Jersey Girl

June 17, 2017. At long last, more than a year after I put the houseboat parts into storage, I have resumed work. Here, I am rough-cutting the transverse bulkheads. There will six of them. The original plan calls for two, but that's for a 17-foot boat. I'm stretching it out to 20 feet, so I feel I need extra stiffening in the stern and bow. My Facebook friend, Penny Barr, an artist who lives and works on a houseboat in Toronto, noted: "We ALL need extra stiffening now and then. .." Another friend from my Journalism days at the New York Post, who calls himself Thomas Wolfe, observed: Thomas Wolfe "Expensive looking plywood. Measure three times. "

A discussion is in order here about the merits of different kinds of plywood. When I started this project, very expensive marine okoume plywood was available from a supplier within driving distance in White Plains, N.Y. But the supplier stopped carrying the product and recommended lauan plywood instead. I thought I knew what lauan was -- the cheap junk sold at big box home centers for use as underlayment for hardwood flooring. But it turns out the same wood is used in a very high-quality marine plywood that sells for about $60 a sheet, compared with $100 for a similarly sized sheet of okoume. It has a beautifully figured grain, finishes very nicely, and contains seven plies in the 3/8-inch version, waterproof and boil-proof glue between the plies, and absolutely no internal voids or external dutchmans. So it looks like I'm going to be using a lot more lauan.

July 19, 2017. I'm preparing the transom to be installed on the stern. I've screwed down two temporary spacer strips making sure to use screws long enough to hold the half-inch plywood securely but short enough not to break the surface on the opposite side, which will show. Also, I've wrapped the strips in package-sealing tape, so any squeeze-out of epoxy will not stick to them and I will be able to remove them easily. Yes, I measured three times, three different ways. Outside edge to outside edge of the spacing strips, 28 1/2 inches. Centerline of the transom to outside edge of each strip, 14 1/4 inches. Outside edge of each strip to outside edges of transom, 32 1/4 inches. Total, 93 inches, equaling width of transom. Check. I sure don't want to screw up now!

August 9, 2017. Houseboat footnote. Take a gander at the figure of this grain! So here's a brief peregrination on the relative merits of okoume and lauan marine plywood for boatbuilding. "You don't build boats with lauan," more than one boat-building professional has sniffed at me. "You use okoume. Only if you want the boat to stay on top of the water." So of course I started out with okoume, made in Holland from an African hardwood that -- as I understand it, and I could be wrong -- is related to mahogany. And it carries a certification from Lloyd's of London saying it is waterproof even if the water is boiling. (Which is good to know in a time of climate change, I guess.) At $150 a sheet, this is expensive stuff. I went for it. But lately, I have had trouble sourcing okoume locally. "We are selling rotary-cut instead of okoume now," the folks at the yard said. Rotary-cut what? I asked. Long pause, then a sotto voce response: "Lauan. But it's certified." Which it is, although only the adhesive between the plies and not the material itself. At $75 a sheet, it's a bargain, I hope. So i bought it. So far, it's a pleasure to work with. It has more plies of more uniform thickness than okoume. The grain figure and color are what you see here. As for water intrusion after epoxy sealing, there is none. That has been a problem with okoume. So far, I like it much better. The second picture shows Okoume, with its long, rather boring grain. See those vertical striations? That's water intrusion. It's dried out now, but the stain is permanent.

Sept. 7, 2017: I have decided to solve a few problems at one time. The problems: my dissatisfaction over the ugly dark stains from water intrusion under the epoxy finish in the transom, together with the expensive okoume's totally boring grain pattern, and my feeling that I wanted to thicken and stiffen the transom to be able to support a much larger motor than the design calls for. Solution: face the transom with half-inch laminates, inside and out, of much less expensive lauan marine plywood. I believe it's better quality plywood, it has a much more interesting grain, and when I finish, the transom will be an inch and a half thick. Here, I've hung a piece of lauan, fixed temporarily with two screws and four clamps, so I can accurately trace the shape to match the existing transom. I'll cut it tomorrow, then apply an epoxy finish before gluing it down permanently. I am pretty sure it will be a vast improvement. We shall see.

Sept. 11, 2017: On all days, but especially on this day, I feel fortunate to be alive and doing things I love to do. I do not take that lightly or for granted. Here's the the new face of the transom, laminated over the old one. Much better, in my opinion. You can see a bit of the old one where I have not yet cut it away for the motor mount.