[Boat]housekeeping versus the dirt [rowing]

[rebeccmeister]

We had a cross-country canoeist arrive in Albany on Saturday morning. He started out about 21 months ago at the mouth of the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. For sections he couldn't paddle, he portaged the canoe. While he was in Albany we kept his canoe safe in the boathouse. He headed out at dawn this morning, under cold, clear skies.



After he left, I spent a little bit of time in the boathouse shed with a shop vac. The boat shed is constructed in such a way that the walls do not extend all the way down to the pavement, so there's a gap that allows water to run through and that also lets debris in from the interstate overhead. Since we are planning to train there this winter, our head coach has been working on methods to block out the gap as much as possible.

Over time, a ton of debris and dust have accumulated inside of the boathouse. It's worse than counterproductive to try and use a broom against it, because sweeping launches small particles back into the air, where they settle again on our equipment and contribute to its wear-and-tear. I'm not sure if a shop vac is the best possible answer, so I figured I'd post about the project here and see if anyone has any other thoughts or ideas.

Otherwise I will just keep vacuuming.



There are worse places to be.

Comments

[cmcmck]

Great shot of the bridge!

[rebeccmeister]

:^) I am enjoying the new camera that S got me, and it was another beautiful morning out there.

[graydon]

It's notable how often you are the person doing cleanup by yourself.

Vacuum cleaner with a filter in good condition (so it does filter) is the best cleanup option, yeah.

That looks like about a two inch gap at the bottom of the wall; it's going to be hella drafty in there come the winter. I'd be wondering about a sandbagging party. (Presuming the correct sort of long narrow sandbags and a load of sand and a filling party, sandbagging the gap isn't permanent, will do a lot for the draft, isn't that expensive as these things go, and won't add to the corrosion problem the gap is presumptively meant to avoid.)

[rebeccmeister]

I guess some people tried to look into getting sandbags going several years ago, but couldn't find any for some strange reason, or else it might be that the gap is so big in some spots that it would take a LOT of sandbags to manage it. That said - I have also seen a lot of evidence that people are really happy to toss around ideas but not so great at actually following through. Typical for a volunteer-run organization (although the volunteer-run club I belonged to in CA did actually manage to get a lot done!). On that front - part of the reason why you just see me is that whenever there's a group of people I get caught up in the group dynamics and don't remember to take photos. :^)

In the end, some amount of draft is okay; we aren't aiming to keep the space warm, necessarily.

[jameswatriss]

You could look into ambient air cleaners…Something like this:

https://www.supplyhouse.com/General-Aire-4540-MAC-L-2000-CFM-Right-Angle-Air-Cleaner?gclid=CjwKCAiA4veMBhAMEiwAU4XRr6_mv-g7Jwlnc9hQAjKJTzlurOghBc7VhoG1qT6d_G98seL92eTavhoCch0QAvD_BwE

That might take all of the airborne crap out of the air.

You can also make a cheap version with a box fan and and a furnace or other HVAC type filter, but typically the industrial type things do a better job of filtering, and some come equipped with times and whatnot.

Or, Jerry-rig some box fans into a screen door, and allow the shed to defecate the undesirables back to whence they came.

[rebeccmeister]

Y'know, that looks pretty good, and it would probably be a good idea to get one, considering that the interstate is only going to continue raining fine particulates down onto the boat shed. Thanks!

...I should have figured you'd have good ideas on this front; you definitely have to think about fine particulates when woodworking, eh? The same should also be the case for people doing ceramics, methinks. But then again, many people have been neglecting to address indoor air quality for a long, long time...

[twoeleven]

I'll join the chorus: once you have vac, you never go back. :)

[rebeccmeister]

Hahaha, totally fair!

[ihavenoarms]

looks like fun

[rebeccmeister]

Exercise is way more fun with friends!