We got a good days work in yesterday despite the summer heat. Â And it has turned cool overnight. Â Lovely and cool.
Boat Building Dry Exhaust, Fuel Tanks, Cable Trays, Battery Storage, and Bow Rollers
Meet Mona. Mona is from Kiel, Germany and she is not only a working crew member, but also our first biologist on Seeker with experience on a research vessel in the Baltic Sea. And she is looking forward to using Seeker in the future. “If you build it, they will come.” and apparently they will show up and help you build it too.
Projects that extend over years have phases, and you get comfortable with each phase making it more difficult to move into the next. Maybe that is why so many home build boat builders get a hull done, but don’t make the switch to adding the interior. Clearly we are done with moving big sheets of steel and running three-foot welds, and have moved onto paint, equipment, and interior work. It feels good. Really good. And a warm thank you for your support. –Doug
SV Seeker Live – Oct 7, 2017 – Engine Room, Fuel Tanks, Electrical, T-Shirts
Loving the beautiful weather and a great bunch of people working on the boat this weekend. And Happy Thanksgiving Day to you Canadians. The Clausen’s from Grimsby, Ontario will be cooking dinner for the crew tonight.
Building an Engine Room
Day Tank, Fuel Lines, Filters, Engine, Sea Chest, Work Benches, Lighting, Breaker Panel, Cable Tray, it’s a lot of things in motion at the same time but it’s a perfect way to figure it all out. And in the center of all this is our Chief Engineer, Hollis. And amazing man fueled by a zeal for life and key lime pie.
Painting the Engine Room – 3 Days in 3 Minutes
A grinder and paint will make a welder what he ain’t. Slap it on thick boys!
Coast Guard Patrol Boat to Chinese Junk Motorsailer Conversion
Roman stopped by 4 years ago on his quest to find the safest boat he could find. He has looked at titanium hulls, expedition boats, double hulls, you name it. I know what you are thinking. Why did he stop at my boat? Frankly, I think it was to warn me. That conversation got him nowhere but we became friends anyway. Now he has his “unsinkable boat”, his words, not mine, and he is rigging it for Chinese Junk sails. That part, I just love. I have no idea how this will play out but it’s going to be a great adventure and that is what life is about. –Doug
Crane Repairs, Welding, Sewing and Painting
When FedEx pulled up I started to wonder what I had ordered that required such a big truck. Turns out the truck was empty but the driver, Jim was here to help. Jim was an electrician before he was a driver so he fixed over hauled our cranes that were in serious need of service and also welded, helped with sails, and painting. So when you see a FedEx Custom Critical truck, wave at him, it might be Jim.
Fuel System Plumbing and Engine Room Layout
Open your doors and some of the most amazing people walk in. Hollis Fitch has stopped by before but this time he had Seeker’s engine room on his brain, so I handed this former Chief Engineer a credit card and he started plumbing the fuel lines for Seeker’s 6 fuel tanks and then sketched up other ideas. He has gone to help another friend, but he’ll be back. I still have his pressure washer. 🙂
ROV Buoyancy
We added 13 pounds of positive buoyancy to the ROV with pontoons made from the same 3.5″ ID aluminum pipe used for the main hull. That give us ample flotation, ease of construction, the ability to add more batteries while preserving the 6700 ft, 2000 m operational depth. Â Hull DetailsÂ