As my dad used to say, "No matter how many times I cut this board, it's still too short!" I shoulda just forgotten about the boat Sunday. I've been getting antsy to get it back in the water but I've only got weekends to work on it. It's blocked up at a marina about 5 miles from my Dad's house. All day sunday, every time I drive to the boat to work on it, I forget and leave something at the house. I spent most the day driving back and forth between the house and the boat. Then at about 1:30pm, a large transformer at the power substation just up the road blows up. The whole peninsula (including the marina & dad's house) is without power. I *was* going to grind off a bad fiberglass repair on the rudder, and also drill holes for the new depthsounder and knotmeter transducers. Instead I puttered around for an hour or two, and then hopped in the truck and went for a ride. As I'm leaving I see a half dozen power company trucks parked at the substation, and coming down the road, a semi truck pulling a flatbed trailer carrying a transformer the size of a small house. It's gonna be a while. Later that evening I come back to the marina to find the power restored. I've got a few hours before darkness, so I set to work grinding the rudder. It's too late to start cutting glass and mixing resin, so I move on to the transducers. I'm enlarging the old depthsounder hole from 3/4" to 1-5/8", but I forgot the piece of dowel I needed to center the hole saw. Back to the house. Finally I have the drill all set up and cut the hole for the depth transducer. Perfect! Ok, let's make the hole for the knotmeter. The old transducer is up in the V-berth and it's right up in the forward corner of a locker so that theirs only maybe an inch of clearance between the locker sides and the thru-hull. The old thru-hull is too large for the new transducer, so I'll just leave it in place w/ the dummy plug, and put the new thru-hull in the same location on the opposite side of the hull, except that I'd like to move it a little further from the sides of the locker. I check inside the locker. Should be easy, just move it a little more outboard, and a little further aft. I go outside, and using a tape measure, map from the old transducer to the mirror position on the opposite side, then eyeball a little futher outboard and a little further aft. There. Drill the hole. D@#! It's even closer to the side than the original. ARGHHH!!! Now I've got to either cut out the side of the locker (beautifully varnished mahogany) to fit the thru-hull, or patch the hole (1-5/8" dia. thru 1/2" solid glass) and drill again elsewhere. I *just* wanna go SAILING!
Duh-Ohh! D@#%!!!!!
- Thread starter JohnS12875
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Hat's off
We have all done things like this, yet very few of us, myself included, have the courage to actually tell others. My hat is off to you sir!
We have all done things like this, yet very few of us, myself included, have the courage to actually tell others. My hat is off to you sir!
we've all done something like it
Lesson learned. That's what I say to myself when I do stuff like you've done and I do it way too often. But when on unfamiliar turf the strangest things happen and when it comes to boats the turf is often new and different from land lubber mechanicals. As I've stared at unnecessary holes in the boat and then looked at the directions I say to myself: "next time I'll do better" and you know what sometimes I do. Keep the faith. Mike S/B Pitterpat
Lesson learned. That's what I say to myself when I do stuff like you've done and I do it way too often. But when on unfamiliar turf the strangest things happen and when it comes to boats the turf is often new and different from land lubber mechanicals. As I've stared at unnecessary holes in the boat and then looked at the directions I say to myself: "next time I'll do better" and you know what sometimes I do. Keep the faith. Mike S/B Pitterpat
Sorry to hear
I have also been in this position. I have found over the years that sometimes it is better to make small mistakes than big ones. I hate drilling holes in my boat for any reason. I just recently drilled another through the deck to route the radome wire to my terminal block. Whenever I do drill a hole I always drill an 1/8 pilot first. This not only guides me for the bigger holes but also confirms my measurements. An additional benefit is that it is much easier to repair a 1/8 in hole than a much larger one. Hope this helps for the future. Tim R.
I have also been in this position. I have found over the years that sometimes it is better to make small mistakes than big ones. I hate drilling holes in my boat for any reason. I just recently drilled another through the deck to route the radome wire to my terminal block. Whenever I do drill a hole I always drill an 1/8 pilot first. This not only guides me for the bigger holes but also confirms my measurements. An additional benefit is that it is much easier to repair a 1/8 in hole than a much larger one. Hope this helps for the future. Tim R.
Good advice
So where were you *last* sunday?
The real problem was that I was rushing. I've got so many projects going on that I'm bouncing all over the place. Last weekend (24th) was the straw that broke the camel's back. I was pretty depressed about my screw-up. I think I've come up w/ a practical and attractive fix, although it'll take a little carpentry work. This weekend (past) I didn't work on anything. Saturday, I went hiking, then my wife and I went out for a night of live music, dinner, and strolling around DC. Sunday, to get my boating fix, I tossed the kayak in the back of the truck and spent the day exploring local streams. Saw a bald eagle, lots of blue heron, and a mink that was so oblivious to my existence, it almost climbed up on the bow my kayak. There's a lot to be said for a boat you can carry on your shoulder.
So where were you *last* sunday?
The real problem was that I was rushing. I've got so many projects going on that I'm bouncing all over the place. Last weekend (24th) was the straw that broke the camel's back. I was pretty depressed about my screw-up. I think I've come up w/ a practical and attractive fix, although it'll take a little carpentry work. This weekend (past) I didn't work on anything. Saturday, I went hiking, then my wife and I went out for a night of live music, dinner, and strolling around DC. Sunday, to get my boating fix, I tossed the kayak in the back of the truck and spent the day exploring local streams. Saw a bald eagle, lots of blue heron, and a mink that was so oblivious to my existence, it almost climbed up on the bow my kayak. There's a lot to be said for a boat you can carry on your shoulder.- Status