Weekly Update

This update covers two weeks, so get ready for some progress!

Last week, we completed work on three boats. I think that's a record! We said goodbye to the Ski Boat, the Lily Electric, and the Whirlwind.

We also hired a new employee all the way from the NC Coast, Shane! He has been working primarily on the Pelican while he gets his feet wet. On the Pelican, he sanded, taped, cleaned, and painted a top coat for the hull. He then flipped the boat (with help) and masked off varnished area so he could begin the process of removing the deck paint and widening the cracks to fill with new epoxy. This is the process for ensuring all the existing cracks don't come back.

Shane has also been given a kit boat to work on for the course of his training. This week, he sanded the interior seams to prep for adding fillets and glass tape, cut and prepped the glass tape and finished sanding prep. He’s currently applying the fillets to the interior seams.

Jack powered through some major installations for the 18’ Sea Skiff the last two weeks. He installed the strut, began the process of aligning the engine, bunged and epoxied old bolt holes for the engine mount. He did some minor keel repair and installed the fuel tank. When the old bolt holes were dried, he finished aligning the engine and installed new fitting and hoses for the engine. He installed the temp sensor and removed the old plug, installed the blower, wired the blower and the stern light, secured the wires, and installed the speedometer cable. To get the steering set up, he painted the steering column, shaft, and non-stainless hardware. He then installed the steering box, steering column, and steering column bezel. He also installed the exhaust pipe, the fuel tank filler weck, the fuel tank straps, and the bilge siphon. He made and installed mounting brackets for the fuel filter housing. He fit the aft seat shelf to accommodate the blower hose and tied down all hoses and wires that he ran. He also polished the fuel tank vent hardware and started making brackets for the instrument cluster, onto which he mounted the gauges. Whoo did you follow all that? He’s been busy.

On the Lilly, Jack varnished the deck and re-installed the rub rails, some varnished pieces, and the deck cleats. He also redistributed the weight and the team took her out for a sea trial. Then Mike Gregson came by to add some beautiful lettering to her transom.

​Gary has been hard at work on the Mast, it’s starting to look like it could hold up a sail!

​I worked on the 18’ Sea Skiff, adding a final coat of varnish to some pieces and smoothing down the worn edges of the engine box. I also removed all the old hardware and insulation for the box to prep the interior for paint and fresh insulation.

​Nicolas made new frames No. 1 and 3 for the Lyman, which are the “cornerstone” of the entire structure. He also made plans for a new keel, built a new keel base, and cleaned the original keel pieces that can be reused.

​For the International 12, Nicolas has been preparing for the keel installation. He found rot last week and had to cut off the infected part and glue a new piece in its place made of oak. He also drilled new holes for the carriage bolts at the rear end of the keel. 

​Nicolas prepped the edge of the deck by removing all the old upholstery nails and getting all the boards into a cohesive shape. He then used a router all along the interior to trim the deck.

It's been a full two weeks at the shop. Thanks for reading!