Building a Boat in My New York Apartment

Documenting our journey to build a sailboat in a New York City apartment for all of you maritime enthusiasts and internet adventurers.

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Launch day! We were not able to be there. Anna and Jason were very surprised when we revealed what was waiting for them upon their return from the honeymoon. 

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Miraculously, the boat made it to Anna and Jason's house in one piece!

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Leif and Megan helped with the transport NYC >> Salem, MA

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The finished product outside the studio!

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Coating the interior with varnish and painting the exterior

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What Rachel and I looked like for two straight months. 

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Coating the hull with more epoxy.

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Rachel's parents dropped by to help!

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A tradition that while we mixed up toxic glue: see who could hold their breath the longest.

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To fill the seams, we mixed epoxy and wood flour to a peanut butter consistency and created "pastry bags" for filling gaps by transferring the mixture to zip lock bags. By squeezing the toxic concoction through a carefully cut corner in the bag and "massaging" the goop with a finger into the seams, we could achieve something like the lines on an artisanal peanut butter torte. 

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Next we flipped the boat over to fill the seams

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We used copper wire to stitch the hull panels together. Before applying the epoxy/wood flour mixture to the seams, the hull was like a giant flexible wooden basket.

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Stitching the boat together!

With help from Grady, Rachel's former camper.

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Cutting the rabbets

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Classic photo from the Westbeth lobby. My studio is in the lower left beneath the Highline. The heavily traffic made for some fun conversations!

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First coat of epoxy!