Fewer Teeth, More Boat

This week I had my wisdom teeth taken out, so I didn't get as much done as I hoped. I didn't feel a thing during the surgery bit, and the recovery didn't hurt very much, but my cheeks did puff up until I looked like a chipmunk.

My dad found a bunch of rot in the fly bridge, which was incredibly annoying. We're just going to cover it up for now and fix it properly in a couple years. We've gotten a lot of little things done, like putting the davit back together, cleaning up the upper deck, epoxy-filling screw holes left by removed fittings, and caulking cracks. My mom and aunt have varnished most of the teak, and it looks really smooth and beautiful (except for a few places where I dropped sharp objects on it). My dad has continued his electrical projects, and now has the new panel in the salon almost completely wired up.

I put the new deck down over the hole that used to be on the port side deck. The plywood pieces were pretty complicated because it had to be notched for the frames, but I think they turned out really well. There aren't any gaps larger than a quarter inch, and everything slopes in the right direction. Unfortunately, I also had some less successful woodworking adventures. I had to make a joint for the new starboard toerail on the upper deck, and I used a handsaw to make the cut. It did not turn out particularly wonderful. Liberal application of epoxy and almost an hour of planing ended up fixing the problem aesthetically, but it was still pretty embarrassing and the rail is now not quite as strong as it could be. I did laern from the experience though, and the port toerail went on much more smoothly.

In the next couple of days, I plan on getting my corner on the port side deck finished up. It will be quite rewarding to see it all back together.

Rot? What rot?

Davit Back Together

My Beautiful Woodworking

More of My Beautiful Woodworking

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New Wiring

Really Crappy Joint

Still Crappy, But Now Smooth Joint

New Wood

We have just accepted an offer on our house, and passed inspection, so we have to have the boat ready to move onto by the end of September. This is probably a good thing, because we never really had a solid deadline before.

Most of the progress since the last post has been putting new wood on to (hopefully) water-proof the topsides. We capped the sides of the plywood upper decks with epoxied-on old growth fir strips. They will both prevent rot, and provide a flat, even surface for the next piece to be installed on. The next piece is a 2"x3" fir board that will run the entire length of the upper deck, and funnel rain water out and into gutters. The 2x3's looked kind of small when we bought them, but now that they're on the boat they seem gigantic. It feels like we put sidewalk curbs on the sides of Misogi. 

We bought most of our fir from a cabinet maker that a person at the wood store had told us about. He had a huge stockpile of old growth fir salvaged from historic houses. He was nice enough to rip the wood we bought to size, and to plane it all smooth. 

My dad went down to fisheries supply in Seattle to pick up our new inverter. It is very pretty, and surprisingly, built right here in western Washington. The inverter will tie the entire electrical system together, so hopefully Misogi will have electricity soon.  

Inverter!

Fir Strips Glued to Deck Edges

Doug Fir... Curbs?

Japanese Plywood pulled out of wall.

Hot.

The past couple of weeks have been really hot. Really, really hot. Like, almost 90° hot. Even the cats, who normally bask in the sun like a pair of fuzzy, blimp-shaped lizards, have not been having a fun time. This morning they went out onto the patio to eat grass, and collapsed into puddles of melted lipids before they even made it halfway across. They eventually had to be picked up and carried back inside.

Melted Cats

Despite the oppressive heat (and the accompanying stench of seagull droppings), a lot of work has gotten done on the boat. All kinds of little boat-bits, like lifelines, trim, stanchions, porthole rims, and wood bungs have been re-installed. Randy finished up the rub rails and some new pieces of trim, then moved on to somebody else's boat. Now that we don't have a shipwright working on the boat, I'm going to get to tackle some more ambitious projects than I was expecting. My dad installed and fiberglassed the final upper deck pieces, so we can paint it soon. We are going to patch up the very back of the upper deck with 2-by-4's and OSB, then fix it properly next summer. I spent a few days shaping and installing some new deckbeams for port side deck, so we can now install the actual deck there.

Unfortunately, I spent so much time on my knees when I was working on the side deck that I got prepatellar bursitis. I now have to stay off my knees for about 3 weeks, which will slow down my projects a bit.

Lifeline Attached

New Rubrail

New... Fancy Trim Bit

New Upper Deck

New Deckbeams

For a quick break from working on the boat, my parents, my aunt, and I took a day trip to Victoria. The weather was beautiful, and there was a lot of incredible 19th century architecture. I only got around to taking 2 pictures, but one of them was of a stunning stained glass window in the provincial capitol building. The other one is of active pass (I think) on the ferry ride home.

Window in Victoria

Active Pass, on the way back from Victoria