Tender Launch

I know what you are thinking.
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"That must be a good boat to keep that Fat Bastard out of the water."
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Well, you're right.
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A successful launch witnessed by Joanne, Katelyn, Peter Crawford, Jim and Kathy Peabody, Chuck and Elaine Jellison along with William's great grandfather Pa Jellison, and Linda and Tom O'Shea.
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Peter Crawford provided the color commentary.
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It did leak somewhat, and the source has not been identified.
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But the trial run was great. After Katelyn and Tom took turns, I rowed out to the mouth of the harbor and back.... about a three mile trek that took me an hour.
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The boat was very stable and fast moving - a credit to the original Herreshoff design.
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Lots of compliments from onlookers.
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It is a freaking good looking boat if I say so myself.
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I hope that Ryan and Will catch a lot of fish from this Tender in Will's future childhood years.
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It is definitely a one rower boat though. I had hoped that two could row together comfortably, but the trial with Katelyn makes this doubtful.
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The next boat, the Marblehead Gunning Dory, should accommodate two easily.
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Now the sailing rig has to be finished to see how the Tender sails.

Power Week

This was as powerful a week as I've had in some time.
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Moved forward with two major projects for Nanepashemet Project Management and submitted a large proposal from out of the blue, met William Nestor, my new grandson, tied up a key loose end for Sundance Pre-school, substantially finished the Tender, and confronted my mortality in Concord, NH in the midst of coming in with the low bid for the NH State Liquor Commission.
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Whew!!!
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As much as the week was exciting, I wouldn't mind a little boredom in the next few days.
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Somehow, that doesn't seem likely.

Countdown

The last step before launching the Tender will be to reinstall the centerboard and permanently epoxy glue the front seat. I'll do that first thing in the morning with fast set epoxy so that it will be dry by noon.
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High Tide tomorrow is 12:57 PM EDT. So the launch will be at 1:00 PM sharp at the Riverhead Landing , Marblehead Harbor, opposite Devereaux Beach at the beginning of the Marblehead Neck Causeway. You are welcome to attend, but it will be pretty boring.
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Contrary to popular opinion, it will not sink!!!!
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After putting the Tender into the water off of the ramp, I plan to row around the perimeter of the Harbor, test for leakage and get the feel of the rowing performance of the boat with the fixed oarlocks. Afterwards, there will be Sam Adams on the deck at Beverly Ave.
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You are welcome to attend that too, and that shouldn't be boring for long.

Can't Top This

Lots of recognition and emails from the Peeps regarding the arrival of the Grandkid, Will Nestor. It was a great day. Even the freaking squirrel laid off of the birdfeeder for a while.
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It will be hard to top that day this summer.
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Even launching the Tender this Sunday won't top it.
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Even catching a Bluefin on Stellwagen won't top it.
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Even Katelyn letting me finish a sentence won't top it.
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Even losing thirty lbs. won't top it.
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Even a case of Lagavulin won't top it. ..... (But that would be close.!!!)

Now do you see what a great day it was????

A Matter of Time

If you look carefully at his aerial view of Lake Umbegog in Errol, New Hampshire.... you can see some young trout that will be harvested from the Tender... hopefully by Kid Nestor someday.

Tender Homestretch

After dinner tonight, the centerboard was fitted. I had to resaw it and plane and sand down to the bare wood, so it will have to be removed and epoxied again.
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The mast is also almost done, but needs to be fitted into the mast support and mast limber. To me as a neophyte sailor, the mast seems much larger than it should be.
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When the centerboard finish is cured, I will reinstall it and permanently epoxy the first bench seat. The back seats will remain loose for removal, but will be sufficiently wedged between the centerboard case and the transom.
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Should be no problem getting to a rowing launch this weekend.

Right on Track

Got a great email from a carrier this morning looking for a proposal. Nice way for Nanepashemet Project Management to start the week.
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I thought this week would be a big one anyway, but now it might be huge.
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Could mean trouble for the Tender launch!!

Further Tender Details

Early this morning, I got the fourth and final coat of interior marine varnish on the Tender. Then I sanded the mast and applied a coat of epoxy to it. After finishing this by 11:00 am, I just had enough time to shower and go with Joanne, Ryan and Courtney for a harbor cruise.
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Seems like kid Nestor is ready to pop. Courtney has carried to term which is good. I'm really interested in seeing this kid make an appearance.
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In the afternoon, I took down the finishing hut, and turned the Tender upside down with the help of Tommy O.
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I've decided to get the centerboard fully operational before a launch, and the centerboard doesn't fit smoothly into its case. So I filed the bottom centerboard opening smooth, but I'll have to substantially plane down the centerboard and refinish it with epoxy before it can be reinstalled.
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By Saturday, I'll be officially ready for a rowing launch. The Sailing launch is planned for July 4th when Mike comes home again.

Fresh Water Plans

I'll be taking the Tender up to Lake Umbagog on the Northern New Hampshire-Maine border this summer as soon as we can get away.
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There is a nice boat ramp up there and the scenery is beautiful.
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Catching a fish would be a bonus.

Impediments to Launch

I got the third coat on just before it started to mist. Doubt that the rain will hold off for the fourth and final coat. Which is ok. Since the mast is near complete, I think that I'll get the entire sailing rig done including installing the centerboard before I put the Tender into Marblehead Harbor.
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The sail won't be stitched together soon, so I'll use the smaller sail that Joanne bought me from Doyle Sailmakers for the Pram that I made a couple of years ago. It's a sprit sail also and is probably a better choice to get the feel of the boat with, since it will be a substantially reefed version of the sail size that is designed for the Tender.
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I never used it because I never got around to building the sailing equipment for the Pram. It will come in handy now though.
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Plus, I have to cut and grommet a custom tarp to make a cover so that I can store this thing properly outside on the trailer. I'll make a stand for the mast so that it can be used to slope the interior of the installed tarp.

Plane the Mast.

Late this afternoon, after calls with a couple of customers and some key vendors, I decided to fool around with shaping the Tender mast with the bandsaw and my hand planes. Much to my surprise, I got into a groove and completely tapered and rounded the main mast.
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Using sharp and well tuned hand planes is an extremely tactile and satisfying experience as the fine shavings curl up from the work piece. The Stanley bench plane that I used was my father's and is at least 40 years old, yet performed flawlessly.
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With a little touch up on the belt sander pulley rig tomorrow, the mast will be ready for epoxy coating. Coat three of the sprayed marine varnish is scheduled for tomorrow morning after the mast sanding is complete. If the weather holds, and I can get another coat in by late Saturday afternoon, the test launch could indeed be Sunday.

Get Out of Bed

Just so you know... while most of you Pathetic Peeps were languishing in your bedsheets on an early Friday morning, I was out getting the second spray coat of marine varnish on the Tender. I don't know why I have to carry the load all of the time!!!
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BTW, it took 57 minutes to set up all of the equipment, do a little sanding, mix the varnish, spray the interior and exterior, clean out the spray gun, put the equipment away, and close the garage door. Call it 1 hour.
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So that's the metric. 1hr/coat of marine varnish.
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At my pay rate of $250/hr, plus $40 for a pint of varnish and thinner, the cost is $290.00. Tack on 10% G&A, and 10% profit, this job gets priced out at $350 bucks.
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So that's $350 Bucks that Nanepashemet Boatbuilders earned while you losers were sleeping. Now what do you think of yourselves??? Pathetic.

Launch Build Up.

Don't get all excited about this, but I got the first spray coat of marine varnish on the interior and exterior of the Tender this afternoon. Three or four more coats and then I will have to actually put it into the water.
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If I get up around 6:00AM tomorrow morning, and get another coat on, that should give me plenty of time to get to my 9:00 AM pricing conference call. After that, I have to go to the Salem Waterfront Hotel for a Sales Meeting. By lunch time, the coat should be dry and I could spray another coat. One more coat on Sat. Morn., and the launch could actually happen this Sunday.
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If you would like to be invited to the launch, feel free to send me an email detailing the worthyness of your request and it will certainly be considered. I might even spring for some Samuel Adams Summer Ales to commemorate the event.

A Name for the Tender

I've received a number of questions regarding a choice of names for the Herreshoff Columbia Tender lately.
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Fair enough.
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It's been tempting to name it "Nanepashemet" after the famous blog and equally renowned project management company.
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Unless somebody suggests a better name in the next week and a half, then that's the way it will go. But I'm open to advise from the Peeps.
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I've already disclosed to Tyler Gill that we will be foregoing the christening with champagne for a quality bottle of Samuel Adams Summer Ale.

Deal with Weather

All day long, it was supposed to rain today. So I decided to build a series of framed tarp panels so that I could enclose the Tender in the driveway, and still start the final marine varnishing step. The frames were cut from some strapping that I had stored under the deck and I have plenty of tarps lying around.
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By 6:00 PM I had five frames built and two tarps attached, but rigor mortis had the best of me.
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If it is not raining tomorrow, I will finish the tarp enclosure, and get the first coat of varnish on the interior.
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There is a tornado warning in effect for Essex County until 8:30PM tonight.

Last Stages

As you can see, the details are just about done on the Herreshoff Columbia Yacht Tender. Except for shaping the masts that have been laminated, there is virturally no construction left to do.
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I have to sew the sail, but I won't wait for this to be done before launching. The launch will be a rowing event.
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Nothing left but to prepare the surfaces with a 220 grit sanding, then begin the spray varnishing. I also have to epoxy fasten the seats and finalize the centerboard, but these are minor operations.
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June is definitely the month to test drive the Tender.

POTW Week 22

I have no excuse for the tardiness of the Peep of the Week selections today.
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Maybe it was the full Moon.
Maybe the project management business is pre-occupying.
Maybe the Tender obsession has gotten out of hand.
Maybe I'm just a bad person.
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But I'm human.... like the rest of you... and I make mistakes.
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So KMA! Here they are....
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ANNOUNCING
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 22nd week of 2007

Katelyn Nestor
Nathaniel Philbrick
Mark Ferrante
Kelly Clarke
Diane Sawyer
Mark Ryan

Now get off of your high horse and don't squander your obligation to make this world a little bit better today.

Tender Homestretch

So Close.

I'm not going to start varnishing until the masts are done though.

Then we'll see if this floats

Herreshoff Columbia Launch Punchlist.

Today, he interior was sanded and a final epoxy coating was applied. Even though the boat looks finished and ready to launch, there is still a ton of work to do....
1 Day

• Oar Blocks attached and fitted
• Centerboard attached to case
• Rudder hardware attached to the transom
• Rudder attached to the Tiller

1 Day

• Mast constructed and shaped
• Mast fitted into first seat

4 Days

• 1st coat of marine varnish sprayed
• Seating attached to hull
• 2nd coat of marine varnish sprayed
• 3rd coat of marine varnish sprayed
• Hull turned over and sanded with 220 grit
• Exterior coat of Marine varnish sprayed
• Final coat of marine varnish sprayed interior and exterior

2 Days

• Sail Stitched together
• Rigging applied to mast and sail

That's eight work days before the Herreshoff Columbia Yacht Tender touches the salt in Marblehead Harbor. It won't be easy to squeeze these work days in before the 4th of July, but that is the goal.

Sanding Resolve

OK, I'm ready.
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It's 9:30 AM. I'll fire up the sander and do nothing but sand the interior of the tender until 2:00 PM. Then I'll shower and have a Sam Adams Summer Ale.