BYYB Forums

Just a quick note to tell all of my friends here how important you are and have been to me. Your notes over the last several months have really bouyed my spirit.... just today I got a very nice note and also a dinner invite I never thought I would find such good pals on a virtual boat building site. Your thoughts and prayers have carried me across the deep water and I have landed safely on the other side. I am gaining strength and swinging a hammer again. Just like old times, only better because I now know how truly blessed I am. Thank you, I can't wait to see you on the water.

SMOOCH!
Ang

Ah shucks Angie,

Glad your feeling better, what would life be without a good hammer. :roll: And have you seen the new Duel Drill advertised, the one where you just switch the drill heads around instead of changing bits?

I survived another month of winter here at PACAF, but only because I bought:

David C. McIntosh's "How to Build a Wooden Boat"

Renn Tolman's "Tolman Alaskan Skiffs"

John Brooks and Ruth Ann Hill's "How to Build Glued-Lapstrake Wooden Boats"

Reuel B. Parker's "The New Cold-Molded Boatbuilding"

The dang snows about all gone and I am looking forward to break up. I surely hate hard water. :twisted:

Sure :roll: it will probably snow again, but spring is in the air, Somewhere! :lol:

Take care, Salty Lady. 8)

Mike the unthawing one

Yahoo! Glad to hear from you ol Dragon, I have been wondering about you and missing your posts and pics.

Saw a little blue bird out scouting yesterday, watched him for some time. It won't be long now. Soft water is coming... and I am sure the Wolf is straining at her pennants for more adventure. We are straining at ours to hear about it.

I've been getting Windrose ready for some long distance voyaging, I have an urgent sense to "get out there". She has recently gotten a Bomar hatch in the cockpit sole to access the back of the engine easily, so I don't have to "mount the beast" anymore. I also have a sweet transom swim ladder ready to install on the ol gal, maybe I can get my big ass back on board should I go over and make it to the trip line. :lol: :lol:

Where would we be without boats?

Old boats have stories in them
that new boats do not.
Old boats have character
Old boats should not be forgot

ARRRGH! I'm off to pound nails, YAHOO!

I have been looking at the Overtons site for a swim ladder myself. I plan to use flush deck mounts ( sturdy metal plates with holes in the center) off the starboard stern. The ladder folds up while underway and can be deployed from the drink if I were to fall in while solo. The ladder can easily be dismounted while trailering.

At present, I have an itch for another boat, as you can no doubt tell by all the books. I haven't sent for the plans yet, but a 19'6" Caledonia Yawl just may be on my build list. Yes, I am going to attempt lapstrake construction, hopefully soon.

http://www.woodenboatstore.com/products....n=&sort_by=

Wooden boat store/ sail plan #103, I also just sent off for Iain Oughtred's Clinker Plywood Boat Build Manual. Before I make my final decision, I thought I would give his book a read, before I bought his plans. Wooden Boat Magazine also devoted three issue June, July, and August 2005 to Oughtred's Caledonia Yawl. The gaff sail plan of course. The boat will involve a lot of scarfing and a step up in my skill level, but I certainly have the old building bug back.

The boat will probably take me a year to build, but that's okay. I plan to do this one up fancy, I might even use that Husquvarna heavy duty sewing machine I bought for a set of Dacron sails.

The Wolf, faired well this winter, the warmer temperatures down here in the Matanuska-Susitnna Valley has allowed me to keep up on her maintainace. That is I don't have to dig through six feet of snow just to get to her :lol:

I got the word from my new doctor about a week ago that there is no sign of reoccuring colon cancer and my other little problem I told you about was partially removed -although a very painful recovery. I won't do that one again hock:

Heck! I even sent off my renewal check to Lobster Trap Lane. Even though I never figured out how to print a BYYB form.

House prices are outrageous right now, and I haven't found a place I'll be happy with. So I'm sitting on my nest egg a little longer, hoping I'll eventually find the right Boat House. :lol:

Joan has another year and a half on her contract at Providence Medical Centers Psychiatric Mental Emergency Department. And silly me, I keep hoping Col. Putbreeze will release me from my promise to work through the next deployment to Iraq.

At least we're not as land locked as we were in Fairbanks, the trouble is all we do is work. So I definately have to start a project soon or I'll wind up on my Wife's Psych ward.

Good news about the hatch, I remember hanging over the Oh Pa Shaw's (a Cal 30) Universal, oh so well. Changing the oil was such a pain. :twisted: I CAN CERTAINLY FEEL YOUR JOY!

Well enough blabbing, four AM is not so far away and I need some sleep before they lock me up in the lab.

Mike

Mike, that is very good news, all of it. Glad they got the barnacles scraped off your hull, hey parts is parts. Hope that means your treatment is finished too ..... I am glad that is DONE! OVER! AAARRGH! Now is the time to get on with things and it sounds like you are doing just that. Sounds like you are back at work full time too, which that is good news too I guess... I know you were having as much fun as possible during your time off. I know it gets rather boring "taking it easy", the drugs did make it a little more interesting... though the itching drove me insane. *Do not take with alcohol*.... right......

I have always loved the Caladonia Yawl. She is a real beauty. Looks like you are expanding your horizons.

Don't get discouraged on the housing market. Knowing the market you will know the house when it comes along and it will be at the right price. Glad to hear you and Joan have settled in, you even make me think it is down right balmy there. HA! :lol:

I'm off to pound nails, floor joist and floor today.... a big push forward! YAHOO! Then onto framing up the walls, that is the part I love!! You see rooms develop in the blink of an eye. Oh, I bought one of those drills when they came out, I love it but I have to remind myself that it has the driver inside of it. I am so accustomed to changing the bit. :lol: I usually have the bit out before I remember the driver is already there. DUH!

I was wondering if I could adapt to such a drill :lol:

Yepper! I'm supposed to be good to go. I've even lost a little weight hock:

I went to work for the Air Force, again. There are so many Tech Sargents and Officers deployed right now that I wrangeled a federal contract. I get eleven paid four day weekends a year, plus a vacation.

Of course, their is one arrogant jerk civilian, I have to deal with, but I am beyond the passive mode now and totally into aggression when he is around. I haven't busted his knee caps yet, but maybe in the near future. As the saying goes every job seems to have one idiot poop-butt. I figure if I tick him off enough maybe he'll stay away from me :wink: That or stroke out! Silly me actually tried to get along with him the first four months. Which was a mistake, I should have bit his fool head off the first time he opened his mouth. I'm to old to take crappola from anybody.

Otherwise the job is gravey train, I stay so busy the day just flies by. Once I finally buy a place or build which may be the smartest thing to do what with the market reachiing for the sky, I can think about working part time.

Boat building is much more fun and my Joan sure likes her sailing. Besides she makes to much money anyway, Uncle Sam just loves us. I haven't done my taxes yet, but last year we payed out $21,000.

Are you building on to your place? You keep saying your off to bang nails.

Mike

Glad to see you back to your old self Mike. I was wondering where you went after returning to civilization. It is great to hear you health is improved. good show.

Ange am I coing to see you in a couple of weeks?

I have found my second calling. I buy junky rotted old cottages near the water, most were built in the 40's as summer homes. Most have the floor rotted out from under them where the porches were closed in and the foundations closed up. I go in and gut them to the band board (if it is still good, otherwise I build onto it and take it out from outside). Often I have to tie the walls together with some studs to keep the ol' gal from squatting off the foundation. I put in new piers, grab the ol' gal hard in a few spots (often go up in the attic and put in a header and gusset plates on the trusses) and start slowly jacking her up out of the mud. Once I get her back up, I grab her hard with new piers, treated kingpost, treated floor joist and a vapor barrier.

Then the fun begins.... I put in a modern floor plan and generally add another bathroom or at least a 1/2 bath and bring them up to code.

I have a young college kid who helps me 2 days a week and my pal Bob helps me a few hours each day (his folks have the Alzhimers so he can only be gone from them for about 2 hours). I've figured out all kinds of tricks to work lumber by myself, a gal can do alot with imagination, leverage and a few 16D nails. I did 4 last year with the cancer and yesterday bought my second one of this year.

I LOVE IT. It satisfies the things I need.... takes care of my building yin, I get to use my tools, instant gratification, different each day, nobody to answer to (except my banker), learning new stuff all the time and it is financially rewarding (housing prices are insane here).

It is also fun to find stuff in the walls, crawl space, etc. We have found all sorts of stuff. On the one I am doing now we found a round metal condom tin, a NuGrape bottle (worth $10 on ebay), another little decorative glass bottle and of course an assortment of old liquor bottles. We also put stuff in the walls.... beer bottles with notes, zippo lighters, darts, todays paper, etc... things that will be fun to find in 40 years at the next rehab.

Let's see if I can find some photos.....

will this work? I can't do computers, but I can lift heavy things. hock:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos...667840&

Angie,
I tried it and it says alblum not found. I had to log in first.
Ken