Jersey Girl

Houseboat update, Tuesday, September 24, 2019 -- Jersey Girl is really stylin' now. Here's the aft starboard corner of her cabin. Just forward of the beadboard bulkhead separating the cabin from the aft deck is the space for what I will call euphemistically the "Ship's Library." Or, possibly, the "Throne Chamber." Or, maybe both. Tomorrow, I will begin work on the roof over the starboard side.

Houseboat update, Wednesday, October 2, 2019 -- Jersey Girl is two boards shy of a roof. The forecast called for a brief downpour at 6 p.m., and I thought I could beat it with the last two boards. But reality and forecast diverged at about 4:45, and I got caught with a line of freshly applied epoxy adhesive, in the groove of the third to last plank. What could I do? I decided to go ahead and glue and screw the board down in the middle of the soaker. I suspect it will be OK, but I'll have to wait and see. Just as I pulled my last tool in out of the rain and prepared to haul the tarps over the roof, the rain stopped as quickly as it had started, and the sun broke through and shone splendidly. But I will still have to cover up; the forecast is for stormy weather to start again at about 10 p.m. and go all the way through tomorrow night.

Houseboat update, Wednesday, October 2, 2029 (Part 2) -- Aaaand, Jersey Girl has her raincoat on. She'll be comfortable enough to see her through tomorrow's stormy weather, I think. Even after I get those two final roof planks on, I won't be quite finished the roof, and I'll have to use the tarps until I am finished. First, I will have to screw and glue two-inch wide tongue-and-groove strips all along the side edges, to serve as overhangs to direct water away from the sides of the boat. Next, I'll sand both side "shoulders" to get ride of any epoxy lumps. Then I will need to apply at least two coats of fairing compound to fill the grooves and cover the screw heads, sanding after each application. After that, there will be an epoxy-bedded layer of fiberglass cloth, followed by an additional coat of epoxy. Then, sanding, two coats of primer an finally, two coats of finish paint. Only then will I be free of the tarps!

Houseboat update, Saturday, October 5, 2019 -- Jersey Girl's roof is structurally complete. The next step is to fashion inch-and-a-half overhangs along both sides, like the one shown here on the port aft section. For this, I mill my own tongue-and-groove planks, fit them into position, measure 1 1/2 inches out from the longitudinal side roof beam, mark and cut. Because of slight variations in construction, there will be variations in the width of the overhang plank, but when it's done it will all look quite uniform. How did I settle on 1 1/2 inches? I want to keep the total width of the boat within 8 feet, and overhang boards any wider than that would have exceeded that critical dimension. Why 8 feet? That's the maximum allowable width of a towed trailer without an escort.

Houseboat update, Monday, October 7, 2019 -- All the side overhangs on Jersey Girl's roof are complete. But I still have to use tarps to protect her from rain, because the roof is not yet sealed with epoxy, fiberglass, primer and paint. I need six or seven rain-free days with warm temperatures to do that.There's more to making and installing these simple overhangs than meets the eye, so I'll post a separate description and photos of that process later tonight. But first, because a storm is forecast until 10 tomorrow morning, I must get Jersey Girl's raincoat on her.