Dinghy Update

Sometimes, I think Keith is brilliant in his ideas, solutions, fixes. Other times, I think he's certifiable and needs to be committed to a hospital ward.
Such was the case a few weeks back when he told me he had someone to help him bring the "work in progress" dinghy to the boat. Okay, not certifiable, good idea.
Than he got certifiable. He couldn't get schedules to coincide with the guy to get the dinghy to the Sue, getting impatient and feeling the five bucks a night cost was wasting money (it was), he decided to tow the dinghy out with our "deflatable" dinghy (we call it that because the entire front end is flat and there are a number of leaks on the port side).
He couldn't find any of the transport carts for the work room, so he drags the dinghy to the front dinghy docks where the deflatable is located. It's actually quite a distance for dragging something, so I'm sure it wasn't good on the bottom of this work in progress.
A couple of his buddies saw him, and helped him get the dinghy into the water. So, he tows this sad looking dinghy shell out to the Sue.
Okay, this is where he is certifiable. He couldn't wait for a nice, sunny, low wind day. He did it on a windy, cold, cloudy, "we're going to get rain any minute now" day. 
He comes in the cabin and tells me what he's doing. Looking at the sky through the hatch, and hearing the wind blow, I just shake my head. I think, maybe, after 20 years, I'm getting used to "bizarre". 
Anyhow, the water is too rough for him to get the dinghy on the deck, but he tries anyway. He attaches the lifting line fore and aft and starts to raise it out of the water.....when it started to fold. Great. He dropped it back in the water, but now, it was half full of water. Now, he's depressed and pissed, convinced it will sink by morning.

Okay, nothing we can do about it now. If it's still afloat by morning, we'll haul it to the deck together.
Lo and behold, the morning brings decent weather....and it's still afloat. But instead of waiting for me to help him (impatience is not one of his best qualities), he hoists the dinghy up on the deck by himself, by clamping sturdy wood to the port and starboard shears and lifting it up to the deck.  
By the time I got up on deck the dinghy was set in place at the bow. Keith is still pissed, convinced that there is no saving it and wants to chuck it back overboard and watch it sink. We'll just buy a used dinghy, he tells me.
Oh, no...no...no. We didn't spend all this money to give up. I asked him if it could be saved. He wasn't sure. Okay, let's tarp it down for the coming weather (still windy....rain expected) to keep it as dry as possible (and to dry it out), take a couple of days and think about this dilemma. 
Bottom line.....he repaired the collapse the following weekend. He is now working on it once again, with it sitting on the Sue. 

I do believe he might be the only person to build a boat on a boat.
He's certifiable.

Pause on the Dinghy

I think, maybe, a good rule of thumb for doing any planned project is to not accept kind offers of help. Sometimes, that can be difficult, as some just jump in without really extending the offer.
Such was the case in our third session of building our new sail dinghy. The form had been completed, and it had been time to fiberglass the outer hull. Things did not go as planned.
I have observed with a project such as this being accomplished in the public eye, there are different types of "looky-loo's" that wander past the project room.
The first type walk by and glance, but continue walking.
The second walk by, take a look, than walk a-ways, turn around and come back for a second look.
The third type walk by, stop at the bay door entrance, talk amongst themselves about the project, and, eventually, continue on their way.
The fourth type is like the third, but they will talk to Keith about the project, ask questions, etc.
The fifth type is like the fourth type, but they don't ask questions - they will tell Keith how to do it. They are the experts.
Out of the fifth type comes at least one person, who insists it is being done all wrong, and wants to help "fix it".  This type also, somewhat, blends in with the beautiful and well-meaning friends who just wants to help with such a tremendous time-consuming project, but does not know anything or have any knowledge of the task at hand.
Now, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with any of these types of "looky-loo's".  The first four are simply curious. The fifth can become a lesson in patience, at times. 
It is the other two types that come out of the fifth that one has to risk offending, but say no, as politely as possible.
This is where Keith and I fail miserably. We do not like to offend people - or hurt feelings of people. So, we didn't say no.
As a result, the fiberglass applied to the outer hull now needs a grinding and sanding almost down to the first layer, or more, and the bow section needs to be completely redone. More time. More money. 
First lesson learned. It is better to politely say no.
On top of that, Keith has been told he cannot grind or sand in the project room. So, our only other option is to find a way to bring the project out to the boat and do that here. 
We did not work on the dinghy over Easter weekend. Keith worked on it a bit yesterday. He wants to get the inner hull done before repairing the outer hull. I did not know he was going to work on the inner part, but having been sunburned and energy-drained from Saturday's trip down to Boca Chica for the Air Show, I probably would not have been much help anyhow.
I guess the problem of transporting it out to the Sue will be a bridge we cross when we come to it. Keith thinks the only way is to tow it out, although he admits it will do some harm to the outer hull by doing so. He is hoping that if we get it out of the water right away, it will minimize the damage. I think we should ask around and see if anyone has a large dinghy that could hold the hull and we can tow it up out of the water. 
I'll just have to wait and see what Keith decides, I guess. 
Forgive me for not having photos of the fiberglass session. I forgot to bring my camera.

Beginning the New Dinghy

Last weekend, we started building the new dinghy sailboat. 

Start of the Base Frame

Another view of the base frame. It's formal name
is the Set Up Frame.

Actually, our first major decisions had to do with what days to work on it, and when I would be up there to help. Keith and I - we're vastly different on time schedules. Because of his work history through the years, he is a morning person. Me? Well, it goes all the way back to Middle School when I was babysitting for my brother and sister-in-law who worked the night shift at the hospital. I am a night person. 

One of many Cut Out Forms

Our final agreement was to work on the dinghy on the weekends with Keith heading up to work on it from early morning to about noon. He would come out to the Sue around noon and pick me up, where we would work on it together.

Keith placing the Cut Out forms on the Base Frame

So, last Saturday and Sunday began the new sail dinghy - aptly named Runaround Sue.
When I arrived Saturday afternoon, Keith had the base frame done and set up. The base frame will hold the cut-out forms for the dinghy frame.

Keith setting the Stem.

We spent the afternoon, along with Sunday, finishing up the tracing of the patterns, cutting the forms for the dinghy frame, and placing them on the base frame for accuracy in measurement. 
Throughout this past week, Keith would take a little time out of his sail work to go over and sand out some of the rougher pattern forms and keeping the measurements intact.

Accomplishments by the end of Sunday

So, tomorrow continues the work on the dinghy. We have a tentative plan for possibly an hour or two of work on Sunday after the Seafood Festival.