The backyard building and adventures of a small shanty/houseboat based on the "Dianne's Rose" design by Roy Schreyer. The designs can be found at https://www.roydesignedthat.com/
Oh my goodness... Phew! Hottest day EVER on record here today.. needless to say not much work on the boat like I had hoped.. did a little in the morning around 8 a.m. when it was just 88 degrees out. My one day off means while I wanted to get stuff done I need to save energy for my regular work day tommorow.. its going to be rough!! Heat dome in full affect.. temperatures tommorow will be higher they say... even some of the covid the vaccination clinics are closing due to heat..
Well, back at it.. after a brief hiatus due to my injured hand. Picked up a final load of 12' 1x4 stk t&g lengths of Cypress (yellow cedar) from Kermode.. and also a new bigger ladder.. found my old ladder didn't cut it for reaching to get the hatch in place pn the outside. After blood, sweat and yes some tears.. I have the hatch installed in.. now to finish the starboard side and trim the excess. Minor finishing to be done..
Got a nice surprise from Swell Composites. I ordered fresh resin and Hexcel Fiberglass cloth for the roof. Due to covid, they haven't been allowing pickups even though their warehouse is only a few minutes drive away from my house. But, they called me to say that they would have it at the front desk and if I wanted I could drop-by to pick it up and they would refund the $45 for shipping! So I was like HECK Ya! That was nice of them. They aren't really setup for a retail operation more of warehouse or online direct.
Almost finished the main cabin hatch with help from the "supervisor" Molly the parrot. I made 5mm deep and about 1/2"" wide rabbets in the two wings and bedded and sealed the acrylic plexiglass top and bottom with Masterseal NP-1 a polyurethane below the waterline approved sealant that allows oint movement and even passes 4–hour, 4–inch, fire and hose stream test. The arcylic panel is clamped into the window frame with oak strips topsides. I have rubber weather stripping on the outside edge and a three-way gutter system that should channel drips to the outer edge. Brass sash clasps hold the window tight and I just need to put in the hatch window supports to hold it open at various angles.. with limited use of the left hand due to injury this past week, I hope to be able to resume building the roof in a few days.
I sanded off the tip of my finger today.... literally with my belt sander and a ceramic belt.. ouch. Dr. glued it kind of back in place.. Not too much damage.. but damn it hurts! A reminder to work safe!! I always use push blocks and feather boards with saws.. but a reminder that belt/bench sanders can be dangerous too.. should have had leather gloves on and used my blocks.
Ended up with 3/16" Acrylic.. 3 sheets of 4x8. I used Facebook Marketplace to source it. Got it from a carpenter that had a bunch of surplus including poplar, fir, mahogany and a maple burl from his shop in the film industry. This is from the production of the remake of the series "Shogun". It meant I got a reasonable price, $80 CDN ($65 USD) per sheet.. or 3 sheets foe $240 CDN. I did rent a 9x5 U-haul Trailer for $30CDN to transport it so I didn't scratch or bend it. I also spent about $15 CDN on gas for the round-trip of about 35 miles. I also bought the 5" x 8" x 48" maple burl.. for $30 that I thought might be good for the door sills.
