MOVING

MOVING DAY is almost here. I will be moving from NW Houston down to Pasadena, TX. But, I have a problem, no trailer for my Paradox, TARDIS. The bottom needed to be finished so I could roll it over one last time, and then put it on a trailer.

Yesterday, I got on the computer and looked through Craig's List. I was thinking that I could just get anything that was in my price range. I only need to haul her about 45 miles to the new home. Then, when she is finished and ready for the water, I will find one that "fits". So, I'm looking and find one for $200. I talk to the seller, tell him that I am building a boat, have to move it, and don't have much money. He says, "how about $100". I say, "sold!"

Did I mention it didn't have lights? Yeah, so I went to Harbor freight and bought the towing lights with magnets. When I try to "stick" the lights on, there is so much rust that they don't stick very well. And how do we solve problems like that? Duct tape, of course. License plate, well, it didn't have one of those either, and I was running errands when the seller returned my call. I didn't want to go all the way back home and get the plate off my other trailer, so I just took a chance. As I pulled away with the trailer, I said, "Lord, please turn the policeman's head when I drive by." And you know what? He did. A police car passed me on the freeway and didn't stop me. I made it all the way home without incident. I did need help getting it backed into the driveway though. My son Shawn, helped me. The trailer is actually for an 18' boat, but for that price, I couldn't pass it up.

Today, I put the first coat of paint on the bottom of TARDIS. I wanted to use navy blue, but Home Depot in Kemah did not have it in blue. The bottom is black. I am using RUST-OLEUM Marine Coatings. I'll let you know how it holds up.

About 20 minutes after I finished painting, a cloud came up and the wind pulled down the shade over TARDIS. I scrambled to get it back up before it started to rain. With help from my daughter, Amy, the tarp covering was back in place and the paint had already dried enough that the finish was not messed up. The paint was still tacky, it got wet, but didn't seem to hurt it. I think I will like this paint.

Moving... yeah, I hate it too. Packing. I feel the need to down size. There is a pile of "stuff" in the middle of the room. Stuff that is good, I don't want to throw it away, but don't want it either. I first thought - Garage Sale. I want to get out of this house as soon as possible, so I don't know when I would be able to have a garage sale. I don't really want to drag it to Pasadena and then sell it. The whole point of getting rid of it was that I didn't have to move the stuff. What do I do? Oh, now my head hurts! I'll go get me a glass of tea and think about it while I throw stuff in a box.

DAVE GRAY

A fellow boatbuilder and sailmaker, Dave Gray, lives in Florida. I have visited his website,PolySail International and read postings on several different yahoo forums, but never met the man. Last week, I found myself in Florida and met Dave, also known as PolySail Dave and his lovely wife, Dixie. Dave builds and sails small boats and builds sails from polytarp. He supplies low-cost, high performance polytarp sails and sailmaking kits to home boatbuilders, since 1996.

When I arrived, he was working on the rigging of his newest build, Wedgie. A very nice little boat, complete with a water gun that will shoot up to 50 feet. Built for kids, but adults can enjoy it too.

After visiting for a little while, Dave took me to Jensen Beach and showed me where he sails his small boats. Just down the road a piece is The Dolphin Bar & Shrimp House. While sitting at the bar and enjoying a drink and snacks, you have a beautiful view of the water. Very nice and relaxing place. And I did enjoy my margarita!

We had a nice visit. It is always fun to meet a fellow boatbuilder and swap stories. Dave plans to attend Sail Oklahoma! next month. It will be a wonderful gathering of many sailors and boatbuilders at Lake Eufaula. Everyone is invited to attend. The hosts, Mike & Jackie Monies are wonderful people and have worked really hard to ensure all attending will have a great time. So, take a few days off work and get to Oklahoma next month!

No Workout Today.

My dumbbells served another purpose.

The woven roving has been laid and the ground plate in place. I read how Glen Maxwell used a vacuum bag to accomplish this in the file section of the Paradox Yahoo Group. However, I didn't have the equipment to do it that way, so I used what I had... lots of weight.

First, I drilled holes around the perimeter of the copper flashing, then counter-sunk them. The epoxy oozed up through the holes and then acted as rivets to help hold the flashing in place. To hold the flashing flat while the epoxy cured, I placed a scrap of 5 mm plywood on top and then added lots of weight to hold it against the hull.

The bottom is almost ready for the paint. I'm thinking navy. That's next on my to-do list, buy the paint. I'm hoping she will be right-side up soon, and then never again up-side down.