It's Here!!

It seems CLC got backed up a bit here at the beginning of the year. I finally received the boat today!!!! The shipper (BAX) was kind enough to leave it on my porch because the forecasts predicted rain this afternoon.















The pictures make it look like the epoxy is leaking out of the box but that's just some melting snow.

OK, gotta take inventory and start bonding with my boat!

Trailer

The three boxes of trailer parts came yesterday and today. I've already assembled it (I wasn’t anxious or anything) and I’m really quite impressed with it. Far sturdier than I feared, simple construction/assembly, things lined up and fit great.

In this picture the bunks are not on the trailer because I hope to build custom cradles to support the hull better. (The dust caps aren't on the wheels either.)

The safety chains are serious!

Most things seem thought out but the bolts for the front roller support are a little long. I replaced them with bolts 1/2" shorter (lower right picture).

The sharp corner at the ends of the short crossbar sticks out beyond the side rails just a bit and I fear it may find a shin or calf.

So far two injuries from a utility knife. Only one required stitches. (I gotta start using dull utility blades.)

Now if only the boat would get here.

Hitch, trailer, tools and Blackouts

The husband/wife discussion (you know the one) that resulted in the final “go ahead” for this project didn’t occur until Dec. 22. That means I ordered the hitch, the trailer, and the boat on Friday evening before the long Christmas weekend. You know what that meant don’t you? It meant that, other than the automated response kicked back by the vendor’s computers, there were no communications until the following Tuesday. In this day of instant communication and the ability to track the progress of shipments with a few key strokes, I was in a communication “blackout”. There’s just something about getting feedback that is reassuring. The activity confirms that this magic called the internet will actually result in a product showing up at your door. Oh well, Tuesday allowed me to reconnect with the process and everything was under way.

Of course the shipping feedback from UPS and FedEx entered another blackout on Friday, Dec 29, the beginning of the New Year weekend.

Well, I got the hitch today from DrawTite-Hitches.com. It had a couple scrapes from poking through the box but nothing serious. Time to fasten the hitch: 10 minutes. Time to work the rust out of the weldnuts in the frame of my Suzuki: 30 min. Time to wrestle the hitch frame and possibly cross thread one bolt due to the fact the holes in the hitch didn’t quite line up with the weldnuts - 45 minutes. Yup, that’s typical, I’ve come to expect that. Oh well, no busted knuckles, no stitches, all’s well. And the wiring module couldn’t have been easier. Much to my surprise a drawbar and pin/clip were included. The website clearly indicated they would not be included - bonus for me!

The trailer is scheduled to arrive tomorrow from Harbor Freight. No word on it from FedEx since two weeks ago. Apparently FedEx Home delivery always has the day after a holiday off too so nothing happened last Tuesday or this Tuesday. By the way, the trailer is only available online. We have a local Harbor Freight but they don’t handle the trailers. That’s the bad news. The good news is the shipping is only $11.99. Now that’s a deal. Still have to determine how high the hitch ball needs to be to see if the drawbar that came with the hitch is the right one (hope so).

Christmas saw some tools under the tree.

- Set of four roundover bits (Sears) and two flush cut bits (ebay) for the router.

- Set of four cabinet scrapers (CLC).

- Cabinet scraper holder (Woodcraft) - the guy there said the scrapers get pretty hot for bare fingers.
(I’m hoping some obsessive masking and the use of cabinet scrapers will minimize what promises to be lots of sanding.)

- A beautiful Chesapeak Light Craft inlay/onlay (CLC.)

- A 4 oz. irrigation syringe (ebay). I was looking for syringes and came across these BIG brass/chrome syringes that I hope will work well for filling in the seams between the hull panels. I’m hoping that cleaning out the syringe won’t be too difficult.

- 30 2” C-clamps (Amazon)

- 4 Irwin Qwik-Grip 6” clamps (Great deal at Lowe’s, basically four clamps for the price of one)

As always I am amazed at the range of prices on almost any item. The same drawbar ranged from $8.50 to $26.00. And the other thing I’ve become alert to are the shipping costs from some sellers on ebay. Clearly some sellers are making their profit on the shipping.

A word about the guys at CLC - I forgot to check what I had placed on my Christmas list and went ahead and ordered some items that family members had already purchased. I also had to make some other adjustments to my boat order. Doug and Ed at CLC were very willing to make the changes and communicated quickly.

Peter at the Passagemaker Dinghy Forum and the Wooden Boat Sailor blog provided a spreadsheet indicating his costs for building the Passagemaker. That record was extremely helpful to me (although my early estimates have somewhat exceeded his tally). Shortly I intend to provide a similar list for my project. Ballpark cost figures are really helpful as you try to find sources for some of these items.

OK, I just checked the FedEx site again for the trailer. The expected arrival date here in Michigan is tomorrow. However, the last update shows the trailer (3 boxes) in Bloomington, California 13 days ago.

The problem is that I need the trailer so I can transport some 4 x 8 sheets of OSB from Home Depot to use for work platforms. (Patience, ...patience,.........p a t i e n c e, . . . . . .)

Say goodnight Dave!

“Goodnight Dave”