Demolition in the Dockyard!

Last night, I set to getting the shop ready for our first weekly meeting tonight. We have several new projects on the table, most having to do with the new Launch, slated for completion by December. The first and most significant project is the expansion of the Framing Bay, aka knocking a 10' wide by 9' tall opening in the back of the garage, putting in a concrete pad and framing in a temporary structure. Without this expansion, the Launch wouldn't fit into the space, and seeing as we have no other options we had to make it work. Of course I would prefer to dig a giant bunker under the garage but there were some objections to that. And a lack of excavation equipment. But I digress.

So yesterday, I began clearing the shop and prepping the back wall for "blowout". I marked the wall, measuring carefully to align the new door between two large trees in the space behind the building (so we could, theoretically, drive through it in a car). Then I cut temporary supports to block up the wall while cutting away the studs - really nothing more than 2x4s to wedge under the header - and cut the new reinforced header and studs. As I continued making 'preparations' I realized that I could just do it myself and get it out of the way, and so about an hour later, the door was cut and the remnants of the old wall were strewn in the yard behind. I know I know, this isn't exciting, but I am quite proud of myself.

Now, we get to start chopping down the underbrush and grading for the concrete.

BT

Tonight, we'll be giving the Monomoy and her gear a thorough once-over in preparation for HarborFest this coming Saturday. It'll be her last outing for an event for a couple of months, as we turn our whole focus to the construction of the Launch, and getting the momentum going on that. We'll have the Monomoy back out in August for our Expedition to the Blue Ridge, and for more events this fall.

BT

I expect a short tutorial about the construction and design of the Launch to be posted on our website any day now. I think our webmaster gets distracted too easily when he's at the computer.

NNNN