Sept09-02

September 9, 2002 - Constructing the Cradle: Since my last entry on July 27, 2002, I've been procrastinating to avoid sanding all of my planking and bulkheads. The temperature in my shop has been reaching 100 degrees, which has fortified my excuses for not getting with the program. In addition we're into our monsoon season here and about a week ago we got about four inches of rain in a three hour period. The result was that one corner of my shop flooded and the ends of some of the planking got wet. That event was the catalyst that moved me to start construction on the cradle so that I can rescue/repair my planking and get on with the project.

Last Saturday I visited home depot and bought four pieces of 8 foot 2X10 planking. I consulted the plans and found that the cradle had to be built to accommodate crossties at stations #2, #5, and #8, where contact points will be fashioned to support the hull.


My first step was to use my large compass to scribe a quarter circle on the front and back of the longitudinal skids. This will help when I slide the cradle out of the shop to turn the hull over, although I think that I may attach rollers to the bottom of the skids at a later date.	My saber saw made quick work of cutting out the front of the skid.

The cross ties were cut to 4 foot widths and secured at the appropriate stations with 3 inch deck screws.	I built up temporary contact points for the hull using scrap 2X4's. To accommodate the keel, I made the contact points 10 inches above the cross tie and 4 inches apart.

Here is the finished cradle. The contact points will be lengthened fore and aft as the boat is being leveled. My garage was built in 1918 and the floor has cracked and sunk. This will require me to use scrap pieces of wood to level the cradle before tying the hull together. I'll also use braces to strengthen the cradle and keep the cross ties square square with the skids. More to follow.