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(Parallax) wrote in message . com...
ospam (Stephen Baker) wrote in message ...
Parallax says:

Events seem to be conspiring to keep me from getting much done.

Time to get on that mountain bike and go find some dirt - change of pace, kinda
thing...

Steve "AM-B refugee"

I liked mountain biking but found that arthritis in my wrists and
elbows (aggravated by years of caving) made it difficult to hold the
handlebars through more than 15 minutes of rough trails. 48 yrs isnt
really not THAT old.
Unfortunately, the old Golden Retriever had to be "put down" as the
vet felt she would never recover due to being so old. Fortunately, my
wife had been released from the hospital so we sorta managed to have
her hobble into the vets office to say goodbye.
Managed to put some glue on upper stringers of #2. Began reinforcing
the rudder box of #1 by extending its sides to also better hold the
tiller so it cant jump out. It was easier to simply add another layer
of 1/4" ply to the upper part of the tiller box than to make another
box with thicker sides.

Substantial progress on #2. The upper stringers just were not going
to work with the radical bowing of the sides so I had totake off the
sides from the bow back to the cockpit. Forced the stringers to
follow the correct curve and fastend them at the bow. Made 3 vertical
cuts in each side from top to bottom stringer to allow the sides to
follow the stringer. Made reinforcements to go on the inside of the
sides on the cuts. FINALLY, am at the point of sealing the inside and
painting the inside.
I have decided that the construction directions represent an IDEAL
that can rarely be achieved in practice (at least for me). In order
to get it done, I attempt to follow the directions and try several
times. Finally, it may be necessary to find a "work around". My
experience on #1 shows that this works.

On #2, I am trying not to use any fibreglas because it caused about a
week of finishing problems on #1 by having bubbles underneath.
Fortunately, I have gotten away from the "Gorilla Glue" and am using
only epoxy now which gives me a lot of confidence.

A little progress on the trailer. The $139 trailer from Northern Tool
arrived with NO directions so I follow a process of elimination;
eliminating most of the incorrect ways to assemble.

Rain is causing problems for me as I have to wait for the boat to dry
when I forget to cover it. Serious heat (+95 degrees and high
humidity) but working on the boat is helping me with my yearly
acclimatization to the heat.