Gyroplanes and old boats.

When I'm not working on my gyro, this is what I do:

YouTube - The joys of steel boat restoration.

Two great ways to get tired and dirty while spending lots of money ;-)

UGH looks too much like work... so swing or fixed keel?

Hi, full keel, double ender!

Sweet dibs on a ride when you get her done....

Yep. Lots of hard work, but I guess it is a hobby..

My kind of boat. I love the old classic designed sailboats with a real, raised house. I really don't like the sleek, all deck boats.

I just received an insurance bid sheet on a Palmer Johnson 44 foot sloop. The keel to hull damage was so bad it buckled the cabin sole. If I was younger and not so busy (and had my new gyro finished) I would have given it a second look.

I had a 400 mile trip on an all aluminum, 100 foot, excursion boat this spring. I sure would give aluminum a second look after checking out it's construction.

Metal I believe is the way to go.. Easy to fix, and with all the junk floating around in the water, I would prefer to have a steel hull in case I hit something, like a log, or one of those plastic "sleek, all deck boats," hehehe... I won't be the one reaching for the liferaft ;-)

Reminds me of my Coast Gaurd days, spent hours behind that tool. I'm also half deaf from not being issues ear protection, hint. Loosing your hearing sucks, and it happens over time from repeated high decibal noise abuse.
Russ

Hi Russ,

Yes, I discovered that! My ears rang long after. Next time, I will have good ear protection.

Take it from a old guy that has lost a heap of his hearing, you want to protect it!!!!

Hearing loss is a cruel animal. Most victims don't even feel it happening or notice the effect because it can be caused from surprisingly low levels of volume if exposure is over a long period of time. In these cases it is so gradual that is is not noticed until a lot of damage is done. The ringing after exposure to high levels of noise is a dead give away that you have crossed the line. But the really bad part is that the hearing mechanism is one of the only systems of the human body that will not repair itself. Once it's been damaged, it's permanent. Cruel!

high noise for short terms, loud noise for longer periods of time and what got me Strep throat turned mine off over night literaly... very dangerous thing that, can kill you! Anytime you have a sore throat always look for white spots, n if you see them get to a doc post haste!!!

I have lost some hearing already, probably because of tens of thousands of rounds shot years ago, practicing with pistols (for ten years). Even with ear protection, I think it took it's toll. I started to notice when I had to ask people to speak louder, regularly.. It becomes quickly annoying.. These days I pay more attention (though not always, see the video!), but I won't use that tool again without good protection.