Chesapeake 17 Day 4 and 5

Hot, hot, hot !  Today was applying the fillets  (fill its), cutting the fiberglass strips that will go on the fillets and then applying the epoxy. From previous experience I learned to make small batches of the epoxy. Since its made of a resin and a hardener once added together they create an exothermic reaction (it gets hot) and hardens. The temps in the garage yesterday and today are in the mid 90s so the epoxy is cooking off even faster. Anyway the wire stitching is cut off and the hull and inside are almost ready for a full coat of epoxy. The forms are cut for the cedar striping and that'll be the next big jump.

The fillets are in and the fiberglass strips are ready to be epoxied onto the fillets.

Once the fiberglass strips are wetted on with the epoxy they almost disappear.

The shearclamps will be planed or shaped to the same degree/radius as the deck.

Epoxy fillets will be applied in the seams between the masking tape.

Once dry (tomorrow) the tape comes off, then some light sanding.

So far this boat is coming along better than all the others ... :)

Chesapeake 17 Day 3

Long day, today the bow and stern come together and will get stitched to the bottom. The Kayak is upside down to do this with some scrap sticks to keep the bottom from falling inside the side of the hull. Once the stitching is done the kayak is raised on each end, 2 pieces of scrap wood are placed across the sides parallel to each other, then I sight down the boat to see if the boat is wracked, it's straight and true! :) :)

This afternoon I started with the fillets, a mixture of epoxy and wood flour a very fine saw dust. This gets put into the seams with a strip of fiberglass and more epoxy.
Now its time for a cold beer!

Sides are joined at the bow and stern.



The bottom is placed on the spreaders and will get stitched to the sides of the hull.

The wire stitching is pretty loose at this point.

Once the tightening process starts it will straighten some and start to look like a boat.

A 1/16" drill bit for the copper wire... lots a holes in this boat.

Its stitched, its 90 degrees and the humidity is higher!

Keel line pretty straight at this point... that's good ! :)

Bulk heads are in place and ready to be epoxied with fillet.

Fillets are a mess that literally don't clean up. It sticks to everything!!!

Done for tonight! I'll finish up tomorrow... hopefully.

Chesapeake 17 Hybrid Day 2

Today involved cutting the shearclamps to length and gluing them with epoxy to the insides of the hull. The shearclamps will eventually be planed to the same angle as the deck and will be what the deck eventually gets glued to.  Both halves of the bottom will get stitched together with copper wire.  Everything sits overnight until cured then some of the big parts start to come together.

One side of hull ready to have the shearclamp glued with epoxy to it.

Both halves of the bottom are ready to be stitched with copper wire.



Bottom halves are stitched together.  The CNC puzzle cuts are easily seen here, they make this installation much faster and more accurate.

The keel line is quite straight as is, this'll help alot later.

One shearclamp is on, the other is right behind.

Both shearclamps are glued on!

Back looking towards bow.

A Good Week

We finally got rain after 27 days of temps in the 90s during the day, some strong winds did some damage but we were spared.
Ashley and Josh are expecting a baby! due date is around January 12th.
Rebecca is settled into her job and is doing well, she's scheduled for 2 weeks of active duty at McDill AFB just south of Tampa later in June.
Carolyn's a platinum blond... so far, her hair is beginning to grow back, (wonder if its because her chemo was platinum based?)
We're painting the kitchen cabinets, they are looking nice. The next project is finding baby crib plans for Ashley and Josh!  :-)

Some old pictures, with a theme.....

Ashley...ready to be a momma!

Busy Week

Last Sunday I flew out to San Antonio, Rebecca was discharged from active duty and is now assigned to a reserve unit at Dobbins ARB in Marietta, GA.  Flying out was a new experience for me. It was the first time in 30 years that I had to go through what everyone does. Security was interesting, taking off shoes, belt, having my toothpaste "confiscated" I can see what a pain in the butt it really is now. But for a long trip, you can't beat it. On Monday the movers came to pack Rebecca out, at the end of the day she turned in her apartment keys and we checked into the Drury Inn near the San Antonio airport. Early Tuesday morning we're on the rode in her packed to the gills Toyota Corolla. We hit Houston for rush hour but moved right through. Tuesday night we're home. On Wednesday Carolyn had her blood test, her levels were good enough for her 4th chemo on Friday. Yesterday we spent the day at a Craft show in Kennesaw, GA with Ashley and Becca. Kennesaw, every male head of household within the city limits must own a hand gun! it's the law,  has lowest crime rate in the state. Not much else happening, we were skipped with the recent storms, just a little beneficial rain. Cool morning this morning with the temps in the 40s but bright sunshine.

Some pics of the "Traveler" I'm selling it for the "right" price,  planning on a building a different model.

Maybe this was a normal week?

Carolyn didn't have to go to Emory this week and is not scheduled for 2 more weeks, it was kind of nice not having to drive into Atlanta during the middle of the week even though we missed going to our favorite Chinese restaurant.
The weather is turning warm fast, we were into the 80s already and we're behind on rain for the year already.
Waiting to here if I'm in the Paddle Georgia (lite) this year, I'm starting out with the 2 day event to see how it goes before I try the full event next year.
Carolyn is past her "bad week" and will recover during the next two. We're watching closely during this round since she's shown signs of neuropathy. (sp?) Otherwise she's progressing well, her hair is slowly growing back, don't know what's up with that though this time it looks platinum white, wonder if that's because one of her chemo drugs is platinum?
The Adirondack chairs are coming along nicely, in no hurry to get them finished, I figure I hopefully have about 30 years to get'em done.   Some more old pictures....

Security Police Tech School, Camp Medina, TX  1978?

Forgot I was a "Rope", Me and Carolyn, Tech School

Morbach, Ammo Dump, guarding the bombs!

BABs... Big Ass Bombs!  

MBAFB, 1985 CI surveillance

I'mmmmm Baaacck!!!

Well when the laptop died it took me a week or so to recover all the files I faithfully backed up to another hard-drive, well, the recovery part is not that simple but I managed to find all our music and pictures. Then Blogger, for whatever reason wouldn't let me log in for a week? It works now? gotta love this stuff :)

Carolyn had last week off from Chemo, her platelets were still too low, this week they rebounded and she had her third treatment yesterday. Typical spring weather with warm days fighting the cold snaps, this weekend is supposed to be nice.
Rebecca's out-processing is going well, I'll fly out early next month to help while the packers/movers are there, then we'll drive back. I believe she has her first drill with her reserve unit in May.
Retirement is good, no complaints so far. Time to play with wood...

Here's some old pictures... Hurricane Elena, Labor day weekend 1982?

Middle of the storm, looking to the backyard.

Looking to the front yard.

A little cleanup needed for the backyard!

Our neighbors yard.

More backyard cleanup, anybody have a rake?

Ashley's swingset

Across the street.

Tree in their bedroom.

Now the runoff backing up.

Ashley the day before!