The boat is finally covered. I had started by looking at different types of covers people had used during refits. Problem was there were as many shelters as there were boats. One that I really liked was a wooden bow shed, which seemed very popular. The only problem: I am not a carpenter. While I can nail two things together, I'm just not a carpenter. At least I'm aware of this and probably saved myself a ton of grief trying to build the bow shed. I also found RV shelter intriguing but there were none in the size I wanted and they're expensive. So I set out to make my own. I found a place in Oregon that sold the shelter fittings and used their template to design mine. After a bit of trigonometry I had one designed and fittings on the way. Below are photos of the building process:
First things first: Most of southeastern Virginia is a swamp, or was one before it was drained and settled, and nature works tirelessly to return it to that condition. My yard is no exception. In order to make this into a suitable work area I had some stone brought in, about 5 tons of 57 grey. Cheap and effective!
With the help of a friend I spread the stone....and soon found out that 5 tons wasn't enough. It was a good start but I will be ordering more in a week or so.
After the stone was spread, started building the shelter. Still not a carpenter, but I can work with steel!
These fittings make it a breeze, and within an hour or so I had roof assembled.
Next we lifted the roof frame onto the boat so we could get the legs under it.
With the legs under it and in place.
There is the shed, just about complete. I need to make this shed look as temporary as possible (to skirt city permits and rules for a permanent structure) so I set the feet of the shed in buckets and then concreted them in. Then I installed the cover. While it isn't quite done, it is now keeping Sal dry. I still need to install some X bracing to stiffen up the structure, but so far we have had 25mph winds on a few occasions and it has held quite nicely.
Now that the boat is covered and shelter nearly done I can get to refitting the boat. I am going to take some video and pictures of how she sits now for before and after photos of the project. These will provide me with references for getting her back together later.
And let the refit begin. :-)
ReplyDeleteNice little shelter. I'd like to do that but the storage place my boat is at wouldn't allow something like that. I'll be moving to northern VA soon so my next big thing is finding a storage place to move the boat where I'll be able to work on it myself.
Good luck finding the storage place. It sure is nice having Sal undercover. Truth be told, she was collecting every leaf and branch in the neighborhood and starting to look really shabby...not anymore!
DeleteHaving a shelter makes a big difference - even when you're not making progress (as is the case for me!). It's nice to be able to keep the boat dry. Good luck with the project!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I was trolling your Alberg 30 build site. I will be using a lot of your pictures references. How far along are you?
DeleteI am so far from where I had hoped to be it's discouraging. The blog is a pretty good indication of where I am. I haven't had time or money to do any more. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this coming summer will see some progress. If not, I think I might just unload the thing. We shall see. Good luck to you! Keep it going!
ReplyDeleteLooking good Salacia! Stay warm there.
ReplyDelete