It's been tough seeming to be able to get much of anything done recently. Between being out of town, bad weather, work and generally just not overly motivated, its been kind of a slow spell.

Did get the sidewall pieces cut for the aft deck lockers and kind of "mocked up" how they will fit into place. They take up more room on that deck than I that thought.

On the flip side, I've done a bit of research into the size of batteries, weight, etc. and they should fit nicely in these lockers in place of the specified fuel tanks if I go the electric route.

I've been out of town some, so haven't gotten to do much on the boat... did have a couple of evenings to do (and learn) a few things.

First off is the learning item: if you need to cut Xynole cloth, use a razor blade. I got back into working on the foredeck and neaded to trim off the edges of the Xynole. So far I hadn't found much of anything that would cut it well. Finally thought of using a razor blade... duh. Cuts just great, no fuss, no muss. Highly recommended.

My other big learning experience is just how much water 4.5" of rain equates to.

Since my last posting I haven't gotten to work nearly as much on the boat as I wanted, but have gotten some done.

Our biggest workday had Dane sanding the forward deck nicely, then vacuuming it and the rear deck area (all the bilges, etc.). Then he wiped down the forward deck to get the remaining dust off.

We haven't had much photogenic boat work in the last week or two... sorry about that. I'll try to get more pictures up soon.

The recent activities involved the hatch for the forward deck access and lots of work on the rear deck.

Since our last exciting posting, I've moved from the cabin roof to the forward deck and hatch.

Cutting the boards to fit the hull curve wound up going fairly well. I rough cut them to shape, laid them in position and then drew a line offset X inches from the hull side on the board. Keeping my pencil at that mark on the ruler as you run it down the inside of the hull. This leaves a line on the deck that matches the right curve. Cut along that and it all fit.

After the cabin posts were installed (see previous post), we've gotten busy trying to tie them together and get a roof on things. First order of business was to trim all the posts to the same height and notch them for the fore-and-aft stringer. Built a quick jig to mark height and got that done.

Then figured out that I didn't do so well with that and had to re-mark and re-cut several posts. I found that I did much better getting one "right" and then using a long level from that point. Thankfully the ones I goofed on were too long and not too short.

This past week we've been working inside the boat... in between vacuuming and pumping out rainwater.

My goal is to get a cabin roof on this thing, so it will be a bit more practical to keep dry. WIth that in mind (and actually it matches up with the recommended order of building), we've been cutting and installing the cabin side posts.

Each post had to be notched at the bottom (to fit around the chine logs and sides) and then lag bolted to the side deck/sheer clamp. Other than my usual luck (or non-luck) at cutting things to fit tightly, I got them all in place. 

Since turning the boat over, I've learned a few things:

• If you want to break a drought, just have a large "bathtub" sitting out that you don't want water in.
• If you do any woodwork anywhere near such a tub, every bit of sawdust will wind up in the boat.

I've had to pump out rainwater several times. I have most of the bilge sealed moderately well now, so hopefully I won't get any particular damage, but I've got to get better shelter.

After the chore of sliding the boat out of it's "hole", it was time to turn it over. The next even after work a friend came over and we rolled the hull.

Boy, that makes it sound easy, but it really was. As with most things I've been doing recently, it didn't go anything like I had planned. I had made all kind of various plans in my head for building a "roll cage" or various external supports and braces to support the hull while it rolled.

Originally I was going to combine this post with the next, but it wound up being a full entry on it's own, so I'll just keep you in suspence a little.