This makes the fourth weekend in a row that I've been able to dedicate time in the shop to work on the Hope For Haiti. After spending a couple of hours sanding and prepping I was rewarded with getting to lay on two coats of primer on the cargo lid tops.
It's amazing how much difference a little paint, or primer in this case, makes.
I don't personally take well to schedule changes. But there are times when you just have to roll with the seas, metaphorically speaking. Today was one of those days.
We had our day scheduled pretty fully, but an unexpected, and fairly urgent, project popped up at work, necessitating a last minute plan change. We were fortunate to get a swift resolution to the work task, which left me with yet another plan change for the day.
Finding myself with a few unscheduled hours, I was able to get into the Mission Nav shop and work on the Hope For Haiti. That turned out to be enough time to complete the fiberglass work on the tops/edges of both of the cargo lids.
So, despite my consternation about schedule changes, there were some great results. It's still hot here in North Carolina, so I had to work fast. Consequently, there are no "in process" photos from today. But here are photos showing today's progress.
I don't know where our booth will be located or even where the vendors will be set up, but I'm pretty sure you will find something worth looking at along the way.
Hope to see you there.
This week I heard from the missionaries in Mole St. Nicolas, Haiti, where this boat is going to serve. They were hoping to have the boat in time for hurricane season to use for evacuations and relief ministries. That, along with the undoubtedly myriad of other uses, will make this vessel a tremendous asset for them.
Sadly, I had to report that it is not possible to complete the boat in the next few weeks before hurricane season starts. My work schedule is extremely busy. But being impossible is not a good reason to stop. And yesterday I was able to build the lazaret hatch lid, which is the last lid, and I got the inside of it glassed with Xynole.
In the boat building trade we use the term glassed as a verb meaning: sealed with fiberglass cloth, bedded in epoxy. I also use it freely here when I refer to sealing a part with Xynole cloth, bedded in epoxy. Xynoled doesn't have the same ring to it.
The pictures are not super fancy, but you can see what I'm building.
Please pray for Mission Navigation and our efforts. We are in the process of planning for the day when I will be able to work full time on the mission boats and host a regular schedule of volunteers. The amount of good we will be able to do is boggling.
Blessings.
RV
Believe it or not, it is boat show time already!
Look for our booth at the Oriental Boat Show April 21-23!
It seems like everywhere we turn bad news is being thrown into our faces. But if you want to see some good news get involved with a mission that reaches out to people in need. You will discover that there are hearts of compassion all around. I have met people, from all walks of life, who are willing to share whatever resource they have available to help others.
The year 2016 has passed by at a blinding speed! It seems like we just laid down plans for it and suddenly we are making a new set of plans for 2017!
This past year has seen me (RV) working long hours at my regular job. Despite that continuing schedule, we have managed to get the Hope for Haiti almost completed. I say almost, because we have about 30 square feet of fiberglass work to finish and then we are ready to begin painting and rigging.
There were no big work weekends this year, but many little hit-and-run times. We have also made some new friends in the mission work who have come to partner with us in this endeavor.
As we enter 2017, we are making plans to transition into full-time operations. When we get to that point we will have lots of opportunities for volunteers to work on the boat-in-process.
Here are some ways you can help us:
And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. - Matthew 11:4-5
I wish I had come up with that brilliant phrase. But, I didn't. It was borrowed from a song by John Cooper. It is, however, the perfect expression of why we sneak in a shop day despite our busy schedules.
Today's progress included the last of the upside-down fiberglass work under the foredeck. Yay! We have no pictures of that, but while I was jammed up in the hole, John was sanding and preparing the cargo hold lids for fiberglass. We were able to get both of those finished also.
Dear friends.
There is no way to whitewash this news: Haiti is scheduled to get hit by Category 4 Hurricane Matthew. This is very bad.
Northwest Haiti Christian Mission at Mole St. Nicolas is preparing for it with all they have available. It is, at best, a meager attempt. This is the campus and mission that will receive the boat we have currently under construction in our shop.
While we are making preparations for the same storm later in the week, we have many available options of what to do, where to go, and in the event of catastrophe, we have insurance to provide a new start. They have none of the above.
I am including a link to their facebook page. Today's post is very humbling. Soon they will lose power and internet connection to the rest of the world.
I ask you to pause and pray for their safety, provision, and for a miracle for Haiti.
Thank you.
RV
It was too hot and we were too old. But we kept on task, even past the appointed time, until the day's work was successfully done.
As we were working in the sweltering shop, I couldn't help but think of Solomon's wise observation about the value of three men united in task and conviction.
"And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:12
Consequently, yesterday's progress on the boat, Hope For Haiti, was great. The deck scuppers were both shaped and fiberglassed. The majority of the tab work under the foredeck was completed. And the last of the gunwale glass work was finished.
Having extra help is not only beneficial to the project, it is amazingly encouraging.
Thank you, Chester and Larry!
2-1/2" x 12" deck drains
Nobody got frostbite.
Sometimes 10 fingers are the best tools.
Peel-ply gets removed after the resin cures.
More fun than it looks.
I guess there is not really a day set aside for people to drill a hole in the side of their boat. And that is a good thing. Because, when we do such things, we need to be careful about where we drill them.
The purpose of a scupper drain is to let out any rain and ocean spray that splashes into the boat. Naturally, we want the scupper to be located at the lowest place on the deck when the boat is leveled to its waterline. Our boat is set up level to the waterline, which is determined by a lot of math and a little bit of guess work.
My project today was to layout and begin cutting the scuppers. I got the first one cut and shaped, it will be lined with a custom shaped "pipe" made of fiberglass. (More on that in future updates.)
My ultra high-tech super-duper formula to locate the lowest spot on the deck, is simply to toss a ping-pong ball into the boat. It rolls to the low spot and I lay out the scupper there. (How's that for an expert trick?)
We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He has prepared for us in advance to do.
- Ephesians 2:10
