ICE STORM - JANUARY 27, 2009

Click to Enlarge:

The beautiful sunrise after a nice ice storm in Arkansas.

The pups don't seem to mind the new ice and snow though they did spend the night in bed with us. They came in covered in ice. How does this relate to the restoration? I choose not to burn any of the boat and was out in the boat shop gathering wood scraps prior to the sunrise to get the woodstove burning. To grind the coffee I had to get the truck and use the inverter to power up the grinder.

Ballast Cradle

This is constructed of 5" pipe. Might be over the top in strength but it was scrap from the welding up of cattle guards at entrances to farms. Half the bolts have been cut off but I seem to need something longer than 12" to get to the middle section of the keel. More pictures when dropped. Oh, the lower most pipe is there for a roller.

Side Walls

Side walls are a polycarbonate product called "Sunsky" by Palmar.



















It was inspired by a trip to see the Coronett in Newport this past summer. Goes up like metal siding. They ran about $70 a sheet for a 3' x 12' section. The biggest issue I think will be the south wall in the summer. I did include 8 opening sky lights as well as vent ridge. The side walls have good space between the ground, increasing with slope. I am placing metal siding on the inside along this base to keep direct wind and weather out with the added advantage to keep air circulating. I anticipate it to function much like the ceiling in the boat or the way a tipi liner would work.

YEAR IN REVIEW - 2008

Boat purchased in December of 2007. Thank you Lynette!
Visited boat in March in Lyme, CT-returned with mizzen mast, booms (3) and a truck load of sails, rigging, etc.
Leigh Smith, friend from Portsmouth, N.H., helps Richard Fewtrell, boatwright in Lyme, get boat ready for shipping.
Worked on pad behind garage.
Boat arrived in May.
No boat stands and driver wouldn't attempt delivery to property.
Boat interims in old WalMart parking lot.
Built cradle.
Rebuilt cradle on borrowed trailer.
Boat gets delivered without incidence.

Built a 26' x 45' boat shed over boat-mostly by myself with some help from farm hand.

Mario built a cradle for ballast with 5" pipe.

Started dismantling the port main cabin the last few days of December.

Also started collecting some new bigger tools like a bandsaw, dust collection, drill press . . .

Looking forward to 2009.

Main Cabin Deconstruction - Port

And the disassembling begins...

The port side of the main cabin has been stripped of all joinery. The upper ceiling was in poor condition due to rain water entering opened port hole, on and off for 16 years+. Good for patterns though. Below the bilge stringer, mahogany ceiling in near perfect condition. Water no doubt was impeded by the bilge stringer and continued down inside of hull instead.

What is totally inspiring is the condition of the planking. No visible sign of any aging. In the daylight, only a few seams have a tad of visible light.

Doing my best with documenting. My present scheme is taking notes, drawing pictures where necessary, bundling up pieces by taping together, writing on back of pieces, collecting fasteners in ziploc bags with notes and eventually storing on its separate shelf to be reassembled when the structure is all restored. And pictures ... These were taken with my iPhone. Decent quality though I have better cameras.

View From the Deck