Yesterdays high was +18C (about 67F) so any sealant materials on the scow requiring final curing no doubt had their chance then. Perry is now well on his way installing the floatation foam. This very light white foam is exactly the same stuff used as packing material for stereo equipment, etc. It is also used for floating docks. The foam company erred a bit on the order making a bit more than we needed but making it in slightly smaller blocks than we wanted. So Perry is having to cut it up somewhat. Too much foam is a bonus as now we can fill the entire hull with foam and the top decking will hold it all down. You can see here how the foam stops about 3 inches (7.5 cm) below the top. The extra blocks can be cut into slabs 3 inches thick and placed atop the blocks of foam seen here. 
Today Perry began caulking the internal seams. He now has more water sealant to put on after the caulking has dried. We are starting to get close to the time when we will have to cease construction work, unless the weather holds. Plywood sheets here are just resting on the joists, they will be properly attached once the caulking, waterproofing, tiller supports and foam inserts are all done. 
At 6:15 to 6:45 pm tonight the scow sections were successfully turned over. 12 people got together, the weather held, and we had no trouble getting the sections turned over. They were heavy! Thanks to all that helped. The group photo are those who helped. Each section was flipped over onto another scow section, then spun around (quite easy!), and reconnected (pushed back) to the other sections. Now Perry can work on the ice storage compartment, add decking, caulking of internal seams, add large bolts to hold the sections together, measure and cut side planks for installation later, and install some foam floatation system yet determined. The weather forecast is still a bit "iffy" for future work but at least we got it flipped over. It rained over night and was cold and quite windy this morning so I thought we might have to cancel, but the skies cleared and wind died down not long before we did the work.
The bottom photo shows what I was greeted with the morning of Oct. 14th. Grrrr! (and Brrr!). The other two pictures show the scow Oct. 15th. On the weather news today it was revealed that the first half of October in Calgary (1.5 hour drive to the WSW) was the coldest since they started recording temperatures there, an average temp of +4.2 C; normal is +14C! Cakes of ice were floating down the Red Deer River starting a couple days ago. Still planning on flipping the scow late afternoon this coming Sunday.
We are still having unsettled or bad weather here, cold and rainy. Work on the scow has been delayed. It actually snowed a bit in and around Drumheller last night. We are aiming for flipping the scow sections over this coming Sunday, October 11th. Perry has been looking into foam (for back up floatation in case of a hull breach) for the inside of the scow. Certainly foam was not used in 1910, but we cannot and will not skimp on safety. Spray foam estimates were $7,000+ CDN- too much. A suggestion of blue high density foam sheets used for house insulation was suggested. As you can see here, it is quite bouyant! Very little of the foam is actually under water. We are thinking of having four stacked layers of foam locked in with wood strips into the bottom of the scows four sections. The foam can quickly and easily be cut to size with a table saw and costs much less than sprayed foam.
With this posting, this blog is now "caught up". Perry is seen here installing some thin steel plates on the bottom corners of the scow to protect it against accidental collisions with underwater rocks, etc. Any day entries missing for the past 2 weeks or so are due to weather interruptions, carpenter Perry taking some days off, or waiting to flip the scow over. We are presently aiming to flip the scow sections over on the evening of October 5th, weather permitting.
Bottom planks are now installed and the rubberized runny tar-like material squirted between cracks between planks. Water sealant is still added to wood wherever it appears dry.
More water sealant work. The days are getting so short now that Perry works by floodlight after dark; this explains why some pictures appear taken at night- they are!
The first batch of pictures from the backlog from a week and a half or so back. Perry readys the bottom planks fro instalation and adds more water sealant. So places have three coats put on.
