I Dreamed I Was There

As Scout gets closer to splash time, we get more excited thinking about getting back on the water. I am ready to be done and we are ready to start enjoying the boat.

After another long week of non-stop boat work we decided to make a run down to the lake. The plan was to connect with the marina and get a look at their trailer. When we were negotiating our slip rental, they seemed eager to haul the boat down for a reasonable fee. I wanted to make sure it was still a go. We were also ready for a little road trip.

Until last winter our intentions were to launch Scout in the Mississippi River near St. Louis and be ready to head downstream one day soon. The river marinas that we liked were 130 miles one way from the house. That along with the annual flooding problems on Mississippi made us consider the Lake of the Ozarks as an option for a year or two.

I was born near the Lake and spent many summers on the water there. Lots of good memories but like everywhere else it's changed. Some for the good but mostly bad. Paved roads good. Too many people bad.

Last December, after some research we visited the Village Marina. 74 miles door to door. Covered slip and no flooding.

Close and water conditions won out. We cut a deal.

                                             And....as soon as the check cleared we got a sign! 

Now.... if we could just get them to spell our name correct.

The real truth is these are the nicest most accommodating folks you could ask for.  They absolutely know how to make feel welcome. 

H-Dock Slip 1

14 x 36 slip, electricity, water, wifi and cable. Free washer and dryer in the private bath house.

I'm dreaming here... better get back to business.

Their trailer is identical to the hydraulic trailer we hauled Scout home with. No amnesia about the cost of the move. Soon to be a reality.

I'm ready to get back home and back to work.

But first lunch. It is a road trip after all and that's always my excuse for a greasy burger and fries. We headed around to the 'Strip' by Bagnell Dam. It's kinda like South Beach only with a hillbilly flare. The burger was greasy, no bikinis, bib overalls are still in style.

I really did go home and work on the boat yesterday.....and last night

                                                I dreamed I was there, in Hillbilly Heaven.

Fat Bottom Boats

You make the rockin' world go round.

Ordered the barrier and bottom paint. It's on it's way! I was saving this part for last because it's not much fun and it should be the last thing done before launching.

As luck would have it, Austin just got back from Germany and said he would work for food.

We moved all the stands and blocking as there's still some sanding to be done under those areas. Moving the stands is not too bad but there's some pucker factor involved in moving the blocking.

Luckily I have the floor jack from hell and sang the "Big Jack" song . 

"Every morning at the shop you could see him arrive

He stood six-foot- six and weighed two-forty-five

Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hips...Big Jack".

"Then came the day at the bottom of the boat
When a timber cracked and men started cryin'
Chip and Austin were prayin' and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought that they'd breathed their last-'cept Jack"

It worked. We're still alive and the boat is still upright.

Thank you Big Jack.

The little end.

Big projects of long duration are not for everyone.

It can be difficult to keep your focus on where you are at, where you are going and how you're going to get there.  I happen to be one who likes it.  I love the planning, the doing and the great feeling of accomplishment when done.  There are the occasional "I've been sanding this friggin' boat for a month, now it's time to paint" moments.  I have to keep reminding myself that the prep work is one of the BIG keys to success.  The "let's sand it one more time, give it another coat, check it with the Fluke meter, pressure test it" take time but usually pay off in the end.

END... there's a good word.  I learned a long time ago in the construction business that anyone can start a project.  Learning how to END the project is the trick.  For awhile there I was wondering if I had forgotten that part and I know some of you were (are) thinking the same thing.

I'm rambling here but that's OK.  I'm waiting for the rain to stop so I can head up the boat...and I'm retired...and it's my blog.

Another key to keeping your sanity is dividing up the big project into a number of small projects.  Each has it's own planning, doing and end. 

We've done that with Scout.  The teak deck removal, the window replacements, the painting, the thru-hulls, the windlass and on and on.  We've almost worked away through the lengthy list of small projects each finished, done, complete and ended.
This weekend we finished up two biggies that took a lot of planning and doing to get to the end.  The 3000 watt true sine wave inverter added to the boats electrical system is in.  It's complete and works great.  The Simrad autopilot is in, wired, plumbed and steering lines bled. It's complete and works great.

All the planning and doing was worth the great feeling of accomplishment.

I keep telling myself....end + end + end + end + end + end + end +end = END!

It was a really good weekend!

Life After Boat Work...?

As I'm finishing up the inverter wiring and autopilot plumbing the light at the end tunnel is now shining bright.

Friends and family used to ask "When is the boat going to be done?".  Now I'm getting "What are going to do with all your time when the boat is done?".

Short answer is DRINK.

But, that's not entirely true. While, enjoying a nice bottle (poured from a box into a old bottle....shhh..it's our secret) of Pinot Noir while hanging on the hook in a nice secluded cove is definitely in the cards. I can't sit still for long.

Taking care of the farm, house, vehicles and equipment here can be a full time job if you let it. It's not a bad way to spent the day and I enjoy doing this kind of work.

Another but, I have another love (in the expensive hobby category) besides boats -wildlife photography.
I can get consumed in it and have been in the past. Maybe, just maybe, I can go back.

I thought I'd post some of photo's from the past. They were all stashed away on CD's. Hundreds of them. Some scanned from the 35mm days and some from my transition to digital. I haven't look at them in years and really forgot what was where. So grabbed  the first one I came to and popped it in the computer.
As I opened the folders in CD, I found bird pictures. Not the best of the best but representative of the vast majority. Mixed in with the birds were pictures of pets now gone and some friends now gone. It brought back a flood of memories and tears to my eyes. I stopped with the first CD.

Here are some pictures from the past.

Finch on Teasel

Mountain Bluebird

Sandhill Crane

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

Dixie Queen

Kitu Puppy

I miss you Dixie and Kitu.

Never brag about your kids or your dog.

Even though I went to grade and high school just north of St. Louis, I’m a redneck from the Missouri Ozarks. I was born in the Ozarks and have spent all of my adult life on the fringe of the Ozarks. I have not lived in town for over 40 years. I’ve worked construction, farmed, ranched, and rodeoed for a living. I am a ‘dyed in the wool’ redneck from the Ozarks.

If you haven’t noticed rednecks live by a code.

You have to have a pickup and dog. To go along with the pickup you need several trailers to haul whatever might come up in the next 20 years.  Guns are required as is a tractor. Rednecks respect the flag. They stand when the National Anthem is played. Seldom protest anything and abide by the golden rule. They tell the truth.

Rednecks brag about their hunting and fishing successes, the size of the diesel engine in their pickup and the tools in their shop. Bragging is their right and their heritage.

With one exception -  Never ever brag about your kids or your dog.

They will almost always make a liar out of you.  I’ve seen it happen time and time again.

I had dogs long before I had kids and I learned this lesson the hard way. Ever have a hard headed bird dog? That sucker will do everything perfect until you brag on him.....then right in front of your buddies he'll flush a covey or run off and you spend the rest of morning looking for him.

Well, the time has come when my kids are no longer kids. My daughter Tara turned 30 this week so she’s officially off the kid list.  Austin is 18 months behind and although he may not want to be officially called an adult, I am going to call him one.

So I'm going to brag –

Tara is moving forward in her career in Hospital Administration with a new position at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn. She has her undergraduate degree from Westminster College and a Masters from Washington University and has never ceased to amaze me with her drive and motivation.  The Yale folks are lucky to get her.

Austin submitted his Master’s Thesis this week at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. He has his undergraduate degree from Jacksonville University in Biology and several years of sea time on fishing and research vessels in the Bearing Sea, Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic. Austin is an independent spirit and his ventures demand my respect.

Tara and Austin – You guys make us proud.

                                                               "What about me"

You're still a puppy.

Whalers need love too.

We're chomping at the bit to get back on the water and tucked away in the boat house is our Boston Whaler. Maybe..just maybe... we can slip away one warm sunny day and take the Whaler to the lake.
The weekend was cold, damp and windy but we decided to roll her out of the shop and get her ready to splash..

Nice, huh?

Whaler doesn't make the Dauntless in a 130 size anymore. The center console gives it a BIG boat look.

We swapped out the original 50 hp 2-stroke for a 40 hp 4-stroke a couple of years ago. Lost some speed but replaced it with quiet and fuel economy.
We love this boat.

More on the Butthold

The previous post showed some pictures of what the butthold looks like now. What it doesn't show is the months of work involved in getting it back in shape.
The fuel and water tanks were sitting on two teak 2x2's cut into the floor stringers to make a level platform. Under that was a non-accessible area where 25 years of gunk, slim and mystery shit had accumulated.
So out it came along with everything else in the butthold. Rudder included.
More steaming and cleaning until we were down to this.

Shown is the area where the 2x2's were cut into the stringers and limber holes up against the bulkhead. Exposed wood is a NO NO but typical of some of the Taiwanese building practices of the 80's. The copper ribbon running horizontal across the top is part of the original bonding system.

Two more shots of the exposed wood in the stringers.
Luckily the wood in the stringers were solid and not much if any water had intruded into them. Also remember the boat is in the driveway and under cover, so the area was ventilated and left open to dry. I'm talking several weeks to dry. The were all glassed in and the stringers at the stern were glassed to the stern. (Julie got ahead of me with the painting).
The rudder post was leaking some water around the bearing housing when we bought the boat. Out came the rudder assembly.

The wood block in the top photo was opened up the dry and then rebedded with epoxy to eliminate future water intrusion. Alignment was fun as it required several "put everything back together and then take it back apart" sessions to insure it was all properly aligned.

To eliminate the shit catcher under the fuel water tanks I decided to close in the area and properly rebuild the limber holes for drainage to the bilge forward of the bulkhead. This was done with epoxy coated marine plywood. A two part marine foam was used to fill the void.

Framing in the port side. The hose in the top left is for a temporary scupper drain hose stuffed in the hole where the thru-hull and seacock has been removed.

This stuff is so cool! I love to play with it. Much more dense than the stuff you buy in the can at HD. It was a process of adding a little at a time, watching it grow and then adding more. After raising it to a height above the sides I shaved  the excess off with an old butcher knife. Another temporary scupper hose at the top and part of the old bonding system that has been removed and replaced.

The center section was not closed in to allow for drainage forward to the bilge. Limber holes was drilled through bulkhead and stringers to allow water flow. These holes were lined with copper tubing epoxied into the bulkhead and stringers to prevent water intrusion into the wood. More work more fun.



Fuel tank saga.

Today was a good day. Not a good weather day because we're having wind, rain and severe thunderstorms all around us. It was a good boat day. The fuel tanks are back!

It all started here-

That's the 'butthold'.

It's where fuel tanks live.

You put the fuel tanks in there and then you build a boat around them. Don't ask me why...?...it's just the way they do it. That way, when you need to replace or service your tanks you get to cut the boat apart to get to them.
A previous owner had replaced the fuel tanks a few years before we purchased Scout... and yes...he cut the boat apart...and yes...he totally screwed the pooch.
Time for another boat surgery to access the tanks and other treasures hidden away in the 'butthold'.

Can you say nasty..?



After a few days of rip and tear. Out came the tanks and they were stashed away until the day it was time to 'restore' the aluminum fuel tanks.  I'm thinking this was maybe two years ago.

That's Julie doing all  the work. I love you Julie!

Here are the two fuel tanks and water tank all sanded, steam cleaned, coated with Gluvit (epoxy) and painted. Taking up room in the shop.

Brand new Moeller reed type fuel gauge senders installed. They actually work. I know this because I was smart enough to test them before installing them in the tanks where they will never be seen again....I hope.

Remember the 'butthold'...?

That's what it looked this morning. Can you say 'months and months of work'? There's a blog or two about the work done in there.

And now the tanks.

After 3 years and 11 months they're back where they belong.

It was a good boat day.





Dang...8 months since I've updated the Blog. The 3 best reasons that I can think of is procrastination, procrastination and procrastination. Besides that, I've been busy working and playing.
Last summer I was going to document our progress on Scout starting from the beginning up to the present.  Well, you see how that went.
First I'll catch up on me. Last August I went back to work. Not a real job, but a part time fun job to keep me busy during the long cold winter months when I couldn't make any progress on the boat. Two things I didn't count on. We didn't have a long cold winter and the part time job turned into full time.
Then...along came an opportunity to make a boat delivery from Bocas Del Toro, Panama to Rio Dulce, Guatemala. Who can pass up that? Especially when you have a WONDERFUL wife who encourages that sort of behavior. So I immediately said a temporary good bye to my job, WONDERFUL wife and Dory the trawlerdog. Off I went to Panama to embark on an 800 miles offshore adventure off the Central American coast. Too much fun and too much to say to include in this post but maybe later we can revisit.
I came back to my WONDERFUL wife, dog and job ready to get on with the boat work. My job is now over for the season and I'm back to full time boat work (take out for yard and houseboy chores).
Now to catch up with Scout. I left off with the teak deck removal. The truth is we did that 3 years ago. Yes...we've working on the this boat for almost 4 years.
Decks are done.

Pilot house and salon roof has had the old non-skid sanded off, reglassed. Hatches added to the pilot house roof.

Reglassed-Hatches Cut

Finished

Exterior of boat is completely finished. Sanded, primed and (at least) 3 coats of 2-part Interlux Perfection paint. All of the teak handrails replaced with stainless steel.

And one of the BIGGIES. The windows have been removed, reglassed and replaced with new aluminum ones. All fourteen of them.

Every thru-hull and seacock was removed from the boat. The underwater ones were replaced with new Perko and the above waterline ones were rebuilt and replaced.

Engine drive shaft removed. New cutlass, carrier and couplings. New stern tube hose. New cutlass bearing housing. Drive shaft reinstalled.
New electric fresh water toilet. New water heater. All plumbing lines removed and replaced with PEX. New Electro Scan, New shower sump.
New exhaust up sized from 1 1/2 inch to 3 inch.
Swim platform removed, sand blasted and powder coated.
New underwater light.
Rudder removed. Shaft and bearing housing rebuilt.
Fuel and water tanks removed, sanded and epoxy coated.
Interior refinish is 95 % complete. All new LED lighting for exterior, navigation and interior. Headliners replaced, teak trim refinished and replaced. Teak and holly floors refinished. New fans.
All abandoned wire removed. All wiring in new Panduit conduit. New DC breaker panel for added systems.
Raw water alarm, high bilge water alarm, new freezer under salon settee, spot light. new deck lighting front and aft. Radar arch with new Garmin 18HD radar. New Garmin 740S chartplotter with sonar.
New windlass and bow roller.
I'll think of more after I post and think about it some more.
Oh ya,,,the bottom is completely sanded done to original fiberglass ready for epoxy coating.
So what's left?
The 3000 watt inverter is in the boat but not wired up. The auto pilot is in but the hydraulic lines are not connected and the system bled out. Fuel water tanks need to be installed along with fuel filter system. Gen set is not installed but all wiring is in. Swim platform (duck board) needs to be installed. Refrigerator is all wired and ready but not put in place. Doors and cabinet doors are all refinished but need to be hung.
Bottom work needs to be complete.
How long to go? No promises but soon! We have already paid our slip rent for the year starting last week. Nothing like a little motivation.
Where are we going? Originally plans were to go to the Mississippi River and get ready for a future trip south to the Gulf. But, water conditions in the Mississippi the last couple of years have sucked with the flooding and the distance is about 140 from the house.
We decided to spent a couple of years at the Lake of the Ozarks as it's only 70 miles and convenient with our lifestyle for the next couple of years. Village Marina. Slip 1 Dock H.
Lots more pictures to come....soon. I promise.
Peace, love and boatwork.
chip