Escargot Builders log
July 31
Ok.. worked hard this weekend. Bought about one hundred dollars worth of wood and glue and screws. Sigh. Oh well.
Installed some stiffeners for the back deck and glassed the rear compartment floor.
Installed almost all of the framing for the forward berth… worked out fine! Installed forward deck supports and the forward deck itself as well! So it looks even more like a boat.
To do:
continue installing stiffeners along floor.
install rear deck and seats
install roof
install windows
put in touches such as storage shelving and tables..
build and install hatches
paint
and a bunch of other stuff I will certainly run into.
Lessons that come to mind:
It will take a lot longer than you think no matter what you think.
Balance boat and family.
Speaking of which.. marry someone who supports your dreams
Enjoy the process or don’t start the process!
try to do it right.. but don’t let a problem throw you for too big of a loop. SOMETHING will be messed up or different than you wanted.
I have made many changes to plans. In fact, being honest, I haven’t looked at the plans in a long time. I have spend hours and hours planning over them so I have them pretty well in my head. Plus… I am now building things as I want them. This may lead to a few problems. In fact, in a letter to the designer I mentioned that I was making changes here and there so I hoped he was ok with that! Well… we wrote back saying that any change brings, in effect, problems. And they won’t show up always until much later … when it is too late. So, he said, be sure to call him for help if need be.
I appreciate his offer to help a great deal. In fact he sent along a new sheet of plans for an alternative hatch arrangement… one that I had already planned on doing based on my own thoughts as it turns out. While I am certain that somewhere a change I will make will add some problem… I am also certain that many of the changes I have made will have removed another problem. In the end I have enjoyed the process more through these changes in that I find it fun to think these things through… dream.. wonder.. plan.. execute. The plans are still the best I have ever used… but now I am adding my touches.
By the way… I put in five front deck supports that run parallel to the side of the boat. On top of that I used five eighths inch plywood. I am a heavy guy and my kids are active. I would hate to have to worry all the time about the boat cracking underneath one of us! I think what I did will be strong enough. For the berths up front I am using half inch ply. with the spacing of the supports I am not sure that is enough… but I don’t plan on stepping on the bed.. just sleeping in it. I think it will be good enough for that!
I will try to get some more pics soon.
That car I bought? Reliant Regal
9/13
Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote. I have been working toward getting the outside all sealed up before winter. I am just about done on that. Actually, if I had a day to sand I could probably paint it the next day.
I must admit that the boat has a couple of problems that I wish I hadn’t let happen. The frames must not have been lined up as well as I hoped because there is a little waviness in the sides. Not to bad.. but it is there…. just a little bit… a touch. Some of it appears to have been caused by lumber that is not perfectly straight. Straight wood is pretty hard to find these days. When I first noticed it really got me down. Now I am resigned to it and know that it is
But I guess I am not afraid to go forward with dreams for fear that it may not be perfect. In the end… I hope to have a boat that I will be able to enjoy with my family. I know that I have enjoyed working on it most of the time! When we flipped the boat a friend of mine said, “Bryan, you are a brave man”. Perhaps this is what he meant? When a person dares to make something… they must be able to live with all the things that they know have not gone according to plan. I don’t know. Not singing my own praises… just meaning to share and perhaps help you as you work on YOUR boat. It will NOT be perfect.only noticeable as you look directly down the sides…. and barely at that. Will have no effect on boat really… but I wish I had not let that happen. Oh well. This is the biggest wood working project I have ever done and, as usual, I am learning much along the way.
The top is totally on. I have to trim the ends of the top along the sides to make them perfectly even. I have already coated the top with resin. I also coated the forward deck last night. I ran a 2 by 3 along the front of the forward deck. It will allow me to hang a ladder off the front so we can go swimming. I have also put on the flooring in the rear deck. I now need to build in two benches.
After that I need to put in a few more stiffeners inside.. finish installing the bed… raise the toilet off the floor to a useable level… finish the cleats… and paint. Getting close. Well… then there are the windows!
So I have finished the roof… done a first coat… really just intended for the winter protection… finished the forward deck… and measured and cut a test window. I think it these shots it looks a little big. But I believe it is because of the angle. In person it doesn’t look big… and as I sit inside it is just right. I didn’t follow the plans for the molding on the roof. I used quarter round.. and I think it worked very well. The roof top cleats are too long. I will trim them down. I will cut out the roof hatches this spring.
http://shantyboatliving.com/category/shantyboat-dreams/escargot-early-journeys-index/
