Jersey Girl

Houseboat update, Thursday, September 27, 2018 -- Water is sneaky stuff. I think I have conscientiously tucked Jersey Girl in for the night, well covered with sheets of plywood and a tarp laced on top with criss-crossed rope, but no.That nice head floor that I glued and screwed down a few days ago, creating an inaccessible void beneath it? Somehow water from a torrential downpour two days ago all found a way to stream into that void. You can't beat water. All you can do is try to figure out how to deal with it. I decided to cut three-inch access holes in strategic places, to be capped with plastic air vent covers. Then, if (read that "when") I need to, I can suck out the water with a shop vac hose. When I am afloat, a bilge pump will do. Jersey Girl has a way of keeping me humble.

Houseboat update, Monday, October 1, 2018 -- I'm starting to frame the support timbers for Jersey Girl's recessed fore deck. Like the aft deck, the "front porch" will provide space for comfortable seating for two, and a place to watch the world go by. It'll be a little tricky, because this area lacks the obvious opportunity to build in drainage. But I have a few ideas to explore, and I'm sure I'll figure it out. It'll probably involve a "thru-hull" or two. The framing that I am working on now will probably be the last thing I can do before I tuck Jersey Girl in for a long winter's sleep. I'm going to miss her, but I will keep busy in the heated garage, prefabricating things like cabin walls and laminated arched roof beams.

Houseboat update, Part 2, Monday, October 1, 2018 -- I'm getting ready to cut some red cedar 2 x 2s to use in framing Jersey Girl's fore deck. Cedar is wonderful wood for boats. It's lightweight and very rot resistant. I'm no "woodologist" but I suspect the same properties that make it unattractive to the critters that play a starring role in the cycle of rot also make its dust play havoc on the lungs of boat builders. Thus, the full-face respirator. I'm just making note of this in case anyone cares to engage in my obsession. Gotta protect the ol' blowholes if you want to live long enough to pilot the boat you're building! Also, if you think 10 is perfect for the number of fingers you have, use tools like these to guide and push the wood through the saw. Just saying. ... Also, if you're ripping a heavy, ungainly piece like an 8-foot 2 x 8, use a roller stand or something like it to support the outfeed.

Houseboat update, Sunday, October 7, 2019 – I love fillets. I hate fillets. It occurs to me it may be time for a small discourse on the difference between filleting and filleting. I don’t mind filleting, although I am not especially skilled at it. Filleting, on the other hand is an almost intolerable chore to me, although I have gotten to be passably good at making effective if not altogether decent-looking fillets. “He must be sniffing solvents again,” I hear you say. That may or may not be true, but not particularly useful to the discussion. If I want to toss a slab of salmon on the grill, I’ll get out the knife and fil-LAY it first. But if I want to reinforce a 90-degree joint between two pieces of wood that have been screwed and glued together in perpendicular orientation, I’ll mix up a batch of epoxy thickened with wood dust and run a bead of the stuff along the corner and shape it into a coved FILL-et, using the end of a wooden tongue depressor. Jersey Girl is loaded with such joints, and if I want to be reasonably confident that she’ll stay in one piece under the flexing forces of currents and swells in the water, I must be diligent in making sure every one of them is well filleted. This is time-consuming, frustrating, mind-numbing, boring, arduous work, often requiring me to bend into shapes no 76-year-old body was ever intended to do. Did I say I do not like filleting? I like it even less than sanding, and that’s not at all.

Houseboat update, Monday, October 8, 2019 – Jersey Girl gets her fore deck fitted today. After measuring carefully and cutting out notches to accommodate the framing, I am glad to report that we have a perfect fit. If it were not such a drizzly day, I’d fiberglass this piece and start working on the drainage system. But the threatening weather gives me the opportunity to restore order in my incredibly messy garage. If I can tidy up a bit, there’s a good chance I can make space to fiberglass the deck inside, then get to work on installation and drainage tomorrow. In the meantime, it felt good to be able to walk on the deck and feel how solid it is. I can just see myself, sitting out in the breeze with a nice drink and a book, or setting up my easel and doing some plein air (or plein eau?) painting, or maybe even re-learning how to play the guitar….