Assembling Big Mama was more fun, really [stuff, rowing, projects]

I spent most of today assembling the trailer for the Annapolis Wherry Double we'll be building this week in a boatbuilding class at the Center for Wooden Boats.

I'm sure my mom is relieved that most of the boxes of stuff in the living room is gone now, although that might be replaced by mild consternation/bemusement about the new big thing on the back patio.

Starting parts:


Putting the tongue together:


The point where I ran into the first problem:


The axle is supposed to bolt onto the trailer body.
But there's a slight discrepancy in widths.


I eventually figured out that the trailer body parts that were preassembled, were preassembled incorrectly. The side piece should be on the outside, and the cross piece should be on the inside of the butt joint, not as they are pictured here:


I only had to loosen and retighten 34 bolts to fix it.


Then, half of the nuts provided for attaching the axle to the frame, were the wrong thread pitch.


Amazingly, my mom had two nuts with the correct pitch in her strategic nuts and bolts stockpile, so I was able to keep going.

Getting there...


This doesn't seem quite right, either. Shipping damage, perhaps?


*almost* finished:


I borrowed a torx wrench to tighten the wheel lug nuts the correct amount, but I didn't wind up with a socket of the correct size. Argh! So I'll have to finish this last (critical!!) step later.

I also still need to fasten on the spare wheel.

But this seemed like good progress for the day, at least.

Boatbuilding class starts tomorrow morning, and we're to expect full days all week long.

At some point I have to decide, epoxy or varnish?