SV Seeker | Page 82 | SV Seeker: The Boat the Internet Built

Cabin Tops – Tops

DougSeptember 15, 2015Cabin Tops, Steel Boat

So I was thinking that we would get the first top plate on by Sunday afternoon, but with an amazing amount of help we actually got all of them on before lunch on Sunday! We need a week to clean up and resupply and then we’ll start on the hatches and final welding. A this rate we’ll be watertight by Winter! I own a thank you to all of the Seeker crew and this week a special thanks to Ed Wheeler from New York City. Ed is a pleasure to work beside and learn from, and he is an amazing metal sculptor. You can see his work at http://www.edjowheeler.com/

Cabin Tops – Part 4

DougSeptember 10, 2015Cabin Tops, Steel Boat

We had a great week, despite the heat. David Finch delivered our day tank, and also put in welds on the cabin tops. Jack got started on the braces for the forward cabin top. And we are moving the last of the big sheets of steel up onto the boat. When we put up our 23 ft tall gantry cranes we were planing on building a 65 ft boat, so now we are having to get creative in order to move steel over a 74 ft boat.

A “Day Tank” is a fuel tank often elevated about the engine which contains fuel pumped from the main tank through a set of filters. Unused fuel pumped by the engines injector pump or “return fuel” is also cycled back to this tank. And the tanks location in the generally hot engine room allows the fuel to warm up which makes it more easier to atomize and burn.

Labor Day Labor

DougSeptember 6, 2015Cabin Tops, Steel Boat

David Finch delivered our day tank (fuel) and also put in time welding on the cabin tops. Many thanks!

Getting my daily dose of iron.

Jack and I tacking on more cabin top before the sun drove us away.

Trying to work fast so I can move back into the shade.

Jack testing a grappling hook for boarding. A skill that we plan to use once on the water.

Cabin Tops – Part 3

DougSeptember 5, 2015Cabin Tops, Steel Boat

17 Days till the end of summer! The heat index is over 100F (38C) this weekend, but the end is in sight. During the cooler mornings we are still making progress on the cabin tops, and it’s been great to retreat into the shop during the afternoons.

Outboard Postmortem

DougSeptember 3, 2015Outboards, Work boats

Pulled the heads, and it sure does not look good to me. Let me know what you think.

This truck does indeed look like the truck in the ad. I have used it frequently for many months on an errand and never once do you think the driver of the truck feels like he is “stressed out”. The interior looks nice, and the handling does very well with a non cdl weight limit it works great.

Outboard Overheating, Seizing, and Dying

DougSeptember 3, 2015Outboards, Steel Boat, Work boats

Not a bad run. Nineteen years of undoubtedly hard use as a marina rental. It gave us less than 15 minutes on the water, but she gave us a number of valuable lessons. When I was a kid I spent a lot of time swimming in lakes, while my dad fiddled with outboards. I really think that’s the part he really enjoyed about boating. And I now share his appreciation. I just wish he had lived long enough to share his knowledge. …but through the internet, I’ve got a great group of surrogate dads. So thank’s to all my dads out there. …and a few of you are like my mother! But that is another story.

Foam Sculpture – Part 5 – Lost Foam

DougSeptember 3, 2015Foam Sculpture, Steel Boat

Leilani from Portland Oregon joined us and helped carve our second dragon. It’s a ton of work and time and it feels great to have both dragons progressing. It’s a lot of my time taken away from working on the structure of the boat, but I think construction like life must contain more than timelines and efficiency. What’s the point of working so hard if all it gives us is more time to work hard? The dragons have a function, but they are much more than function. They are an expression of character. A moment of fun and pleasure.