Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Birthdays, bronze and boat movers...

Work has been fun here since we got the mast glued.  This had been a worry and a challenge, so we didn't feel we could book the boat to be moved until it was done, and we knew where we were.

So Impetuous is listed on U-ship to be moved on or after the 8th of March.  We've a long list of local boat movers to call but for the next few days we'll see what u-ship comes up with.  This is an auction website that I (Ruth) used, to help my mum move with great effect.  In that instance it quartered the cost from her first original quote!  You register the details of the job; to move a 38ft boat with mast from Dickinson to Kemah (only about 12 miles) and wait for the hauliers to place bids.  With this job we'll be perhaps a little picky; I insist on proper insurance and someone who takes careful consideration over what to do about our rusty cradle!

I had a quiet birthday here working on the boat.  We're chugging through the jobs nicely but I couldn't help but think how nice it would have been to celebrate my birthday with a big splash!

We borrowed Rogers big truck to go and buy batteries on one of the rainy days we've had.  Whilst on the road we stopped in at the 'junk shop' and got our best ever bargain there yet; a BCD (buoyancy control device) each for scuba diving and a pair of fins for me, all for $50. Then it really felt like birthday treat time!
 
 
We've taken lots of advice on our chainplates and have decided to make new ones from bronze.  It was not as expensive as we'd first been lead to believe.  Bronze will be easier to work with and potentially last forever.  We found out that stainless steel has a life expectancy generally agreed of around 25ish years.  In the end the decision was easy.  Almost as wonderful as how it will look is that we could get the bronze from Galveston, delivered for free for very little more than the stainless would have cost us online.
 
Here's what $500 worth of bronze looks like.  Don't be fooled by that relative tidiness, the other end of the workbench is a chaotic pile of allsorts!

We'll be posting the finished products all in due course.  We're eager to make the first soon but we have eight to make. The grinding might get a little old in the tooth by the eighth chainplate so they won't all get finished until we're in the water.  At that time our jobs list will change; 'before splash day' to 'before mast stepping day'.

At first we were a little concerned by these little cracks that were down one side in amongst the mill marks from where they pull it out of some gert big machine. 
But then with a little light sanding they soon polished out.  Evidently this is why where we ordered 3/8" they sent us almost a 1/2"!  We're already trying to think of a use for all the bronze dust.
 

Now that the boom is being varnished, the mast shaping has commenced.  This is going to be a bit of a job. The routing and planing don't take so long and you can see the results as you go.  The sanding at the end is another matter.  Even with Duncan's beloved 40 grit (very coarse sandpaper) it is very tiring.  Perhaps if we swapped the paper more than once an hour...

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Woooohooooooo! Well now this is all very exciting. BCD's too! Let's meet in Pitcairn and dive on the Bounty?.... We've created a blog too. A bit of a pain at first isn't it?! It's for selling the Unimog. If I knew how to link to it in a clever way I would tell you, but i don't. It's unimogforsale.blogspot.co.uk Though you've been in her, but maybe you have some Texan chums that want to rumble over mountains? She's a good step to us leaving. The boat is coming along now in leaps and bounds and should be ready to put up for sale in a couple of months or less hopefully, then maybe we can finally be on our way! Love you guys, you look nice and brighteye. See you in a bit init. Me and her. x

Kelley - Sailing Chance said...

We used Christine Transport to move our 34' from CT to FL and couldn't of been happier. Completely professional, communicative and insured. I would definitely look them up! Good luck!

Impetuous said...

Thanks Kelley, we've emailed them to ask for a quote. We wanted to ask your advice on a sewing machine to sew sails. What do you have and are you happy with it? We were looking at sailrites but they're pricey. Also looked at morse and old singers. We wanted to be able to do zigzag. Like the Cork idea. We chose natural stone tiles for similar reasons though they can be hard to keep clean.

Anonymous said...

Hello Ruthey...Just working out with Lucaz how to comment on your blog. Looks good :-) Rhian x