The "P" Factor

Ah yes- that "P" Factor!

So just what is this?

It's the reason The Fuzz has not been heard from for 20 days.

Otherwise know as Procrastination.

The Fuzz is an expert at this, having been an active* procrastinator for years now.  In fact he has become rather adept at this useful skill.

Of course there is a down side to this.

Procrastinations seem to pile up after a while until the pile is a bit hard to even see past.

Well, The Fuzz and His Sweetie have been kinda busy, in a way;

But that is no excuse.

Anyhow...

Previously The Fuzz mentioned something about things getting back to normal.  Well what is "normal" anyway?

In this case it turned out to be looking out after a grandchild whilst her usual caregiver was out of town.

(actually out of the country)

It's not that they have no experience in this matter, but it has been a few years since they were dealing with a Sweet Little 2 Year Old!

But all in all, they were glad to have the opportunity for some of that "quality time" again.

But getting back to the woods and "normal" it was time for The Fuzz to get back onto the project he had started.

He had picked up the motor for the table saw from the Electrical Motor Doctor and actually gotten the thing put back together.

Other more pressing matters (such as working up a bit of firewood!) had been taken care of, and The Fuzz felt the itch to get out into the shop again.

He had fun playing with his toys-

and even made a slight improvement to the design.

And here's a look at the new arrangement.

It seems to have turned out rather well.

Now the rest is up to His Sweetie.

*as if this word can be applied to the phenomenom!

Fun Pix

Just a couple of fun pix here...

And...

Getting Back to "Normal"

Getting Back to "Normal"

And just what is this "normal" stuff anyway?

I believe it was Junie B. Jones☺︎ who once said-

"Nobody in my family is normal."

Be that as it may, with the bathroom fully functional, it is time for The Fuzz to move on to other things.

And of course there is no shortage of other things.

Today, it seems that indoor things would be appropriate.

Even the Kitties agree.

The Fuzz's Sweetie saw an idea for mounting various bits of art on the wall and The Fuzz thought it was something he could handle.

In fact he had already done something like this-

although on a smaller scale.

To do it right, he would want to use the table saw of course.

But now there appeared to be a problem.

Whilst he was cutting a few chunks of firewood into smaller boards the other day, the saw quit.

(Well actually, it wouldn't start back up after he had shut it off)

It would just buzz and act like it wasn't getting enough power.
And there was that disquieting bit of smoke.

The Fuzz quickly determined that there was nothing wrong with the blade and bearings.

The trouble was the motor.

Bummer.

So it was time to take the thing apart.

In this first shot, the motor has already been removed.

But of course even that turned into a bit of a project.

In order to do this the drive pulley needed to be removed.

So he backed off on the set screw.

Unfortunately, the pulley still did not want to slip off of the shaft.

Step 2

So he got a rubber mallet and tried tapping on the shaft to loosen it.

Step 3

Tapping while while prying on the pulley.

(Which didn't work either)

Step 4

It was time to get out the gear puller.

Or what was left of it.

The Fuzz has this tendency to pick up cheap tools at- for example, Big Lots.

Sometimes this works out...

And sometimes not.

And...

The Fuzz has a tendency to push these cheap tools just a little too hard.

And that was what had happened to the gear puller.

If one closely examines this pix, one will see that the shaft of this precision tool is just a little bent!

This does make it a bit more difficult to use.

 But in this case ti did the trick-

The pulley was pulled-

And the motor is at the Electric Motor Doctor's.

The Fuzz should probably be using this time to clean up the mess in the shop.

But instead he is playing around here on the computer!

Well, there'll be time enough for that later.

Bathroom Update

The Fuzz is pleased to report

That the tile and baseboards are in.

And the Brand New Shower is hooked up and ready.

It has been one of those projects that grew a little as it went along.

At first the idea was simply to replace the bathtub.

But it was decided that a walk-in shower would be a better arrangement.

And since that would be a different size, a new wall would need to be framed in.

And then there was a matter of raising the floor just a bit as well to accommodate the drain.

Then-

since a few tiles would need to be added to fill in a gap-

It might be a good time to replace those stick-on vinyl ones with some real tiles. 

And that was a project in itself.

But all that is behind The Fuzz now.

All that remains is a new shower curtain and then-

a nice hot shower!

Back to Work

Longtime followers of Kinda Fuzzy may remember the Bathroom Project.

Well...

That one is still in progress.

At the last report The Fuzz was about to tackle the floor.

And while the Project is still in progress-

The tile is down!

Here's a look by the new shower.

As can be seen there is still a lot of work ahead.

He needs to work up some baseboards.

And...

Get the commode back in!

Fortunately there is another bathroom in the trailer,

so The Fuzz and His Sweetie haven't had to "hold it" all this time.

But with this tile down and grouted they should have the "can" back on line very soon-

Like Tomorrow!

Back to Normal Life

Well The Fuzz hasn't been too active here since returning from his Motorcycle Trip.

But life does go on.

There was plenty to do around the Home Place.

And then there was a Family Camping Trip to Jordan Lake.

From time to time those who can make it, like to meet up for a day or two of camping and some time together.

For many years The Fuzz worked collecting trash and of course "trash" often included some pretty good stuff.

One of the finds was this 15" cast iron skillet.

For many years it was just stashed away-

One of those things that's just too good to get rid of-

But there is really no use for it at the time.

It's not the sort of thing one would backpack with, and it's a bit too big to use on the kitchen stove!

But a Family Campout is another matter.

So The Fuzz got it out and gave it to the folks who usually are organizing these affairs.

And what better way to cure an iron skillet than a couple of pounds of bacon!

The Lake was beautiful this time of year.

The leaves were starting to turn.

And it wasn't too cold for Our Fuzz to get out in his Kayak!

The weather was perfect-

The rain didn't move in till everyone was packed up and on the way home.

For now it's time to get settled in for the winter ahead and the coming Holidays.

The Rest of Boat Works Stuff

When we left off last time, the centerboard had made it into the boat, but was propped up by a timber.

This of course would not do for the long term-

or even the short term.

(The need to get back on the trailer)

It was necessary to provide a way to raise, or lower the thing as needed.

So a Temporary Winch Arrangement was provided.

This would serve while the rest of the work on the boat continued.

This pix shows what was finally put together.

But several earlier attempts were not as successful due to the weight of this massive piece of steel.

This winch is what will be used when finished, but probably not in this exact set up.

The final arrangements will be made as the boat is finished up.

But this will work for now.

All that was left now was to get her back onto the trailer.

This of course was the reverse process of taking her off.

And eventually accomplished.

The Fuzz would like to thank everyone involved, for letting him observe.

He does have a bit of interest in the subject.

Who knows?

Perhaps someday he may be involved in these things himself-

But probably not on this scale!

More Boat Works Stuff

We left our last post with the Boat Guys breaking for beer and burgers.

But now it was another day, with a big job ahead.

Cinderella had to get off her trailer somehow.

But these guys had a plan.

The plan involved supporting her with "Poppets"-

And a lot of patience.

(An example of a Poppet)

The  patience comes in because these nifty little stands will need to be placed between the cross members on the trailer;

Which means, that the trailer can only be moved as far as the next cross member.

At which point...

The whole thing must be let back down...

And the poppets moved back to the next section.

The process is repeated until the trailer can be pulled clear.

Now it was time to get to the centerboard-

which was the reason for all of this!

A template had been made;

And now it was used to determine exactly where the hole for the mounting pin needed to be drilled.

Everything had to be lined up perfectly and drilled through the solid oak keel.

The pin for the centerboard had been specially made with a flange to help secure it.

It needed to be inset into the keel.

Meanwhile, another hole had been dug for the centerboard.

Now the centerboard was raised into position in the centerboard trunk.

(Note the 2x6 being used to lever the 3/4 thick solid steel centerboard into place- that thing was heavy!)

Then the pin was installed, and the centerboard raised and propped up with a timber.

So far- so good!

But this post is getting a bit long-

Maybe it's best to break off for now.

To be continued....

At the Boat Works

It was getting to be time for The Fuzz to leave the coast.  After all, there were plenty of projects waiting for him back in the woods.

Checking the weather predictions, The Fuzz saw one day of good weather, and then rain ahead.

So he strapped his pack back on the bike and headed inland.

The Fuzz was fortunate to be able to break up the trip again with an overnight stop with family at Durham.

But this time there was a lot going on in the Boatyard.

When he got there, he found work in progress on Cinderella.

A friend had driven down from Michigan to help install the centerboard in her.

This would be a major undertaking since the boat would need to be removed from the trailer to do it.

And as Cinderella is considerably larger than your average sailboard, this was not a simple matter.

But the first job involved installing the rudder.

This also needed to be done from below.

But the boat could not be safely raised high enough, so a little extra space was created.

If you look closely, you will notice how the rudder is setting in a small hole.

This worked out fine.

Here's a look at the bottom end of the shaft.

The metal piece needed to be 

precisely lined up and fitted to the keel.  Here you can see it clamped into place before drilling for mounting

 holes.

And mounted.

Later these bolts will be replaced with something more saltwater friendly.

One more pix with the rest of the rudder attached.

This part can swing up, which is a handy feature in North Carolina's shallow waters.

Next time, The Fuzz will address the rest of the project;

Somehow getting 2½ tons of boat off of a trailer-

without leaving the boat shed!

Autumn Bike Trip

With the colder weather closing in, The Fuzz decided that this might be his last shot at a motorcycle trip for the season.

He thought a trip to the coast might be good, and since there is family there, he could have a visit- and a bike trip.

The destination was Wilmington, NC.

Some readers might have been following the news lately, and if so, they will be aware that the weather has been a bit extreme down there as of late.

But since the worst of things seemed to be in South Carolina, The Fuzz figured it might be worth a shot, although he did delay the trip 1 day to wait for things to clear up a bit.

And so with the sun finally breaking through here in the woods, he headed out on the first leg of his ride.

The first stop was in Durham (also family) which broke up the ride a little and made things a bit easier on The Fuzz's butt.

As he moved to the east, he rode back into the clouds-

and even a touch of rain.

But the weather "experts" has predicted that this would be gone in the morning.

And sure enough, it was.

So after a good night's rest, Our Fuzz was back on the road, headed for the coast.

About half way there, he rode back into the clouds.

But there was no more actual rain, and he made it into Wilmington safe and dry.

He spent the next day just kicking back, and later rode into town to check out the scene downtown on Front Street.

The last time he was there he ran into the Azalea Festival, but this time, there was not all that much going on.

He did see a couple of cool bikes though.

The first was some kind of Honda.

But he had no clue on this other.

Then he grabbed some lunch and a couple of beers at a German restaurant.

Whilst in town he found this cool little Tardis for His Sweetie who is a big Doctor Who fan.

The next morning, the weather was still fine.

So after a stop for coffee and a bite of breakfast, The Fuzz rode up US 17 toward Topsail Island to see if it was still there.

Fortunately, it was-

Although there had been a bit of the storm there.

This section of road was still closed.

But there was a detour around it.

The beach was not particularly crowded that day.

But there was a bit of fishing going on.

Things were pretty quiet out there.

After hanging out on the beach a bit The Hungry Fuzz rode back to Surf City for some lunch.

(and beer)

Then it was time to ride back to the city.

Back to the Bathroom

When we last left this project, The Fuzz had managed to get the shower base and sides installed.

And even the shower control.

Next in line was the new wall & trim.

And despite a few complications, this was done as well.

His Sweetie had a plan for painting the newly exposed parts of the wall.

But first they would need to be coated with some of that Kiltz stuff.

They have had good luck with this in the past.

So The Fuzz got busy and put on a couple coats of it.

It came out okay.

Since now a bit more of the subfloor was exposed, it seemed like a good time to upgrade the floor as well.

So one more trip to that Infamous Home Improvement Store resulted in this!

It looks like Our Fuzz might be busy for a while.

Here we have the cement backer board, some mastic,

and a pile of tile!

Well this aught to keep That Fuzz out of trouble for a while.