Sailing Off the Edge of the Earth

Yes, I’m back but just barely. I didn’t really sail off the edge of the earth.

Well maybe emotionally I ended up at the edge of the earth. Difficult things, turns in the road, unexpected changes. I think you get the idea. But I’m back now. At least a little ;-)

It wasn’t all a deep abyss actually. It also included a big cosmetic remodel on our home.

As most of you understand, it’s important to take care of the home front as we dream of boats. We’re raising our twin grand daughters and they were getting filthy as they crawled around on our floors. You know, 10 year old carpet can be pretty bad. It didn’t matter how often we cleaned the carpet, they were still getting dirty. Something had to be done.

It all started with an opportunity to snag 800 sq ft of Pine Pergo flooring from a model home in one of our developments. This house had not been lived in and the flooring was like new. The new owners didn’t like the rustic pine look so it was mine for the taking as long as I pulled it out.

More on this later.

I have been in steady communication with Bryan Lowe throughout this time. He really has become a great friend and it’s been fun to exchange “life updates” via e-mail.

Like me, Bryan enjoys a variety of adventures. It’s fun to think about and plan different things. Bryan actually started flying lessons again. Yes, he had started once before. This time he was learning to fly powered parachutes.

I’ve really enjoyed his Youtube videos of his lessons, his solo’s, and his first cross country. How exciting! I’ve also flown powered parachutes in the past so I knew how much fun he was having. He started a great e-paper, Mach None Flying. 

Bryan has kept shanty boats at the back of his mind during this time. He is the creator and moderator of the Shanty Boat Yahoo Group. Bryan also has a fantastic web site dedicated to shanty boats. The really great news is that he’s starting to write again. Check out his newest articles over at Shantyboatliving.com

It’s great to have you back Bryan, you inspire me!

I’m also looking at boat building again. I’ve got the old Virtual Joli files out again and am getting Sketchup fired up.

My ideas for the Joli build are somewhat unconventional so I’ve decided to build a scale model using scale versions of the tools and techniques. I bought a Dremel 4000 and a plunge router attachment for it.

I intend to build a 1/8 scale model of my Joli boat. This will be large enough to test and prove some of my ideas.

• A 26.5' Joli would be about a 40” model.
• A 4x8 piece of plywood that is 1/2" thick would be a 6"x12" piece that is 1/16" thick.
• A 6' human or 72" would be 9".
• A 2x4 (1.5" x 3.5") would be .1875 x .4375  or  3/16 x 7/16.

My friend from Germany, Dr. Klaus Silbernagl has a nice web site where he is documenting his ideas and model building.

I’ve also been in touch with Tom Sullivan from Northern California. He just purchased plans for the Friendship, another design by Philip Thiel.

He’ll be documenting his build over at the Shanty Boat Yahoo Group.

So you can see, there is activity going on. It’s good to be back.