Well, after a couple of days our of town, a great weather day here in Atlanta. Nice and warm, sunny, can't get much better.

We were slated to go down to my folks (where the trailer is hanging out) so I figured to get a bit of welding done on that, with the goal of getting it roadworthy and coming to put the boat on it soon.

If nothing else, I would like to be able to move the boat around the back yard a little :-)

Gee, I think this may have been one of my longest gaps in posting about my build. Sorry about that, but just haven't been able to work on the boat. Mostly weather and being out of town a bit.

Speaking of weather, this looks to be another weekend without boat work.

As you can see, we got 4+ inches of snow. This was "real snow" compared to the last time.

Maybe I can do a bit of internet searching for a motor.

Well, not really spring, but after the freezing weather we've had for so long, being in the mid 50's today felt like spring. Was actually able to get out and fiddle a bit in shirtsleeves.

I finished an earlier start at a quick sand of the hull sides and put another coat of paint on them. After putting on all the rubrails and getting them painted, things looked a little rough from drips and runs and it looks much better.

Really more ice than snow, but while I was at work, Melanie and Dane built a "snowman" on the boat :-)

Long time, no work... finally got a little done today, which was really nice. It was hard to get motivated back into it, but once I was out there, Dane and I had a good time.

Started off doing a little work for a friend who needed some wood cut, which kind of helped get back in the swing of things, and got me motivated to get the tools out.

One thing a boat-building hobby gives is an infinite source of present ideas. My family did very well this cycle :-)

Got a nice 6" bench vise, a set of clamps (there are NEVER enough clamps when building a boat), and lastly a nice set of LED trailer lights to mount on the trailer. Those will be very handy and are a requirement to getting this stuff on the road.

Sorry for the long absence... just wanted to let all my hoards of adoring fans (well, all 3 or 4 of you, anyhow) know that we are still alive. Between illness (nothing major), work and generally cruddy weather, we've had a long "wet" spell (its too rainy to be a dry spell) to get much of anything done on the boat.

If it dries off long enough, I want to get some paint on the interior where it hasn't been, get some flooring down, and be ready to really start some systems work. Its going to be plain-jane, but we need basic nav lights, bilge pump, etc.

Anyway, we're still here!

p. 48, Issue #4, 2009.

DIY Boat Owner magazine.

Made the big time now :-)

They were kind enough to do a one page about my V28 build, including pictures and everything. Neat.

Mad Mariner™ owns DIY Boat Owner and I do write paid articles for Mad Mariner's online magazine.

Got the porthole windows mounted with sealant behind and then around the plywood "frame". Will need a final coat or two of paint and those should be ready to go.

Time = 1 hour