Day 5 and finally something to show for it!

There’s a built in plan and a system to follow. Having both makes life pretty easy, assuming you’re willing to put in the work and do the required activities.

This second cover we are building for the boat has neither a plan nor a system. The loss of the first boat shed, after 2 months of construction, a significant financial investment, and the prospects of an amazing space to work on the boat, was definitely a blow. But on another level, we were pretty stressed about getting the boat across the field, both now, and again in the summer. A rainy June or July could result in us being stuck in the shed until next winter when the ground freezes again!

So, it makes sense to cover the boat where she is, but, let me tell you, even with the metal awning frame we are using for part of the cover, it is no easy task to assemble a cover without a plan or without a system. Nothing is level, nothing is square, and so we haven’t even been sure of where the ridge line will be.

Our first step was to build out the back of the ‘new’ shed, because we will be using what would have been the large doors as the frame for the back wall. We have decided (given the height of the building and the propensity for heavy weather in these parts) to have the back wall angle up to the boat, instead of present a large, flat wall against the wind. So we put down the used shrink wrap we are re-purposing as our vapor barrier, and on uneven ground, have endeavored to create a flat base with pallets. These will be covered with plywood so that we aren’t walking on frozen ground all winter, but at this rate (it was in the high 50’s again today) I’m beginning to think global warming has accelerated rather rapidly, and a hard freeze might never happen. In any event, we will be walking on a ‘floor’ of sorts, and decided to use this on the east side as the base for the frames.

Next was to figure out approximately where the sides of the building might be going. Even this simple detail was complicated, because the boat isn’t parallel to the building it is next to, and the main mast is on the other side of the boat, at yet a different angle. Remember, this was all supposed to be ‘temporary’. However, one benefit of this new plan is that it looks like we will have all the spars in under cover, and so I’ll be able to get work done on them earlier, because they will be inside.

Suffice it to say that the building has been a bit of an odd geometric shape, to start. However, by the end of today, we have 4 of the frames up, and can now see where things will fit, where they won’t, what we need to cut, what can stay the same. So tomorrow afternoon (hopefully the rain will be gone by then) we will re-position the starboard side of two of the frames, and then should be able to move forward with the balance. We’ll see. I thought we’d be in this position within 5 hours, not 5 days, but better late than never.