Out of the tent!

I pulled the boat out of the tent. I hooked it up to the truck and pulled it out. The truck pulled the boat and trailer without any trouble. Once out, I took a rag and dusted all of the cobwebs and sawdust off of the inside and out, and snapped a few pictures.

Then I put the bimini top, side curtains and aft cover on the boat. There are a few snap buttons missing from where I refinished and repainted, but I kept them. I'll put them back on. The side curtains shrank up pretty good. I had to use some muscle to stretch them on.

Bottom done...

I finished putting the final coat on the bottom. It is done. I finally have a bit of a reprieve from sliding around on my back in the dirt under the boat.

I also finished up mounting the helm controls. It took a while because I had to cut a wedge shaped piece of mahogany to fit the contours of the inside of the boat. I had to use my dad's band saw, then finish it with varnish.

I have also decided that I am going to get rid of the trailer once I get the boat in the water. I'll get a new one or a recently built used one. I do not like the keel rollers on this one, and it weighs a billion pounds.

I'll mount the engine this week, and schedule a date for splashdown.

More bottom work

I added a second coat of bottom paint yesterday.

After that I reinstalled the bilge pump, with a new float switch. I'll tidy up the wires later.

Not Pictured: Ran all of the wiring for the trim/tilt controls. The engine control connections are all pretty much set for the engine to be installed. The only thing that has to wait is the steering cable. I have to attach it to the engine first, then attach the cable to the hull so everything is perfectly aligned.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

I took the day off from work. I have a lot of leave time built up, so I took a day to work on the boat.

I got a ton of work done on the bottom. I started off by finishing filling the nail and screw holes that I couldn't finish last week because I ran out of filler. While that was setting up, I caulked the keel/garboard joint. I also ran a bead of caulk under the brass cutwater (not pictured).

Then I started sanding all the filler smooth. I'm sure there are a number of "purists" who would laugh at my work here. But it's smooth enough for me.

By the time that was done, the bottom was ready for the first coat. I thinned down the first coat of bottom paint, so that it will really soak into the wood and adhere.

Getting near the end...

Moving right along...

Today, I got a bunch done.

I started out by doing the final coat on the bilge. I have been procrastinating that job. Now I can start putting in the mechanical components. The bilge pump and float switch can be installed, and all of the wires can be buttoned down.

Then I continued work on the bottom. I finished scraping the old paint from under the bow and under the port waterline. I then took the sander to the entire bottom, covering all of the areas that I scraped. Holy cow, that was a messy job.

After that, I started filling the nail and screw holes. I ran out of filler about three quarters of the way through. So I'll have to pick up some more.

Also the caulk that I bought for the keel would not come out of the tube, it had solidified. I'll pick up a tube of that as well.

Let there be LIGHT!

Got the lights working. It was a pain trying to figure out where the break was.

Then I did a little scraping on the bottom, but the bugs were gathering, so I quit for the night.

No pictures

Forgot the camera. Sorry.

Continued scraping the bottom. The only part left is just under the bow, and a few spots on the port side near the waterline. Once I'm done with that, I'll caulk and fill.

I also installed the "L's" for the table leg, and got a trailer hitch installed on my truck.