For some reason, this video on the Ab Cruncher hasn’t gotten that many hits for my brother-in-law. Let’s help him out. Click away, people. CLICK AWAY!

Follow the link for more of John Duffy’s videos.

The Shackleton Soars

Here’s a picture of me on The Shackleton. THE BOAT I BUILT IN MY GARAGE!

I took her out today, and she ran great. With a pair of fresh spark plugs, the 40HP Johnson motor took her to a speed of about 30 to 35 MPH — plenty fast. I had three adults and two kids in her and she was tipped back pretty well — but she easily lifted out of the water and planed. I might need to put some weight in the front to help balance her out. She corners really well and is incredibly maneuverable. All in all, a pleasure to pilot.

A little water leaked into the bottom, but I think it was just from one of my drain plugs not being tight enough — just need to buy a new one from the Wal-Mart. The other one I got from there worked better than the drain plug I bought from the boat supply store.

Tomorrow, I’m going out on Lake Allatoona with my two kids and an old friend from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger and his three kids. We’re gonna put a raft on The Shackleton and tow the kids around. Should be a lot of fun.

In a couple of weeks, I’ll tow the boat to North Carolina and tool around the intercoastal waterway near Wilmington, NC. I’ll leave her there for the next three years. When I come back from the Middle East and visit my family in North Carolina, I’ll have a boat to enjoy while there. Plus, I’ve got a sister- and brother-in-law who should enjoy the boat with their family.

I’ll probably write up some final comments about the entire project later. Right now, I’m just going to enjoy this moment of utter satisfaction.

Das Boot Floatzen

There’s the boat in the water today. As you can see, IT FLOATS! Unfortunately, the motor never did get going. I’m still considering this a victory. I built the boat, after all, not the motor. Received some kudos from passersby impressed with my craftsmanship.

Hopefully, I’ll have the problem with the motor worked out this week.

Das Boot Launchitchgenstein

The motor is fixed. The windshield is finished. If all goes all well, I’ll be piloting the boat down the Chattahoochee River this afternoon with the family.

UPDATE: The motor is NOT fixed — taking it back to the shop Sunday morning. Shackleton is the right name for this craft.

Hip Hip Hooray!

I’ve decided to bring back the custom of lauding people publicly by shouting “hip hip hooray!” I did it earlier today at a party for my daughter’s class. The parents put together a collection for the first-year teacher because he learned that he wouldn’t be coming back in the fall. After he accepted the gift and said a few words, I saw my opportunity.

“Three cheers for Mr. Dietrich,” I shouted. “Hip Hip!”

“Hooray,” the crowd of parents and students shouted.

“Hip Hip!”

“Hooray!”

“Hip Hip!”

“Hooray!”

We then all applauded for Mr. Dietrich. I got some strange looks, but I’m sure Mr. Dietrich appreciated it.

Das Boot Motorisch Kaput

Here’s how the boat looks now — the benches offer comfortable seating but allow for some open space in the back. That they all serve as storage compartments increases their innate coolness.

You’ll notice, however, that the Shackleton’s not in the water as planned. That’s because the motor wouldn’t start when I tested her this morning. Such a development was not anywhere in my consideration. The motor started fine when I bought it three weeks ago, so I had no reason to worry about this. I should have tested it days ago when I first got it on the transom. I’m sure that it’s something simple — perhaps I didn’t hook something up correctly. (She turns over but won’t start.)

So, I figure I’ll call the outboard shop tomorrow and talk it over with a mechanic. I also ordered the manual today — prolly should have done this earlier as well. I’ll go ahead and add the windshield this week and hopefully get the motor started soon. Oh, and the delay will also allow me to register the boat properly — thought I could do it online, but it’s not that simple. Because it’s handmade, I’ve got to call the state and receive a “hull identification number.”

I’ve waited three-and-a-half years to take this boat out — one more week won’t kill me.

Das Boot Countdownenstach

I’m planning on launching the boat tomorrow. I’ve installed the motor and built the seats — just waiting for the paint to dry so I can install them tomorrow morning. My glass for the windshield won’t arrive until Monday or Tuesday, so I’ve decided to launch the Shackleton without a windshield. We’ll need to bring some eyewear.

Here’s a recap of the last week’s progress:

First, I installed the motor — the wife and I lifted it onto the transom without too much trouble. After we put it on and I’d drilled the holes for the bolts, I realized that I never checked to see if it was centered. It wasn’t. So, we pulled it off and did it again. I filled the holes with putty and painted over them. Heh.

I connected the motor to the controls without much trouble. I did find that the steering arm ran into part of the covering for the back. I remedied the problem by cutting a little recess:

I covered that bit with wood and painted over it. Now, it looks official.

I also discovered that the screw that attached the steering cable to the motor had gone missing — slid down the cable into the boat’s innards. Instead of cutting open the boat’s side wall, I decided to use some hose clamps and a little tin flashing to connect the two pieces:

It doesn’t look like it came off the assembly line, but I don’t think it will fail. If you ever see me steering by turning the motor manually, this’ll be the culprit.

Here’s the finished motor — freshly painted this afternoon:

All of those cables run to important things — like the steering wheel, throttle controls, battery and gas tank.

Then, I worked on the windshield. It took me a long time to get the curve of the decking just write — well, close enough:

The windshield will look like this — just waiting for the glass:

They’ll look smaller because they’ll lean back at quite a slope. I had intended them to protrude in a V as well — but that would have required cutting the glass and building the frames at angles other than 90 degrees. Screw that. Note in the picture above that you can see the brackets on the left windshield. Put them on the wrong side at first. That’s the type of jakeleg mistake I’m prone to make.

Then, I worked on the seating. The driver’s seat is a real one that I picked up a Wal-Mart for $37. Who knew they sold boat seats? I decided to build a short bench for the passenger side and two long benches running down the length of each wall. I figure I can fit 8 people into that arrangement if necessary.

Now, I don’t want to go all Rodney Fulghum on you, but I gotta say that this last part of the project came together in a rather miraculous way — as though some divine order had arranged it. First off, I went to the fabric store and bought foam cushions for the benches. The package was 22″ x 22″, so I figured the benches could be 44″ x 11″. When I got home, I started looking through my scrap wood and I found two long pieces of wood at the bottom of a dusty pile. Their width:

Holy cow! 11 inches! Have no idea what I’d bought that wood for originally, but it was exactly what I needed. Here’s the foam sitting on the perfectly sized wood:

I wrapped it in some vinyl fabric and stapled the bottom. The finished bench seats look like this:

They’ll sit onto top of the benches with hinges so that I can store stuff underneath. Pretty smart, eh?

The benches came together easily as well. I’ve got about seven years of scrap wood in my garage and found every piece I needed for the benches just lying around. They’re made out of plywood and two-by-fours mostly. Here’s my son and our neighbor helping me paint the benches earlier today:

So, that’s it — I’ve just gotta wait for the paint to dry and install the benches. I’ll hook a water hose up to the boat’s motor and start the engine before we leave. Hopefully, the next picture I post will be of the Shackleton on the water.

Das Boat Sucessentach

The boat is now on its trailer:

Thanks to a good group friends who helped me move it:

We ended up sliding straps underneath the boat and just lifting it up and moving it forward. Took about 2 minutes.

Going to attach the motor this weekend followed by the seats and the windshield.

Das Boot Paintedeichstein

Here’s the boat after a couple of coats of paint:

If enough people gather tomorrow morning, I’ll be able to get it onto the trailer. I’m a little worried about the turnout — a lot of soccer games start early on Saturdays. Hopefully, the allure of coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts will prevail.

Das Boat Nearist Completestracten

The boat project is coming along nicely. Check out the dash — I stained this piece of oak:

Of course, you can see the woody putty where I covered up the screws. But, what do you expect — I mean, it is a homemade boat.

Before I started on the motor well, I decided to address one niggling concern. The bottom of the boat isn’t covered at all and the instructions never said it had to be. (I’m using marine grade lumber — that’s probably why.) However, I know that water’s going to be running down there — it’s designed so all the water runs to the lowest part of the boat in the back. I need to install a couple of drain plugs on either side of the keel to drain the water out. After talking to my boatbuilding friend, I decided to open up the floor a little and put a coat of primer and paint down there to protect the wood a little more. I also realized that I needed to drill a hole in the keel so that water could travel from one side to other. I plan to install a bilge pump to pump water out automatically — without the hole in the keel, then the water would only get pumped out on one side.

So, that’s all to say that I cut a hole in my floorboard so I could get access down there:

I had to  inbuy a  long drill bit to drill the hole in the keel. It was too long to fit down there, so I cut it shorter with my power handsaw. It made a lot of sparks.

Then I drilled a couple of holes in the bottom of the transom for the drainage. Always a little skittish when I’m drilling holes through the boat I’ve just built. The drain plugs (picture above) are 3 inches long, so I had to cut them down to the right size. That proved tricky because they are made of brass, a metal so soft that it would bend in my vice clamp. Here’s my solution:

I jammed it over a slanted piece of wood and then just cut the whole thing. Worked pretty well. Only took me 30 minutes to come up with the solution.

Here’s the finished drain plugs:

After putting the top planking on the sides, I moved on to the motor well. It’s relatively complex — several different pieces all with different angles, because the transom is sitting at the back with a 12-degree angle. I went out and bought a gas can to be sure that it’ll fit on either side. Here’s what I built:

I’m not going to put the top on it until after the motor is mounted. I’m not sure where all the cables are going to come out exactly. And, I can’t put the motor on until I get the boat on the trailer — right now, the back of the boat is too close to the ground.

So, at 9 a.m. on Saturday, I’m inviting some people over to help me put the boat on the trailer. (I bought it from a private seller in Gainesville last week for $250.) If you’re around please come by and lend a hand.

Today, I started painting the boat — hopefully I’ll have the whole thing painted before Saturday morning. After that, I’ll install the motor, the seats, and the windshield. Then, I’ll take The Shackleton out for her maiden voyage. I’m getting close…