Dinghy's up and final steps are being taken............

Dinghy being set in place and chocks being fit to cockpit roof.

Last peek at Gliding Gander before she gets her new handrails installed.

Just before dark Scott Hyland and Ben Hicks, Hyland Marine Services, finish up final details on a new system

The new system was ......  the lower helm station and all the seperate panels that Hyland Marine built from scratch.

Wiring for the Floscan tachometers, oil gauges, volts meters, plus another gauge or two.

Matt fitting the new hatch and cutting the oak fence board trim to go around it.  

Unofficial inspector, and life-long friend, Dave Nestle stopping in to give some morale support to us guys.

Dave Miller and his faithful associate Mark, Miller's Fabrication out of North East, Md., constructing the handrails for the topside.

Moving the boat to Rock Hall as recorded by Lea

Gliding Gander coming out of shop.

Gliding Gander coming down Tony's farm lane on way to Rock Hall.

What you you think if you looked into your review mirror to see a 46' boat coming behind you being pulled by a tractor?

                          Coming down Tolchester Road.

Main intersection Rock Hall, MD.

L>R - Scott Hyland, Garon Stutzman, Ben Hicks

Garon and the almost finished Gliding Gander, Swan Creek Marina, Rock Hall, MD.

Glding Gander gets her canopy

Canopy stanchions about ready for canopy to be mounted.

Canopy on trailer as brought to site.

Canopy on trailer

Tony raising canopy

Canopy just sitting on stanchions before having been mounted

Canopy just before it was squared up and screwed down.  Unfortunately, I have to run home because Jesse has reported frozen pipes under the house and no water as a result.

The trip to the marina

It started out a cold morning.  It ended up a blistery cold and very windy afternoon with gust to 25 knots plus heavy ice throughout the marina..

Tony pulling boat through his wheat field on their way to Rock Hall.

Gliding Gander made it to the marina.

The travel crane being made ready to pick Gliding Gander off of the trailer.

Gliding Gander propped up on jack stands, getting her new ladder and sporting her new flybridge

The flybridge about to be glued and screwed in place.

Mr. Larry Sims, President MD. Waterman's Association, stops by for a friendly inspection.

Like shown in pictures several months ago, Matt is apparently sleeping again on the job.  This time I found him underneath the flybridge trying to get out of the wind.

Inspector Lea watching from the warm truck.

Tony and Kevin installing some of the canopy legs before calling it the end of one cold day.

Stay tuned for the rest of the canopy leg installations plus the canopy.  Hopefully, they will be installed tomorrow if the wind isn't too bad and it doesn't snow too early.

Decision made

After yesterday, another day of  broken hearts and frustrated plans, Lea and I came up with a new plan.  Rather than hauling the boat to Jacksonville, Fla. (an option we very seriously considered), tomorrow morning we are taking the Gliding Gander to the marina in Rock Hall.  We will then set it up on blocks rather than launch.  We will rent a forklift for AVFM to set the flybridge and canopy onto the boat.  Hyland Marine will finish hooking up all the electronics, steering, shifters, throttles, auto-pilot, synchronizers, etc., etc. over the following week.  Once the boat is completely finished, we will ask Joy Anthony to come onboard and give the interior a through cleaning.  The following day Lea and I will haul our eqipment to the boat and make the boat ready to launch as soon as the ice is melted.  Hyland Marine will then launch the boat and perform sea trial testing with Lea and I.  After a hard day of running and testing, if everything seems to be in working order, Scott Hyland, Lea and I will leave for parts southward.  Scott will teach Lea and I about how everything is supposed to work and be onboard to help us in case of problems.  After we get one, two, three, or however many more days down the inter-coastal waterway without any projected problems, Scott will arrange to be picked up from where ever we happen to be.  At that point Lea and I will continue on our adventure.

Let us see if Mother Nature will go along with this idea.

Mother Nature does not always follow man's best made plans.

This morning we were prepared to launch the Gliding Gander.  Unfortunately the temperature dropped and the winds blew over the weekend.  Tony and I jumped into my truck and drove to the marina to see how bad the ice was.  Ice wasn't our only problem.  The hard winds blew the water out of the Chesapeake enough that in the travel crane slip, which normally had four feet of water, there was less than one foot.  Ice was about six to eight inches deep.  We then drove all around the Rock Hall Harbor.  Everything was frozen over including the Bay as far out as we could see.  So much for our launch.

Lea and I are reevaluating our options and will let you all know the decision real soon.  Gliding Gander must move out of Tony's shop Wednesday in order for him to move the next boat in.

Get ready.... It is about to finally happen!!!

This coming Monday we are planning to launch!

Scott Hyland of Hyland Marine is finalizing the electrical equipment installations and the wiring of the Master Helm station in the salon area.  Scott has almost finished the replacement of all engines hoses, systems piping, fuel lines, water lines, plus the fuel filtration and transfer systems. Scott and Ben Hicks have worked all throughout the holiday to get this work done.  We really appreciate their efforts to finally get us in the water and under way. Scott finished the DC to AC inverter installation and wiring.  The AC panel with AC/DC surge protector is now installed and ready.  The ships water systems are also completed.

Tony Van de Wal of AVFM, LLC. has completed all he can do regarding the rebuilding, fiberglass and painting. The hull is now completed with its red anti-fouling paint bottom.  Tony's next step, no in significant project, is to haul the boat to the marina under the watchful escort of the sheriff's department.

Matt Anthony, Ships Carpenter, is finalizing the trim work.  His list is getting smaller and smaller all of the time.  Matt is waiting on some trim hardware for stateroom cabinet doors, some glass for the dinette table top, a custom cut mirror for the head, among a few other minor items.

Dinky, the one sole that has been there regularly, day in and day out, helping with whatever needed to get done, has tested the new backup, fuel transfer pump.  Dinky transfered all of the old diesel fuel off of the Gliding Gander into Tony's shop heating oil tank.  This will assure only fresh, clean fuel to begin our sea trial and voyage.

Kevin, among helping his wife out with their new baby girl, is ready to help launch and install the flybridge and canopy.

Dave Miller of Miller Fabrication in North East , MD. is prepared to come to the Gliding Gander after we get her new flybridge and canopy installed.  He will design and manufacture a custom handrail system around the flybridge and upper deck.

Interestingly enough, we have to launch the boat to get the flybridge and canopy installed using the travel crane.  Then we have to take the boat back out of the water and, using the travel crane, we will have to haul the assembled boat to the marina's shop for access to the 50 amp electrical service required of Dave's welding machine.  The design, welding, complete fabrication process and installation of the custom hand rails should take a day.  About Thursday, we antiscipate re-launching the boat and completing final engine preparations for sea trialing hopefully on Friday.

The weather report calls for extremely cold weather this coming week.  We are hoping the water will not freeze over.  It would not be good to have ice scraping the Gliding Gander's new paint off of the bottom.  If all goes well, I have my fingers crossed, we may get the Gliding Gander home to Lea's pier Saturday!  This is when the cleaning up and oiling of the custom oak fence board floors, counters and trim work will be done. [I will have an interesting story about the fence boards in the coming week or two.]  After the boat is throughly cleaned, and the woodwork is oiled we will begin provisioning the boat for the sea trials which will include overnight adventures.

Lea and I are hoping to have friend's stop by the pier to see the Gliding Gander.  I am hoping to assemble all the persons involved in the life and times of this old boat.  We will be inviting the original builder, Mr. Lippincott; Mr. Butch Trainer, the first owner; Mr. Tyree, the second owner, and a few other persons for a Gliding Gander reunion.

On Monday, the next time I post pictures, you will see the new red bottom and finished paint job.  I hope you will get to see the launch pictures plus the flybridge and canopy top installations.