Barrett Faneuf
10-21-2004, 07:10 PM
Hey all,
Sorry it's been a while since i posted a Navigator update. Lots happened. I just got burned out and took a while off.
The short news: Mom's Navigator is out of my hands and in Maine! She drove west near the beginning of September, helped me get her ready, then drove her home again. Never let it be said that I come by my insanity dishonetly.
Truth to tell, I can't remember what my last update was, I think I was planking?
Well, here's how her Nav looked as we got ready to send her to Maine. I did NOT complete the varnishing; it was raining too much, and besides, the 3000+ mile trip would have induced lots of touchup anyway.
On the trailer looking oh-so-sweet (that's mom in the pics by the way).
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/pd78c43052e04744bc6a0efe5bbe02715/f6fbaf28.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/p06f236f927e1a009c2491f250d364638/f6fbaf15.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/p257efad14d80cd683fd49e4668e13cbb/f6fbaee6.jpg
A few views of her interior and decks (no, didn't get the seat planking done wither, sent along the timber for a winter project):
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/pbbc887ad01cb67f153f48166e13ece1a/f6fbaf05.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/p64fb3671df595b1ccbe244f1ef9600f5/f6fbaef4.jpg
To see more (not as many pics as usual during the "insane weeks" , but still quite a few overall) go check The Navigator Gallery (http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288806687) .
So Phew! Sent along the masts , booms, gunter, sprit, boomkin, and all the other many paraphanalia for final fitting out. I was going more than a litte crazy, it's a very good thing my mom put her foot down and said "Stop. Tom [my stepfather] and James [a good friend] will finish that stuff; just get her ready to go". And then she took her! We likened it to sending your first (or any?) child off to college/adult life. You may not be ready, or think you're 'done', but they're going, nonetheless.
Looking back I realize that the Navigators went from bare bottom planks to launchable in less than 4 months. So I took a break. Haven't touched a tool since Mom left in mid-Sept. Just starting to get antsy on getting _MY_ Navigator finished, though, so no worries that the spark has died. Lots of spar work, rigging, and fittings I can work on during the cold-and-rainy months.
A couple of interesting notes. Most pictures have been relatively close-up due to the confines of the building area, so are very foreshortened. My mom's first intelligible response (she burst into tears on seeing the boat) was "She's so much BIGGER than I thought from the pictures! And so curvy!". So, folks contemplating a Navigator, they're mighty big for 15 foot boats! While working, Mom and I had several picnic lunches in the cockpit, and it was downright lonely with only 2 in the boat. we could have hosted a dinner for 4 with no difficulty at all, and that's with no seat tops save the flotation tanks. Food for thought for those who look at hte pictures and think she's small. She's NOT.
More food for thought: I can't say enough good things about Kirby's paint. You all knew that anyway, right? I had 6 gallons of it shipped from Massachussetts, and Mr. Kirby is everyhting that people say. Interested, helpful, and makes an outstanding product. I had custom colors tinted, that's "Hatteras off-white" to match the InterBucks color on the exterior, and "Bristol Beige" on the inside and decks. Mr. Kirby was completely helpful in tinting to order, there was no extra charge. I painted the boats while they were upside-down after planking. I sanded to 150 grit with a power sander on the bare wood, then brushed on primer, scuffed that in-grain direction with 220 (never sanded more than that), 2nd coat primer, repeat exactly the same for 2 coats of finish. I brushed it all on with a healthy dollop of Kirby's conditioner, it came out absolutely fabulous. Couldn't be happier.
Last thing to mention is the fact that John Welsford has started sending tantalizing tidbits from his drawing board for my Nighean project. For those who may not remember, the Navigators were really just "warm-ups" for the "big" project - a 26 foot double ended lapstrake trailer cruiser designed for me by John. Whee!
More soon,
Barrett
Sorry it's been a while since i posted a Navigator update. Lots happened. I just got burned out and took a while off.
The short news: Mom's Navigator is out of my hands and in Maine! She drove west near the beginning of September, helped me get her ready, then drove her home again. Never let it be said that I come by my insanity dishonetly.
Truth to tell, I can't remember what my last update was, I think I was planking?
Well, here's how her Nav looked as we got ready to send her to Maine. I did NOT complete the varnishing; it was raining too much, and besides, the 3000+ mile trip would have induced lots of touchup anyway.
On the trailer looking oh-so-sweet (that's mom in the pics by the way).
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/pd78c43052e04744bc6a0efe5bbe02715/f6fbaf28.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/p06f236f927e1a009c2491f250d364638/f6fbaf15.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/p257efad14d80cd683fd49e4668e13cbb/f6fbaee6.jpg
A few views of her interior and decks (no, didn't get the seat planking done wither, sent along the timber for a winter project):
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/pbbc887ad01cb67f153f48166e13ece1a/f6fbaf05.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid139/p64fb3671df595b1ccbe244f1ef9600f5/f6fbaef4.jpg
To see more (not as many pics as usual during the "insane weeks" , but still quite a few overall) go check The Navigator Gallery (http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288806687) .
So Phew! Sent along the masts , booms, gunter, sprit, boomkin, and all the other many paraphanalia for final fitting out. I was going more than a litte crazy, it's a very good thing my mom put her foot down and said "Stop. Tom [my stepfather] and James [a good friend] will finish that stuff; just get her ready to go". And then she took her! We likened it to sending your first (or any?) child off to college/adult life. You may not be ready, or think you're 'done', but they're going, nonetheless.
Looking back I realize that the Navigators went from bare bottom planks to launchable in less than 4 months. So I took a break. Haven't touched a tool since Mom left in mid-Sept. Just starting to get antsy on getting _MY_ Navigator finished, though, so no worries that the spark has died. Lots of spar work, rigging, and fittings I can work on during the cold-and-rainy months.
A couple of interesting notes. Most pictures have been relatively close-up due to the confines of the building area, so are very foreshortened. My mom's first intelligible response (she burst into tears on seeing the boat) was "She's so much BIGGER than I thought from the pictures! And so curvy!". So, folks contemplating a Navigator, they're mighty big for 15 foot boats! While working, Mom and I had several picnic lunches in the cockpit, and it was downright lonely with only 2 in the boat. we could have hosted a dinner for 4 with no difficulty at all, and that's with no seat tops save the flotation tanks. Food for thought for those who look at hte pictures and think she's small. She's NOT.
More food for thought: I can't say enough good things about Kirby's paint. You all knew that anyway, right? I had 6 gallons of it shipped from Massachussetts, and Mr. Kirby is everyhting that people say. Interested, helpful, and makes an outstanding product. I had custom colors tinted, that's "Hatteras off-white" to match the InterBucks color on the exterior, and "Bristol Beige" on the inside and decks. Mr. Kirby was completely helpful in tinting to order, there was no extra charge. I painted the boats while they were upside-down after planking. I sanded to 150 grit with a power sander on the bare wood, then brushed on primer, scuffed that in-grain direction with 220 (never sanded more than that), 2nd coat primer, repeat exactly the same for 2 coats of finish. I brushed it all on with a healthy dollop of Kirby's conditioner, it came out absolutely fabulous. Couldn't be happier.
Last thing to mention is the fact that John Welsford has started sending tantalizing tidbits from his drawing board for my Nighean project. For those who may not remember, the Navigators were really just "warm-ups" for the "big" project - a 26 foot double ended lapstrake trailer cruiser designed for me by John. Whee!
More soon,
Barrett