Site Work - Frame Setup - Shelter Done

Selecting the site came first of course.

We had two choices.

One was enlarging a parking area used by customers renting our two cottages, but adding at least 24' there would have required several truck loads of fill.

Our choice became an area behind our garage/shop. The few trees there were really too close to the garage, so needed to be removed anyway, and the slight slope allowed removing about a foot from the back and using the soil for fill at the front.

A small backhoe owned by our logger did the rough work in just over an hour.

The site was staked out and lines run for square and level.

Then a few wheelbarrows of sand were hauled in to bring the surface up to true level. Two by eight treated boards were set in place to support the frames of my shelter. And a couple inches of wood chips were spread for a floor.

Less than a week had passed when the two boxes that were
to become our boat shelter arrived in top notch condition.

Everything needed was included in the shipment - not a
single bolt, nut, or washer was missing. Very impressive!

And it was at this point that I decided that becoming a dealer
for the company that manufactured such a quality product,
MDM Shelters, might be a good idea.

The instructions were great.

I spent the better part of a warm Fall morning and afternoon
working by myself on the project - though the instructions said
it was a two person job - and by dusk had the framing done.

The next morning each of the anchors were driven in place.


Then it was time for two pairs of hands as my wife joined me to attach the end walls in place, pull the main cover over the frames, lash the cover to the lower frames, and fit the roll up door in place.

Finally our runabout had shelter from the November winter snows just a few weeks away!

Our Boat Shelter Choice

By far the most popular shelter offered by Rhino shelters is one of the 12 X 20 x 8 Portable Garage units. They are great for use for a single car of normal size garage , for a small fishing boat, or for general storage.

They come in the House or Round style,
with cover color choices of green, grey, or tan.

At $450.00 + shipping, they are a super value per square foot, providing 240 square feet of covered storage.

A neat thing about these two units is that the frame, with the purchase of a Greenhouse Cover ($193.00 + shipping) may be used for Winter storage, then come early spring, become
a very roomy greenhouse.

The next step up in size is to add four feet to the length. The cost goes up to $600.00 + shipping, and brings the storage area up to 288 square feet.

Though the 24 foot long Round unit was an early choice, we quickly rejected it.

Our rebuilt 1959 Thompson is 7' wide and 17' long plus another 3' of trailer. So the length was fine. But the windshield was too high for the door opening, unless it was placed on a raised base (I'll say more about a raised base in a future post) and I really needed room for other winter storage stuff.

So our boat shelter of choice became a 14'x24'x10' in the tan color.

The cost was $895.00 + shipping.

With our Winter ordered, the next steps were clearing
out a few trees behind the garage/shop and leveling the area.

Another Boat Without A Shelter

It all started with the gift of a 1959 17' Thompson Sea Lancer in December 2007, its restoration, and its first season on Lake Superior among the Apostle Islands.

Over the years I've built dozens of cedar strip canoes and rowing boats. Most were sold, a dingy is still in use behind our schooner, and several became gifts.

At last count we've rebuilt:

1. A 1960 vintage C - Scow - used hard for 5 seasons then cut into little pieces.

2. A 34' homemade (by someone else) motor sailing dory - used on Lake Superior 2 seasons then cut into little pieces.

3. Then a 1939 schooner - said to be the oldest sailing vessel on Lake Superior - which we've sailed on the Big Lake for nearly 20 years.

Maintaining wood boats of any age is always a challenge, both in time and money. And the activity either brings satisfaction or doesn't. I enjoy brushing on eight coats of varnish on one of my boats. And I like the glances of appreciation strangers display when they see that varnish job.

But then golf - the smacking a little ball about in an effort to place it into a little hole in the ground - is to me a foolish waste of time, money and common sense.

Anyhow.

I wasn't looking for another wood boat.

But son Scott was offered a classic runabout - complete with a trailer - for free. I had a heated garage/shop and no winter projects planned. Did I say it was free?

And as a result, when Fall was about to become Winter, I had Another Wood Boat Without A Shelter.