Gone, Gone, Gone

I am going scooter camping this weekend with a couple of scooter friends. We're going to have a lot of scooter fun and drive on some cool scooter roads, like the one shown above.

The vast majority of my electronic connections will be turned OFF. Yeah. With the exception of a rare facebook status update or blog post just to let the family know I'm ok, I'm going off the grid. Will take lots of pictures, will ride lots of miles, will return Sunday all grimy and smelly. You know you're jealous.

Tuesday Night Ride

Another beautiful evening, and we got to see Kent! We stopped at the landing on Lilydale road to check out the river. Nice! And when I got home, my odometer had gone palindromic on me.

After You: Flipped!

Turned her upright, built the skylight and am rarin' to go on the rest of the interior!  Still aiming for a July fourth launch date but I have a feeling I might dip her in a local lake first for a wet test.  Really nice to get her looking like a boat and moving forward... 

Lily is as helpful as ever, though between-coat sanding of paint is "really hard" and not likely to be in her future..

After You: Progress

Screws gently pushed into the surface hold the tape down while a corner is being epoxied. Once the tape settles, pop the screw out, drop another layer of epoxy on it all and it's nice and tight!

I've actually gotten this side covered in paint and I'm finishing up the striping so I can poly before we go out of town next. After that dries she'll be righted and I'll finish up the top and inside. Still hoping for a July 4th or so launch date.

Need to start researching rivers to wander a bit more seriously now. Initially I was all about the Namekagon and the Saint Croix, but I'm also looking more local, like the Minnesota, Cannon, etc.

Pretty much written off the Headwaters on down based on a single Rice Lake journey report. You can haul a canoe over marches and mud, but the After You is less portagable. Unless I come up with a portable portaging solution.. Hmmm . :)

After You: Port side!

Bottom and side done.  Now on to the next side so I can get her upright.  Sadly I'll be missing the Pepin messabout.

TNR

It rained. Nobody crashed. Was a really really long route. Great ride!

After You

Shiny it up with a bit of poly for UV protection and this side will be Done.

TNR

A lovely Saint Paul TNR that unfortunately ended with Michelle's scooter being totalled by a hit and run driver. :(

Stopping at the Capital to allow Alice to adjust her mirrors after a light drop.

Michelle watches the ambulance come to check her out as the officer in the police car works on the report
Sad, sad, scooter and driver. Happily another case of helmet saves lives!

After You: PAINt

Everybody always says "just slap some porch paint on 'er and she's done!" in regards to my current class of shipbuilding. (By current class I mean midwestern dads kicking the midlife crisis in a rowboat built from supplies at Homer's or Ace. Not the nautical professional, not a true sailor, not a serious boatbuilder.) [no offense, anybody]

Well, being so much smarter than everyone else who's done this, I went to Menards and explained my very complicated paint needs to a minimum wage paint jockey. I was sold a wonderful industrial maintenance paint that went on like tar and looked like it was going to cure to be a sheet of slate on my boat, only slightly lighter. Two days later and it's still sticky, but I'm thinking "it's on epoxy, of course it'll take a bit longer." After a week plus I decided the wet paint wasn't going to get any dryer and sucked it up and started scraping. The fact that it was so easy to slip the paint off really did tell me I should have gone traditional long ago. So after a bunch of scraping, mineral spirits, washing, sanding, and prepping... I'm porch painted up on one side. I'll get another layer or two of paint on there and hopefully by the weekend I'll put a layer of transparent protection on there, give it a week to cure, and flip it for the other side.

I still have to do the whole chisel, mineral spirits and sanding on the bottom. Joy. All I'll have to do after that is the other side, the roof, the interior, the bunks... Sweet!

I did, however, cut a porthole frame and the Lexan to go in it and it went really well. I also sanded and painted the window frames and have come closer to understanding how I want to solve the "how to open a window" issue.

After You: Materials

I think there is a lot of information and valuable resources related to types of wood to use, qualities of wood, etc.

If I were building an Escargot or something really large that I want to hand down to my children when I die, I'd go whole hog. Marine Ply, West System fiberglassing, Marine Paint, the works.

I'm building a chugger right now that I want to enjoy for a few years (or more if it lasts) and when it goes kaput I'll either turn it into a garden box or a playset. So I'm using good ole exterior pine, a crapload of resin, drywall fiberglass tape instead of fiberglass fabric, porch paint, DAP 3.0 and lots of Titebond. Works just fine. I'm just a guy in Minnesota who wants to go up and down some rivers. Not building an ocean-worthy sailboat or anything. And I also understand they when/if my boat falls apart like a paper boat in a bathtub, I'll either fix it or build a new one. There will be many emotions, I'm sure, but surprise will not be one of them.

(Update post on progress soon.)

After You - Paint!

I have a coat on the bottom, sanded. I've already done the ceiling in the cabin and now the port wall and starboard face -- white only. Wanted to get as much paint on since we're going up north for a few days and I wanted to let it dry and cure for as long as possible.

It's looking more and more like I'll be dropping it back on it's head after this side is done. First, to let this side dry and cure as much as possible, as well as getting another coat on the bottom. I know I can paint sides while they're upright, but I figure the more surfaces I can paint flat, the better.

TNR

It looked like rain when we started, but there were storms all over the cities, so we figured we might slip between them. Rained for a bit up by Phalen, but the wind was the scary part. We got hit with a cloud of sand downtown which put grit in everyone's mouths. NavyDave said a branch dropped behind us near Phalen, as well.

We ended at Common Roots and I have to say we might not be going there again for a while. No more bagels in the evening, and it looks like they're trying to go more upscale. Now that Leaning Tower and many other places have Surly, we'll find a new Uptown destination.

Rest in Peace, D.B.

Today I said goodbye to one of my best friends. And he has left me with a hole in my heart.

After You, underbelly of a project

A simple progress update during what I consider to be the most boring part of the build - the bottom. People are asking me if I'm building a trailer, as it looks a bit like a pickup truck camper when it's upside down like this:

That picture also demonstrates my system for attaching the strakes. Since they're meant to take a lot of abuse I have not screwed them on, just epoxy (and fillet on the edges). That way they can be replaced without dealing with a screwhole in the hull and whatnot. I intend to place a layer of aluminum on them as well. (Not even thinking about how hard it would be to remove those, as the epoxy is like rock.)

We have bees!

Our wonderful neighbors down the block have an auxiliary beehive in our yard. They do the work, we get a cut of the honey and some awesome garden pollinators. I was working, however, later in the evening and a few of them were attracted to the lights in the garage. After their first encounter with the light they usually fell bee-screaming on top of the boat. I have not yet had to sand one out of the epoxy yet, but I'm not holding my breath.

Epoxy and fiberglass has been going well. I'm getting better at it the more I do it, and while this isn't a "sloppy" job (ok, maybe it is) it's not the neatest in the world, either. Instead of full on fiberglass fabric I'm using fiberglass drafting tape. I used it on the tweedle-dum and it worked quite nicely while keeping the price down. Since the majority of Chugger builds have been done without fiberglass and in some cases without epoxy, I'm confident my system will be adequate. I'm using a ton of epoxy to ensure I have a good seal as well as some additional strength, but with the internal framing and the filleting I'm going to have a hearty vessel. My only concern is going too heavy, but it's all good.

Also, I'm getting pretty crafty with solutions:

Because sometimes you just have to encourage things to lay flat.

The last time I got to see the interior it was well framed and ready for the bunk topping, table building, and more importantly, corner sealing.

Lily and I had just installed the bulkhead and then proceeded to build ourselves into the boat. It was a stressful moment for Lily, but I had it all planned out. After egressing via the window Dukes of Hazzard style, I cut a hatch (picture flipped from upside down view) and finished out the framing.

The inside of the cabin will be covered with a light slatted wood that I managed to stain and seal last week. I can't wait to assemble and install it. Its going to look quite nice! And it's plenty light so I'm not concerned about the added weight. Next to all the 2x2 lumber in there it's a drop in the bucket. Speaking of weight, the boat can be lifted from one end, but it takes two people to life the whole thing from both ends. I can flip it on it's side quite easily, it's just a matter of making sure it has a soft landing. It does not feel topheavy, and after the layers of epoxy, glass, and strakes on the bottom it'll be even more bottom-heavy.

Still working on the last coats of epoxy on the bottom as well as paint, then will turn it on one side to epoxy, add a lower section of tape, fillets, etc. Then to flip it on the next side and do the same. After that the bottom will be hard as a rock, fully cured and dry, and I can flip her upright to finish off the cabin, painting and such. It's hard to see the final product when it's flipped, so I'm buying little boat bits (cleats, hinges, etc.) here and there to keep reminded..

TNR

The map is not an accurate mileage, as the sampling was so low. Ironic that it accurately represents the speed. Go figure.

By Tom's odometer it was actually a 55 mile ride, ended at Anodyne, attended by Lora, Matt, Brad, Mark (not replacement Mark, he's just Mark now. Sorry left-us-for-something-better Mark.) Also, Tom, Brad and Bill (not Bill Gleason, and Bill after the roundabouts you're no noob!)

It's no secret we like roundabouts on the TNR. Last year Tom led us out to a two lane roundabout out in Woodbury, and since this route was heading out in that direction, we were going to hit it. Just before the last turn we were waiting at a stop and Matt yells "hey there's a roundabout up there." Here's the map. It's so new I couldn't find it on my planning. So we rode up and looped around a couple times. But then I noticed another one further on -- looked like a dead end, which would be awesome, as we'd have our own private roundabout. Nope. Not a dead end. Led to another roundabout. That kept happening. The ringed the new sports center. We all lost count in our delirium, but the group guess was five or six. By the time we got to the original roundabout we were giddy. Ecstatic. Thrilled. We had not only found a new roundabout -- we had discovered the breeding grounds!

The pictures are not that exciting, but I just liked the idea of a dealer plate on a scooter. (Need scoot mounted camera, maybe next week.) Often you see a cheesy looking guy in a really nice car and think he's got something successful going on -- and then you notice the dealer plate. It's a rash generalization, but often a fair one. :)

Also, one of the Marines I knew in California had a really really nice sports car. He was 18 or 19. His dad was a dealer. It had dealer plates. It was later wrapped neatly around a tree. Lucky for him, he was fine.

TNR

Another great ride - this week we introduced the concept of a halfway break. On longer rides it's nice to get off for a bit and stretch. In this case we had a great view of the river at at Grandview Park.

After You

More progress! Finally got enough woodwork done to feel I was ready to flip her and get started on the bottom glassing and such. Did some filleting and remembered how much I love the smell of epoxy. Seriously! It's a smell I associate with boatbuilding and it just puts me in a happy place. Sometimes quite literally, but we try and make sure it's ventilated.

She's on the trailer now so I can work in the garage and roll her out to the driveway for sanding - was grinding away on the chines today and had many folks stop to ask about her. At one point I'm off in lalaland sanding and when I turned off the orbital I jumped a foot in the air. There were four people standing there watching. They laughed and asked about the boat. Very friendly, but scared the hell out of me. :)

Really excited about the coming work. It's a bit of a grind, but it's a grind I know how to do. Hopefully will do it well, not poorly.

Did:

• Cut the bunk - need to rework how that's going to be built. Need better access to the flotation storage.
• Built the bulkhead, framed it, double backed it, cut the hatch. Made the whole boat as solid as a rock
• Removed and reattached the rear transom. I wasn't happy with the warp it had. Is better now.
• Stained the cabin wallboards. Another example of "just get it done" as well as a classic "I'll be in in just a few minutes" hour.
• Got some stuff at Homer's, including acetone in order to remove the epoxy from my hands. And a huge box of gloves for future epoxy work. :)

All is well.

After You

Didn't take pictures but I got a bit of work done on the boat last night. Placed the initial bulkhead supports in between the cabin and cockpit. Cut, framed, and built a cover for the forward deck hatch. Came up with a (hopefully) simple, clean, useful solution for the table/bunk support in the cabin. Measured and planned front window framing, decided on a non-removable window and rounded ends. I can square them up later if I decide that's too much hassle but I really like the look.

As with any boat project, this will no doubt take longer than I suspected. I'm still hoping to be able to make it to the mess-about in June, but I'm prepared for it to be an incomplete build if I do. By incomplete I mean not necessarily having all the accessories/shiny bits. Some things are required, like a sound hull. :)

And I'm still trying to decide at which point I stop messing around and flip it to begin the glassing and epoxy process on the hull.

TNR

Another great TNR - wonderful weather! We did six and a half roundabouts, including the one I was kinda reaching on.

The Most TNR

Sometimes you think of something and it seems like a good idea. But then a while later, or even right away you begin to doubt yourself. The day began gray and cloudy and it really only got worse.

By the time I left home for the ride it was actually raining. Not drizzling. So I suited up in my raingear and headed out. Made sure I had a second pair of gloves, but all I had were double layer leather shells with wool linings. Thought it would be too warm.

Stopped and got my customary Ham Salad Sandwich and some pop and a candy bar at SuperAmerica after I topped off my tank. Still raining. But I was early enough that I didn't really want to hang out at the starting point in the rain for half an hour, so I pulled under the Lake Street bridge on the River Road and enjoyed my picnic dinner. The rain was coming down hard enough that the rain spouts on the bridge were pouring water.

While I hung out I thought about where to ride tonight. I knew it was likely to be Tom and I alone, which meant moderately fast (for scoots) bikes and the potential to go a good distance.

When he showed up at the monument I proposed going to Stillwater. He balked just a little bit, but it didn't take much before he was into the idea. It was raining, cold, and that was a hell of a long ride. Ridiculous. Perfect. He did mention that he only had about 40 miles of gas left and that we should gas up at some point. My idea was to do it after we got out of Saint Paul in case we needed a break. Yeah, I know, it's not a blister run so it's not like we'll be tired, but in that much rain and cold you never know.

The rain stopped shortly before we left the monument. Heading up Summit I was already cold and all I could think of were all the stoplights between there and Stillwater. We were avoiding large roads but wanted to get there fast. I figured Summit to downtown Saint Paul and then shoot up the old federal road from Saint Paul to Stillwater: 7th, Minnehaha, Stillwater Blvd etc. I had done that on the Vino and it was a nice moderate route. Fast for the Vino but perfect for the Stella.

I was cold and we really hadn't gone very far, which made me think (not for the first or last time) that this might have been a dumb idea.

We made good time across Saint Paul and headed into the faster roads just east of Maplewood. I was looking for a gas station but we just didn't see one. By the time we got to Stage Coach Trail just south of Stillwater, Tom told me he had already switched to his reserve tank. So we stopped to check the map and confirm our direction. By the time we rolled into Stillwater (yeah!) we were both pretty nervous. Tom because he didn't want to run his engine dry, and me because I didn't want to have to spend the rest of the season apologizing to Tom - not to mention the trip to get him some gas. But I would have done both if it came to that.

Interesting side fact: Did you know that the most popular gas station in Stillwater is closed? Gone. Empty. Another interesting fact: It was the only gas station downtown. So we putted up to the next one we saw on the map, another Oasis. Guess what? Yeah. Closed. Next? A Holiday down 36 - we're no longer in Stillwater. My thoughts of a warm coffee and a nice burger in Stillwater were shrinking to a twinkie and a coke at a gas station. No problemo.

By the time we got to 36 I think both of us were watching for his scoot to just stop. But it didn't. And we rolled into the SuperAmerica just down the road. Topped off the tank and headed back to Stillwater.

This is Tom's empty tank. We'd never seen one that empty before.

Got back into town, made our turn and cross the Stillwater lift bridge into Wisconsin. No real good place to stop and take a pic, so we headed back across the bridge after we'd hit out second state of the night. Got some nice pictures of the bridge and Stillwater from the Minnesota side.

We shot up to 96 and took it across to 61. That was a wild ride. When we got to 61 we both pulled up to the light and had the same thoughts about that road. Dark, curvy, scary, fast - awesome! Didn't ride it dangerously, but at night after rain and you're cold it really makes you aware of all the things that can go wrong. And when you conquer that and come through the other side okay it really is satisfying.

Took 61 down to Larpenteur and cross back across the cities with a slight jog to hit Pierce Butler Route for a last speed section. By the time we got to Marshall and crossed back into Minneapolis we were both cold but satisfied. My solo ride down Lake back home went quickly after our long ride.

So it was the longest TNR, the fastest, the rainiest, the most states, the closest to complete gas depletion, one of the most difficult, the smallest number of riders, and so much more. No stop for food, no beer, no chit chat. But it smelled like hot scooter engine and once I think I even saw some clear sky.

Best TNR ever. Thanks Tom!