#11: Under One Roof
On Wednesday, January 10, we made our way to Nick’s brother’s warehouse in Houston, where the container with Felicity’s parts was finally delivered—all the way from South Africa. I say “delivered,” but actually, the truck driver stayed in his vehicle while we hustled to unload everything onto the ground of the parking lot in stacks as best we could, and as quickly as possible. Nick and I were told we’d be given the first two hours for free, but we didn’t want to know how much the company would charge us after that. So, thankfully, Kiril (Nick’s bro) had arranged for two of his workers to help us unload, along with his office employee, Sam, who was on the scene with us before the guys showed up, and she used her mad forklift skills to empty out the first bits.
We unloaded the entire container from 11:20 until 2:10, which was pretty fast work for six to seven busy bees. But after the truck driver took off, we had the new task of moving all the pieces to more secure spots. We loaded as many panels as we could onto a trailer that we were going to pull back to our home the next day (we decided to get a hotel room since it was getting late), and the rest we housed within the warehouse or on a spare trailer that Kiril didn’t mind keeping safe for us until we could make the trips back. We picked up the second load the following Saturday with no problems, and we returned the trailer on our way through Houston the following week to go see my parents and brother’s family in East Texas. Roller skating, anyone? (Dad took the pic, but he successfully glided his way around the rink a couple times too!)
Amidst our pause from loading and unloading, we called around to see who had a long enough flatbed trailer we could rent to carry the huge roof and front and back panels, finally finding the perfect 30-footer two hours away. So, two weeks and two days after the first unload came our third and final (for now) unloading of a trailer.
A friend named Mike happened to stop by that morning, so we asked if he could help us slide the pieces down to lean against the wall of the barndo. It was easier than I thought it would be, considering how heavy they are. All the composite-board panels, MDF forms (what we will build the hulls on), epoxy (resin & hardener), microbeads, microfibers, and rolls of fiberglass cloth are now under one roof—yay!
After returning the flatbed trailer, Nick built scaffolding to organize most of the smaller panels and make some room in the barndo.
You would think we’re off to the races, but ... hold your horses. We’re definitely chomping at the bit to start building Felicity, but we still have to pour a concrete wall and the rest of the driveway, along with a few other things at the site we need to fix. Things are happening around here, just nothing exactly boat-related yet.