Vapor gets a seat

I got the trailer up and working for the boat. It works great. The Vapor only weights 58 pounds, so the trailer carries no weight really at all. As a matter of fact, if I need to I can pick up the trailer with the boat on it, and move it around.

I got the sliding seat designed and installed, put a thwart or brace in, just off center, and put the final touches of paint on. I took it out for an extended paddling session today. I can tell that I 've got to perfect my paddling technique to really get the hang of it. It paddles real easy. I did notice however, that when I got through, my back was hurting and stiff. I had some adjustable footpegs given to me, and I think I will install them, so I can get my whole body into the paddling stroke. This, I am told, will relieve the tension put on my back. All in all I am more than pleased, and once I get used to it, I will outfit it for fishing with some rod holders and such. But for now, I am going to use it to help get this old body of mine back into some kind of shape, or maybe I'll just paddle out away from shore and just set there, and watch the sunset. Who knows, maybe I can rig some sort of sail on it.

"Vapor" is launched!

I got the boat trailer ready to go, and got a break in the weather this evening and took "Vapor" for a test run. I needed to figure out how far forward or aft I needed to put the seat, and high the seat needed to be. Becky took some pictures of the test run. She paddles great, with very little effort. It is not like some of the plastic ones that really take some effort. I had the seat too tall about 4 1/2 inches and she felt a little tippy, so I lowered it to 1inch and that feels really good. As can see in one of the pictures I filled it up with water to try to sink it and couldn't. My watertight compartments work.
So now the adventure can continue, as I begin to explore places I can paddle to, and hopefully can find some fishing too.

Finally, something easy, ha!

Well, I have been debating whether or not to build a rack for my little pickup to hold my piryak. My boat( Vapor is it's name) only weights 58 lbs, so weight is not the question. But it is over 15 feet long. So I got to thinking about the old boat trailer that came with my sailboat. I decided to convert it to carry Vapor. No big deal, new lights, get a license plate and away we go. This is where the fun begins.
First problem, going through the red tape of trying to convince the hard headed lady at the county tax office, that there was no title to this trailer. Finally, after arguing for about ten minutes with her, I think she could tell I was starting to get a little hot. I had already made my mind up that I was not going to leave. Well, she finally gave in and got me the right forms. I paid my money, only to find out they were out trailer license plates, so I had to make another trip a few days later to pick my plates.
Second problem, trailer lights. No big deal, I bought a universal trailer kit from Wally World. I hooked everything up the way I was supposed to. Hey, I even read the directions! Here's the deal, I've got blinkers and running lights, but no brake lights. I checked my wires and decided I must have tapped into the wrong one. Now I've got blinkers and brake lights but no running lights. Come to find out the engineers at Nissan made the wiring were you have to have a special relay in order to hook up trailer lights. Ok, so I go to the parts store, naturally they do not have one, but can special order me one, and have it here overnight. I pick it up the next day. You guessed it, it was the wrong one. So today, I finally got the right part. I hooked it up , and no lights at all. Being the calm, mild, mannered person that I am, I threw a fit right in the middle of the drive way, then spent the next half hour cleaning up my mess. After calming down and thinking it through, I discovered it was a bad ground wire. All lights are working now, and I have a legal and licensed piryak trailer. The only one in Texas like it.

The Summer Heat is Here and Projects are being Finished

The piryak project is coming along. It's to the point I need to put it in the water so I can set the seat in the proper position. I have the outside completely finished, and the inside almost done, except for the area that is unpainted for the seat. If I can get the trailer lights working, I will have the boat out this week end for the first test run.

The deck is done except for steps. I used the left over 2 x 6 metal studs for the foundation. It saved us a a lot of money. I put my rocking chair out there and tried it out. Nice and pleasant, if you like heat, humidity, bugs, and mosquitos, other than that it's great.

Piryak, Deck, and Heat

I have two different projects going on at the same time. My wife wants a deck out back. So I am using some of the leftover 2x6 metal studs from the storage buiilding project. I got the studs free when the old walmart store went out of business when they remodeled. We need a deck so we can set in the backyard and sweat on those cool summertime days here in south Texas. Additionally, it gives us an opportunity to swat and kill mosquitos at our lesiure as they swarm us while we are seting on the deck.

The piryak is coming along. I am painting the outside with several coats of red paint. I hope to put it in the water this week, to set where the seat needs to go, then finish the inside, with IBC cream soda color interior. As you can see I have been busy, but hey I like it that way. It keeps me out of trouble.

It's Starting to Come together

Having never built anything like this before, I am glad I did a couple things . One , I spent alot of time reading and researching how to build and fiberglass. Two, being a person who has made multiple mistakes through out my life, I come equipped more or less, to spend endless hours sanding out mistakes. Well, I have spent at least 8 or 9 hours just sanding. I have found out that fiberglassing and making it look good is an art. But you don't have forever to work with it. Once it starts drying that's it. Here are some pictures of my progress thus far. I am out of resin, so I am waiting on an order to arrive before I can go much further.

Name- I am thinking about naming it "Vapor." Why? Because life is like a vapor. We are today, but gone tomorrow. Moments in life are precious and unless they are written down or passed on someway, the fade away like the morning midst. Enough of that, just building the thing has been an experience and being able to use it will be special.

Color- I have narrowed it down to John Deere green and yellow, or Fire engine red and creme.

The Piryak Saga Continues

I am learning alot about boat building especially when dealing with 2 part epoxy glue and fiberglass. I made a paste out of epoxy and wood flour ti fill in all the joints. I am in the process of fiberglassing. I have the entire outside done, and I am now working on the inside. I still have 2 watertight compartments to build and gunwales to install. I do have a couple of decisions still to make. First, I am going to paint it, but I haven't decided on what color yet. I think I want to paint some eyes on the bow, so I can see where I am going. Second, I haven't figured out exactly what to name it. Anyone got any ideas. The only real thing slowing me down is this nasty head cold I picked up, and time.
P.S. Bethany has moved back to Oklahoma. She was able to save some money, and we got her a car. Wedding plans are in the air.