it would take the local hooligans to find a peanut on top of the swing and ring beam. The answer? About 9 minutes. 

Boat Ride To The Lighthouse

 11 Jul 23:

The Grand wanted to go for a boat ride, so we took the Nutshell Pram EXCUSE ME out to the lighthouse. 

Buddy

 11 Jul 23:

Our friend Buddy expects blueberries now, so Skipper brought some out to feed him since the heat index was 105F. They were chilled, organic. Did she bring me any? No.