Ben and Pappa - Thanksgiving Day Ride

Happy Thanksgiving to all who watch our videos

Crabbing Skiff -- Video of Part 2

Here is a short video of our latest progress. As you can see Ben is actually doing most of the work and Old Pappa is here for support and guidance.

Crabbing Skiff Part 2

Today Ben and Pappa spent another couple of hours working on the crabbing skiff. Here are a few photos from our work session. This first picture is the way we left off last time, with the centerboard trunk installed and trimmed.

Our first task today was to build and install the Mahogany seats and the mast step and king plank in the bow.

Then came the tedious bit of installing the chines

We also had to completely cover up all the detail work we had just made. 

We installed the decks fore and aft.

And then Ben cut 44 strips of 1/16" square stock for the ribs. These were then installed by both Ben and Pappa then trimmed and sanded flush with the sides.

So this is our progress for today and it is beginning to look like a boat! 

Ben may come over tomorrow evening and we will work on the skiff some more. 

First Contest Entry!

David and his bike about the year 1968

Well we finally got the contest off the ground and with a real bang! What a great shot of David and his bike.  Don't be left out, send in your photo today and we will post it in our gallery. Enter now and you could be the big prize winner!! Get the whole story here.

Building the Crabbing Skiff Part 1

Ben got a model made by Midwest Products, the Chesapeake Bay Crabbing Skiff, for his birthday.  It is his first wood ship model. It was purchased at the Apponaug Color Shop in Warwick (a great hobby store). This seems to be a very good kit for him to learn on. We will chronicle the progress here on The Adventures of Ben and Pappa blog.

Work began with the construction of the building jig, the stem and stern posts and the bottom plank.

At this stage progress went fast, we cut out the parts, sanded them and within an hour we were looking at the bottom plank perched on it building jig. The next step was to sand the edges of the bottom plank to accept the side planks.

In the picture above Ben is 'finger clamping' the final side plank to the sternpost. Then the edges of the side planks had to be sanded flush with the bottom plank.  We had made several small sanding blocks with varying grits of sandpaper before we began. Most of the tools we already had, and we are using regular old Super Glue as an adhesive.

Once the sand was finished and we were satisfied with the fit of the side planks we then cut the skiff off the jig. This left the stem and stern posts way too long. They needed to be trimmed.

The shot above was taken before we trimmed the posts, which we did but failed to take a picture of the hull trimmed. Ben then began work on the centerboard trunk. He cut with an X-acto knife and sanded all the necessary pieces and glued them together. And then the sanding began once again. The short video below shows some of the process.

Ben and I enjoy model shipbuilding and this Midwest kit is the perfect first project for Ben. Next up we are going to model Lewis & Clarks keelboat Discovery. At least that is the plan right now... Ben wanted to start with Nelson's HMS Victory --- ambitious little bugger!

Wack

Ben gets a present, and a surprise from his Uncle Jason. Couldn't help myself from posting this one and messing with it just a bit. Happy Birthday!!! What a bunch of caring adults. . .seems as though we see humor just about everywhere.

Ben Turns 10

Ben is 10, and here is what he had to say on the eve of turning 10. It has been a really good time hanging out with Benny for the past 10 years and I am looking forward to many more adventures. I think Ben could have added a few more things to his bio, like he now has a sister!
Pappa

Bicycle Photo Contest now open

Ben and Pappa are having a bicycle photo contest.  You may be selected to receive our grand prize, which we don't know what it will be just yet -- but maybe it will be a piece of art made by Ben and Pappa, or something cool for your bike. Here is the full story. So send us a picture and we will put it in our gallery.  Send your picture to:  benandpappa@gmail.com

And visit our Bike Photo Gallery here!

Stop Motion Fun

Ben and Pappa had fun messing around with the camera today.  Sorry it has been so long since our last post, but just about everything got in the way.  We had two weddings and just a lot of interference. Maybe we can get back on track.... the bikes are mostly done for the winter but we have a lot of other things planned.