yet more progress....YAY

...albeit slower than we wanted.  The weather is somewhat flummoxing us again.  This AM was far too cold to paint latex paints....not just that it was chilly, but the Paint won't work under about 48 degrees.

Ah well, .  So we did a bit of maint. on the frame, moving some of the piers so work would be easier.

I finally gave up and dropped $20 on a cheap two ton bottle jack.  Suddenly difficult things became easy.  If you do one of these projects for godssake go get one.  They'll effortlessly lift the frame so supports can be added, altered, or moved.  I really wish I'd started with one.

Early this AM we moved some of the piers to make construction easier, repaired two of the others, picked up some additional paint supplies and a bit more webbing (we ran out on nylon military surplus web strapping on the last barrel, would you believe?), and more screws.

We strapped on the last two barrels and started with the stringers that will hold the inboard side of the floor.

To make these work we used the pocket hole tool so we could mount them inline.  I've really come to appreciate this little thing.

At the same time, we started painting the precut plywood for the floor with two good coats of barn and fence paint.

So the stringers to support the inboard side of the flooring proceeded across the boat......
the only problem I discovered was that, with the barrels in place, the only way into the frame is crawling in from the ends.  Once you're in the middle, you're in the middle if you get my drift.

So remember your stuff the FIRST trip inside the frame. Otherwise its one trip crawling out after another to remember screws, your pencil, the speedsquare, your water bottle.....

you get the idea....

The floor panels are ready and drying and the stringers ready to support them.  Our floor is a stressed skin structure, only 1/2" thick plywood, glued and stapled around the edges to form a firm floor, rather like a drumskin.....we hope.  Works on stage sets, anyhow.

So more red barn paint, more sealing, more glue, all ready to start coming together tomorrow, provided we don't have snow, locusts, napalm storms, the iceCapades, or monsoons.  Lordie am I tired of this weirdly random weather .

Tomorrow, actually, is supposed to be nice, so hopefully more headway.  For tonight, its a hot bath and dinner with friends.

Thanks to everyone who left comments and who is following our blog.  We hope to keep it worth your while. Please let  us know if we've left anything out or if you'd like more information on any of the construction.

 M