Our first voyage - Glen Cove Marina, North of Conowingo Dam

We've completed alot of the final work since our last posting to this blog. The engine is running, the trailer is finished with the proper supports and the console/electronics are hooked up. In July, we proved the seaworthiness of the boat and now it's time to load up and put it in the water for a real run.

Pulling out of the Tony's barn on our way to Glen Cove Marina

The boat ran well in the water. Everything was very dry on our way up the Susquehanna river. The engine was very strong and Dave was a master driving the boat. 

Dave at the helm of SHO SCIFF

Tim was Dave's first mate

We really stretched the 60 HP motor out and everything in the boat shook. The steering console looked like it was bouncing off the floor and the floor was bouncing hard. We idled back to about half speed and decided that's the right speed for the boat. Much more smooth ride and everything went well on our trip up to Broad Creek. We drove the boat all they way up the creek into really shallow water. The boat rides very high and did a good job in the shallows ...

... AND THEN THE ENGINE STARTED SMOKING. No big deal but it was a bit of a scare for about five minutes. Mostly because we couldn't get it started again. Captain Chesapeake was able to start the motor up and we decided that the motor needed a tuneup since it hadn't been running for a long time. So we headed back.

We found a small leak towards the back of the boat. We're figure out how to fix this over the next week while the engine is in the shop. It will keep things interesting for a while.

Tony (aka Captain Chesapeake) enjoying our first day on the river

In the water at last

First fish caught on the skiff and it is a big one

David's fish, a little better than Tony's

July 13th 2016

Tony, AKA Captain Chesapeake is Aligning the Front of the trailer with the boat

Admiring the Skiff mounted on it's new wheels

The sleek look of the skiff

David has just completed the task of brushing on the finish to the bottom of the Skiff

Also, tonight the eye bolt in the front was mounted

July 6th

July 6th

The trailer was painted on Wednesday.

Captain Chesapeake took it to the Amish weld shop on Thursday to get the necessary modifications made.

Trailer is Painted and ready to go!

Another view

Close up of the elevated rails

July 5th

5 July

Tony determines the required angle

Making the cut, that was easy ... not

Last Day In June

Jim Grinds off the bolts

David Paints the Console

1st Coat is coat is complete

Tony mounts the stainless steel transom plate

while Jim looks on

Painted stripe at the water line

The last 2 nights resulted in a quality, finished look to the mighty Darlington Skiff. Tony (Captain C) and Jim Proudly pose as the fresh paint dries in the unusually cool summer air. We painted the inside and outside in one night. 

Here are a few other views of the SKIFF in various stages of being painted. Tim and Tony are working in the boat.

On Tuesday, Dave and Jim sanded the entire boat while Tony and Tim cut the board for the transom. The sanding looks pretty good now but we needed to use a light to find the majority of the imperfections. We're thinking the surface will be pretty smooth once finished. Tonight it the end of three weeks of sanding!!!

Tim and Tony took a longggggg time to cut a single board for the transom. We had no idea what they were really doing but it must have been instense.

6-1-16 The great transom cut and drain plug install

Wednesday June 1st we gathered again in Tim's fine barn/workshop.

There was much accomplished on this fine evening. We installed the second rub rail on the port side

of the boat. We had to wait 2 weeks to install because we needed all the pipe clamps and had to leave them on the previously curing starboard side.  

 

 

 Tim and Dave were working diligently all evening. Dave using the palm sander to smooth out all the topside trim and Tim with the belt sander .  

 While Tim and Dave were stirring up dust.... I went around the boat to fill any missed or under covered screw heads with wood putty.

 Tim with great style and perfection cut out the transom with a jig saw. It turned out perfectly. We had to remove a few stainless screws to prevent damage to his saw.




 This picture to my right was very simple yetmade all of us very nervous.
Basically that bright circle at the bottom of the transom is the newly installed drain plug.
It feels a little weird to take a 1 inch paddle bit and put a hole intentionlly in the beautiful transom we have been working on all these weeks. It was basically a peice of cake after measuring and double checking the measurements before drilling.  Done....just like that.

Nice view of the boat with the transom cut out.  We are getting close... I would say about 80% complete.

Measuring for transom cut

I am posting this oldtime photo on how to measure for transom cut.

Pictures from 12 and 19 May

David and Tony after cutting out all decking boards
and faring with the side of the boat, ready to  glue and screw

Tony posing after a late night of gluing and fastening the deck

The bad saw cut heard round the world.

          This is an interesting video documenting the absolute mayhem between Tim, Sid , David , and Tony the night that we were screwing up the angles and cuts on the floor butt blocks.  It will be part of the blog to remind us of our most unproductive work night on record.

Top Side Trim Coming together 5-18-16

5-18-16


We installed all the top side marine plywood along with the 3 inch trim piece that with serve as the interior border to the top decking.  The boat is starting to look like a finished boat.

We accomplished quite a bit this evening. I was told during the course of the night that there was some 5200 adhesive on my nose.  I forgot to take it off and went home straight to bed that night.

For anyone who decides to build a boat ....watch out for 5200. I spent 30 minutes scrubbing my nose to remove this nasty material.

 Tim taking a moment to take in the nights work.

A nice view of the boat.....note the transom posts are still left high in the back. They will be cut down and finished in the weeks to come.

Visiting boat builder from Germany

5/11/16


Great night.... Tim, Dave and Tony cut out all the topside marine plywood that will mount to the previously installed ribs and shelves

Note our visiting boat builder Tim Jr. in the background.  Wow all the way from Germany just to be part of our build....what an honor.

Installing the supports for the top finish edge

Well a lot was accomplished on 5-5-16.   David and Tony teamed up to begin installation of the interior boat ribs along with the installation of shelf supports to be used to mount the top finish edge of the boat.

Sidney came over to share his knowledge and expertise. Apparently, his recent retirement gave him ample time to hone his boat building skills. Thanks Sid for keeping us straight.

 

David and Tony were flying around the boat installing all the ribs and shelf supports using lots of 5200 adhesive.  I'd estimate they probably cut over 13 supports during the evening.

 

Jim and Tim teamed together creating the top side frame in the bow of the boat to allow support of bow topside marine plywood.  The cuts in the bow of the boat were very difficult as two different angles were needed on each board.  I guess the difficulty of the cuts explains why Jim and Tim were able to install 5 linear feet of 3 inch locust the entire evening. They did not have a lot to show for their hard work ... but the finished product looked great. I am considering burning both their names into the small boards as a memento of their great sacrifice.

 

Tim proudly showing off the two boards we installed. Way to go Tim !!!

Dave and Tony's handiwork. How did they do all that in a single day?