July 2011: When a plan comes together...

July was a mixed bag and because of it I'm posting late. The month started off poorly when the truck rental place flubbed our reservation. Instead of collecting six peices of heavy equipment with the effortless ease of a lift gate truck my fellow helper, Riley Hall- an IYRS student (with his twin brother) and I had to use a more traditional ramp truck. This required an extra trip to Connecticut a week later to retrieve a 900 pound planer (with help from erstwhile classmate and new tenant Toby Green). I will never move anything again with out a lift gate.

Even with the additional expense I am still running well ahead of budget- so much so that I was able to get new blades and a sanding station. Toby was able to provide a nice chop saw with a full stand as well as a drill press to round out my collection of 20" and 14" band saws, a 3 hp planer, table saw and a 3 hp shaper. At the last minute I secured a decent jointer and the table saw came with a full size 220 volt dust collection system with 100+' of hose, gates and fittings.

The one drawback to my space is that I have to share a 100 amp service connection with just two 220V circuits. Knowing I'd be stuck with it for the duration I've put considerable time and effort into crafting a layout that will maximize workspace without an excessive electrical buildout.

At this point things started looking up. My trailer problems were addressed by Jay Picote at the Museum of Yachting. He graciously permitted use of the tailer for MOY's Fish class boat, Anchovy. With some fast and loose plate swaping and a 12 dollar set of backup lights from Harbor Freight we took our (sort of) road ready trailer up to Bristol on the 15th to collect our prize.

John Palmeri- Museum director- looks on as Marlin rises out of her cradle for the first time in 10+ years.

Safely onto MOY's trailer (that's Toby Green's truck- also generiously donated to the effort)

On the road for the short trip back to Newport



Inside her new home.

Getting her off the trailer was something of a struggle (the floor slopes in two directions).

A special thanks to my wife for assistance in getting the boat properly blocked.

Marlin meets her new friends.  Note the machinery area in the back right corner.

July would end with a short but much deserved family vacation to Philadelphia with the anticipation of starting some real work.

Getting started

It's been three months since the purchase of Marlin. Initial plans of getting going before graduation were OTBE - Over Taken By Events- of which the most significant was my inability to find a suitable workspace. After six weeks of fruitless searching Steve Kirby at Kirby Commercial found a place in Kerry Hill by the cemeteries. It features a 1 ton gantry, forty foot work bench, plenty of natural light and 20 foot overhead doors. But the best feature is my landlord, Eddie Silvia.

Just as location problems were squared away crunch time descended at IYRS. The two weeks leading up to Launch Day resulted in several 16 hour days. But things looked pretty good when Launch Day finally arrived...

L to R: JHH, Nele, Ryan, Raffelle, Will



At this point I took off for Chicago after landing a small but vital post-graduate job. It turned out to be a something of a fiasco: the vessel was in more desperate shape than the owner indicated, ravaged by rot in frames and planks; unable to accomplish much  I returned to Newport a week later, wiser and more wary. I resumed my efforts to equip the shop and get the place stocked with goodies from Jamestown Distributors(while my student discount was still in effect).  In the meantime my classmate Toby Green moved his Haven 12 1/2 into the space making me, in effect, a landlord for the first time!

This past weekend I spent some quality time at the Wooden Boat show in Mystic CT.  I checked in with the several dealers of antique and original hardware and introduced myself to some of the Herreshoff Museuem folks.

The Herreshoff Museum looked like they might come through with a trailer but those plans have fallen through.  So now I'm in a bit of a jam: buying a trailer isn't practical and it appears to be impossible to rent a proper flatbed. I'm hoping a solution will present itself that doesn't bust the budget.  SEE NEXT POST FOR AN UPDATE.

 

I've also made plans for the 2011 New England Wood Machinery Caravan for next Friday to collect my haul of used machinery.  So far we have 5 peices from 4 locations and, with more than 1200 still left in the budget, perhaps a couple other peices too.