The light of day

We have moved the show out of doors again.  A couple of weeks ago, I disassembled the garage extension for the final time, refastened the 6 wheels to the carriage/strongback assembly, hooked up my trusty old Toyota truck, and pulled the boat out of the garage and into the driveway.  My long suffering wife spotted for me, and documented the adventure, and between us we were able to perform the extraction with no damage to either garage or boat.  Now, I have the headroom to fasten the second layer of cabin roof, attach the companionway slide rails, and set up a gantry and chain hoist to install the centerboard and engine.

Here she comes.

At  the other end of the tow rope. . . .

The other benefit of moving out of the garage is that I can get perspective on the hull once again, and fair any strake edges that offend my aesthetic sensibilities.  Fortunately, there are not that many (offending strake edges or aesthetic sensibilities.)  I fixed the worst offenders the last time the hull was outside, for flipping, last year.

Removing the tow rope.

I have not yet leveled and plumbed her in her new location, but will do so before I begin the engine installation.  Actually, aside from the engine and shaft, there are not many more tasks that require a level and plumb state.  I did, however, elevate her off the wheels and onto blocks for improved stability.  The slight shifting when I climbed aboard and the wheels moved was a bit disconcerting -- something like being in the water.     

My new automotive floor jack made quick work of raising the cradle and inserting blocking.

The garage, although not cleaned yet, is still looking remarkably large, sans boat.  I have already begun to refill it, constructing the gantry I will use to hoist the engine and centerboard.

The garage at its emptiest.

No sooner had we completed the move, than the skies opened up on the rainiest June (and now July) in the history of our area.  The relaltive humidity has been upwards of 65 percent at the warmest point of the afternoon, resulting in a daily barrage of thunderstorms.  Once 5 inches of water had accumulated in the bilge, I decided that the next most important task was the installation of a garboard drain.  That being done, I am able to keep the water out, but finding enough dry time to prep and glue the cabin top has been an exercise in frustration.

Finally, this morning we awoke to a forcast of no rain for the entire day. While working conditions are far from pleasant, with the temperature hovering in the high 80s and the humidity near 70 percent, at least I could spread glue and have a reasonable chance of it setting before the next deluge.

The first of two 1/4 inch plywood panels went on pretty easily.  I rolled on a good coat of glue, and with a full set of clamps and a few screws at strategic places, I now have full thickness at the aft half of the cabin.  I was lucky (perhaps prescient) to have left the edge of the first cabin roof layer untrimmed.  This gave me something to set my clamps onto.

Layer 2 of the cabin roof.  I will cut out the companionway hatch later.

With tolerable working weather for a change, things should move fairly quickly now.  Next, once I have freed up my clamps, I will do the forward half of the cabin roof, followed by a layer of dynel.  Then the companionway hatch rails, some paint, and the cabin top is done!  

On the other hand, if July continues like June . . . .