Building Log Vessel working name "Herriot"

7/8/97 Plans Ordered Stevenson Projects

7/14/97 Got plans in the mail and started to study ... quick service, they had said up to 4 weeks for delivery

7/24/97 Obtained wood for keel. Had to have some 2x lumber planed down to 1x. Great Plains lumber (now UBC) has some good looking 16 footers for Mast material. Marked my first curves on the Keel pieces with Katie's help. Cut the stringers and made storage overhead for them in the Garage

7/25/97 Friday. Cut first curves on large keel piece. Marked several other boards for Stem and Keel. 2 hours

7/26/97 Saturday Blazingly hot day. Bix run was this am with 80 degree temp and 90% humidity. Cut out small keel and stem pieces. 1 hour.

7/27/97 Sunday. Went shopping afternoon for plywood. Came home just as a large blustery storm started. Got the car garaged just in time. Later after clearing and cooling, I marked the center Keel pieces, cut them and did my first glue up with the water based DAP glue. Broke the bit on my counter sink on the fourth hole. Katie helped quite a bit that evening marking out the angles and curves of the Center Keel assembly. Maybe 3 hours total.

7/28-7/31 Monday.. was on call finished up some glueing of keel parts 1 hour. Tuesday put on small stern block part to finish keel assembly. Wednesday laid out parts on plywood 1 hour. Thursday finished marking most major deck and bottom parts along with bulkheads. Cut and cut till I had a small trash can full of sawdust. 4 hours total I guess. Still have hull bottom to mark curves (4 piece lay up) and cut.

8/3/97 Was out in the Garage the Day of the big storm... 90mph winds with heavy rain, and wood down all over town. I just got my plywood parts picked up in time to get Jaci's van in the garage before the big wind hit. Lady luck casino broke her moorings and floated over to the lateral dam. Neighbors all around lost trees etc. Did manage to get all major plywood pieces cut. 3 hours

8/5/97 Tuesday night finally had some cleanup done from the storm and put on a couple of stringers. 2 hours

8/7/97 Thursday. Did yard work in the morning, and put together top hull pieces, trimmed sides of bottom hull piece. Did more stringer bending and installation. 3 hours

8/10/97 Sunday. Got to work about 5:00 pm. put on final top hull long curved stringer, cut stringer out of 1x for the transom to connect up, and got the top surface of the keel straight level and true. The sternblock has a slight warp to it that will have to be dealt with. To do any more now, I'll have to commit some space in the garage, and have a tarp ready. Maybe about 3 hours of good work Sunday.

8/24/97 Sunday... got through the trip to Kansas, and the 2 events for Mary Dodd's wedding homecoming and the yard work most of sunday. Katie helped me mount the Hull bottom stringers, and we attached the bottom to the keel. More yard work then that evening attached the transom (what a booger)

bending those 2 pieces of wood was easier said than done. Had to improvise slightly, but should be satisfactory over all. Probably 3 hours over all devoted to boat work that day. Hey we're now 3 dimensional.

8/26/97 Faired the port side stringers, and Cut out and glued up mast box pieces. 2 hours.

8/28/97 Mounted mast box part, and mounted fore port side panel.

8/31/97 Mounted various stringers to prepare for other hull sides. Also finished putting in mast collar etc. 2 hours. We also had Church, I sang at late mass, and then had the neighborhood picnic later in the afternoon.

9/1/97 Labor day was a day of labor, but not on the boat. Cleaned up the yard.. mowed.. cut old gutter off back of garage, put on roofing tar on valley of house, took down dead tree in ravine, took out all the weeds in the old garden area in back of garage. Also went to pool one last time.

9/4/97 Thursday again. Lots of yard work, Thursday lunch with Jaci and Thomas, Indian princess recruiting, and finally got port side aft hull piece in just before Taking Anna to soccer. Maybe 1 good hour. Then Logan School Dad's Club fun night.

9/5/97 Rolled out to driveway as Acorn crop really coming down, and wanted to park car in garage

9/6/97 Replace trailer bearings after work Saturday. Took Katie sailing on Mississippi, but had to come in early as we lost steerage, and made temporary repairs. Went to Lowes that night to replace rudder hardware.

9/7/97 Extended the trailer tongue, and made center rail for new boat to sit on it.

9/9/97 Got some steel for new rail brackets, and mounted 1 before dark.

9/10/97 Mounted other rail on trailer... tomorrow is Thursday... hooray.

9/11/97 Hey everybody... its a boat... I have all the hull sides on, and even test fitted it on the trailer. Did some general stringer work for the cabin, and then went to Soccer with Anna and to Logan for meet the teacher night. Probably got in 4 hours of good work today. Bought wood for the rub rails at Menards, and Thomas and I went through the Halloween Tunnel and for a ride on the EVELATOR.

9/18 9/25 9/28 Stringer work then installed Cabin Trunk Sides, Rub Rails 8 hours est

10/2/97 Rafters cut and shaped. Installed them with rafter chocks also custom cut., and finished bottom rub rails. 4 hours

10/5/97 Took girls to lake George sailing... unbelievable late fall weather. warm as can be today in the 80's high end. They complained that the little boat had no room for food.

10/9/97 Cabin roof and small plywood inserts finished and installed. 3 hours It's under cover now could tarp it without as much worry about filling with water. If fall ever really arrives, I may have to.

10/11 10/12 Pat and Donna came for a visit. Picked up some sealant at K and K and Thomas got a fire hat from the fireman there. Leaves are starting to fall, and soon will take up the bulk of my "spare" time.

About Nov1 I figured out how to put the boat forward in the garage, and thus could store it and store the cars too.. so it is pulleyed and winched on it's side for the winter.

March 26 1998 The weather was finally warm enough to get the boat hoisted down from it's position in front of the garage, and play with a little of the epoxy from my system 3 trial kit on some scrap. Even got brave enough to mix some micro balloon putty and fair a small spot on top of the cabin.

March 28 and 29 Laid out parts and cut parts for the cockpit seating, and also tried out the Dewalt random orbit sander. Now all the major ply parts have been cut. Need to make decisions on whether to sacrifice storage space in favor of floatation.. Will do the math and figure out how much foam I want and where. Once the cockpit seats go in, the boat will be turned over for putty and fiberglass.

5/7/98 Finally got to working again... put in 2 or so hours on the seats in the cockpit

5/14/98 Finished sanding, and put the first coat of paint.... on the old hull... the mini cup.Hey I have to sail something while I build.

5/16/98 Second coat of paint on the old hull. Now after it sets, I can roll it out to make room to work on the Weekender.

5/17/98 What a day... got the cabin shelves in, and the seat stringers and seats finished. IE the last holes drilled through the hull before it's time to glass. Now I have to wait for the Marine Inversion Festival to turn her over.

5/18/98 Roofers arrive 7:00 am 6 guys start the tear down...hmm wonder if they'd turn over a hull? Nah. This week knocked out any chance of boat work as the house and garage are re roofed. Spent Thursday putting new gutter on the garage post roofing. Maybe the long holiday weekend will see the turning of the boat.. Or at least put together my fiberglass and resin order. Have settled on system 3.. Hey I liked their trial kit for playing with the glass

6/4/98 Thursday again. Took Thomas to lake George for his first sail aboard the Mini. He got a little nervous when the boat tilted, until he realized that this is when it goes fast. We sailed over to the rental dock, and got ice cream and pop. Overall a dream experience for a first sailing adventure for a 4 year old boy.

6/11/98 Got through with the week's visit to Kansas, and my 15 year Vet College reunion, and this was it.. Inversion day. Instead of getting help from the neighbors (Thursday again) I rolled her over after routing and sanding the rub rails. Used ratchet straps and pulleys to gently turtle her single handed.

6/14/98 Despite being on call, I got to work on filling screw holes and voids ... also coated the entire bottom in preparation for the glass.

6/15/98 did a little sanding and got some paint to test on a patch of scrap plywood to see if it is compatible with the epoxy system. Put new gas lifts on the rear hatch of my car.

6/23/98 Six Flags trip with Neighbor kids along for the ride

6/30-7/3 Out of town guests. I demo’d some glassing for my Dad who was visiting, and sanded a little bit in between .. somehow hull bottom glassing was completed

7/4 My Father had a Temporary ischemic event upon his return to Kansas. Family on Pins and needles

7/8/98 Left for Wichita for Dad’s Surgery. He had carotid artery opened surgically.

7/10/98 Back to Moline for Katies consult with the ortho doctor.

7/13/98-7/22/98 Off camping in South Dakota. Wonderful time Dad Continues to do well

8/1 Sometime after my return, I got busy on building and less busy on this log&ldots; seems if I’m going to make up for lost time, I’ve got to buckle down&ldots; Got her turned back over, and paint went on. Finished inside cockpit glass etc. Also finished the rudder box, and made the rudder cable connections. Had to go through a few iterations of tightening to get it right.

8/20/98 Wrestled her onto the trailer in the morning.. quite a chore without any winch. Used a pipe roller under the keel finally along with some ratchet straps. Bought stuff for a winch stand that day, and finished the winch stand that Friday. Could have used it earlier, but didn’t know where to mount or how high to make it before the boat was on.

8/27/98 She’s not rigged for sail, but the Launch day was here..

Check out continuing adventures for post launch adventures and finishing.