Why does this feel like homework?

30 posts in 30 days, what was I thinking. These self imposed deadlines are killing me. Most of the time I just burn off a post to not fall behind even further. What I should have promised was one post a week for a year, I would have been more posts but I wouldn't have to write one every day. Alright, enough complaining, lets get this over with.

Erika is fixing the site, pics are available to some of the older boats in the "launched" section. I will try to provide better, up to date, pictures to the boats that have been missed. Plus I have to learn how to link the posts up with other pictures on the site and pages within the blog to decrease the bounce rate and increase the average time on the site. You are all reading too fast. 48 visits yesterday with an "average time on site" of 1:48 and that number is higher than it should be, one of you was on the site for 14 min. Thanks.

Previous posts have talked about building new fiberglass fuel tanks for the 36' Calvin. Pictured is the tank mold used to make the tank shells. After the shell is completed the tanks are cut to the desired height. Baffles are added and glassed into place, this cuts down on the violence of the fuel splashing around inside the tank. A top is screwed on and then the entire tank is glassed with multiple layers of fiberglass. Once the tank is dry it is sanded and pressure tested. 2-3 psi of air is pumped into the tank then dish soap is brushed on the tank. If you see bubbles the tank fails the test. Do not exceed 5 psi, the tank could explode. This hasn't happened yet, but the fiberglass doesn't stand much of a chance against a compressor with over 80 psi in it.

Once the tanks are finished they will be pushed to the stern of the boat and fiberglassed into place. I was going to hold them in place with 2-part foam but I wouldn't want the person ripping them out in 40 years to blog about how much of a pain it is to chizzle out old foam.

In other shop news: 36' Calvin = exhaust across the engine room and through the deck, removed the windows, built supports for the fuel tanks to sit on. 38' Northern Bay = sanding, glassing and cleaning. 35' Lobster Boat = prepped the forward floor for gray gel. The CAT salesman stopped by the shop and said that the new boat market is slower than he has ever seen. Rumors of another couple of repair jobs surfaced from multiple sources. Good thing boats always break.

The boss is back from his extended vacation. I'm sure that the posts will get better now that I can do more work during the day. Focusing on the 38' Northern Bay will be my task for the day. I was going to take a couple of days off and go to Hull, MA. That plan was canceled due to the weather, so I have to go to work. Tough to believe how boring this post is until you read it. I can't do any better...........maybe someone will fall down at work today. Reader suggestions on future posts would be helpful. Click a link, hang out, leave a comment.

www.clarkislandboatworks.com