Getting From the Boat to the Car in Winter

One of the questions we are often asked when people find out we live on a sailboat is: "How do you get to your car, especially in the winter?"

The truth is, just like everyone else does: walking.

When living aboard in a marina, the morning commute is not that complicated nor mysterious. You simply leave your boat, walk down the pier, and head to your car. I know this is kind of anticlimactic, there is no little dinghy ferrying us to shore or any need to swim; we don't even need to fight off sea monsters!

Living aboard grants you many freedoms and doesn't cause as much inconvenience as most people would have themselves believe. 

Beveling the Bilge Pump Mounts

The bilge pump supports need to be angled to allow the pump to sit flush under the lid while not having the handle bang into the woven door right next to it. To adjust the position of the lever during the throw of the lever, the bilge pump needs to be installed on an angle. Setting it on an angle means that everything else must be angled to compensate and accommodate. 

As you can see, the limiting factor to any bevel is the vertical components of this locker. They limit how much each support can be rotated in relation to the dimensions needed for the bilge pump.

To accommodate the bevel, the small brass screws were removed and re-drilled into the new position. The inboard support needed to be sawed a bit to allow the board to rotate in the box. The supports were rotated until they were set on an equal incline, allowing the bilge pump to sit flat on the boards with an inboard tilt. Since the pump is large, heavy, and bulky, I chose to use a small scrap of 2x4 that is much lighter and would allow me to evaluate the incline without much fuss. 

Once the boards were aligned with each other, pilot holes were made to mark the locations of the through bolts. With the pump removed, the holes were drilled out all the way to allow the insertion of 1/4" through bolts.

The reason the frames need to be beveled is because the bolts need as much material to grab onto. If I through bolted at an angle on vertical frames, the bolt would exit the side of the frame and be severely weakened. By rotating the frames, the through bolts exit the bottom squarely and securely. 

Above the frame, the head of the bolt is supported by a finish washers to be a bit more lenient with angulation of the bolt against the bronze flange of the pump body.

The tiny brass screws that are supporting the frames at the moment are by no means strong enough to support the forces that the bilge pump will exert on them while operating. These tiny screws are simply being used to help position the frames during the construction process.

Finishing the Siding

With three of the four walls sided, it is time to wrap up this project and transform the tiny house from a pile of peeling tar paper into a pretty to look at tiny house from all sides.

Once again, the starter strips are placed at the bottom with gaps in between them to allow water to drain out, should any rain get between the siding and the tar paper.

With the starter strips screwed to the wall, the lower portion of the battens was removed to make room for the siding to go on. Long straight planks made planking the side very fast and easy. The boards were all cut to measure and then assembly proceeded. I was able to plank the side of the tiny house very quickly using the hooks and a cordless drill.

The siding went on quickly, and then I ran out! I had a little more to go and I would be finished. I calculated that I needed two more boards from Lowes to finish the job! 

With the two extra boards, I was able to finish the siding around the window! The siding between the large window and back of the trailer was able to be sided using offcuts that were laying around in the scrap pile.

Stem and Knee

With both rabbet lines cut into the stem and all the angles between it and the knee perfected, it was time to connect the components. The stem knee was positioned between the chine logs and dry fitted with the stem to identify its ideal location.

Pilot holes were then drilled through the stem and into the keel timber. The first pilot hole was drilled all the way through and into the keel, allowing me to place the bronze lag bolt that would hold the knee in place during the rest of the procedure. With the stem knee immobilized, I was able to safely drill the subsequent pilot holes. 

Drilling a pilot hole is a simple task, until you consider the length of wood you need to drill through. To allow the drill bit to reach the length at hand, I needed to use extra long drill bits. In my case, a 12 inch long drill bit did the task well. I placed tape on the drill bit to alert me that I have gone to the required depth. 

The procedure was repeated on the stem, allowing me to dry fit and verify everything before glue and time constraints were introduced. Once I was certain that everything lined up perfectly and squarely, I disassembled the entire unit and applied wood glue and bedding compound in their appropriate places. 

Wood glue was placed on surfaces that will not be exposed to the outside edge of the hull and bedding compound was placed where the edge would be exposed to the water. The stem received polysulfide bedding compound on its faying surface while the knee received wood glue on its faying surfaces. When the rabbet is cut into the keel the junction between the stem and keel will be exposed to the water outside of the hull, necessitating the need for polysulfide bedding compound here to prevent leaks in the future.

Circling Fish

Some days, the smaller things catch your eye when you are on the water. Walking down the pier towards the boat, Maddie noticed that the fish were swimming in a circle and forming a weak whirlpool.

Morty was mystified by the swirling school of fish right by the edge of the pier. We all watched as they swam around in circles, slowly moving the school further from the pier until they all dove deep under water and out of sight.

These are the smaller features of life aboard that would be missed by the average land lubber who is all caught up in their schedule and the hurry of daily life. Instead, we stood on the edge of the pier and watched the fish play out for a few moments before continuing our walk toward the boat. No rush and no worries, as all our worries were left on shore!