I sent to Roy for study plans then full plans. I wanted
to make modifications to my houseboat to make it
even more ‘user friendly for less agile elderly boaters’.
I discussed these with Roy and to get the ideas into
3D I made an eighth scale model (AABB #89)
Jane chose the name Rosie Lee right at the
beginning. It put her boat in the same family as my
Missee Lee but it also means, in English rhyming
slang, ‘cup of tea’, hence the tea cup on the name
panel and flag.
brief history to date
December 2014 saw the beginnings of the build
and the barge-like hull was completed by May 5,
2015 (AABB #91). The cabin roof went on in early
December 2015 (AABB #93).
The next part of the work, ‘the fit out’, is made up of
lots of small things and seemed to go on for ever. In
one article I read on home boatbuilding it said 25% for
the hull, 25% for the cabin so the rest is 50%! In my
case it has proved correct.
I have written of the fitting of the electric propulsion
system in AABB #98 and about the rest of the
‘fit out’ in AABB #99. The bulk of that was done
by mid August 2016 and a September launching
looked likely. The only big thing left was the galley
and shelving. Jane had persuaded me to have the
cushions upholstered professionally and they were
looking great. Unfortunately that was Jane’s last input;
on August 19 she took sick and passed away three
days later!
The project she had encouraged from the beginning
stopped for a while but five months later I decided it
had to be finished. The last items of the interior fitout
were done by mid March 2017 and Rosie was ready
to leave her shed.leaving her shed behind
On March 23 Peter and I hauled Rosie Lee out of her
shed.
To move Rosie I built a ‘sledge’ under her from two
4 x 2’s covered in carpet which rested on 4 inch
Kopperlogs as rollers. Then with a come-along winch
we pulled her out into the
yard.
In the shed she looked
much bigger than outside
(she looks even smaller
on the lake!)last minute
things
It is amazing the little
things that needed doing
before Rosie would
proceed to the water.
The major things were
obvious – moving the
solar panels from the
shed to the boat and the
final coats of blue paint.
Rosie hadn’t been in rain
before; now the windows
would be tested and
found to be excellent but
there are nasty drips if the front door is open! This
was solved by a plywood canopy over the door that
has a lip on it making a shallow gutter. Now you can
open the door in the rain and not have to go through a
waterfall.
I had always intended to have curtains and it is now
that I finally set to and made them! In keeping with
her name I used a couple of former duvet covers that
were mostly decorated with roses. Then there were
the name panels that I mentioned in the last article,
it was now that they actually appeared together with
their frames. Yes it is a rosie lee (cup of tea) in the
centre. The same emblem is on the flag that wasabove: On the trailer, ready to go.
inset: Rosie Lee leaves her shed.