Greetings from Lake Havasu, Arizona

That's the London Bridge pictured on the right. The weather was really nice for a winters day....Sunny and minimal wind, a bit nippy though, had a good time.

Going away for awhile

Going away for the holidays, happy holidays by the way. When I get back I'll see how I feel, but I'm toying with the idea of deleting this blog and getting on with my life in other ways.

Putting it to the torch

Heated that sucker up, along with WD-40, the theory (my theory) is when it's hot, the metal expands opening up the threads a tiny bit. At this time spray the WD-40 and it will penetrate. Then also when it's hot clamp a wrench on it. In this case, the nuts loosened fairly easily....it could be called a lead pipe cinch.

Time to move on

...to the next thing on the list, which is to free the nuts pictured here, this is the lifting ring assembly. I don't need to free them, the assembly could be re-installed and -no problem-but it's not the cowboy way, nor my way.

Finished the keel!

You've heard of the Coat of many colors? We.., here we have the keel of many layers.all glued and screwed together.

Lay Lady Lay...down upon my big wood keel.

The road to restoration is a many layered road, here's the latest from the keel front.

another day, another layer

Planed down the "plank" to 1/8" so it will bend easier, steam bending this would be idiotic...used Sumo glue on this layer.

Grinding off some pesky old screws

At left is the Dremel tool with a grinding wheel on it. By far this is the attachment that I use almost exclusively when using the D tool. In this case I ground off some screws getting in the way of my keel resto of which an in progress update is pictured. I'm using a lot of the filler in the epoxy mix to make it thick and pasty and find myself mixing in even more filler with each new batch....there's gotta be a limit to how much filler can be absorbed by the epoxy but I haven't reached that limit as far as I know.

a fools progress

added two small hunks-o-wood lathered with epoxy continuing the rebuilding of the keel. The strips of wood pictured are to be cut and laminated into the keel. they are planed down to 3/16" thick so it can bend fairly reasonably.

Let me show you how much I don't know what I'm doing

Using a new product to me, West systems epoxy that Jamestown distributers had a sale on, I decided to do another mini glue lam....haven't thought it out though, and am "shooting from the hip" so to speak...stay tuned for more screw ups!

Back in action

...cleaning out the rotted portion of the bow part of the keel. It definately still has the CPES smell that just about knocks you out and after pouring in about a quart and watching it soak in there doesn't appear to have any benefit. If there is, it's minimal.
..anyway using a Dremel tool and a chisel I reamed that rot out. The Dremel tool works pretty good because it rips through the rot but not the good wood because it's harder.

Now I've got to think!....how will I approach this repair? Fill it with epoxy? do another mini glue lam? Use metal as a reinforcement (rebar if you will)....what?

Busy doing other things, if you're wondering

..mainly legal stuff (I'm not in trouble) but it must be dealt with. The sad part about it is it's taking away valuable boat time.....and also time away from Stanley, he's lucky he's got a good Mom.

Todays' pain in the butt project

I'll let you figger out what I'm doing.

even more rot

Will the rot ever end? Down deep in the bow the keel is rotted, whoever had this boat before me must have tore off some of it before because about half of it is gone. My plan is to use CPES, soak it in, then build it back up using ? and also, I'm wondering if I should perferate the rotted keel so the CPES will have a better chance of penetrating all the pores and wood cell cavities leading to, hopefully a strong keel.

More Rot!

Took off the rubrail making sure to mark it as starboard front so I will know where it goes when it's time to reassemble. Next, probe with an "icepick" to elpkore rotted sections. Next, dig out the rot. Next, take Smiths brand of CLEAR PENETRATING EPOXY SEALANT or "CPES" and brush it on to the affected areas and watch it soak in.

Todays task

Vacuuming out the debris from inside the boat. I find that I can be more focused and methodical if I clean the environment. Even though it's dull and, you know, boring I refrained from popping a beer to make it go better.....but it must be done.

Burning man vehicle

This vehicle, it is a vehicle when put on a Volkswagon frame is a big winner at Burning Man. Each of those horns has a different note and it's programmed to play the song "Tequila."

different views for different strokes

Time to clean up

Since the mini glue lam is finished, now, before continuing on to the next leg of this adventurous journey of boat restoration, it is time to clean up all the scattered tools etc. and also clean up the inside of the bow....Why now?....because the deck is off and there is light to see, and that makes it more pleasurable and, frankly, more fun....and it's all about fun for me, how 'bout you?

New Product!

It's a new way to dust mop! If I had a little hardwood floor rat, I would jump on this like a raven on a roadkill! Unfortunately, My 19 year old son wouldn't fit into this outfit. This is very adaptaple to polishing boat decks as well.

Mission accomplished....

...on the mini-glue lam that replaced the rotted out portion of the boat. I used primarily Gorilla/Sumo glue because of ease of use and little toxicity -if at all. I can see why epoxy resin is used a lot by the boat builders I've run across...it's got a really good grip and it's really hard and stiff and strong, when used on reinforcing joints, you end up with a boat that is minimal on flexing, if, on the other hand, you use something like 3M 5200 (a flexible, yet tenacious caulk), the boat will end up being, very possibly, too flexible.

Stanley get's skunked!

Here's a shot of Stanley in a less explosive time, by that I mean he got sprayed by a skunk this morning. The ever vigilant guard dog knew something was up and managed to shake him out but not before getting hit. The brave canine soul that he is, none the less I forced him to retreat as I took over the task of ridding our backyard of the pest. Making loud noises to no avail, I chucked a couple of rocks and chunks of wood at him but it didn't faze him.....had to bring out the big gun, a powerful air pellet pistol and filled him fulla lead, well sort of, I don't think it actually penetrated his thick fur even. I gave up after that and wife Carol called animal control, they came over but the skunk had dissapeared into a recess full of wood out of reach of Mike the animal control guy.....so, I have a strong feeling we'll have to deal with critter again, gives me the shudders thinking about it....i'm not too good with creatures like that, it's reassuring that Stanley is as brave and smart as he is.

Clamping down...

....on the mini glue lam as work continues one mini strip of wood at a time.

Rematch

In the battle of the titan glues, Gorilla glue won out over Sumo glue in the re-match. I wanted to do a rematch because I felt it may not have been fair to critisize the Gorilla glue for being hard to squeeze out of the bottle (hurting my hands) when the Gorilla glue in question was sitting in the cabinet for 2 years.

So in the rematch the testing team bought a brand new bottle and guess what? It flowed just as good as the Sumo glue and what made it the winner is it cured more rigid. Both glues foam but if you push on the Sumo glue (after it cures) it is spongey, while the Gorilla glue is firmer......and tougher and because of this, the winner.

Going organic

Instead of using plastic mini fibers to thicken the epoxy, thought, hey, why not use sawdust and mini wood chips instead! So I did, looks like someone "diarrhea'd" on it but seems, so far, like it's workin pretty good......knock on wood.

Continuing not knowing what the hell i'm doing...

the mini glue lam continues, pictured is a "stick-o-wood" being bedded into the rotted out cavity. Used the construction glue for this, although this has been a combo-products mix of various glues and epoxy resin....a tossed salad of glues if you will. ..........note how dark and gloomy it looks now, is this a harbinger for what's going to happen in the future?...er not?

Stanley, me and the boat

Making hay while the sun shines

well, not exactly, but did manage to suck out bilge water while Stanley supervized. And, completed the first (of three) layers of the "mini glue lam."

Overcoming inertia

Decided to make a mini "glue lam" to re-build up the rotted out section using 3/8"x3/8" douglas fur that was lying around.

We must stay strong in these trying times!

Here's the inspiration

This motorcycle has the look I'm trying to achieve with my boat, if you can overlay "boat" onto "motorcycle" and spin around three times while singing the Orlons song "don't hang up" while slinging spit at the same time you're sure to understand where I'm coming from. If you don't, frankly, you're better off!

Tackling the rot

Don't know how to approach rebuilding this rotted out section, a lot of head scratching, i've been procrastinating and diverting myself and telling myself there are more important things in my life.....but I can't be in denial any longer, I must stand tall and deal with it without whining and lose the poor little me victim role.

What's it all about?, let's ask Alan Watts!

(the OOOhhhh-MMMM sound is playing)

Listen; listen downward, down into that sound. What is it? A current of air? Vibrating vocal cords? your own eardrums? something running in your head? It’s all of these, but go still deeper, this sound is you vibrating. And who are you? Don’t give me your name address and occupation; you know that’s just a mask, a front, a big act. Who puts it on? Who puts it on?..your body? …..What an act that is, and who puts that on?, your father and mother?, did they put you on? Come off it, you know very well who you are but you won’t admit it. Deep in there in the middle middle of your heart you know it. You’ve always been around and always will be. And the you in you is the same as the you in me. You are not some sort of tourist just visiting in this world for a short time. You belong here. Like the apple on the tree is the energy of the tree, you, yes you are the energy of the world. You don’t know who you are do you. You can’t really get at yourself just as the fingertip can’t touch itself and the teeth can’t bite themselves. And that’s because you, the far in you, is what we call Brahman, the self of the universe. The which for which there is no whicher. The heart and foundation of all that’s going on. You think you’re going to die some day, yes, that’s because every now and then you have to go off so that you can know you are on. You can’t have an up without a down or a back without a front, or a light day without a dark night. The whole thing is pulse.

So what are you doing Brahman? You’re playing on and off with yourself, hide and seek with yourself. You’re just passing eternal time with adventure. You forget who you are really. Every now and then you make like you are a John Doe or a Mary Smith or a butterfly or a worm or a star. And that you’re lost in the middle of a big, big outside world that isn’t you that you don’t understand and that don’t control. Of course, there has to be something else, something other to bring out the feeling that you are you. And so you can feel really you, that outside world has to feel really strange…different. You old trickster, deep down in you know the whole bit. Therefore what you want is a surprise. So you have to let things get out of control, you have to feel lost and lonely to know you as you. You play the thing out by inventing lusts and loves, fears and terrors, gnawing anxieties and screaming memes all so you can imagine it’s not really me, its IT that runs the show. But our secret is, as we say, tatframasse, YOU are it. YOU are running the show. By not letting your right hand know what your left is doing. By making like there is a whopping great split between what you do and what happens to you. And this is what we call Maya; the great illusion, and Lela; the play, the big act. And you don’t just play your game with such simple elements as on and off, black and white or life and death. To seem as real as real can be, this world that you are playing has to be so complicated that you can’t figger it out. So, between black and white there is a whole range of colors. Between thunder and silence a whole scale of tones. And between something and nothing; between a smashing fist on the face and trying to touch air there are all the textures of feeling; burning, throbbing, pushing, hugging, fondling, tickling, kissing, brushing and light wind on the skin. Your world is all these elements, of light and sound, of taste, smell and touch, woven together in many dimensions in the fabulous loom of your brain. Your brain, the most complicated thing in the world, which you yourself grew without even thinking about it. You have always been around, for you; I; the self, is simply what there is and all there is. All of us are raised from one center, tits on one sow, sounds on one flute, for ever and ever. But it doesn’t get monotonous, boring because we keep forgetting it. We keep the ons on by putting offs between them.

How big is it? How long is on and how long off? Don’t take these figures literally for their purpose is to just to give an idea of vastness. We say that man, human life, is a dance that lasts for four million three hundred and twenty thousand years. And of course there are all sorts of other dances going on at the same time with their own rhythms; star dances, rock dances, fish dances, insect dances, plant dances and strange animal scenes like crocodile dances, elephant dances. The human dance runs for four million three hundred twenty thousand years. A span of time we call a Calpa. Before it begins and after it ends there is always another calpa, or off period of rest. During which the self is simply the self and doesn’t pretend to be this me or that you. We call this rest period the Prolia; peace, uninvolvement….pure bliss. When four million three hundred twenty thousand years draw to a close the Lela dance begins again, though it always feels like the first time; every day is today. And then through many centuries, through many pulses of waking and sleeping, life and death, you stretch your world out through a span of time that varies in mood like the rainbow, running from purple to red, from royal delight to destruction and fire, for as there is no purple without red there is no pleasure without pain. There are thus four great divisions of the Calpa; we call each one a “yuga” and name them after the four throws of the Hindu game of dice; kreta; the perfect throw of four, treata; the slightly imperfect throw of three, dropara; the throw of two and cali; the worst throw of one. And so the first period, the kreta-yuga runs for one million seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand years during which the whole world is as perfect as a fresh flower and as unblemished as that of a young girl. The second period, the treat-yuga is a little shorter, it runs for one million two hundred and ninety six thousand years during which a small element of evil and decay comes into life. And the tips of the petals are very slightly brown. The third period is the drapara-yuga, running for eight hundred and sixty-four thousand years, the sylyble “dra” in drapara means two. Double or dual. So that in this age the powers of good and evil are equally balanced. The fourth period is kali-yuga running for only four hundred and thirty two thousand years in which the power of evil and destruction takes over. At the end your eternal self takes the form of Shiva, the lord of renewal through death. Blue bodied and ten armed with a necklass of skulls, but with one hand in the gesture of “fear not” as a reminder that all this is in illusion and play. And then Shiva dances the tandara dance, the dance of fire in which the material world is destroyed and the self returns to the state of prolia…of peace, uninvolvement and pure bliss. All this goes on for ever, through calpa after calpa after calpa and not only in this visible world that we call the universe, for this universe we know is just a speck of dust in another universe, and all the specks of dust in this universe that we know contain minute universes without measure. Boundless inward in the atom, boundless outward in the whole. However vast, how ever incomprehensible, however terrifying this entire display may seem to be, all of it is at root your own innermost self. The self you cannot touch or see or pin down or control because it’s too close, too near, right in the middle of everything……because it’s you.

Let me take you down, cuz we're going to...

...take a stick of wood, (see pictures), run it through the band saw, plane it through the planer, do some "notching " detail work with a utility blade and then clamp those suckers down with Sumo Glue (3 times stronger than leading competitor!, ..you know that already tho) and when that glue dries will cut off the excess and get back into sand, sand, sand then varnish, varnish, varnish leading to being ever more closer to finishing this project even though it may never be finished!