The Show Off Cruise and Remaining Details

Dia and I took the boat with its new top on a Victory Lap earlier this week, upstream through the marina then back to our home dock.

I would like to tell you that hundreds lined the riverbanks and cheered, while the fireboat sprayed cascades into the air and the entire sortie was videotaped for the 6 O'Clock News.

 But, that didn't happen. I did get a very complimentary cellphone call from my next-door neighbor, who had not noticed the project before. And the captain of the tour boat waved at us as we passed. Nevertheless, our first "show off cruise" with the new top was very satisfying. It was an event I had looked forward to for a long time.

Just a little more to do

There are a few things left to do before this project ends. Tasks include:

• Prime and paint the top's supporting wood framework
• Two coats of special primer and two finish coats of paint on the underside of the hardtop
• Clean, sand and paint the dashboard and the pilot house bulkheads
• Mount the VHF antenna
• Adjust the light mast rake angle 
• Design and acquire new canvas

These are just get up and go to work everyday kinds of jobs -- necessary workmanship that I will probably find to be as boring as dirt. It is probable there won't be much to blog about on as I work through the list.

A quick retrospective

I really can't think of anything big that I would do differently if I were to do this job again.  I think the only major, potentially catastrophic, mistake I would have made was averted by a reader's timely advice (See the March 1 post, Evidence in. Disaster averted).

There was one decision made before the work got under way that proved to be an incredibly important help throughout the project. That was the 8x12 foot work table that became the irreplaceable center of our off the boat construction project. It is chipped and nicked now, and dotted here and there with nail and staple holes, hardened epoxy puddles and paint spills. But in its day, it was ground zero for wood panel layouts, scarfing, cutting, shaping, sanding, gluing, fiberglassing and painting. Think about doing all that stuff on your hands and knees on the garage floor to help understand the importance of the table investment.

My friend Major is bringing his canoe over today and we'll use the table for some repair work on that craft. When the canoe job is done, the table will be disassembled and converted to shelving units across one wall of the garage.  Dia will get her parking place back--for the first time since last Thanksgiving.

We did fairly well on the financial side. The beginning budget was $2500 USD. Actual expenditures totaled $2913, an overrun of about 18%. Unanticipated paint and adhesive expenses caused most of the overage. Here's an accounting:

Item	Budget		Actual
Marine plywood	380		380
Epoxy, glass fabric	340		480
Scarfing tools	280		280
Lumber for bench	155		164
Fir lumber for framework	95		218
Paint, trim, handrails	250		637
Contingencies	250		139
Outside labor	750		640
	2500		2938
The next post...

...will happen when there is something to write about. As I see it now, that will most likely be when the new canvas is fitted and planning has begun for a summer cruise.

Thanks again for following this lengthy project. And, as always, your comments and questions are earnestly solicited.