The Next Project: August 2011

Well, my posts on here have been sporadic because the work on the house has been very stagnant for the past several months (but I'm hoping that's all about to change), so I have decided to give you all a glimpse into my latest project.

After several years of saying to my best friend, Doodle, and her husband, Chad, "when are you guys gonna sell me that boat," they finally gave in. I have always wanted a boat but could never afford a new one, so this was the next best thing... something relatively inexpensive that I knew at one time had been take care of... did I mention at one time??? The following pictures and explanations will explain this comment. :)

I purchased the boat and drove it from Ohio to North Carolina without a tag, title, or good tires, but I made it nonetheless. This is the boat before it left Ohio (see the flat).

Once she made it NC, the project truly began. Here is what I was dealing with:

here, I have removed all of the seats. As you can see, it was quite dirty and water-logged.

there was actually vegetation growing up through the floor of this boat... NOT GOOD!

I also took it to the local boat shop and they completely overhauled the engine replacing several worn out parts, hoses, and wires. I didn't get any pics of the guys who worked on it, but a big shout out to McCraken Marine- Mitch, Mike, and David! Thanks, guys!

God is always good to me what can I say. At the end of my street is a guy who owns a body shop. So I went up to ask him how much he would charge me to fix some of the large chips in the fiberglass that you see above. He fixed them and then didn't charge me a dime. Awesome! Thanks, Bobby Hunt at Hunt Auto Body!

Next, I had to clean it, put in a new floor and carpet, and then replace the seats. These projects were going on simultaneously, so I'll just let you see the pics.

First, the seats:

you can see what the old seats looked like when I took them out of the boat (bottom of the pic). I'm making the new seats at the top of the pic.

making the new seats, using some of the old seats as templates.

bottoms are ready

old seats are in the burn pile

my friend, Jessika, helping me cut out and make the cushions and covers

The local fabric store cutting our foam.

lots of hard, hot, dirty work! Thanks, Jes!! You're one of my few friends who isn't afraid to work and get dirty like this! It pays to have some farm-girl blood in ya! ;)

The pile was getting bigger... closer to being finished... and a shower!!

had to try it out!

put the finishing touches on at the apartment... sealed the back for more water-proofing

all finished and installed

and now for the floor:

The old rotted floor and carpet were removed... There was still a little left, but it was sturdy enough to leave since this was a tedious job.

The next part was for me to take off the edges of the solid surface countertops that I purchased at auction. I bought an entire Carvel Icecream shop's cabinetry to make a workstation in one of my rental houses.


This job definitely needed ear plugs. Construction Tip: When using a circular saw to cut solid plastic, take your blade off and turn it backwards. This causes a clean cut and no chipping of the plastic.

not the best sawhorse, but it worked!

After I laid the new flooring in position I filled the holes with expanding foam... PROBLEM: I put too much in...ha ha ha!

as you can see, it was coming out of the sides and actually pushing the flooring material up...

... so I had to pull the piece up and scrape some of the stuff off and then put it back down

small drill bit, drills the pilot hole; large drill bit, drills the counter sink hole (this allows the screw head to lay flat on the surface)

with both pieces in place it was time for the caulk... A LOT of it!

drilled the drain hole

not a great pic, but I am laying the carpet

finished product!

reconditioning the fiberglass:

With what you might ask?? Well, my body shop friend told me to use, of all things, Vaseline. This actually brings the old, brittle fiberglass back to life... who knew!!!

It actually only took 3/4 of one jar... not bad!

you can see the old vs new... makes a big difference!

I wasn't even finished yet and a bird pooped on it... GEEEEEEZE

Next, I reinstalled the windshields:

Put on my new registration numbers:

Installed a new jack:

this is the old one which you will see below why it needed replaced... oh boy!

old one is off... I am hooked up to my truck in order to keep her in the air and steady.

all shiny and new... yay!

Along the way we had a small fiasco. After buying brand new tires from Walmart, one of the tires would not stay inflated. So after several air fill-ups, I decided it was time to take the tire back to Walmart. After jacking up the trailer and boat and removing the tire, I headed out to get the repair, only to return to this...

this is why I bought the new jack!

so the fun began... not only did I have to jack up the boat and trailer for the tire, I had to jack the trailer up enough to get the tongue off the ground to get a new jack on. This was not an easy feat. Those of you who know anything about fulcrums, balance, geometry, and finesse, would be extremely impressed by my engineering abilities. ha ha! Here are a few pics of how I did it...