Project FloatingAbode Diary
16 May, 2000 The weekend was a nightmare because it was so hot - I'd carry a sheet of plywood along the boat and then have to cool down for 30 mins. I ended up sleeping for much of Sunday afternoon. Nevertheless, some progress is being made. I'm still busy at work but I've started going home at psuedo-sensible times and the evenings are staying lighter longer so I get a bit done every night. The last two nights have seen the floor-bearing battens progress along the boat, closely followed by the 18mm thick WBP plywood boards: As you can see, there's only another 8' to go! The floorboards are being laid with no particular order at the moment. The last 8' are split into 2' widths but everywhere else is simply 4' x 5' 10" boards. I'll jigsaw these into more manageable liftable boards later after I draw out the floor plan onto them. By the end of today, I should be completely floorboarded and ready to really start tackling the hull side linings. When I have one hull side lined, I'll be able to get some plumbing installed - yay! Speaking of which, the kitchen sink arrived yesterday from Penguin Engineering (www.penguineng.com). A little bit premature maybe but it'll encourage me to get on with things: I have also started to work towards getting the portholes in permanently. This will involve re-drilling the holes in the cabin sides larger and filing out square holes in the porthole frames to accept the big coach bolts I've chosen (for security they can't be undone from the outside). Before they are finally sealed in, I will need to take them all out and paint the cabin sides (2 coats undercoat and 2 coats gloss). Here's the first one, I quite like the big heads on those bolts: I can't remember if I've already mentioned it or not (it's only just visible on the design page) but the portholes are arranged along the sides of the boat where I felt the most light would be required. By chance, this resulted in an even spacing that I'm very pleased with the look of. In addition, the positioning of the two side hatches I wanted coincided with porthole positions so Reeves suggested a single door rather than the more usual double door. This seems to work well. The hatch in the picture is especially wide to take a washing machine (corridor will be too narrow). That's all for now - better go and get the rest of my floorboards down. I haven't forgotten about the copy of the spec I promised to put on here.. just have to find the time.
