Pressure testing....

Hooked up the garden hose to the unit and the end cap popped off. So what to do now? Was thinking about soldering it then got a great idea to Gorilla glue it. If it's all it's cracked up to be then, hey!, we're fartin' through silk!....so I did but it didn't seal all the way (i guess) because it sprayed out of multiple little, tiny but noticeable pin holes.....doesn't cut it. I emailed Gorilla Co. on how to unglue, waiting for the response. ohhh, the pain in the butt of the whole thing.

It's a radiator!

Some different ways of looking at this part, I think it is actually a radiator.....Oil from the transmission circulates through the device as the flowing lake water cools the oil as it's passing through to cool off the engine.

More shit happens

I was wondering why the bilge was filling up with so much bilge water......I thought it was the Riser gasket, the bolts being loose,...which they were, but when I hooked up the garden hose to the "system" I found out the "transmission oil cooler" was "spraying at the seams." Now I gotta take it to my welder and have him seal it......another PITB.

Shit happens

After blasting through 100 miles of slough, patches of the bottom (of the boat) delaminated.....gonna have to fix it, ...actually already did, applied 4 coats of varnish and then 2 coats of that polyurethane glue I've been using. We'll see if it works....knock on wood.

More Pictures

There's nothing like Classic Boating as compared to regular boating. Just nothing like it in the world we live in.....choose life over existence if you can. (I have the black Shabby-Craft pictured , by the way)

Cento Miglia

Had a fletchin' blast cruising 100 miles through the sloughs of the Delta that feeds the San Francisco bay August 23rd. Pictured is a Chris-Craft 1942 Barrel back.....what a classic!

Here's another clue for you all....

...and it's not: "the walrus was Paul." And yet it's a clue, a big clue. If you don't know what's going on now, you better give it up fella, cause, well just 'cause.

What's going on here?

I'm not gonna tell you what's going on here .......yet! See if you can figger it out by yourself. Hint: Stanley.

Moving on....

...to back to planking. Just cut up an old redwood shelf out of Jeff L.'s garage into "plankin' stock"....leavin' the varnishing where it is for now and taking up where I left off on the planking.

I was getting burned out on the varnishing to tell the truth, this will change the pace and bring new enthusiasm into the project.

A word about glue

The thing about this construction adhesive I use instead of epoxy resin and fiberglass is that it will bubble up.....that's a drawback. I remedy that by pressing down on the bubbles after about an hour has passed and the glue is still soft, when it dries, no bubbles anymore!

I've been staying away from epoxy resin because I feel like it's too hard and doesn't match up with the not as hard wood resulting in delamination and such. The construction adhesive seems to match up better because it has a little bit of give to it.

Varnish, varnish, varnish......

How many coats of varnish is needed? Day in, day out it's the same thing.....another coat of varnish. It must have about nine coats so far. I heard that's the proper amount of coats, so why do I feel like I need more? Guess I'm wanting the smoothest glossiest finish ever, even though the philosophy of this boat is to do the minimal as it needs to be only "good enough."

The jigsaw's up mutha fletch!

Listening to Miles on transparent red vinyl as I whip out the old saber saw and cut the various holes in the stern deck.

Illustration break

Here's a pain in the butt boat drawing I'm doing....I believe it's an Italian built boat by Riva.

A word about varnish

People ask me what kind of varnish I use,.....to tell the truth, nobody asks me what kind of varnish I use. Nobody asks me anything except when am I going to pay them. They will say "you're ugly, gimme $5.00"...stuff like that. Well, if they did ask me about varnish I would say Epifanes Woodfinish varnish. If you get the woodfinish type you don't need to sand in between coats and believe me sanding in between coats can be one major PAIN IN THE BUTT!

The old gas tank and the old gas

When I was sketching this I almost gagged from the old gas smell eminating from these items, next time maybe I should just take a picture, it's a whole lot easier and less toxic!

Still don't know how to dispose of the gas....nobody has responded to my plea.....I could dig a sump over next to the neighbours fence and pour it there I suppose.

Nausea!

I actually crawled underneath and applied varnish....sweating like a pig! I have been enjoying varnishing lately but not this. I actually felt like throwing up. I didn't but it sure racked me up, I had to take a nap after that strenous episode. If it was all like this I wouldn't do it. You do it and tell me if you like it.

A Plea for help!

After draining the old gas, 16 years old by my estimation, I now have 2 plus gallons of "old and in the way" gas that stinks to high heaven and believe me, you wouldn't want to huff this shit. It's not anywhere like new gas and it has a dark negative brown color and seems thicker in viscosity......vile stuff!

Does anybody out there know how to dispose of this toxic, hazardous volatile organic compound?......somebody's gotta help me!!!please!!!

Also, does anyone know if the tank needs to be flushed out and how to do that?

Get a load of this deck

You can see why this deck has to be replaced with fresh wood. This mahogany has shot it's wad. It had its day in the sun but as all things die, alas, this must die as well. We will kill it with reverence and respect for all it has given someone in the past as we look toward the future.

This is so good, ..just have to post it

This post is from "Heard at Starbucks" at: http://journals.aol.com/martygord/HeardatStarbucks/

Friday, August 1, 2008
LOOK, UP IN THE SKY, IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS ... AT 7TH AND MONTANA!

In a world of injustice -- where Smoking Stinkpots, Jittery Nutcases and Babbling Bulgarians reign supreme -- it takes a special kind of Superhero to keep things balanced. Meet Captain Underpants, the Hero of 7th and Montana, who fights crime while wearing Bright Blue Underpants on his Head. He arrived on the scene this morning astride his Trusty Banana Seat Bicycle and treated the crowd to Dazzling Display of Strength. First, he single-handedly fished a Used Cup of Coffee out of the Garbage Can. Then, he dashed into Starbucks where he did a series of Impressive Yoga Squats on the Floor. Finally, faster than a speeding bullet, he ran outside where he stood on his head near oncoming traffic for a full five minutes. He was last seen devouring several Bran Muffins at Super Speed. "I'm leaving," I said to the folks at the next table, "This guy's wearing his underpants on his head and I, for one, don't want to be around when the Bran Muffins take effect ...!"

Why I do this

I don't know why I have these two boats. It doesn't make sense. Don't know why I write this blogg. Don't know why I do everything in my life. Must be because everybody has to do something with their time. Even if you sit around all day you are doing something. I guess that's why I keep singing yea-ah-yea-yeah.

Artists rendering

While waiting for the glue to dry, thought I'd sketch while waiting. Next time I may do an oil painting, possibly on black velvet.

Glued!

You can see in the picture where there's a board holding up the de-laminated fiberglass that has been glued with the glue also in the picture. Wait 24 hours and hopefully that will be like one solid piece there.

Lifted!

Here there boat people....hello?....guess there's nobody reading this and that's OK. ....anyway, hooked up a chain hoist and hoisted that rear end right up! Wasn't even that hard. Now I can work on the underneath where the fiberglass has de-laminated.

Gonna lift that Boat!

Whenever there's a top, there's gotta be a bottom. Practical Zen thinking. In order to work on the boats underneath, it's gotta be lifted. That's the challenge facing me.

FOUND WOOD!

John K. almost ran over this piece-o-wood in his boat at Lake Berryessa (Napa County, CA). It was floating out there! I thank him for thinking of me and donating it to the deck planking of the 1953 correct craft....in other words he gave it to me knowing what I was going to use it for, which is what it's going to be used for. This is the best wood (found-donated) to use. Look at the piece-o-wood in the picture...it's the one on the left, we think its mahogany.