Jersey Girl

Houseboat update, Thursday, May 30, 2019 – I started my day with Jersey Girl by bailing out a couple of inches of water that had found its way past the two tarps covering her into several of her compartments, and I finished in a drenching downpour, scrambling to put away my tools and covering her up again. In between, I managed to fit four new framing posts – the ones that will define the areas set aside for the galley and the enclosed head. As soon as weather allows, I’ll complete the shaping of these posts and seal them with two coats of epoxy before installing them. Sadly, my humble Jersey Girl is just a shade over 13 cubits long and 5 cubits wide. In light of the almost-biblical weather we're having in North Jersey, I'm considering the possibility of expanding to biblical size -- Noah's craft was purportedly 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. By the way, did you see in the news over the last few days that the developers of the Kentucky replica of Noah's ark are suing their insurance company over its refusal to honor their claim for -- get this -- rain damage? It’s funny, I don’t recall anything in the bible about rain damage to Noah’s ark, notwithstanding a storm lasting 40 days and 40 nights. Gotta strike while the irony is hot, right? (Here's a picture of the four new posts. They're the light-colored ones that haven't been coated with epoxy yet.)

Houseboat update, Part 2, Tuesday, June 4, 2019 -- Yesterday, I permanently fastened the forward posts that will delineate the spaces to be occupied by Jersey Girl's head on the starboard side and the galley on the port. Today, I will concentrate on the arched roof supports over the posts I installed yesterday, as well as timbers that will form the framework for windows.

Houseboat update, Part 3, Tuesday, June 4, 2019 -- I have another set of three arched roof supports permanently fastened into place, and I have begun to make the first of six window framing spacers. It's the unfinished lighter-colored post in the foreground. Four of them will be the same 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch timber you see here, and two will be slightly wider. Together, they will allow me to mount four 24-inch-wide windows on each side of Jersey Girl. In addition, there will be three forward-facing windows, one of them in the forward cabin door. There will be a similar window in the aft cabin door, one aft-facing "eyebrow" window in the galley and one in the head, and two small inward-opening "hopper" windows in the sides of the galley and the head. Possibly two ventilating skylights as well. As you can guess, I want a wide-open feeling inside this little boat, since one of its uses will be as a floating art studio.

Houseboat update, Tuesday, June 4, 2019 -- As I uncovered Jersey Girl for what I hope will be great progress today, I could not help but take a few minutes to appreciate the mountain laurel that has come into bloom, just as its cousin the rhododendron fade for the year. The closer one gets, the more beautiful the individual florets become. On to work. Construction notes to follow.

Houseboat update, Wednesday, June 5, 2019 -- Fitting Jersey Girl's first window frame. Now is thee time to make small adjustments, to make certain that all will appear shipshape as Jersey Girl takes final form. I know the 24-inch windows will require 24 1/4 inches clearance between each two framing timbers, and the timbers have to be perfectly vertical to avoid problems later on. This sequence shows the steps I'm taking to fit the first one. Initially, I can see just by eyeballing, that the piece is not truly vertical. So I cut a notch in the sheer frame of the hull seat the bottom of the window frame a little to the outboard side. When I can see that it's vertical, I check the top and see that it's a little too long, so I take it to the miter saw and cut the top at the correct angle to the right length. Now, it fits perfectly. I'll take this frame down, and use it tomorrow as a template to mark and cut five more, so I can fit them without all the adjustments I'm making for the first one.