Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Quick update

Very little boat work happening recently. Lots of other fun things happening, though! In the last two weeks I finished all of the remaining classes I need for my master's degree, got my eyeballs lasered, and got a summer internship with NASA. GO SCIENCE!! That means that I won't be accomplishing much of anything on the boat this summer (though I'm hoping to get a few small things done in the next week before leaving), but I'm excited to come back in the fall and be able to work on the boat a lot more, as I'll only be splitting my time between thesis research and the boat!

Obviously, the plan I laid out back in September (?) to finish this thing has not come to fruition. The few, sad things I accomplished on the boat in the last 5 months: 
1) cut out all remaining chine notches 
2) ripped and planed a bunch of 8/8 rough white oak to 3/4" to laminate the chine and stringers with
3) spiled, cut, and installed one lonely piece of wood in the chine notches

I've been struggling for the past several months with whether it's a smart idea for me to finish this project. I desperately want to finish what I've started, but there isn't anything for me career-wise in the Valley (unless SpaceX comes to Brownsville--fingers crossed) and the boat isn't in any condition to be moved yet. I don't particularly relish the idea of living in Rio Grande City any longer, and part of me wants to donate everything I own and just get out. Ramon is moving to Austin next month to work on quantum this-and-that theory stuff (exciting, even if I don't understand it!), but I'm not sure I can handle living in Rio without him. So, the plan is to live one last single semester in Rio while I finish my degree and make a balls to the wall effort on the boat to get it in good enough shape to move it to a boatyard by December. Good enough shape = planking + fiberglass. Yup, that's the plan.
I can see clearly now, the blur is gone. ♫♪



3 comments:

  1. Ali, it was great meeting you at Maggie's wedding. Congrats on your NASA internship!! And whatever you decide to do with Luna, I think it's already incredibly impressive. Good luck! xo

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  2. In order to make your voyage interesting, you should purchase marine radio from boat shop.


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  3. Hi Ali! I just found your blog. My plan is to a build a 50ft Buehler design. I already purchased the plan. I already built a small clinker plywood dinghy and currently a 16ft strip planked cutter. So I do know how long it takes to finish such a big project like yours. I really hope that you did not stop building your boat. It looks very good! And I am always impressed by people who realize such projects without knowing how it will end. Would be great to read some news. And if the project got stucked go on whenever you can! Maybe you the website www.hookedonwoodenboats.com. There you can find a podcast about a guy who needed 33 years to finish his boat. ;-) All best from Germany! Ingo

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