Oy Listees! Our latest update on the Phillip Rhodes Motorsailor project follows. The work is not going as fast as I would like, as my real job and the weather keeps interfering, but we are still way ahead of schedule. Please note that I have actually retained something from vast wisdom and experience represented by the list (check out the comment about Viking virgins in the text below--that bit of interesting knowledge came from a TWL thread). -dm Update December 15, 2001 Title: "Screwdriver plague haunts North Texas-Additional Outbreaks Feared" Alternate Title: "Toothpick Factory Workers Out of Work, North Texas Man Blamed for Toothpick Glut" Materials used since last update: --1 plasma cutter tip set --8 Advils Well, the plywood is finally off the forward decks. Much sweating (and it was only 45 degrees here last weekend), cursing, grunting, prying, bending, and sledging has done the job. Standing below decks and underhand up-swinging a 10 pound sledge hammer up over your head in an attempt to hit the plywood through the few lightening holes in the steel sub-deck is an entirely new exercise in creating sore muscles. Ear plugs were necessary, as if you missed the hole and hit any of the steel in the boat (and there is a LOT of steel in this boat) you were promptly rewarded with a reverberating and resounding "BONG" that could loosen the fillings in your teeth. If you were successful you were rewarded by a slight loosening of the epoxy/plywood/steel bond. This is a worthy goal, as then you only have to use the air chisel and crow-bars for 10 minutes or so to clear a square foot of the plywood by reducing it to toothpicks. My intention was to only remove the immediate area that I am going to re-plate in the first four-foot by 14-foot segment. But once I got in the rhythm, I just kept going and stripped the whole forward deck area. Apparently I really am a masochist. Then I got to whip out the plasma cutter as next on the agenda is to remove the steel sub-deck, and expose the deck frames for any grinding and repair needed prior to installing the plating. We will also do the interior finish welding on the sheer pipes while the deck is off due to the better access. Sand blasting, wire-brushing, and grinding are now imminent. I estimate that I will be ready to plate the first segment of the deck in a few weeks. It would be sooner, but there is a lot of prep work to do, and work (you know, the job that pays the $$) intrudes again. I have had a couple of 70-hour workweeks recently due to a rather complicated project. Hacking the steel sub-deck with the plasma cutter is easy compared to removing the plywood, although substantial grinding and cleanup will be needed on the frames. I managed to remove about an 8'X10' area of the steel decking in just over an hour. Too bad there is not a plasma cutter for plywood! In other news: I must comment on an email that I received recently from a reader of the website (the website has fans! Cool!) Anyway this nice lady wants to know "Just how far do you have to take this boat apart?" Well . . . all the way basically. After we finish re-plating the decks, we will be replacing all the plating below the water line. Anyway I toyed with the question and could never figure out how to answer it without sounding like I'm smarting off. How far? As far as it takes. I can easily explain to the boating community how far apart it is at the moment . . . It is so far apart that we are finding all the lost screwdrivers. If you work on your own boat you have undoubtedly lost large numbers of screwdrivers into the bilge, never to be seen again. There seems to be some magical attraction between screwdrivers and bilges. I say magical because as we all know that even though in some boats you can clearly see all parts of the bilge, screwdrivers can still disappearerate (that is a technical term) without a trace. The lost screwdrivers are gone for good. They never-ever reappearerate (another technical term), no matter how many Viking virgins pee on the bow (old Viking tradition that while very entertaining, seems to be somewhat ineffective at recovering lost screwdrivers). I used to theorize about alternate universes and the bilge located gateways into them. I envisioned some poor schmuck standing in his alternate universe wondering where the left-handed gallblat-twigger he just dropped has gotten to (as he stares into his bilge-boats are universally universal). He is no doubt all the while wondering where all these strange pointed implements with "Craftsman" stenciled on them keep appearing from and what he is supposed to do with them. Well, maybe the alternate universe theory is not true after all. Seems we have taken our boat far enough apart that we have found the mother-load. We keep finding screwdrivers. Lots of screwdrivers. Dozens so far. Literally. Five were found this last weekend alone. One of them dropped out of no-where onto my head while I was up-sledging underneath the forward decks. I cannot figure out where in the world it came from. Hmmm. Maybe it did not come from "in the world" at all. Back to the alternate universe theory again. If any of you active boaters lose anything interesting in your bilge in the near future, give me a yell, your item has probably tuned up in my bilge already. I'll be happy to return it if you'll cover the postage. Well, that is enough for this time. Next week I will be stripping more steel sub-deck off, and grinding and repairing the frames. CUAgain, Daniel Meyer http://cuagain.manilasites.com

DMeyer@dallasnews.com writes: >work is not going as fast as I would like, as my real job .... You've got your priorities wrong! Your real job is the boat - the other one is only to be considered part-time to bring in necessary boat-units ($$$). BTW: For your alternate-universe-theory I trade you my the-boat-is-alive and in-a- mischievious-mood theory. Every so often a screwdriver, hammer etc will disappear, sometimes right out of my toolbox. I know the boat has scarved it and she's hiding it somewhere. Then when she feels in a good mood, she brings the missing tool back out of hiding and makes it appear in a totally unexpected place where there was no tool an hour before, like under the salon table, inside the ice box or whatever happens to strike her fancy. That's my story and I'll stick with it.... George of Scaramouche in Lake Ontario, Canada P.s: Missed the beginning of your saga. WHY are you taking her apart? If wood and steel are that well bonded together, why all the destruction? Would a can or two of paint and some putty not have been adequate? Gg

Daniel Meyer wrote, >My intention was to only remove the immediate area that I am going to >re-plate in the first four-foot by 14-foot segment. But once I got in the >rhythm, I just kept going and stripped the whole forward deck area. >Apparently I really am a masochist. >Well, maybe the alternate universe theory is not true after all. Seems we >have taken our boat far enough apart that we have found the mother-load. We >keep finding screwdrivers. Lots of screwdrivers. Dozens so far. Literally. >Five were found this last weekend alone. One of them dropped out of no-where >onto my head while I was up-sledging underneath the forward decks. I cannot >figure out where in the world it came from. Maybe the screwdrivers were used as ballast? If you replace all the plywood decking with steel, how many screw drivers are you going to need to make it stable again? Sarcastically; Mike Schooley

And for your "the boat is alive" theory I offer my "make the exec officer look stupid boat theory" . My boat scarves things and hides them. And no matter how many times I look, where the Admiral finds it, it wasn't there when I looked. Whats the deal? Makes me look toopid. Well, Maybe --huh! doc > BTW: For your alternate-universe-theory I trade you my > the-boat-is-alive and in-a- mischievious-mood theory. > Every so often a screwdriver, hammer etc will disappear, sometimes > right out of my toolbox. --snip --Then when she feels in a good mood, she brings > the missing tool back out of hiding and makes it appear in a totally > unexpected place