We’re a D.I.Y Boatyard, You Do It ‘Cause We Won’t...
Purgatory Cove Fish Dock and Marina
Published: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 7:00 am
By: Sam, Lefty and Wade, Proprietors
Well, it’s been a slow week here at Purgatory Cove. There was a little bit of excitement earlier in the week. Clem, the proprietor of the Paradise Liquor Store and Taxidermy Shop had bought one of the old houseboats layin’ around the yard here. He’s been workin’ on it off an on. He finally got it back in the water and tied up to one of the docks.
Lefty and wade were lounging around the bait shack when they heard a commotion down the dock. They ambled over to see what was the matter. Clem was standing in the stern locker of his house boat screaming that he was sinking.
To understand what was happening, you need to know a little history about this particular boat, you see it was originally equipped with one of those inboard/outboard deals. You know, the collision between and outboard and a Chevy engine. Well it seems the Chevy up and croaked and the owner at the time decided to pull the engine and junked it. He bolted on this cobbled together piece of iron work on the stern and mounted an outboard on it. It wasn’t pretty but it did move it around.
Wanting to make the old engine compartment more useful, he torched out all the old engine mounts. It soon filled up with old lines, some old tires he used as bumpers and generally a motley collection of junk. Now Clem, being the meticulous kinda guy he was, cleaned all that stuff out, right down to the rusty steel hull.
On the day in question, he was down in the compartment with an angle grinder with this big wire brush on it, just a grindin'; away on the old rust. Next thing he knew he’d wire brushed right through the bottom where the torch had got a little too close. Water was spurtin’ in and risin’ around his ankles.
Of course there was no bilge pump in there, at least not one that worked. Several of the guys were trying to drag old bilge pumps, hoses and batteries down the dock, trying to help old Clem out. Wade mossied over and took stock of the situation. After a moment or two, he headed off to the boat shed.
Once there, he pulled out an old plastic garbage bag, a length of fiberglass cloth about a foot wide and twice as long and a tube of that expensive goop they got to work on the Judges boat. He laid the fiberglass cloth on the plastic bag and proceeded to spread the tube of goop on the cloth, spreading it out with one of those plastic spreader you get down at the auto supply store.
Once he had it spread pretty good, he picked up the bag with the cloth and goop on it and headed back down the dock. He got Clem calmed down and out of the compartment. He had Clem jump off the dock next to the stern of the boat and handed him the piece of gooped up cloth. Clem took a deep breath and ducked under the stern. It took him a try or two but he got that cloth patch up against the hole in the bottom. Once the patch was near the water coming in sucked it right up against the hull and sealed to leak quick as a wink.
Then they hauled Clem back out of the water and cleaned him up. The leak was stopped but Clem insisted on haulin’ the boat back out and welding it up. Some people just don’t trust that modern goop.
Other than that, it’s been a slow week here in Purgatory Cove.
