Mountain Alliance

Filling in the holes

2012-02-24T14:13:00.000-05:00

Today, our biggest project is patching the many holes in the structure of the sailboat. We've been using Bondo as a filler, and after filling the holes completely, and the filler drys, sanding down the Bondo so it is flush with the wood. Other things that we are working on today include:

-The all important job of sanding the rest of the paint down so we can put a new layer over it
-Smoothing out the template for the door/cabin wall design, and other templates for miscellaneous parts of the boat
-Re-enforcing the area where the mast will join the boat. In this picture you can see Steven working to remove a bolt so that the new mast can be replaced and the right size.

We have a small crew today, but the work has gone well, and we've been getting a lot done, so our lack of people has not been too much of a detriment. Cole began work sanding down the beautiful piece of Florida Cyprus along the transom of the boat.

Connie and Sarah have been doing a great job getting the top deck ready to be fiberglassed. The sanding has been completed and here they are making a pattern to use for cutting out the fabric which will be epoxied and then painted..

All in all, it's been a good day, but now it's time to pack up, so watch for our next Blog Thursday!

-Corin Brown
Andy Groothuis
Mountain Alliance Students

Bare Bones...

2012-02-16T19:06:00.000-05:00

Almost done with sanding the outside of the boat and working hard on the inside. Sara has taken charge on the front mast area, removing the last bits of paint and sanding the surface smooth for new paint. Justin can be seen inside the cabin sanding one of the sections, which we hope to have done next week and ready to caulk and repair the damaged wood sections. The outside sections around the windows in the cabin are also done with sanding and is looking great. Our community volunteer, Dan, can be seen inside the cabin inspecting the hull and the drop down keel that has a hole in it. This is a big project insuring the flotation of our vessel and without Dans' expertise we would sink during this project.

In this picture, you can clearly see the hole which Dan is inspecting, this is due to the water damage the boat received previously and caused water to rot away the structural members supporting the keel and keeping the water on the correct side of the boat.

Chris, Corin and Matt, another supportive community volunteer, work to finish up the template for the new cabin rear wall, which will support the cabin roof as well as provide a protective buffer between the seating area and the cabin.

We wanted to showcase another of Andrews creative drawings during his down time around the boat. We have taken on sailing jargon and are starting to name everyone in our crew accordingly. This first drawing portrays A sea captain, much like our leadership around the shipyard.

The Love Boat 2-14-12

2012-02-14T20:12:00.000-05:00

The Love Boat was a popular television show from the late 1970's which involved the crew having romantic and funny adventures throughout. This show inspired the crew today as we put some more tough loving into our boat today, Valentines Day. "promising something for everyone and a course for adventure..." (from the original theme song of The Love Boat.)

We stared out with goals for the crew to accomplish over the next few work days. The crew is really starting to take ownership in their project now as goals became very evident before work even started on the boat. Connie and Sarah worked and have now completed the scraping and sanding on the top deck of both the port and starboard as seen from the pre and post sanding pictures above.

Corin and Chris finished the outline (made from blue board) for the rear wall of the cabin and have now started designing the new door which will provide entry into the cabin to gain shelter from cupids arrows while on the open sea.

While Corin and Chris were working on the door, the rest of our crew was busy sanding and scraping. Justin, Cole, and Andy were working on the inside hull, as Tyler and Andrew worked to disassemble the mast and all its hardware, careful to document every piece and its location. They had help from Zeb, a community volunteer and an avid sailor.

Andrew continues to draw inspiring pictures in his down time around the shop to keep everyone in good spirits and working towards a common goal. His artwork will be showcased throughout our blog occasionally as he feels like taking a break the hard work hes been contributing to the crew.

Introducing the Crew

2012-02-09T23:34:00.001-05:00

Steven has been working closely with one of the amazing community volunteers Dan in removing, designing and replacing the mast due to damage it had. With the hard work he is putting forward these jobs have been flying by.

Andrew T. has also been working with Steven and Dan in working on the mast and the area around where the mast is on the boat. Andrew has contributed many great ideas in fixing the rotted area around the mast. Hopefully we'll be posting some of the amazing artwork he has done of the boat and crew.

Connie has been putting in a lot of hard work on the outside of the boat. Shes been using a lot of elbow grease to scrap off the paint on the outside of the boat. Recently she has begun sanding these spots that have been scraped of all the paint.

Sarah has been working with Connie on the outside of the boat in scraping and sanding. They both have been working with Anna and Rachel who are community volunteers.Their work has resulted in almost half the outside of the boat to be finished sanding.

Tyler has been a jack of all trade while working on the project. During the first day he worked with other students in removing the transom. He also has contributed by removing paint from the inside of the boat in both the front and the back.

Cole started by creating a brace to support the boat in order for the students to work in the boat. He has removed hardware from inside and outside the boat. After this he began scraping the paint off from the inside of the boat and has started sanding as well.

Chris also has been jumping around throughout the project. He worked with Tyler the first day of the project to remove the transom. More recently he has been working with Corin, Scott and Todd in designing the doors to the cabin. His next step is working with Corin in designing seats.

Justin has been working mostly inside the boat. He spent a day working with Chris in removing a piece of the boat that we want to keep in order to replicate it. He also has been working on scraping the inside and has begun sanding this as well. This prep work is important in order for the boat to progress.

Corin started by removing hardware inside and outside the boat and worked into removing bigger pieces of the boat. He now has been working on designing the door into the cabin as well as the seats for the boat. He also has drafted a letter to be sent to organizations contributing to the project.

Boat Day 4

2012-02-07T20:02:00.000-05:00

Today started with everyone scraping more paint off the boat. Connie and Rachel worked along the rails on the outside of the boat, while Justin, Cole and Andy scraped paint throughout the inside hull and cabin areas. This was a long and tedious process, but is very important to the quality of the finished boat, shown through the sanding on the outside hull, which is now ready for paint.

The final pieces of exterior hardware were also taken off today, the rudder mounts as well as the last hanger on the hull.

Andrew is seen here scraping the inside of the cabin, getting all the loose paint off the side walls ready for sanding and paint next week. You can also see that we removed the rear door and wall which will be replaced with new wood and a new look soon. Corin and Chris worked together to design an outline for the new single piece of wood that will cover the cabin and house the door for entry to this shelter from the rough seas we will be encountering on our trips. Andrew said that by the time he is done working on the cabin, we will all stay protected from the pirates we will surely see while sailing on Watauga Lake.

Shipyard Day 3

2012-02-02T18:52:00.000-05:00

Date: 2.2.12

Work today on the boat went quickly. The "crew" (students) is getting much faster at assembling right after school in order to get to the "shipyard" (boat workshop) quicker to make the most of our time there. Instead of our normal time frame, we had to be back for a Mountain Alliance Membership meeting at 6pm.

Despite our limited time frame, the crew was excited to keep scraping paint from the top of the boat deck as well as the inside of the boat. We acquired a new vacuum which helped greatly in the cleaning process.

Our community volunteer, Dan, worked over the weekend to rebuild the base of the mast where it will connect into the frame of the boat. Students (and staff) were amazed by the quality of work and thought put into this new piece which is made out of rare wood which will add unique accents to the finished boat. The rest of the hardware was removed from the cabin which is now ready to be stripped of paint and prepped for sanding. Next week will be full of sanding and finishing removing the old paint to determine which areas need to have replacement pieces built and installed.

Dan also worked with some of our crew to start working on the rest of the mast, preparing the sails to be fitted to a new mast (which is much needed due to the rot throughout the mast).

The high seas are starting to beckon to the crew as we continue to get one step closer to completion for our maiden voyage on the open seas.

The Great Boat Project Day 2 1/31/12

2012-02-02T15:33:00.000-05:00

Our second day began in our boats office space. With nine of the original crew and a new additional deck hand, we began by creating a social contract. The contract was created by the students focusing on our boat, the crew and the shipyard and how the respect of all three will make this process easier and more enjoyable for everyone involved.

A community volunteer with years of experience introduced the crew to some more basic tools that we would be using on our boat. Determining groups based off the new task for the day, we started into work around the boat. One group was responsible for the removal of the paint on the outside of the boat. This process is taking longer than anticipated but not without the hard work of Connie, Corin and Sarah.

Chris and Justin were set with the task of removing the pieces of door to the cabin that were rotting through. Andy and Andrew were working on removing the remaining pieces of hardware inside the cabin including the glass windows which proved harder than anticipated. Lastly Steven, Tyler and Cole began removing paint from the back of the boat.

Aside from these physically demanding jobs Corin began thinking of a light weight and well designed idea seats for the back of the boat. The boat looks a lot different now at the end of day 2, as we started drafting letters to acquire more materials for the rest of our project. Day three will begin with a lot more sanding and prepping the boat for a fresh coat of paint.

Day 1- Destruction of The Great Wooden Boat

2012-01-26T18:40:00.001-05:00

With 10 excited students from Mountain Alliance, we started our FIRST boat work day! As we arrived at our generously donated workshop (the cafeteria of the old Cove Creek elementary school) we found our first wooden boat sitting quietly waiting for some love (or in the case today, some tough love). We discussed the overall ideas of restoring the boat to its new life as the first piece of the Mountain Alliance sailing program.

Groups were formed to tackle some of the larger issues including: taking the mast apart and prepping to make a new one, cleaning the outside of the boat and dissembling every piece to get the boat ready for some new paint, cleaning the inside of the boat to prep for paint as well as starting to check for any potential rotten boards which will make sure we will float once on the water.

We removed the rear transom of the boat which will allow for more seating to be put in its place as well! A frame was build to keep the boat in a stable location to allow people to crawl around inside without the boat flipping over.

One student Chris Lawrence said "this is school like the way it should be, I like being out here working with good friends and making better friends in the process, we are getting to learn to use tools and teamwork which will be good experience for the future, experiencing as much as we can to prepare us for this economy".

Tyler Hicks, another excited future boat builder said "I believe this is good because we get to come here after school, where we the skills we learn involve both, taking things apart in one piece and also destroying things without destroying everything at the same time, this is relieving from being in school all day long where we get to do things hands on, while learning things at the same time".

Corin Brown had nothing to say as he was busy cleaning the floor around the boat during the time of this entry.
Our two ladies Sara Virginia and Connie Alcaraz said they are excited about tearing the boat apart before the end result and sailing it on Watauga Lake. Naming the boat will be one of their most exciting days.

We are wrapping up today cleaning up the shop and recording the tasks for next weeks adventures. Tonight we are having a cookout roasting burgers out back and becoming acquainted with our new shop for the next few months. The excitement was overwhelming tonight and I feel it will build over the course of the project up to the day we launch on the lake to learn to sail!!!

Stay tuned to check out the exciting Great Boat Adventures...