San Juan 21….still working on it 10.23.14

Jim removed the 4 windows. The frames were cracked in several places and covered with years of repeated caulking.

Looks better already. It cleaned up real good around them. Since the boat sits in the truck port we don’t have to worry about rain.

Since the windows were out it was a good time for me to paint the inside. Did not do the ceiling through out the boat but all the side walls and walking surface. There had been some standing water in the bottom and it was stained pretty bad. It is now a bright white inside.

Jim had to make and replace the side rails for the sliding hatch.

        

Right now he is working on putting all the wood back inside. He had to make new divider walls. They are necessary to keep the side stays of the mast from pulling just on the roof. They help distribute the energy strain across the top and are secured to the molded boxes inside.

San Juan 21….. day 2 10.13.14

All those little specks are ants….this is what Jim has been fighting for 2 days. Every time he thinks he’s got them all ….more show up. Once he’s done with the washing and rotten wood removal. We’ll move the boat into the shop and I’ll put some  “food” in for them to take back to the nests that are sandwiched between the fiberglass and do them all in….I hope. Works in the house….and it worked on the Adventure Craft when we beached in the evening to walk the dogs. While waiting for them to take care of business, I looked down and the deck was black with ants. We rinsed out all we could but some got inside. I put a few drops of “Protexall Ant-Kill” behind the cushions etc. and within minutes they were dining….and the next day….gone.

Jim is hard at work.

Anchor locker in the V berth.

Port berth still needs a final wash….

as does the starboard berth. Looks to be plenty of room for us to stretch out and spend a night or two.

Rotten wall removed….boy does that open up the inside.

Jim will have to put something back in for support by hopefully it wont have to close the whole thing up. We like air-flow.

It looks so nice and big inside without those walls…

Final pressure wash inside done….all bailed and vacuumed out with the shop vac. Got lots of ants too. Backed it in the truck port. I've fed the ants….we’ll let it set a day or two and see if it worked. It is for grease and sugar eating ants. These are little guys and it may work on them too.

I wonder if Jim will decide he prefers the Yukon Delta houseboat after spending several days inside this little guy.

Once we have all the ants out we might take it out on the river for a day just to see if the trolling motor will move it along. Cant wait to get on the water…even if only for a day.

I hope my next post will be from “Meander” and we are out spotting gators.

The Project: San Juan 21 10.12.14 ……till it’s done?

Jim tilted it up so all the water would run out while he was pressure washing. Except there is no drain plug so all the water ran to the back and had to be bailed out.

He’s started washing…..

Doesn’t look too bad…..

Can you see a difference?

It’s slowly coming off…..

He was really pleased with how the teak hand rails came out. The windows leak and have a lot of old caulk around them. Looks like they will have to be removed and recaulked.

Now for the inside…..it is full of ants. Just when Jim thinks he’s got them all he finds more. Thankfully they are not fire ants.

The plywood walls were also full of ants. They will have to be removed because of all the rot.

Once everything was removed from the inside he  pressure washed that  also….only way to get some of those ants out.

I’ll have to make new covers for the foam cushions. Ants and damp had ruined the covers.

Starting on the inside.

Once it was washed inside we used the manual bilge pump to get most of the water out.

Tomorrow’s another day….

Carl’s San Juan 21 leaving the weeds 10.9.14

The lake that Carl lives on has been low for the past few years. His sailboat has been sitting in mud most of that time.

Since he’s busy and the lake has only come up enough to float the boat he decided he didn’t have time to sail so he gave it to Jim and I.

This boat would be easy to launch on Lake Jessup at the ramp just a couple miles from the house. We’d be able to go out for a night or two whenever we had a chance.

Jim is bailing….

Carl has a friend with a boat who is willing to try pulling us out.

Jim is still bailing…and finding ant nests. They’ve had the boat to themselves for a long time.

While waiting for Carl’s friend…..they decided to see how far out of the weeds they could get.

A little pulling…….a little poling…..

a little more pulling and a little more poling……

After all that work….they had managed to get the bow a few feet past the end of the dock…then we heard the boat on it’s way.

Carl and I are going to ride in the boat to the pull out spot. Cant really call it a launch ramp….ramp doesn’t reach the water.

This is our view as the boat started through the weeds.

The trip through the weeds went well….and the boat actually floats. 

We checked this ramp out earlier today…Jim will have to back into the lake to get the trailer in the water.

Even with the trailer backed in almost to the boat the bunks were not in the water. It’s a tilt bed and that made it possible for them to load it.

Carl’s friend, Joe,  spent most of the time in the water. Here he is turning us to face the trailer. Hope he’s not looking for a gator cause I have to jump in the water too.

You remember how thick those weeds were in front of the boat at the dock?….he jumped right in while Carl tossed a string over to him to attach to a rope for Carl to pull  back and hook to our boat.

Jim’s in water to his knees unlocking the tilt.

Cranking it on…

I got off the boat so I could get some video of Jim hauling it out….

You can see how far he had to back into the lake….the exhaust pipe was just out of the water.

The winch cable broke….had to tie it on for the trip home.

We took it real easy going home.  Trailer had old tires on it.

This is what one looked like this morning…but it held up to get here.

So here she sits….waiting for her “face lift”.

This video shows us getting pulled out of the weeds and on the lake to the ramp and then Jim driving out of the lake with the boat.

Another project….Jim doesn’t hardly get one done and he’s looking for another.

Heading Home….. after 4700 miles 6.11.14

The Rocky Knob Campground doesn’t have electric hookups and we didn’t want to start the generator at 7 am to make coffee. Jim suggested we pull out and head to the overlook at Rock Castle Gorge. This is the gorge that has the 10 mile hike we are hoping to do one day.

Once there…we started the generator and made coffee. He definitely had a great idea. The gorge was beautiful with all the fog lifting.

It was breezy and a bit chilly but well worth it.

Several people stopped to enjoy the view and visit a few minutes.

We had a nice visit with this couple….classic car lovers  out enjoying their ride.

After the trip on Skyline Drive and The Blue Ridge Parkway….the rest of the trip was pretty boring.. We got home and had a lot of grass to mow. We usually mulch it but it was so thick it kept plugging up so Jim had to take the cover of and let it go where it wanted.

As my friend, Debbie, said….the bees were still in the Top Bar Hive.

The big surprise…were the ones in the squirrel box!!! I think they’ve been there for at least a few weeks…

I took some pictures later and could see comb. They chose this for a home so we’ll leave them there and see how they do.

We had a comfortable little place to stay and a great car to haul it with…..

It towed for over 4700 miles….at approximately 13.7 mpg. And only one small stock radiator problem….Jim fixed that in no time..It was not the best fuel mileage…but the thumbs up..honks…waves and picture taking made it worth it.! And with such a small camper you can believe the trunk was loaded…

Wonder when the next trip with the Hudson will and where to…….