Jersey Girl

Houseboat update, Thursday, February 21, 2019 -- With the temperature in the 50s and the snow and ice melting, I had a chance to do a little work on Jersey Girl in the driveway today. It felt good to be back at work, especially since I was knocked off the rails last week by a bit of thankfully minor man-part surgery. It wasn't enough to stop me, but it did serve as a reminder of mortality, and the undeniable fact that I really should not dawdle if I want to be able to finish this project and still have time left to enjoy the result! So, here's what I did. First, the roofbeam lamination layups were left with gobs of hardened epoxy, so I used a belt sander with 40-grit sandpaper to dress the flat faces of the arched beams. Then, I used a random orbital disk sander with 60-grit sandpaper to dress the tops and bottoms of the beams. The tops need to be free of any lumps so that the roofing planks will lay flat and even upon them. The curved inner surfaces of the bottoms will be visible from inside the cabin, so I want them to be free of any gobs of epoxy as well, and I also want to round over the edges, just because it'll look nicer. In addition, I want to significantly reduce the circular marks left by the saw blade when I cut the strips that went into these laminations. But I want to leave a subtle suggestion of these marks as a reminder of the honest work that went into them. Call it a craftsman aesthetic or whatever you want, but I think they will add to the visual interest when the job is finished and they are covered with the warm amber glow of marine varnish.

Houseboat update, Friday, March 15, 2019 -- 71 degrees in Northern New Jersey today, so of course an old man's thoughts turn to...his boat! I took a ride over the the local marina to see what was going on there, and it was a great big nothing. It's in a public park, the Palisades Interstate Park, but the parking lot was filled with coccooned boats, and no one seemed too interested in unwrapping them just yet. So I returned to my garage to do some more work on the arched, laminated roof beams that I will install on Jersey Girl, the 20-foot mini-houseboat I have been building for the last three and a half years. Six of these beams are already coated with three layers of epoxy, and today I sanded down five more to prepare them for the epoxy treatment. Soon, when I am sure there will be no more snow, I will bring Jersey Girl back to the driveway. As for tonight's weather, every couple of seconds there's a flash of typical summertime "heat lightning." Quite uncharacteristic for this time of the year.

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, Monday, May 6, 2019 -- I have sealed Jersey Girl's starboard aft cabin bulkhead with two coats of epoxy, on both sides and all the edges, to seal any moisture out. Now it's time to saw and shape more roof support posts, which will raise plenty of dust. Painful experience has taught me that I must not raise dust while epoxy is curing. I know it seems obvious, but sometimes when I am impatient to get on with the job, even the obvious is easy to overlook. So, before I start sawing, I will put on a pair of nitrile exam gloves to handle the sticky work piece, put it in the garage and close the door. (Again, obvious, I know, but if I don't think about the consequences of shortcuts, I spend even more time dealing with them.)