Almost-A-SCAMP Progress Report #3-2A . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

Sometimes, all the piddly little details, chores, and fixes, start piling up on you because it's so easy to ignore them.
Until they prevent you from accomplishing the next phase of progress, forcing you to finally deal with them. 
Decided to make good on my threat to change out the ¼-20 nylock nuts, for ¼-20 barrel bolts on my veranda hook.
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Like so:
Should keep whatever is hung on the hook from . . . . umm     . . . . also hanging up on the nuts.
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Another chore I somehow kept missing, was trimming and filing smooth, the excess threads on the ladder clip nuts.
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I ground off the excess paint and epoxy, that was causing the filler-boards locker to be sprung and not close properly.
While congratulating myself and patting myself on the back, at a good job, well done,    I walked towards the back of the boat and hit the locker edge with the toe of my shoe.
It promptly flipped up. 
Swell. 
I imagined that thing bouncing around in a seaway. 
Hmmmm . . . . . .  can't have that.
I didn't want a nylon strap and buckle to secure the lid, nor a velcro strap, or some kind of a cabinet latch; I wanted things simple, so I decided to use magnets and steel washers.
Made an inset for the magnets with a Forstner bit; and screwed down the washers on the underside of the lid . . . . .
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. . . . . . . And epoxied down the magnets and also epoxied over the galvanized washers, so they wouldn't rust. (As much.)
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I like to have the back end of the mast stored on a mast stand that is hung on the transom; I feel that it makes for easier storing, towing, and rigging. 
Like this:
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Since I wanted  a similar style of transom-mounted mast stand carrier, I fabricated one for the SCAMP, from some Unistrut. 
(Hey! You gotta go with what has always worked well for you, for 45+ years!!) 
Now I was finally able to put pintles on it, since the permanent gudgeons were now installed on the transom.
Previously, I had no way to precisely determine where to locate the pintles, on the mast stand. 
Also, I didn't want the walls of the mast stand to compress and allow the pintles to move, or rotate out of alignment, so I cut a  small piece of galvanized pipe to act as a compression collar, for the bolts.
That stand is coming off the gudgeons every time the boat is launched, it has to be smooth and reliable.
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Then I bent the tabs over, to further help keep the pintles in alignment and wonder of wonders!! 
The pintle holes lined up!!    PERFECTLY!!    Color me: Astonished!! 
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Sitting on the gudgeons.
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An on-going problem with transom mast stands, is that they always manage to twist to the side, RIGHT when you're about to lower the mast onto them! 
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I wanted to avoid that.
Some Starboard that was left over from making the bow stops, was pressed into service, fabricated, and attached with some 10-24 screws and nylock nuts.
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After this pic was taken, I discovered that the Starboard could rotate up or down slightly, so I drilled a hole through the Unistrut and pinned it in place, with a sheet metal screw.

You can just see the screw head in this pic.
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No mast stand twist, here!! 
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When I was working on the trailer last July, I had used the metal fenders that came with the trailer, but during a slight dimensions misjudgement,    while dropping the hull onto the trailer for bunk alignment purposes, I had dinged the sides of the hull.
I decided to glom onto the plastic fenders off the kayak trailer, since because of the way the kayaks sit on the kayak trailer, metal fenders would never be a problem.   
So I removed these:
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And installed these in their place:
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None of the frame/fender geometry worked out and it required fabricating new brackets, from some 6" corner braces.
This fender has a much gentler radiused curve and sits lower on the frame, even though the distance between the wheel and the inside of the fender, is the same.

Down the road, I will need to know the weight of the boat, to register it and I had added a lot of stuff (bunks, rollers, roller bunks, mast stand etc.) to the trailer, since I originally registered it.
So I needed to get a more recent trailer weight and this morning got ready to get the new weight.
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Going down CR235, I hit a major (new!) pot hole and my starboard goal post broke at a coupling.
I cooly and analytically, examined the failure mode in my usual calm and stoic, manner. 
I'm kidding, of course. 
I had a major HISSY FIT!!    All while I bemoaned my fate and my luck,    cursed the gods, and unleashed a stream of invective, sure to garner me an extra 5 minutes in the confessional, this Saturday! 
After I was rational again, I jury-rigged a temporary solution and continued on to the weigh station, participating in a One-Man Pity Party, all the way there. 
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(And one more reason why you leave wire slack in the pipes, when you're wiring up things!!) 

Truck and trailer at the weigh station:
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Truck only:
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400 pounds it is; nearly 140 pounds greater, than when I first registered it.
I'll repeat this process with the boat on it and subtract the trailer weight from that new number.

Got home and started reinforcement, in the Grand Tradition of German Churches, that used to have the roofs cave in, on the parishioners. 
(Very bad for business; collections drop off to nothing!) 
So they kept building them stronger and stronger, until the roofs quit caving in. 
While there was still glue on both the pipe and the coupler, it seems the shock loads had cracked part of the coupler, and that apparently ripped the glue apart. 
I re-glued it, then put in screws on both ends of the coupler, every 90º.
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But I wasn't done there; sanded down the couplers and taped off above and below the couplings.
Also did the lower couplings too, because I once I get snake-bit on something,    I go after EVERYTHING. 

Wrapped about 4 layers of 6 oz. fiberglass cloth around the joints and kept milking the wraps, until there were no more air bubbles, and the glass was thoroughly saturated.
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Then I wrapped packing tape around the fiberglass so the cloth couldn't sag, nor could the epoxy drip, as it cured.
Despite the 3 steps forward, 2 steps back progress lately, I can finally see the finish line, looming. 
(Even with all my nightmares of doing the rigging, while the tiller pilot steers the trolling motor, on my way to Atseno Otie Key, for the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet!) 

Charles Brennan

[Chris Muthig]

Looks like I need to get a couple of couplers to add to my trailer parts bucket just in case.  I actually just installed new goal posts on mine and rewired the trailer.  Do you have a rough idea on when you'll be launching for the first time?

[Charles Brennan]

Chris, Based on my track record so far, figuring: Spring. 

Charles Brennan