Base Camp

It's like a real boat shed now!  I've moved in some cabinets, tools and lumber and space is quickly becoming at a premium.  I through bolted two threaded eyes to the ridge beam and attached a block and tackle to both.  Once again some ancient tools from my grandfather find new life in this build. I'm not quite sure how much load I can pull with them or how much weight is safe to put on the ridge beam but I believe they'll come in handy maneuvering the keel and the associated keel timbers.  If anyone has any knowledge on calculating loads or link for same please let me know.

                                     

I changed my mind on the setup for the building cradle.  Originally you saw me setting some leveled timbers on blocking partially buried in the stone.  After re-reading George's book (I honestly don't know how many times I've read it now) and reviewing how he suggest the building the cradle, I ripped out my previous set up.

The new cradle is made by partially burying parallel timber stringers about five feet apart and running the length of the boat shed.  They are but jointed and secured to each other with solid white oak gussets. For now they are just screwed on with 3 inch wood screws.  In the event we use the cradle as a sled when the boat is done, the gussets will be through bolted to the timbers.

From there we laid some 5 foot sections on top of the base timbers running perpendicular to the stringers.  For now they will be secured with several long deck screws.  I started with only for cross pieces but I believe I'll be adding a few more.

                                      

I calculated the location for the first and last cross timbers to coincide with specific points on the keel so hopefully the complete boat, with rudder, will fit inside the boat shed.  As George works on updating the 41' duck plans he sends me CAD files with his progress.  I use a free app on my iPad, Autocad 360, that can read the files.  It also allows me to take measurements so I can get relatively accurate data on where everything should be.  

I completed my first YouTube video in the series that will document the entire build.  I go into further explanation of how I used the auto CAD app to get the appropriate measurements.  I think it's easier to understand if you watch it then me trying to explain it with words.  You can check it out here:

Sea Dreamer Project video series

Essentially, I wanted to ensure I had cross pieces near the end of the keel just below the dead wood and another one near the bow just at the point where the keel begins to sweep up into the curved bow section.  I will fill in the area in between with additional cross pieces as necessary.  These sections will also provide a place for blocking to raise the keel up as it slightly rises towards the bow as specified in the design plans.

Special Thanks and other news:

The Sea Dreamer Project received our first sponsorship donation from our PayPal link.  I originally didn't think PayPal provided the name of the sponsor and my small brain didn't think to check further into my account to find the information.  However after looking I found it and wanted to make it a point to thank you Jonathan!  It really means a lot to have a total stranger believe in your project and actually take the extra step to help make it happen.  So thanks again and please know it was very much appreciated.  I immediately put your contribution to work and if you check out the video above you can see where.

Finally, as we close in on 6000 site views I wanted to thank everyone again, but I also wanted to ask a favor.  It would be an honor if people would click on the "follow" link located in the column to the right of this posting near my Google badge.  If I can get this site to a point where it generates enough views and followers I could add some small banner ad's that would help fund the build.  If I can do that, then people could just follow along and I wouldn't have to feel guilty asking for sponsorship's!

Additionally I would very much appreciate if people would click on my YouTube link below and subscribe to my channel.  Again, I need to reach a certain number of subscribers in order to to qualify to generate some ad revenue to help fund our project. Click the link below:

Sea Dreamer Channel

These are all of course, just humble requests. If you would rather not subscribe or follow and just want to follow along anonymously that's fine to.  I'm certainly happy enough just to have you here!

Coming soon!

I have ordered my lumber for the keel, floor timbers and frames.  I found an Amish sawmill near the Pennsylvania border that had some beautiful Larch for .60 cents a board foot.  Larch is a very close cousin of Douglas Fir and this Eastern Larch is a very traditional boat building wood.  It has excellent rot resistance, strength and flexibility.  I ordered just over 1000 board feet in various dimensions that should be ready by mid January.  So we will be moving forward with some actual boat building very soon.  

Additionally I have some of the materials for the framing table that will be used to lay out the frames from the table of offsets.  I'll be buying the rest of the materials this weekend with some Christmas gift cards from Home Depot.  Hopefully I'll have that documented in a new post next week.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and I wish you all the happiest of New Years!

Changes

We just went over 4000 site views!  I'm so grateful for the comments and emails I have received and I'm honored that people have stopped in to check out our project.

I just wanted to let everyone know that besides what you've already seen on this page, many changes are occurring. We had a custom logo created for our project.  I love how it came out and I believe it captures the essence of what we are trying to accomplish.

With that new logo comes our official title and a new web address for this blog.  I'm sending this out now under our blogspot address for all those who are subscribers or followers. I'm not really sure what's going to happen to the existing links and email notifications once I make the changes.  So going forward you can keep up with our diesel duck build at:

seadreamerproject.com

As many of you have mentioned, YouTube is a powerful way for the average person to tell their story. We all know that if a picture tells a thousand words, video tells a million!  I've been checking out some great boat builds on YouTube like SV Seeker and Salt & Tar. They have been a great inspiration as well as an excellent teaching tool for what and what not to do when creating a video series.

Because we've had so many requests,  I am happy to announce that we are now in the process of shooting the initial video's for season #1, episode #1 of the Sea Dreamer Project.  We will continue with this blog of course, but we hope the YouTube series will provide a deeper connection and understanding of what it takes to build a 41 foot Diesel Duck in your backyard.  

We hope to create something that you use to be able to find on the Discovery, Science, Learning and History channels before reality TV.  I'm no cinematographer or producer so I hope people are patient while we work through the entire process of filming and editing.  I've worked with Imovie for home movie stuff before but it's been a long time.  You can find our YouTube channel here:

Sea Dreamer Project on YouTube

Right now there are only a couple of time lapse videos of the boat shed build that readers have already seen.  Hopefully we'll have more to follow soon.

We really enjoy hearing from our readers, so you can see along the side bar we've added a quick CONTACT form to make it easier for you connect with us.  Please let us know what you think, we are always eager for feedback, advice and words of encouragement.  

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I don't want to pressure anyone or make them feel like they are being scammed.  I've worked in law enforcement for nearly 19 years and the last thing I want is for someone to feel taken advantage of. I also would not want any sponsorship donations to take away from someones discretionary funds that would otherwise go to some worthy charity.  

However the biggest obstacle to faster progress on this project is funding.  The funding to buy lumber, plywood, epoxy and fastener's comes from our normal family budget.  Just like everyone else, the families needs comes first!  What's left over at the end of the month is then devoted to this crazy project.  So if you would like to see more building, more progress and more blog and video posts, please consider joining our team and sponsoring us.  Any level is greatly appreciated and you can sponsor as many times or as often as you like.  

You can find the SPONSORSHIP PayPal button just above the contact form in the side bar.  Just select the amount you would like donate and click the "pay now" button.  All payments will be securely processed by PayPal.  I will never receive or have access to any of your financial or personal information.

Merry Christmas and happy new year to all!  Thanks for your continued support.

closure

When I bought my current home in 2007, one of the major selling points was the fact that it had a 24x32 barn on the property.  It was perfect for my woodshop and it had an attic for lumber storage.  My father was equally excited because he planned to secretly unload all the "junk" he had been holding onto for the last 50 years.

Every few weeks something new would show up in my barn.  Most of the things I could not even identify.  They must have been from my grandfather, who like many from his generation, fixed what was broken with his own hands.  He worked as a foreman for the local utility company and had amassed a collection of industrial tools that I still cannot identify.  He never threw anything out and when he passed back in the 80's my father took custody of all these items.  My father followed right in his footsteps and when he saw something being discarded that he thought might be useful someday he took it.  I'm starting to learn that his strategy is now paying off.

Back in the 80's when the city of Rochester was remodeling one of the firehouses they replaced the large bay doors.  The old doors had very large, industrial hinges that were going to be thrown away.  My father took them and held onto them.  A few years ago they found their way into my barn.  A couple days ago they had a new purpose as hinges for the doors on my boat shed.

The doors are a simple frame with a diagonal support and skinned with plywood.  The industrial style hinges required that we add some blocking to keep them flat across the door opening plane.  We predrilled the hinge side and the arm side and bolted them into place making sure they were level.  The hinge side was just going through 3/8" plywood so some backer blocks of 3/4" plywood were added on the inside of the building to provide some "meat" for the bolts to hold on to.  These doors are heavy but these hinges are obviously overkill. However, they work well and the doors swing easily.

I used some oak that I had to fashion a sliding latch to hold the doors closed.  You can see that they are very simple but perform just as intended.

If you've read my previous entry in the "no regrets" column you know that my wife's grandfather was a boat guy and WWII Navy veteran.  She recently made a trip to see her grandmother in Maryland and I asked her to look for something nautical that I could add to the boat shed to give it some boat "bling".  She came home with an old bronze prop from one of her grandfathers boats.  I hung it over the newly installed doors. I love the look and I'm proud to have something from her family watching over our project.  The place really looks like a boat shed now!

I have continued to keep my eye on craigslist for items that I need.  I feel like I got lucky again with my latest find.  I found an ad from a rigging company that specializes in train derailment recovery.  They are located just west of Buffalo, NY which is about and hour and half away from me.  They recently recovered some 6x6 yellow pine timbers on their way to being pressure treated.  As part of the repayment for the recovery the rigging company took the timbers.  They had 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 footers and several hundred of them.  The 8, 10 and 12 footers were $10 a piece and the 14 and 16 footers were $20.  I made the trip out and bought 20 ten footers and 2 14 footers. 

I wasn't sure what I would use them for but the price was just to good to pass up.  At the very least I could use them for the cradle.  After a little research I learned that yellow pine is just as strong as doug fir and is an excellent boat building wood.  I consulted with Mr. Buehler and he said I could use them for the keel but being only 5 1/2" inches wide it may be a little thin for the shaft tunnel.  I could have sistered something on and then faired them in but that sounded like more trouble than it was worth.  So now I am thinking I may buy some more and use them for the frames.  After sawing them in half that will leave  some pretty stout timbers (2 1/2 x 5 1/2) for the frames. 

In the meantime I used some old cherry heartwood timbers that were badly warped and some of the new yellow pine timbers to begin assembling a base line to build off of.  I learned that the site work was very well done and leveling all the blocking was fairly easy.  I dug down into the stone in order to again maximize the boat shed headroom and leveled in each piece of blocking to the previous one.

I then laid some 8 footers and some 5 footers across the blocking as a base for the keel to be built upon.  I haven't worked out all the details yet but the reason for the 8 footers is to hopefully come up with a plan to add some kind of wheel assembly to them.  I hope to be able to roll the completed boat right out the front wall when it is completed.  I figure I should be able to jack up the 8 foot sections a bit and fashion some kind of wheel unit to allow it to roll fifty feet or so and become accessible to a crane that can hoist it up on to the tractor trailer for it's trip to Lake Ontario.

 

So that's where we stand for now.  The cold winter is approaching and the keel assembly will require some warmer temperatures for the resorcinol glue to work properly.  I am pretty much tapped out with regards to the budget so it may be a few weeks before finances allow the purchase of any more lumber for the keel.  In the meantime I hope that Mr. Buehler finishes his changes on the boat soon and gets me the final plans.  With those in hands I can get started on the frames.  The frames require a large assembly table, so I figure this may be a good time to at least get them started before the big keel gets in the way.

Diamonds and stones

My father use to say all the time that, "Some days are diamonds and some days are stones".  Well I had a big stone of a day last week.  I got a call from my neighbor just after I got into work.  He left a message for me asking me if I was aware that the roof on my new building was blowing around. I was not aware!

I raced home thinking the worse and wondering how it could have failed.  It was a relatively windy day but nothing to intense.  When I got home I found that the tape seam had failed along the entire length of the ridge.  All the mechanical connections were rock solid and even though the center of the roof was billowed up like a sail in a full gale, the plastic held tough and did not tear.  I wish I had time to take some pictures but I was slightly panicked and went right to work.

Luckily I had overlapped the seams by a foot and then centered the seamed up roof properly directly centered on the ridge.  This gave me a little material to work with in order to temporarily secure it.  Starting at the West end I pulled the plastic in, wrapped it a couple turns in a small batten then screwed it to the inside of the ridge with a couple screws and cap washers.  I followed this procedure every other joist bay for the north side roof section and then followed the same procedure in the empty joist bays for the southern roof section.

This took the strain off of the roof from blowing in the wind so the plastic would not tear on the end wall.  However it left a gap in the roof the entire length of the ridge.  It was good enough for the moment and the equipment I had since moved in to the boat shed along the perimeter was safe from the weather.  I went back to work licking my wounds and contemplating my options.

When I got home later that night I went back out to see if I could figure it out.  The good thing I learned was that my halogen work light provides ample illumination to fill the entire building.  It looks cools to!

I came up with what I believe was a pretty simple fix.  I planned to buy another section of 20 foot wide 6 mil plastic and basically put it over the ridge as a really wide ridge cap.  My father and I went to work this past weekend when the winds were low.  We draped the new roof plastic over the roof, leaving it much longer than needed and temporarily screwed it in place.

I bolted a 4 foot piece of 2x4 on to my ladder perpendicular to the rails so I could lean it up against the arches to cover the span in between them in order to reach the bottom of the new roof section. I then used wooden battens again and rolled them up a few turns in the plastic and secured them to the arches with some screws and cap washers.  We secured the new roof section to the end walls the same way we did with the other roof sections previously.

All's well that ends well and it certainly cant hurt having another layer of protection.  The lesson learned is that the sheathing tape which is designed to work with this material and has UV resistance and exterior grade adhesive is just not designed for the wind loads it was subjected to in this application.  However we are all dry inside and now and the next job is building and installing the doors.  I'll have the details on that posted in a few days.

In other news; I started researching how to document this boat build with a YouTube channel.  There are very few blogs that document the building of wooden Diesel Ducks and I can't find any documented with a YouTube channel.  Through the forums and through the comments and emails from the readers of this blog there seems to be genuine interest in seeing this build through a video series.  For me personally, I know it's something I would like to watch so hopefully others will enjoy it as well.

I'm certainly no producer, cinematographer or camera man.  While I have muttled my way through the editing of some home movies with IMovie I'm certainly no expert with that program either.  Research continues but I think it's something I want to do.

As always if you have any tips or comments please feel free to post them up here.  I'm shocked to see that this site has had nearly 3000 views.  I'm honored that people have taken the time to check out my project.

Under Cover

It's been a very busy 5 days!  Last weekend found us completing the sheathing of the end walls.  Additionally we added some heavy bracing to stiffen the arched end walls.  These braces connect from the ridge board to the top plate of the lower end wall.  The brace is made up of two 2x4's with 3 pieces of "2 by" blocking in between.  The blocking allows the "2 by" stock to slip around the ridge board where it was fastened with three inch screws.  It connects to the end wall with a 45 degree notch cut into the brace.  I predrilled and countersunk the screw holes so the wood would not split.  Six #10 2 1/2" screws hold the brace to the end wall.  The bracing worked great and completely stiffened the wall.  I have no concerns with wind loading, she ain't goin no place!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last big job was getting the roof on.  This took a fair amount of planning and cooperation from the weather.  I originally planned to use boat shrink wrap to cover the shed, however I changed my mind, for the moment at least.  I wanted a practice run with an $80 piece of plastic before I tried with a $400 piece of shrink wrap.  So I order a roll of solid white opaque, 6mil visqueen (20' by 100') from amazon along with some U/V protected sheathing tape and 1" plastic cap washers.  I also ordered 6 small cap vents that attach to the plastic (used in the shrink-wrap industry to provide ventilation for boats) and two 12"x 12" ridge vents.  Total cost was under $185 dollars.

 

 

The next hurdle was turning the 20' by 100' roll of plastic into a 50' by 40' rectangle.  This required a large area to work.  Conceivably you could do it in the yard, but I think that is the hard way.  Not only would it have required me to work on top of 6" of new fallen snow but having to also contend with the wind.  Even if you had a beautiful spring day I would be reluctant to walk at all on the plastic, as you would be required to do, when making up the seam.  the ground is inherently uneven with plenty of hidden sharp stuff (sticks, rocks, etc).  I started to brainstorm where I could find a huge open area, preferably with a soft floor.  I thought maybe I could use the local school after hours if I got permission but then I had a better idea.  I work in our headquarters building which is perpetually under construction.  Most of the building has been renovated but, the old Rochester Fire Chief's office is still vacant and un-renovated.  It has a huge carpeted room, decent lighting and a completely unoccupied space to work.

 

Time capsule! Most of the floor is remains the same as it was 10 years ago.



I rolled my plastic out and learned 100' is not really 100', more like 98'.  slightly disappointed, but still confident it was enough to do the job.

I used my 300' surveyors tape measure, and cut the 98' roll at 49' feet, quality scissors work well and cut the plastic easily.  I then laid the two strips parallel to each other in preparation for seaming. I learned you don't need to unfold the entire piece to access the edges.  If you find yourself doing something similar, take a moment to understand how the plastic is folded at the factory so you can find the edges to seam.  Once I had my edges, I overlapped them by about a foot and ensured that the overlap was maintained the length of the seam so the finished product would be as close to square as possible.  I removed my shoes, grabbed my sheathing tape and began to seam the two sheets together.  This process goes quickly and was easy to do.  I then flipped the assembly over and seemed the other loose edge with more sheathing tape.

 

I used white tape that matched the plastic perfectly so unless you really look, it is difficult to spot the seam.  I then tried to fold the plastic back up along the factory fold lines as best I could and rolled it up into a buddle. I then began to watch the weather, in hopes of a calm day.

That day came on thanksgiving eve when my "windy" app called for virtually no wind for the entire day.  I gathered up my father and son and began to prep for the roof install.  The best way we came up with was to unroll and unfold the entire plastic assembly in the yard adjacent to the boat shed.  We then rolled up two battens (we used 1" furring strips for the battens) a couple of turns into the plastic and used a staple gun to secure them.  If I had to do it again I would have used screws and cap washers, while the staples held, they did so just barely.  I then pre-drilled for a couple small threaded hooks and installed one in each batten.  We then tied 50' of clothesline rope to the threaded hooks and fished the rope over the purlins and the ridge board.  we positioned the scaffold  about a 1/3 of the way from the west end of the shed and we set up the ladder 1/3 of the way from the east end.  My son took the west side and I took the east.  We pulled in unison as my father worked the ground in the spaces between us with a long painters pole with a soft broom head attached.

I wish I could have taken some photo's but all our hands were occupied!  We slowly worked the plastic up and over the ridge and then my son and I repositioned ourselves outside and continued to pull the plastic over the roof.  My father continued to use the painters pole to move the plastic up and over the purlins and the ridge. 

The plastic itself is around 70lbs.  Now you add the surface friction of nearly 2000 square feet of material dragging across the ground and over the wooden arches and it takes quite a bit of effort to move that plastic roof.  It took about 15 minutes to get it up and over but eventually we accomplished our mission.  The roof was on!

This was only half the job because now the roof had to be secured to the structure.  We used furring strips again for battens.  We rolled the battens up a couple of rolls in the edge of the plastic and then screwed through the layers of plastic and the wooden batten into the knee wall with coated deck screws.  2" screws would be ideal, but I used 1 5/8" because that is what I had.  Each cap washer has to be predrilled or else the deck screw would split it.  Do not over torque the screw as you can easily blow through the plastic cap washer.

Originally I was concerned the 1" cap washers would not be large enough to provide a wide enough point of contact with the plastic sheathing but they worked fine.  There are larger style cap washers available that are normally used for installing rigid insulation, but after having done it with the 1" cap washers I believe they are more than adequate for this application.

For the arched end walls we again used battens cut into shorter lengths.  We rolled them up in the plastic and screwed them  in with cap washers.  It is almost like wrapping a large present on the end walls where you roll up a small section in a batten then fold over the pleat that is created and apply some sheathing tape.  We then rolled up the next short batten, repeated the process and worked our way up.  We stretched the plastic as tight as we could get it because it was a very cold day.  The plastic will expand in the summer sun and I don't want it loosening up.  If it is to loose the plastic will rub and wear through prematurely. 

I then added approximately 30 more screws with cap washers around the perimeter of the roof where I believed additional reinforcement was required.  I just screwed through the layers of rolled up plastic into the sheathing, no battens were used.  I then taped a few more seams and pleats that I thought looked like they may catch the wind to complete the roof install.

Next up is the installation of the battens to the arched end walls for the board and batten look.  We'll then finish priming and painting all the exposed plywood and build a door to keep the weather out.  Things are progressing well and we could be lumber shopping for the keel within a week or so!

Seeing the light

All the arches are in place!  This building is huge.  I knew the dimensions but its hard to understand the scope until you see it.  Everything went well and after placing arch 32 into position, 45 feet from arch 1 I found my measurements to be off by less than a 1/4".  I can certainly live with that.  I set up the time lapse again to document our progress.

After a few arches were installed we really got in a groove and the work progressed quickly and all the joints fit very well.  We found that attaching the arches at the ridge first worked best to ensure the ideal fit.

This past weekend we began framing the west end wall and sheathing with plywood.  Originally the end walls were to be visqueen or shrink-wrap.  Then I decided I wanted something more durable for the wind conditions I expect at this location of my property and planned to use T-111.  Well I needed 20 sheets and at $30 a sheet it was just to expensive.  So I compromised on board and batten using 3/8" CDX plywood and 1" furring strips. 

I wanted more ventilation options and we had a vinyl replacement window that we removed from our cottage that was just sitting around.  Why was this relatively new window removed and just sitting around?  Funny story.  A few years back we needed to replace a window in the cottage bathroom.  So good old dad went out and bought a new window and we installed it.  We had nothing but problems with it.  It leaked, the opening portion of the widow was not fitting tightly and flopped all around inside the frame.  Additionally when it rained the window bottom would fill with water and would not drain. 

So after 2 seasons of that my father and I were outside looking at the window discussing what the problem was.  Had we nailed it to tightly not allowing for expansion and contraction or was the window defective.  As we talked I mentioned how I had watched a home show discussing the installation of replacement windows.  It had talked about the anatomy of a window and the different features, including weep holes to drain water.  It was at that moment we both noticed the drain holes on the widow we had installed were on the side of the window not the bottom.  We had installed a horizontal sliding window vertically!  We both missed it when we installed it and had never noticed in 2 years of looking at it. Once we installed the proper style window the problem was resolved.  However that left a perfectly good window without a home. 

Well we found a new home for it and it will work perfect in this application.

We also installed diagonal bracing to stiffen the entire structure.  These run diagonally from the peek to the sill plate.  I used 1" furring strips, predrilled and screwed into place. I applied two of these systems on each side and I may add 2 more on each side going in the opposite direction. They made a huge difference in the structures rigidity.

It's really getting to be crunch time and we need to finish the sheathing and get the visqueen roof on.  The first snow storm of the year is expected this weekend and I want to get this thing weather tight before that happens.

Rising

We had a very good weekend!  A little windy but otherwise a beautiful weekend with mild temperatures.  Perfect building weather.  I was very pleased with how things all came together.  We did not encounter any surprises and all the arches fit it to place easily.  None required any fine tuning. 

Our system of supporting the ridge board worked much better than our last attempt.  I built two support structures with" two by" stock and some scrap plywood to hold the ridge beam in place while we set in the arches.  I notched one of ridge supports so the ridge could sit in the notch and stabilize it, preventing it from falling over as we attached the arches.

I set up my Ipad in time lapse mode to document our progress on Saturday.

My new favorite tool was a palm nailer.  This little guy was a big help with the galvanized nails that attached the joist hangers at the ridge.  You could certainly hammer them in but this makes the process so much easier.  The nail is held in place with a magnet so you can drive them with one hand supporting the work piece and the other hand driving the nail in place.  Best of all it was only $30, well worth it in my book. 

The arches were then attached to each other with plywood collar ties attached with glue and crown staples.  I kept the ties short and high as I need as much head room as possible to fit the boat.

We attached the purlins as we went to stiffen up the structure. It was quite windy and without the purlins the arches were just not stiff enough without the additional support. We used 2x4's a quarter of the way up from the sill and a quarter of the way down from the ridge.  The 2x4's slid right through the gaps in the blocking and were then screwed to the arches.  The purlins were butted together end to end as we progressed.  I used plywood gussets attached with glue and crown staples on each side of the 2x4 to make them act as one continuous beam.

The ridge beam is made up of 10' sections of 2x6's.  We attached them end to end with gussets as well.  This method seemed to work very well and it is simple to do.

I modified from the plans a bit with the method of attaching the arches to the sill plate.  I got the idea from another build I saw on the wooden boat forum.  We simply used 2x4 blocking in between each arch.  Once the arch was in place, snug to the blocking, we screwed the arch to the blocking.  Cutting each block to 34 1/2" insured that each arch remained 36" on center.  We then attached hurricane straps in accordance with the building plans.  Half of the strap was screwed to each arch and then the other half was attached to the knee wall.  She's not going anywhere!

Sunday was another busy day that saw us get the front wall framed up.  I'm going to sheath both ends of the structure with T-111.  I think this will hold up better against the significant wind I receive on this part of my property.  The fact that it will add significant structural strength is a bonus.  Prior to framing up the front wall we used a couple of temporary supports to insure that the structure was plum.

We framed the walls up using my framing nailer.  In hindsight I should have used screws.  I made the door opening 6' wide by 8' tall, but in the event I need a bigger opening in the future it's going to be a pain to take them apart.  If I would have used screws it would have made it considerably easier.  Live and learn, I plan to use screws on the back wall so if some giant piece of equipment needs to get in, it will just have to go through the back. 

In planning for the eventual completion of the boat all the arches were attached with screws except at the ridge joist hangers.  When the time comes I will be able to remove the screws from the arches that are attached to the sill and they will be able to be removed as one assembly.  This will provide a wide open space for the crane to strap up the boat and lift it.

We hope to have the 20 remaining arches installed next weekend.  I'm very pleased with the progress and how things look.