Time; Frames 21 and 23

September 16, 2014    Hours spent building to date:  117

I had a group of people at the shop over the weekend, and they asked the same question everyone else always asks:  “How long do you think it will take to build the Tardis?”

I really don’t know.  I think at the pace I’m going, I can have the hull planked and glassed by Christmas.  Then I have to figure out a way to get her turned over and on a trailer, and things get pretty iffy time-wise after that.  Finish work always seems to stretch on forever.  Electrical and plumbing are pretty complex even on a boat this size.  I will be counting on others for the engine/steering install.  So if I could have the boat ready to go somewhere South for final details and a short cruise by the middle of October next year, I would be delighted.  A spring 2016 launch is more likely, but I don’t know — I’m loafing along at a summer pace, but the boat is really coming together.  Over the winter with nothing else to do, I should be able to hit the gas.

What I CAN tell future builders is how long it TOOK to build the Tardis, since I’m keeping pretty close track of the time spent actually building the boat.  This does not count Internet research, parts ordering, general lollygagging, blogging, etc.  I was in the shop all day today, but ran into a problem with a misprint on a frame measurement and switched over to Connecticut River Museum projects, so only 2 hours counted against Tardis.  I am now dating these posts and adding an hour-meter.

Frames 21 and 23 got done even working around mast-building for the CRM.  What was hard at station 5, is much easier at frame 23.

Frame 21

Frame 23 — under the cockpit

In our “spare” time Ray and I have been helping the Museum boatbuilding students make Bevins masts

Mast Builders hard at work