Boat update 2

Alright, having some formatting issues again so I just moved on. It took a couple of weeks to get the first part done. Next I had to cut the plywood for the bunk. My boss at Perseverance used to build sailboats for a living so he showed me a really cool trick for getting complex curves. It involves a template of scrap wood and a block of hardwood. Attach template material to area you want to cut shape too. Then moving the block of wood along and making little lines on the end away from curve onto the template. Then take the template and attach it to the wood you want to cut, take the same block and line it up with your marks, then mark the wood to be cut on the opposite end of the block. Connect the marks into a line and cut. The more marks the more precise. It worked like a dream!

First piece in and second laying on top of it.

Both pieces in. The bed space is 4' 6" wide and removable by a few screws. The outside area of that are separate pieces of ply that were permanently attached and will hold our storage cabinets for cloths and such. I also attached sacrificial 2x4 blocks to the support beams for more surface area to land the plywood and to screw into. This should eliminate damage to the actual supports. I also boat a new LED light and switch for the storage area, switch seen just under 2x4 on upper right hand side of bulkhead. It lights when the light is on so we won't be accidentally lighting the area.

Next came the nice Oak end cap for the mattress to keep it from sliding off. This was attached to the 2x4 supports. Starting to really look like a bed! So excited!

Sarah spend the whole day and made a canvas cover for the foam we bought and we slid it in. Perfect! This shot show a little better the side boards that will be our storage cabinets for cloths etc. We will also leave about 4" on either side of the mattress just for some more room. On top of this foam will be a thin memory foam pad that came off the bed at home, she is tailoring that today.

Sorry, boat was rocking pretty good. This shot is too show the new lighting on the boat. I took out the old 70's style camper lights and replaced them all with marine grade LED lighting. It really made a huge difference. This cost me about $300 to completely install but so worth it. 3 ft one over the future kitchen table, 18" one over the galley, 1 foot light on bulkhead of v-berth door facing into the room with a switch right there, also 2 small directionally adjustable lights for the front of the v-berth to read by, and an under the shelf adjustable one for the cooking area. I also bought an 18 inch one for the head. It has clips that attach it to the wall and internal batteries that charge and hold for 3 hours. This allows me a light I can pop off the wall and take where its needed. Pretty cool. Sarah also bought us Christmas lights for a mellower lighting that I put up just after this shot.

Took a moment to enjoy the view. Our boat in the foreground and another Rawson right behind us and Mt. McGinnis in the back ground. Great view!

View from my back deck tonight as the sun began to set. Love it!

Well that is it for now, we are in full move and organize mode now and some final touches to the v-berth. Will post as soon as I can. We are so ready to be done with the move and settle in. Snow came down on the mountains to the shoulders last night and want to get on with making the boat ready for winter. Looking forward to enjoying our nice new bunk and warming next to the Dickenson stove.

Boat Update

Alright, so been super busy with working the two jobs, school and the boat. Haven't had much time to post but I thought I would just stick up some pics of the progress with quick explanations and leave it at that. So without further adieu...

After sanding and cleaning I fiber glassed in the new bulkhead board for the bed support. We also glued in Reflectix insulation (1/4 inch thick) to the walls and epoxied in blocks to the hull for the attachment strips. This took a couple of days to finish. All wood is either oak (blocks) or 3/4 inch CDX plywood. 

another shot to show the initial insulation and block method.

Next we connected the blocks with 1/2 inch thick strips of luan, which is a hard wood material that comes in 1/4 inch thickness, cut strips from a 4x8 sheet. Its very flexible and allowed for the curvature. Next we cut and inserted 1" thick polystyrene that also has a reflective side into the "boxes" the strips had created and stuffed extra Reflectix under the strips in the hollow spaces. Not shown in this shot it we then used ducting tape to seal it all together and eliminate drafts. This will help to keep the interior and the hull isolated from each other and has basically eliminated sweating in the v-berth. Worked better than I hoped. Should also keep us pretty warm this winter!

another close-up of the wall look. Still feels like living in a jiffy pop! lol

So after the insulation we stapled in this plastic sheeting that is very flexible and almost indestructible to the strips and covers the insulation. This gives a water barrier on the inside for sweating and is also easy to clean until I get the wood panelling up and protects the insulation from our cats and incidental damage. I also cut a large door that pulls out into the bulkhead for access to the storage space under the bunk. Then the 2x4 bed supports were attached and support (cat blockers) blocks installed on the bulkhead top. We don't want the cats being able to get below.

This is the floor of the v-berth storage with an 8x8 inch access door for cleaning out the front of the keel. This area used to collect a lot of water, but since sealing the windows and the bowsprit along with the lack of sweating it has been bone dry for 3 weeks. None the less thought it was good to be able to check it quickly and easily in the future. As you can see I used hurricane straps to connect the 2x4 supports to the bulkhead. I am not sure how they will hold up, but once the rest was done they were redundant so I will watch and see.

 

 

 

Skagway Train Trip

So Lance and Mary came to visit us here in good old Juneau, and as per classic Juneau, it rained most of the time. LOL. We did get some decent weather but for the most part it is now fall up here, the rains have returned and the trees are beginning to loose their leaves. While they were here we did some pretty classic tourist things, ie lots of fish and chips. Halibut is so good when its deep fried! Also while they were here we went on a trip to Skagway. This is just north about 150 miles in the back of a glacial cut fjord. As a child we went there a few times, rode the train and even hiked the Chilkoot trail with my scout troop. This trip was to do some window shopping and for a train ride. Woohoo, Choo Choo!!! I love trains! Sarah and her folks had never been to Skagway so it was exciting for them to see a different area. I am continuously amazed how much the land changes in such a short distance. The types of trees, ground cover (or lack there of) and the general geology is so vastly different from our soggy moss covered forests of huge evergreen trees. The weather in general was decent, high overcast, but no rain, so that was good. Temps averaged around 55 and got chillier in the passes. I have a  friend of mine who said the very next week those same passes got dusted with their first snow of the year, here it comes! So anyways, going to post up some pics of the train ride and such and will explain along the way. All aboard that are going aboard!

Mountain view from the ferry of Eagle (left) and Herbert (right) glaciers on the north end of Juneau

Lance and I hanging outside, enjoying a nice break in the weather and the views

I love the mist moving through the peaks, seriously rugged country up there

One of hundreds of waterfalls along the way, this one is really large though, some drops of 100ft. or more

It really amazes me this place we live, like a national park everywhere I look

Eldrid Rock Lighthouse, quite the establishment in the middle of nowhere

Sarah in front of the largest snow blower ever! It is now decommissioned, but it used to right the tracks and clear the snow, drifts of 20 ft or more!

The snow blower in its entirety

The family in front of a classic icon of Skagway. Pretty sure my folks have pics of me and my sister in the same place. lol

Looking down through the trestle as we pass over it. Exciting

 One of my favorite shots, shows the steep elevation of the area and some awesome geology.

 This is shot from a moving platform at full telephoto, so not so clear, but not too bad

 An old trestle no longer used, sure glad its in really bad shape

The trail of  '98, look carefully and you can see the gold seekers foot trail in the ravine.

 The border. We were not allowed to leave the train and this is where the engine was disconnected and put on the other end of the train and down we went.

 View down into the ravine under the old not used trestle!

 This is the replacement trestle and a nice view point to catch the train and the mountains in the background

As always I was intrigued by the local geology and found these rocks of particular interest. It looks natural to a point but some later views showed that possibly they dug into this for mines, also not a bad place to set up camp!

Sorry for duplicate

So there has been some issues with this post, things double, don't show up and delete one and everything is gone, so this is the best I could get it, couldn't remove the double sheep shot, it is supposed to be a different one, also formatting is totally out of my control, so anyhoo here it is. Figured enough trying to fix it, just post it.
The trip was awesome, love the area and the train ride. Really glad we got to experience it and was great to travel with Lance and Mary. We at our fill of Fish and Chips while they were here and Lance and I had  venison burgers  made from the dear I helped haul out last fall with a friend of mine in Sitka. Tasty!!

So anyways, there ya go, good trip for all and a safe return.