Didn't feel like doing much today so I got Mathieu to call one of his friends over and paid them each 2 big Mr. Freezes to finish the main deck. They griped a bit about having to wear hard hats but hey, safety first. So when they were using the power saws they didn't dare give me any crap about having to wear ear plugs either.
And look at that, they did a pretty decent job of it too.
To be honest, that pic of the munchkins up top was staged, but I did get plenty of help from the wife today. Things went a lot faster when all I had to do was cut the boards and pass them up to her on deck. She would start screwing them in while I was already on to the next board to cut.
That's eastern white pine on the main deck. I'll be using the same thing for the hull of the ship. For obvious reasons, I'm a little biased when it comes to what I use for lumber but you can't deny that this deck just looks awsome. Can't wait to see the whole thing dressed up in this stuff.
Notice at the tip of the deck, there's a 2X2 ft opening? That's going to be one of the 4 ways on to this deck.
Now back below, our next task was to build some usable space into the bow of the ship.
Framed it up and again covered it with eastern white pine. Below this "shelf" is going to be some storage and possibly a hidden escape hatch, but you didn't hear that from me.
Then the top part will serve as a platform where there's a ladder that leads up into that 2X2 opening in the main deck. And no more setting up a tent in the backyard when he feels like camping, this platform will also double as a bunk. And WOW! now that the structure is taking shape and Mathieu now has access to the top deck and there's starting to be some playability (if that's not a word it should be) built into this thing, he's all over it.
At one point during a break, I commented to my wife that had we built a swing set, he probably wouldn't have used it that much and that I hoped that he'd get 6-7 years out of this structure instead (he's 7 now). She agreed but said that a few years later (after the initial 6 years) this would probably be the place where we'd catch him doing stuff that teens do, but shouldn't. So I really do hope we have at least 7 years before having to worry about that.
Tomorrow I have at least one more ladder to build and we start covering the hull. If all goes well I want to start framing the bridge as well. At some point I need to get some more 4X4s to finish the main mast and the secondary mast. I also need to get some plans over to my neighbour (the welder) for some custom metal hardware. Until then...
Good night all.
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