Hey Stranger!

“Labor Day! The Boat will be ready by Labor Day!” At least that is the rumor we’ve heard traveling around town – granted, it might just be side effects from this glorious PNW summer that we’ve been experiencing, but I’m feeling optimistic about that timeline too.

In our last update, we were hitting our heads against the garage wall over resin curing issues and sanding drama. Amazingly, we pushed through the long hours spent underneath dust clouds, and breathing through respirators like Darth Vader (however looking more like Gorst, WA residents). Someone once told me that regardless of how difficult something may seem at the time, as long as you keep inching your way forward, eventually you’ll look up to see that you've made it – I can definitely attest that the same is true for the Boat In the Woods.

So in an effort to keep this blog short and sweet, I’ll allow the pictures to do the talking!

Transom prior to fiberglass and the last progress picture that we left you with. 

After many trial and error attempts, we discovered that Kayleen had an undiscovered skill for flawlessly sanding awkward spaces (this explains a lot). 

Although difficult to tell, the entire boat has been fiberglassed and sanded. This picture was taken on the last day that our Skipper Craft would be known as the "Vomit Comet."

First coat of four (possibly five, counting is hard sometimes).

Perfecting our painting method took more patience than this picture is willing to give up (paint, wet sand, roll and tip, paint, sand, etc.). Here the final coat of Flag Ship Blue was applied, and the green tape outlines where the red molding line ends.

PAINTED!

This view just cracks us up - a now beautiful boat sitting on top of a dilapidated trailer.

Kayleen has insisted since the beginning that the transom be red - classy!

Although the restoration process has taken longer than we both anticipated, the rewards that we discover in each phase truly compensates for it. So there you have it! Next up our plan is to tackle the interior which includes: varnishing the mahogany, building a new deck, seats, slats for the floor, and windshield. 

We're back!

I cannot believe that it has been over five months since our last update – sorry about that! Time is a funny thing, isn’t it? The more of it you need, the less of it you have, and the more of it you have, the less you have to do with it (as you can see, I did exceptionally well on the SATs).  Anyways, you’re here for an update: 

Resin has been our biggest nemesis as of late, and ultimately the reason behind our lack in updates. Truth is, we are burnt out on the process of fiber-glassing. Just incase you’re unaware of the process, allow me to paint you a picture: The birds are chirping, it’s a beautiful sunny day with a high of 75 (a few cumulous clouds overhead), and you and your boat partner are trading stories while taping fiberglass into place. Life couldn’t be better - that is until you make a pot of resin, and the room begins to spin, turning everything into a swirly, hilarious haze.  During this phase, there is typically a random mix of music pumping out of the speakers in the back shop, accompanied by an on-point backup singer who randomly shouts out, “I saw these guys live 98 times!” With the room spinning and jokes flying, you miss count the 10 drops of catalyst per ounce rule, and eventually give up because counting to 40, while watching little droplets fall into a pot requires more coordination and attention than what’s physically possible at that moment – so you panic, give the dropper a hail-Mary squeeze, and pass it off to your partner who while waiting, warmed up her bionic thumb (read a previous entry if this reference is unclear) by fiddling around with a latex glove. An hour or so later, the boat is now fiber-glassed. Fast-forward five months, a valuable lesson is learned: directions, although sometimes an arbitrary concern, are in fact extremely important when it comes to mixing chemicals (Breaking Bad should have solidified this lesson for me), and bonding fabric to wood. 

All that to say, after exercising a great deal in patience, the resin has cured and we have moved on to my least favorite stage: sanding. In total, the entire boat has been fiber-glassed (except for the transom at this point), resined, sanded, resined, and then sanded once more. The amount of sanding discs that we have gone through? Well over 100, I’m sure.  The good news however, is that we have finally cut out the curve in the transom for our motor to mount to! This little bit of progress is huge, as we are now clear to finish fiber-glassing the transom, and set up for our next phase: paint!

Transom is roughly cut and ready for sanding.