Work Day 5 - June 26, 2011

We decided to take it easy today. We got the front angled piece of decking on the boat. We fiberglassed each joint and around the motor housing to make sure that no water can get in between the marine board to compromise the decking. It was a very sticky job but went smoothly. Or as Lance said...sssmmmmmooootttthhhhh. Lance wasn't feeling well and I think we wore KC out :) so we called it a day early and enjoyed a nice frozen margarita from BOB (battery operated blender). Well, KC and I did. Lance was a good boy and had water. All in all we are making good time. We have a busy vacation week ahead of us building the engine cover and the console. We will be visiting Chad to pick out our new shift control and stopping by the to get quotes to cover the engine housing and on vinyl letters for the boat. We have grandkid duty this Saturday and Monday is July 4th so I imagine we won't work on the carpet until Tuesday. She is all snug and covered and is taking a bit of a nap till Mom and Dad wake her up! Hope she is a morning boat!! :)

Work Day 4 - June 25, 2011

Here we are at another scorcher day. We worked hard at the Leaflet workshop all week building a "cradle" to hold the new gas tank. Time for us to put that baby in and run the fill, vent and fuel line to the engine. Took quite a bit of engineering "know-how" but after a couple of hours and a lot of not so nice words, she was in, welded and bolted in place! :) Next project for the day was to start to lay the decking. We started from the back and worked our way forward. I'm trying to learn all of those nautical terms...forward, aft, port and starboard but...it's not working very well. LOL! We got all but the very forward piece of decking in and we were done for the day. It doesn't take long to get too hot to work or waste a day making 15 trips back to the hardware store of a supply store. We were excited to get the carpet delivered today but - no glue! They sent to carpet but not the glue. Oh well, we have time. We ordered the seats and they are 8 weeks out from delivery.

Work Day 3 - June 12, 2011

We were up and at it very early this morning. Nora fixed us a scrumptious cream cheese sopapilla breakfast dish and we were out to the boat. With Semper Fi down to her "bones" she was given a good pressure washing. Lots of dirt dobber nests, cobwebs, spiders, and all kinds of creepy crawlies. After a good bath, we pulled out our "wonder cleaner", JJV's Best. Now, I'm sure everyone has purchased something before that promises it will do all kinds of things so we really didn't have confidence that this cleaner would do all that it said. "Spray on and wash off and your aluminum pontoons will look like new!" But, if it would even do half, then we would be satisfied. Instructions were to spray and leave on 10 minutes. Well, we did just that and......the pontoons looked dang good! We sprayed and left on 20 minutes, and the pontoons shined like the sun!! We were all amazed and very happy! It did take time to do the whole boat but she was glowing when we were done!! Our next project is the gas tank. The original gas tank held 12 gallons and sat under one of the back seats. Our plan is to remove that tank and install a 25 gallon gas tank that sits under the deck between the pontoons. Measurements were taken and a supply list was made. Lance will work on this during the week. Semper Fi was gleaming when we left. Wait! I think I just saw her smile :)

Work Day 2 - June 11, 2011

Hey, have I mentioned that it's HOT! Whew! Well, still working through our controlled demolition. We are working on taking everything off the top side so we can pressure wash and clean the pontoons. K.C. found some cleaner that we are hoping does the trick. The pontoons are polished aluminum but because they are only 26 going on 27 years old, they are oxidized and just lake water scummy. Today we removed the two back seats with the gas tank and batteries that were stored in them, the rest of the deck and EEEKKKK! the console. Lots of wires and steering cables and shifter cables and stuff I don't even know what it is. To give the men (my brother K.C. and my husband Lance) credit, they did label everything prior to cutting wires. The real trick will be putting the new console in :) By the end of the day she was just engine, pontoons and crossbeams. She looked....naked! Tomorrow we try out the cleaner that K.C. found online. JJV's Best. Oh, we did buy one boatwarming present for ourselves. A battery operated Margaritaville shaved ice blender for the boat. We quit early, about 5pm, so we could shower and try out the BOB (battery operated blender). It makes the YUMMIEST Margarita's EVERRRRRR!!

Work Day 1 - June 5, 2011

No lie, it was 105 degrees today - broke the current day heat record. Hot, Hot, HOT!!! And of course we are NOT going to be smart and stay inside and enjoy a movie and air conditioning. Nope! We have to work on the boat. Notice that when I am upset, I refer to her as "the boat" instead of Semper Fi. Well, today in this heat, she was definitely THE BOAT! Lots of manual labor removing the railings, the seats, the chairs and the first 4' of the front part of the deck. You know, when I type out what was accomplished today, it just looks so much smaller than what my body feels like we did! :) Don't let anyone kid you, organized demolition is not an easy task. Decisions on what to keep, what to throw away, what to dismantle and what to keep in one piece. All the while trying to look at the area with a new eye and determine what would work best here or how could this area function better. We spent a lot of time looking over the console. The console is definitely dated and just doesn't have a good flow on the control panel. We threw ideas back and forth but nothing solid yet. She looks a bit of a tangled mess when we stopped for the day but as all we ladies know, sometimes you have to go through a little pain in the process of looking beautiful! Be sure and check out our YouTube below :)

So it Begins......

I guess you could say that the search for Semper Fi started years ago. In fact, probably the first time that I attempted to put myself, Lance and 5 kids on an 18' bass boat. Guess you figured out that never happened. But, after a couple of trips to our local Bass Pro Shop and a flip through a SunTracker catalog and big dollar signs were just staring us in the face. We just figured that it was never to be. Well, never say never. Out of the blue, my brother called and said that he met a gentleman at an anniversary party that was interested in selling his pontoon. He was asking $2,500.00. First question that came up with that kind of price tag, "does it have a motor"? LOL! Well, her deck was soft, the seats were old and worn, the console was outdated but, her pontoons were solid and her engine had been well maintained. We took her out for a spin. She handled like a champ (watch that soft spot there on deck or you'll be swimming to the dock!). She even towed in a couple of jet skiers that were stranded in the middle of the lake. We negotiated what we thought was a fair price and almost fell over when we were told that the trailer came with her! SOLD! We took her to K.C.'s property to have plenty of room for the renovation project now at hand. Welcome Home my lady....Welcome Home Semper Fi!