Benches & Clean Up Day

While waiting for new stock of galvanized pipe and plumbing fittings to arrive in Ketchikan, a little carpentry was in order to create seating for the outfitting area. Greg and Lars watched a You Tube video about building benches and set to work.

The Benches before varnish.

They have made some awesome benches using simple materials: 2x12s, 2x6s, 4x4s and satin spar varnish.

Friday was clean-up day. The Crystal Serenity was scheduled to pay a random visit to Ketchikan, 3 weeks ahead of the regular season, which gave us an excellent reason to get ready for customers. Here is how it began...

It was a little daunting... but with some elbow grease and a lot of help from Lars it started to look better.

and better...

Until by 5:30pm, it was pretty presentable.

The finished benches

Our new POS area

The outfitting area
And the the same area last November....

Pipe Creations

Declan tests out the new racks

Anyone who has worked for Southeast Sea Kayaks will be familiar with Greg's special skills in constructing things out of plumbing materials that no one else would think of using for that particular purpose. The previous owners had added poles to the Carricraft to make sure that the roof was supported with lots of people standing on it. While we don't plan to carry a crowd on the roof, we might stack kayaks on it, so replacing the support poles seemed like a good idea. Greg saw an obvious opportunity for pipe creations.  In addition to roof support, what we need is lots of hanging space for all of our rain jackets, life jackets and sprayskirts. The galvanized steel pipes that most people use for plumbing or heating also make great gear racks, so Greg purchased every piece of pipe and fitting that he could find in Ketchikan and set to work. The resulting racks, functional as roof supports and gear hangers and not bad looking at all, would make Martha Stewart proud.

The first row of racks are in

Distinguished Young Women of Alaska

2012 Distinguished Young Women of Alaska

Our first kayakers of the season were the contestants in Alaska's Distinguished Young Women competition. We cleared out some space in the Arctic Fjord, and put poggies on all the paddles and went out to paddle on a sunny but chilly spring day. We very much enjoyed the girl's company and in addition to all their other talents, they prooved to be distinguished kayakers as well. Big thanks to Bob McClory for organizing the event and to all the young women for their energy, good humor and excellent singing.

The DYW heading into the dock

Roof Carpeting

Lars gets the carpet ready

The roof carpet was one of the ickiest things about the Arctic Fjord. It was light grey which showed the mildew very nicely and was also peeling off in a lot of conspicuous places: at least it was easy to rip out. First, Greg took down all the lights then the old carpet came down easily. Once it was all pulled out we patched the soft spots and sanded the ceiling.

I would have to be honest and say that I have never liked to see carpet anywhere except on a floor: you can't vacuum a wall can you? But roof carpeting seemed to be the only way to go on the Arctic Fjord, so we picked out a nice boaty blue and set to work. Once again, Lars was extremely helpful. Getting carpet onto the roof proved to be quite a tricky business: it took every last gallon of contact adhesive that could be purchased in Ketchikan and a rolling pin.

We cut the carpet (which is a carpet designed for boats) into 12x6 foot strips.  A layer of contact adhesive was applied to the carpet and to the ceiling and left to dry for 1 hour. Luckily, Fat Stan's Bar is at the top of the ramp: you could not stay in the boat while the contact was drying. Once the glue was ready, Greg and Lars carefully positioned the carpeting on the ceiling, then rolled over it with a rolling pin (just a regular one from the kitchen) until it stuck.

We had to cut out around the windows

The high section of the boat was tricky, because we only have one ladder and the carpet had to be cut out around the windows, but it looks good now that it is complete. Greg got the tarps out and almost all of the lights back up, ready for the first kayak event of the year.

Floor & Ceiling

Greg & Lars working on the Floor

The frp looks great and only a few pieces popped off the curvy parts of the walls in the extreme cold last week. The temperature has not gotten much higher, and it snowed all weekend but those errant pieces of frp have been firmly screwed back on. It's was time to move on to the floor and ceiling. The plywood floor is being replaced and then we will lay linoleum over the top of the plywood. The plywood was nailed down with several hundred galvanized flathead nails. Nailing the plywood took a long time but got done, with many thanks to Lars, who has been helping out the last few weeks.

The flooring is vinyl backed vinyl: a linoleum that is recommended for use in marine and other wet areas.
Unfortunately , when were all ready to lay the flooring we discovered the adhesive had frozen and when it thawed was was semi solid and useless. A quick trip to the flooring store and we had another 3 gallons of good stuff and were ready. A flooring expert friend who now drives a cab told us to lay the lino over the openings to the bilge areas and then cut them out. This worked fairly well except that the weight of the lino was pulling it down and away from the walls, so we had to cut them while the adhesive was still wet. It was a little messy but seems ok. all in the floor laying went well but was hard work.I hope the carpet on the ceiling is a little easier, although I doubt it.We are thinking of turning the boat over  and treating it as flooring...

This roof carpet has to go..

Snowy Spring in Ketchikan

Southeast Sea Kayaks' New Headquarters March 2012

We keep hoping that spring will arrive but so far, it has been a snowy spring here in Ketchikan. Check out the snow on the dock and Deer Mountain last week and, as you can see from the picture below,  a super low tide!

Moving Day

Arctic Fjord in her new home at the Alaska Fish House Marina

Moving a boat that has been in its stall for 5 or more years is a little nerve wracking, even after running the engines and checking everything twice. Plus it was blowing a stiff 25-30 knots from the southeast. Greg and Pat waited for a lull in the gale, threw off the lines and held their breaths as they pulled out of the Bar Harbor dock past one of Ketchikan's beautiful yachts, Sum-Dum ( fondly remembered for the crew having brought me an icepack and a beer, many years ago, when I broke my nose on the Punchbowl trail in the Misty Fjords), which was berthed next door.  For once, everything went to plan and the Arctic Fjord turned out of Bar Harbor and chuffed happily down the Tongass Narrows towards Thomas Basin where she was tied up for the night with a big thank you to Pat for crewing on our maiden journey.

How do you get a 58x13 boat though a 20 foot gap? Very carefully and with a lot of help from our friends. We had some practice at getting things through the gap (seen above) when we pulled our dock through last December but the Arctic Fjord is longer and has propellers to worry about. We had a 16.9 foot high tide which gave us plenty of water in the gap but also lots of current both from the tide and the Ketchikan Creek. With a big crew of friends standing by to help, Greg drove the Arctic fjord bow first into the gap and up against the fenders that he had tied into place. Lines were thrown to the helpers on the dock and they muscled the boat around and into position. Big Thanks to Chuck, Micah, Pat, Bill, Lars and Dale for their much appreciated help. We think that she looks good in her new home and you can now check out the Arctic Fjord anytime on Ketchikan Web Cam number 6 at  http://www.alaskafishhousewebcam.com/.

Stage 2, Part 2: A Great Day for FRPing

Beautiful day looking out at Bar Harbor through the wheelhouse.

The frp arrived on the barge from Juneau in a relatively timely fashion, which, for us means that it only took about two weeks to get here. All the sheets arrived undamaged  - which is also important and it looks very white and sparkly. For those of you wondering what frp looks like, ours is exactly the same as the frp on the walls of the Pioneer Pantry here in Ketchikan: check it out next time you're there. If you have not been to the Pioneer, imagine something white and shiny with a raised pattern that looks kind of like it belongs in a shower. We choose frp because it will not absorb water and cleans easily, which is important in a boat in a damp environment.

A pile of frp

Clancy demonstrates how to use the circular saw.

It was a lovely sunny day at Bar Harbor and, of course, a super low tide. We carried the frp two sheets at a time down to the Arctic Fjord and made a big pile of it on the floor. Greg used a jigsaw to cut the frp, with a fine, 32tpi blade and also aviator tin snips for the curves. The frp is flexible, so in theory, it follows the curve of the walls nicely and needs only to be glued on. Unfortunately, the bucket of glue was frozen, so we had to warm it up.

The port side frp is almost finished. Declan is also "helping."

Once we had the glue thawed out, frping was a breeze. Well, almost. The frp was cut and glued to the wall with liquid nails frp glue. We used a white flexible plastic strip to cover the seams between sheets of frp and screwed the window trim back on to help hold the frp in place. This worked fairly well, except in a few curvy places where we had to use panel pins to hold the frp in place while it was drying.

The frp on the starboard side is coming along.

We are more than halfway through the frp part of the project now and the end of February is creeping up. We have to move the boat out of Bar Harbor by the 29th so the next adventure will be... moving the boat

Stage 2, Part One: The Walls

Now that it's stripped back to the fiberglass walls it is time to put on new walls. We wanted to update from the faux wood look so the new walls will be fiberglass re-enforced plastic, or as we like to call it: frp. Before we can put the frp on though, we need new to make new plywood backing. Greg used 3/8" plywood varnished with Spar varnish to help keep the water our and prevent rot. To create the bend in the plywood that was needed to follow the curve of the walls, Greg made jigs and bent the plywood for the lower sections.

The bend in the walls

The old plywood had been screwed into the fiberglass but, now much older, the fiberglass would not hold screws well. This meant that Greg got to enjoy a few days of being high on contact adhesive  fumes as we had to glue and screw the plywood to the fiberglass.

Port side walls

Plywood is done

The plywood is on and it looks great, although it is making the roof carpet look even worse. Now we have to wait for the frp to arrive on the barge from Home Depot in Juneau. In the meantime, Greg is fixing the soft spots in the floor and recovering from the glue fume exposure.

Stage 1: Ripping Things Out

In the dead of winter, when most people are trying to get off the island, Mark arrived from Minnesota to enjoy a week of Ketchikan drizzle and consult on the Arctic Fjord project. The plan was to begin with the floor which was covered with marine carpet which I suspect of contributing to the strange mildewy smell in the boat. Smell or no, carpet is not great flooring for kayak outfitting in the rainforest so, it had to go. Greg had already pulled out the tables and booths in preparation for pulling up the carpet which was glued to the plywood floorboards. The carpet was ripped up with brute strength (according to Greg) at which point we discovered several soft spots in the plywood floor that would have to be repaired and it became clear that the walls would also have to go. You can see from the picture below how water had seeped into the plywood and rotted the walls.

Greg and Mark set about ripping off the walls which were classic seventies wood panelling laminate on plywood sheets. The plywood walls had been screwed to the fiberglass of the cabin.  Several thousand screws (thanks Mark!) and about ten trips to the Ketchikan Landfill later the walls and floor were bare.  At which point it became clear that the carpet on the roof would also have to go, but more on that later.

Next job - replace the walls.

Project Arctic Fjord Begins

Arctic Fjord in Bar Harbor, Ketchikan, December 2011

In late 2011, we purchased the 58 foot Carri-Craft, Arctic Fjord,  to be transformed into a floating office and outfitting center for Southeast Sea Kayaks. The Arctic Fjord was used here in Ketchikan as a harbor tour boat but has sat at the dock for the past five years. Our first job was to pressure wash the outside and tune up the twin John Deere engines. Now the fun can really begin. The Carri-Craft Catamarans were originally built as catamaran cruisers (or houseboats) but as a tour boat the Arctic Fjord was outfitted with booth seating, a head and a galley. The photos below show how the interior looks before work begins.

Looking toward the wheelhouse

Looking back to the galley

Wheelhouse

View from the wheelhouse