We've all taken a few days off here and there over the past two weeks to visit with family for the holidays. Production welding continues... most of the final interior welding is complete except for the tank tops, and work is continuing on the outside seams. The plates are first welded from the inside, then the seam is back-gouged on the outside using carbon-arc and grinding. This opens the seam back into the first weld so that, when it is welded from the outside, there is full penetration and no gaps. Its a lot of work but this makes for a very strong weld. All the exterior plating is being done this way. The wheelhouse and stack are just about finished and window cutouts should be done soon. My plan is to drill all the holes (350+!) for the exterior bolt in windows and doors, fit them up, then remove them for lifting the wheelhouse into place. They will be re-installed after the painting is done. Also have the anchor winch stripped and prepped for galvanizing. This took longer than I thought as there are a lot of pieces to it. The parts also very heavy and some barely fit in our bead blasting cabinet. With the galvanizing and a few new parts, this heavy duty winch should easily last us another 30 years. -PB
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