Ruth here:
“This is my first attempt at putting together one of our videos so be kind. This video is a little more about our day to day life working for the boat not necessarily on the boat. I hope you enjoy it!”
Don’t forget to share 🙂
Author: grjolly
Snow, mud, and rain…
I find myself contemplating a lot lately… the days are short and cold, and progress like a waterfall slowly freezing over in the winter has been reduced to a trickle. we have been getting quite a bit of snow lately. There’s about 2-1/2 feet on the ground where we are. It’s all the little things that that you wouldn’t really take into consideration that end up slowing you down. Like the walk from the shed to the generator. Instead of taking fifteen seconds now takes closer to forty walking through two feet of snow with an inch of ice on top. The shed is holding up really well though, so far it has exceeded all expectations in its ability to shed snow from the roof. Even sticky snow and freezing rain haven’t been an issue. Im still going to be cautious and keep a close eye on it, but I am sleeping a little easier seeing how well it’s doing. I’ve slowly been chipping away at the remaining tasks left before we can begin to plank. I have faired the chine, built scaffolding, and started cutting transom planking. All thats left to do is cut the stem rabbet, and rip all the 2×10 planking stock down to 1-1/2. Fortunately my neighbor who has been incredibly helpful throughout this whole project is going to let me use his bandsaw mill to rip the lumber down to size. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to get to the mill because there’s either to much snow on the ground, or it’s to muddy from all the snow that has melted… So I stay busy with other tasks.Theres usually multiple other projects on the boat that can be done, but I am pushing to start planking because I know it will be a huge moral booster to see the hull coming together. neither one of us had any idea what winter would be like. I thought snow would be much more difficult (I know it can be) , but so far its been fine. I won’t lie I am defiantly looking forward to spring. The most difficult thing for me is accepting the dwindling productivity. The days are short enough as it is, and half the time I loose a few daylight hours digging the truck out of the snow, or shoveling snow off of the trailer roof, or burrowing through feet of snow because I think I left that thing that I need on the framing table which now has 4 feet of snow covering it (all the snow from the shed roof falls on it). I suppose thats just the rhythm of the seasons… I have never before experienced seasons, being a california sea gipsy. It is interesting seeing the ebb and flow of the town throughout the year. Things have definitely slowed down as people begin to hibernate for the winter. This has been, and will continue to be an invaluable learning experience. Though there are times I stand back to look at this massive wooden dinosaur and think “what the @#$% am I doing?” , but those thoughts quickly pass, and are replaced by new ideas for the interior, or images of her salty hull riding peacefully at anchor, sails furled like the wings of a resting sea bird. Even though this chapter of our life has pulled us far from the sea and the way of life we crave I am glad we chose to do it, and I am forever grateful to those who helped us get here.
What we’ve been up to lately
Snowed in up Snowden
Ruth:
“So we’ve been meaning to get chains for our truck and haven’t yet. Night before last I said, “tomorrow I’ll go into town. Get laundry done, go grocery shopping, and find chains.” I was one day too late. Never did I think I was going to wake up to snow that next morning…
Garrett still managed, despite numb fingers, to work on shaping up the chine. The chine is fully pieced in and just requires some fine tuning, with an axe.
  
The days are getting even shorter and we aren’t even into the real bit of winter yet. Garrett usually has to call it quits at 4:30pm which is a little frustrating. Our days are filled with discussions about planking. We are juggling 4 different ways to plank. We narrow it down to two then Garrett will think up a fifth possibility. Back down to two then by God we’ve figured it out…. but…. wait… what about??? so goes it.
I want to take the time here not to be cheesy as Garrett would say but to be Thankful. I suppose in the “holiday spirit.” And seeing as Garrett is not next to me to give me shit for it here I go. I am thankful so much for my husband, my mentor, my friend. Garrett works so hard everyday. Even on the days he feels he didn’t accomplish anything. I know how much of the project weighs on his mind at all hours. I understand how much of this burdens him and how heavy it can all become. He gets up early and stays up late reading and researching no matter the weather. I am thankful for the future we can see. Not too far off in the distance, each day bringing us closer. I am thankful for the beach we will be sitting on and the beer that will be in our hands. For the oceans we will live on and the vessel that will carry us over them. A saying rings in my ear, “This too, shall pass.” I am thankful for today!
Chine
We have started installing the chine! So far we have the first two pieces. Unfortunately we don’t have pictures of everything, but we do have a few from the start of the chine process.
We have spent a lot of time recently either finding internet somewhere to look for lumber, or driving hours to look at said lumber… It’s definitely been difficult finding good quality wood at a decent price, but we’ve had some luck. The doug fir we mentioned on the last post is awesome and should cover the topsides no problem. We keep a sharp eye on craigslist for deals, and we made out pretty good a few days ago. We were fortunate enough to find over 700ft of clear port orford cedar for a sweet deal, so we wasted no time and snatched it up while we still could. This will become our bottom planking.
I have finally gotten back to physically working on the boat though which is a good thing…I think I’m going to try to knock out the chine, and just go strait to planking the topsides. I have realized I work much more efficiently when I can break up the monotony of projects. I have been working on framing and whatnot for what seems like forever, so hanging some planks will be a welcome change. Once that is finished I probably wont mind going back to the stringers, cheeks, and rabbet. It works for me…. But then again i’m kinda scatter brained…
 Skill saw makes quick work of the top cuts.
 Then the pull saw takes 5 minutes to do what the skill saw did in 5 seconds….
 All the notches cut.
 This one kinda sucked…
The Hunt for Clear Vertical Grain Douglas Fir Ended
Ruth:
Countless days were logged away as Garrett searched for CVG Fir. Found through Craigslist was a plentiful supply milled from 6ft diameter trees. This stuff is truly beautiful and exactly what we were looking for to complete our planking. A few loose ends with the frames are quickly wrapping up. Happy to soon be planking. I can’t wait to see her in her skin!
 
        
Checking the bevels on the frames and then drilling for the bolts to hold it all together.
 
 
I attempted to fit the whole boat into one picture…. Not the best but still kind of neat. And Garrett caught a great picture from the stern looking forward!
The hunt is never over for lumber and other materials so wish us luck!
Thank you everyone for the support!
Salt&Tar Episode 3!
Well here it is episode 3! Feel the majestic poetry as it tickles all of your fancy’s.
Moving on!
We have finished the framing up to the bow, Â and I must say she is looking rather sexy like!
    
I definitely could have trimmed the forward frames down, but I find comfort in seeing those massive chunks of wood right up in the bow
 I wish I were a competent enough photographer to show the curves of the hull… She looks much less boxy in person!
 And here’s a couple more just because…
Home stretch!
Only three more frames to go in the bow! We can really start to see our salty lady’s shape with her sheer approaching the top of the shed, and all of her bodacious curves!
 Ruth posing at station 8 with the latest frame. Really gives an idea of how much room we will have up in the bow!
 You can see the climbing sheer that her deck will have.
 Wrapping a long batten around the hull to check the bevels, and position on the frames. So far everything is looking pretty good. Only 3 frames need minor adjustments.
 Back to the table to start on the next frame!
Salt&Tar Episode 2!
Well sit right back and enjoy this here ding dong of a keel flipin ballast pourin ho down!
Salt & Tar 