One of his talents is in swinging a good deal and he made quite a few this year. He has aquired another 200 feet of concrete docks and 900 feet of wooden docks.
He traded a guy a case of beer for a forklift. Its an ugly old beast but runs well. A coat of spray paint to spiff it up and its been put to good use rearranging Davids ever expanding pile of material.
Another welder with an 8500 watt genset has been added to the workshop along with a slew of handtools.I think we have just about every kind of tool here now you can think of.
David bringing home his new docks,while working on new deals via cell phone
The new forklift
The 40x40 barge finally recovered in new material ready to have something built on it
The barge with some new docks stored on it parked behind Davids house
David has secured the water lease and the large workshop here at our marina on Mitchell Island. Right now its mostly home to a whole lot of docks and another large 30x66 foot floathome that he picked up in October. It was listed for free on craigslist and just after he made arrangements to pick it up, a bidding war started with a few other interested parties. After the fur stopped flying David got his house for the grand sum of $5000. Not bad at all for a huge floathome in great condition,all insulated and heated to boot. He has it tied up behind his house and has been busy doing renos on it to get it ready for the Olympics.The idea is to build a bunch of rooms, tow it up to Squamish and rent it out to tourists for the Games.
The new floathome at its original location
And in its new home behind Davids red(now Black) house
The workshop now houses the first of the mobile homes to be renovated.This winter work will start on refitting it with all the gear neccesary to make it off the grid.Once its ready it will be placed on a float to make a self-sustaining floathome. The shop is also home to my 1933 wood Rum Runner that David is helping me restore.
The empty (for one whole minute) workshop
The first mobile home in the workshop waiting for refitting.
The mobile home and the two forklifts stored in the shop
The Rumrunner in the workshop
Last year,David was given a tug boat that had been salvaged by his friend Steve Garrity for the price of the tow to get it there.
He spent the winter cleaning it up and working on the engine. It was up and running for a day, then inadvertantly sunk when it was left in shallow water at low tide. Although they managed to get it right back up, the damage was done and the motor had to be rebuilt again.
This September the tug was hauled out and stored at Shelter Island Marina.Over the next two months much was done to it at a cost of $14,000. The engine was rebuilt,the shaft and wheel repaired,the electrical work done and new paint and zincs applied.A survey was done and the boat dropped back in the water and brought home.The wheelhouse was in really rough shape so David cut it off and now is planning to install a new one. Once thats done,the electrical hooked up and some new rubber put on the bumpers, she will be ready to go to work.
The tugboat before the refit
A huge rubber tire that was going to go on the tug until we got it home and found out its ten times bigger than anything we need
The tug getting painted
The finished paint job
David admiring the new paint job
The wheelhouse has been cut off
The red house finally got some of Davids attention again recently. He added another layer of 3/4 inch plywood over the whole floor to make it less bouncy.That was covered with a coat of paint to seal it all. The rest of the walls got covered with doorskins over a good layer of insulation.New beams have been added in the kitchen area so as to add a lower roof and a closet by the entrance way. A few repairs have been done to the roof to the last of the leaky spots and the house is finally dry as a bone. The last few days he has been laying hardwood floor in the kitchen and placing the cabinets and sink in place ready for hooking up.
A bedroom and the kitchen starting to take shape
The kitchen with its newly laid hardwood floors and tile behind the stove
The insulated walls
The walls covered with doorskins
The back bedroom and bathroom walls finished
David working on the new flooring
David bought an awesome huge soaker tub that was left in the workshop and is going to expand the bathroom area to accomadate it and a stacking washer/dryer.
The soaker tub
Time for some live music and good food
The last big chores to be done to the house is to insulate the ceiling,build the upstairs bedroom and put some siding on the place.It already looks a hundred percent better than when he got it last year and it wont be long now before its an awesome house ready to live in.
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