Jersey Girl

Houseboat update, Monday, April 15, 2019 -- After a night of torrential rain, accompanied by lightning and long rolls of house-shaking thunder (sounded like a freight train roaring through the living room one floor below), I awoke to beautiful blue skies. A scattering of high clouds served only to accentuate what great day it would be to work on Jersey Girl. In preparation for clamping, screwing and gluing her aft deck roof posts into place, the first thing I did was put some plastic package-sealing tape on the surface of the temporary squaring jig I had built. If a bit of squeezed-out epoxy were to get between a post and the plywood of the jig without the tape, the jig might wild up being not so temporary. But epoxy won't stick to the slick surface of the tape. Next, I started cutting a series of 3-inch holes around the previously marked places where the posts will go. I will use those holes to clamp the posts into position until they are secured in place. Then, within the space of five minutes, a dark curtain dropped through the blue sky and light, fluffy white clouds, and whaddya know, heavy rain. Again. I got soaked as I scrambled to pull Jersey Girl's raincoat on. Honestly, it seems our spring weather here in northern New Jersey, while always rainy, is getting to be more and more vulnerable to tropical-style rains. Maybe it'll clear up in the afternoon and I can take another crack at it

Houseboat update, Tuesday, April 16, 2019 -- Jersey Girl's aft deck roof supports are glued and screwed into place now. As you can see, there are some gaps the could interfere with the kind of rock-solid bond I'd prefer to have. Luckily, it's possible to buy pre-thickened epoxy in a dual cartridge that mixes the resin and hardener in a special mixing nozzle as it squirts out. It doesn't run, it stays put on vertical surfaces and it fills the gap perfectly. It's much more expensive than epoxy that you have to mix to the proper consistency, and it requires a special dual cartridge caulking gun to apply (also expensive). But it's perfect for the job and well worth it.

Houseboat update, Wednesday, April 17, 2019 -- Free at last, the jig is gone, and Jersey Girl's aft deck roof posts are straight and strong! I have four more to make and install, the aft cabin posts, and then I will be able to start roofing the aft deck.

Houseboat update, Thursday, April 18, 2019 -- I beat the anticipated rain today, completing the major part of the shaping of two of the four additional support posts I will need to start work on Jersey Girl's aft deck roof and aft cabin wall. They are made of 4 x 4 cedar, which I ripped on a table saw to actual 3 x 3. Then I notched the posts to fit around the hull framing, employing my usual method of using a circular saw to make a series of cross cuts and a hammer and chisel to neatly knock out the waste. Because I need to make room to stay clear of epoxy fillets in the framing, I decided to bevel the posts in places where the fillets would interfere with a snug fit. As you can see, it worked perfectly.

Houseboat update, Sunday, April 21 -- A most happy Easter/Passover to all who celebrate resurrection and/or freedom from bondage. At our Seder, among the forms of intolerable oppression noted in the haggadah we were reading was the forced separation of families, a point I feel is especially worth noting in the present day. To the point of the topic at hand, Jersey Girl is about to get four more roof support posts. Sometime this week, weather permitting, the roof beams will be installed over the aft deck, then work can begin on the roof itself.