Conclusions

So, first off, I have a lot of people I need to thank, because this project would never have been finished without them!

First off, my wife: You have kept me (mostly) sane throughout all the mishaps, trips to the hardware store and late nights of planning. Also, without you, the boat probably would have ended up being twice the size it actually is (I have Tim the Toolman disease: bigger is better, more power, arr arr arr!) Also, it is thanks to you that I set the deadline for Little Dude's birthday party, even though you deny it ;). THANK YOU!

My brother: He was my right hand man throughout this project and occasionally had to take over when stress got the better of me. We bounced countless ideas off each other and would not have been able to figure out all those angles without one another. We owe you a VERY nice dinner and probably a lot of beer! THANK YOU!

My Dad: He helped me draw out the initial plans and took my relentless phone calls for advice nearly every weekend! Most importantly, he and my mom came down to visit and help me finish the pirate ship. I have decided to give him the nickname "The Closer." He helped my brother and I finish countless 4-H woodworking projects the weekend before they were due and he helped us get over the hump on this project to make it look like a real ship before they went back to Ohio. THANK YOU!

My Mom: While my wife was out of town, she played the important role of toddler wrangler and drink server while we worked all day. She will probably claim that it wasn't that bad, but anyone that has wrangled a two-year old will attest otherwise! Also, a big thanks for finding the sail fabric and then sewing them so they look awesome. THANK YOU!

All of our friends and family: For lots of encouragement while we were building the ship, for reading this blog to track our progress and all of the compliments on the finished product. If you haven't got to see it in person yet, we hope you can soon! THANK YOU!


Now, I have had several people (jokingly or not) ask if I can build them a playhouse like this or one similar. The answer is NO! I had a great time building The Becky's Revenge, but I do not know if I would ever do this again for myself or my kids, let alone someone else. I guess if petroleum engineering ever falls through, I have a backup career though. In case you are wondering (some have asked,) here is a rough materials list of the major items.

(36) 4x4's
(5) 4x6's
(10) 2x4's
(20) 2x6's
(21) 2x8's
(2) 2x12's
(142) deck boards
(92) carriage bolts, washers and nuts
(2300) assorted screws
(30) bags of concrete
(160') 7/8" manila rope
(3) swings
(4) sails
(7) solar LED lights
(1) captain's wheel
(2) spyglasses
(3) instruments
(1) Jack Daniels whiskey barrel
(1) Jolly Roger flag
plus a few other small things I surely forgot!

As the pirates of old said,

To our next merry meeting!

TWB

Just in the Nick of Time!

First off, I apologize for taking so long to post this edition of the blog. After the craziness of finishing the pirate ship, Little Dude's birthday party and then travelling, I am just now getting back to my computer. 

After making small bits of progress in the evenings during the week leading up to the christening of The Becky's Revenge, I decided I needed an extra afternoon and the accompanying daylight to chip away at the remaining items on this project. In the last day and a half, I was able to (with the help of my trusty brother in the evening) finish the dock and gangplank, build and install the steps to the dock and the upper deck of the ship, hang the shade sails, mount the swings, install the rope railings, attach the sign (to make the naming official) and install the various finishing touches.

We did not finish a moment too early either. When my wife came out to check on us at 9:30 on Friday night, we were working by flashlight to install the ship's wheel, the spyglasses and the drums (every pirate needs some musical accompaniment, right?) We finally declared it FINISHED at 10:00 PM, leaving us 12 hours to spare prior to the christening of The Becky's Revenge and Little Dude's pirate ship party!

The party was a blast and the ship was fully broken in by all the kids (and some adults) in attendance. Once all our guests had left and Little Dude was down for a well-deserved nap, we kicked back in the AC, cracked open a beer and toasted to the conclusion (almost**) of a very ambitious and successful project!

**There are a few small things left to do, like the installation of permanent sails, big-kid swings, staining and sealing the wood and finishing the storage area under the ship, but most of those will wait until cooler weather avails!

Finally finished with 12 hrs to spare!

Ready for all the kiddos!

Fully occupied!

Awesome treasure chest birthday cake!

The Captain hanging out with Uncle C.

Trying to stay cool on the patio

Family shot before cake time

Christening the boat!

Cupcake time

Taking a whack at the pirate pinata

Little Dude going to check out his ship after all the guests left

Heading up on to the dock

Safety first, hold the handrails!

Front of the ship

The Captain is steering us to adventure!

Thanks for tuning in to this blog. I will be posting one more concluding post, but this was by and large the epic of The Becky's Revenge. I hope she sees many fair skies and great adventures in the years to come with Little Dude at the helm!

TWB

Almost Ready to Set Sail!

This past week has basically been a furious push to finish this crazy project! As we continued to put finishing touches on the ship, I came to realize that I could have very well given it another name: "The Overkill." That has been the theme of this entire project, from conception to planning to execution!

Did I need to build a 20' long pirate ship in my backyard? NO.
Did I need to use enough carriage bolts to keep a foundry busy for an entire year just for a simple playhouse? NO.
Did I need to make a crow's nest out of an old whiskey barrel to make it look realistic? NO.
Did we need to build a dock with boarding ramp to make it more "authentic?" NO.
But, did I want to do all these things? YES.

As I have mentioned before, I have inherited this trait from my family to over-think, over-design, over-promise and over-execute. It is just the Byers way. And my training as an engineer has only exacerbated this problem!

Daddy and Pop showing Little Dude the proper fastening technique

Trying by himself!

I sincerely hope that our Little Dude and all of his friends get many years of fun out of this unique project! I know I will never forget the many trips to Home Depot/ Lowes, the hot summer afternoons and the late nights thinking about the next steps on the project. Until then, these few pictures are all I need to know it has all been worthwhile!

Swabbing the decks!

"Hey Chesney, come up and play!"

Ready to go down the slide!

He just couldn't wait to put on pants and a shirt!

Currently we sit at ~90% complete with less than 4 days to the party. The only major items that are left are to mount the stairs to the captain's quarters, stairs up to the dock, the rope rails, the swings and of course, the captain's wheel!

The dock and boarding ramp

Almost there!

Stay tuned!

TWB

All Hands on Deck!

There has been a significant uptick in progress over the past two weeks, mostly because we are in crunch time with less than 10 days to the christening of The Becky's Revenge. My wife had to go out of the country for a little over a week for a school research project, so my parents were able to work out their schedules to come visit Little Dude and help out with this massive construction project. Luckily my Dad has previous playhouse construction experience (as well as countless other carpentry and woodworking projects,) so we have been able to kick it into high gear over the past couple of days. Also have to give a shout out to my mom as she has played the important role of toddler wrangler (which is not an easy job!) So far we have been able to complete the deck, get the port side of the hull attached and do some other minor clean-up work.

The Becky's Revenge weathered her first hurricane-strength storm this week with 70+ mph wind gusts!

Front of the ship!

Port hull being attached.

Little Dude checking out the height with Pop.

"Whoa, Daddy, this is awesome!"

Over the next couple of days, we will be finishing the starboard side of the hull, working on the ship's railings and installing the stairs/ ramp. Wish us luck as we run out of time!


Stay tuned,


TWB

Ahoy Mateys, Raise the Main Mast!

It seems to have been relatively slow going recently as we are finishing the main structural items and are moving to the outside or decorative items. It seems like most of what we do is discuss the best way to do this or that. I guess you will have that when there are no plans besides the ones that are in your head! It also seems that the other thing I have been doing is going to Home Depot or surfing Amazon for more supplies. Those pre-fab playhouses that are set up at Lowes and Home Depot seem less and less expensive now!

Over the past week, however, we did accomplish a major task - we got the crow's nest and Jolly Roger flag installed and the main mast permanently attached to the ship. The crow's nest is half of an old Jack Daniel's whiskey barrel. It is just the perfect size and scale for the Becky's Revenge. However, the addition of the crow's nest on the top of the mast immensely increased the weight. I had to wait a couple of days for my brother to come up and help me raise it so I didn't fall and break my neck while trying to hoist a 16' long 4x6 with ~100 lbs of added weight added on the end of it!

We are currently working on the final framing of the front of the hull, the access steps and the decking! Only 3 weeks left until the christening of The Becky's Revenge and there is still a lot left to do!

Profile view of the ship prior to adding the crow's nest.

Little Dude trying to help measure the hull framing

The awesome drill bit I found to drill all the holes for the carriage bolts (Home Depot is a dangerous place!)

Inside of the crow's nest prior to reinforcement.

The main mast is ready to hoist!

This is as far as I got before I decided it would be prudent to have an extra set of hands to finish lifting it.

Mast hoisted and attached!

Stay tuned!


TWB

All Framed Up

Another weekend, another milestone on The Becky's Revenge! We were able to get the entire floor framed up by finishing the bow of the ship. After a slow start while fighting with multiple angles at the front of the ship, we got the rest of the outer joists attached as well as the inner joists at the front. We were also able to get the lower deck line attached to the back of the ship. We even had enough time to dry-fit the bowsprit (I am becoming an expertly shipbuilding terms) and the main mast! While standing on the upper deck, we realized that we can see 2-3 yards over. This is quite the project! I am currently working on setting the railings all the way around the ship and we will be working on the ramp up to the ship next!

  

View from the upper deck

 

I have my concentration face on!

 Trying to decide on the angle of the bowsprit

Chad doing his best Titanic reenactment. No icebergs in sight!

 Front view of the ship

 

Testing the height of the mast

 Stay tuned,

TWB

Going overboard

Over the past couple of weeks I have been able to make significant progress on The Becky's Revenge. I have been getting about 45 minutes of work done each night after Little Dude goes to bed and before it gets dark.

Mid-last week, bow of the ship is rough set!

 

Little Dude checking out all the angles at the front of the ship

My wife was nice enough to take time out of her homework schedule last Sunday to watch Little Dude so I could have an entire day of work. As I continue to build the ship out, it has become apparent to me that I may have gone a *tad* overboard in the size of the ship. My wife tried to warn me, but true to form I over-designed and now Little Dude is going to basically have a Spanish Galleon in the backyard once all is said and done! Luckily we have a pretty decent size yard, so it doesn't dominate the entire landscape.

 

~75% of the hull ribbing is set after a full day of work on Sunday

 Looking head-on at the ship

Close-up shot of the hull ribbing near the front corner

Almost all of the hull ribbing is complete and about 30% of the post railings have been set. After I finish the basic railing frame around the ship, we will be starting the "boarding ramp" up to the ship and working on the mast. I am really proud of how everything is coming together and barring any major setbacks, we should be on track to christen The Becky's Revenge by late June for Little Dude's buccaneer birthday bash!

That's all for now,

TWB