sketch break....and announcement!

going to Key West for a coupla weeks, no working on the boats for a little while.

With the other boat out of commission for awhile, been focusing on the 1953 Correct Craft project boat.  This leg of the project entails cutting off the "bastard wild edges" of the planking that overhangs the cockpit which entails cutting around a curve and working around the steering wheel (it gets in the way of power tools). 

The steam bending apperatus (pictured) has been fired up to bend the mahogany trim that needs to follow the tight curves.  Without steam: forget about it buddy!

Ta-Da!

I finished the decking, just put on the final "plank".   This thing may in fact be finished some day!  A lot of the time in the last year plus that I've been working on it I knew that the completion date would be a long timeline.....or never finished at all.....Yet, with this leg of the journey complete,  it might just in fact be completed, the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to glow, dimly for sure, but I will follow that light and hopefully be on the water listening to the hum of the engine as I carve through the glassy water in search of that magical moment when all is well with the world and my place in it.

Out of the muck the lotus begins growing.

You are looking at two pictures:

The top image is the business card of the guy that is going to put back together the engine pictured in the other picture.  That engine is a powerful 1955 322 cubic inch Buick "nailhead engine."  I'm almost happy the 350 chevy engine took a crap....In my opinion it was "a turd" of a setup.....i don't want to get into now, let's have a pint together and I will bad mouth that engine to no end....right now I'm excited about the nailhead going back where it belongs, it's going back home, i think i'm going to cry!



to learn more about nailhead engines: http://www.carcraft.com/thehistoryof/65502_buick_nailhead/index.html

Engine is broken!

Not too much time to explain now but water is in the engine oil, somehow, the dip stick mark raised up enough to indicate a gain of 1 quart of water!  ....bummer!.....more on this later.

Been Campin'

...but not boatin'.  Where we were, although incredibly beautiful, is no place to take a boat.  You would simply not be able to launch it for one thing.  No, sometimes you have to take a break from boating and become one with a place called "Hell's half acre." ...which aught to be renamed "Heaven's Half Acre!"  It's located on the Stanislaus River near Sonora CA.

Repetition

Back to laying down the planks. After you've done a bunch of them (such as I) it can get tedious but exciting (to me) probably not for you though.  I'm only mildly excited though, not really excited.  Anyway here's the progress picture.  See if you can spot the changes since the last progress picture!  Give yourself strokes for that!  I sure am giving myself strokes so you should have that oppurtunity as well!