The Latest Crew News

Key West!

On Thursday, December 17,  Habitat Crew landed in Key West, FL.  Tom was in the company of his friends Steve and Jon, as well as his brother Dan.  See the blog for more details.

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Latest News

Made it to Hampton, VA!

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Buffalo

We made it across Lake Erie!

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Channel 3 Interview

Check out our interview with Channel 3 News from our departure on Sunday!

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News Herald Article

We are on the front page!

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Contact


Habitat Crew
123 East 324th Street
Willowick, Ohio 44095

Email: rowforhabitat@gmail.com

Habitat Crew News 2010

Key West!


Latest News

I'm staying at my cousins house for over a week while I work with Habitat for Humanity.  Will be heading out on the 8th to continue rowing.  For the latest details about the trip check out our blog.


Buffalo

After 13 days and 197 miles, we made it to Buffalo!  This marks the completion of our row across lake Erie. After we finish working with Habitat in Buffalo we will begin our Journey across the Erie Canal.  For more details about the trip, check out our Blog.


Channel 3 Interview

To see the interview and read the article, go to www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx


News Herald Article

Check out our interview with the News-Herald. 

http://news-herald.com/articles/2009/05/28/news/nh921696.txt

There is an article and also a video of our interview!


Construction Continues

April 12th, 2009

After our crunch to get the boat rowable for spring training, we have taken a recent lul in physical construction work.   Our focus over the last couple of weeks has been planning out everything that needs to get done before we depart.  

The major projects we need to do to get the boat ready are as follows:

  1. Install permanent sliding seats and foot stretcher at the newly calculated heights and widths.
  2. Design a waterproof and lockable hatch.
  3. Make a bimini top to cover the cockpit area.
  4. Remove and Refurbish steel/fiberglass centerboard
  5. Paint the entire boat inside and out.
  6. Install 12V electrical system including solar panal, outlets and lights.
  7. Make mounting hardware for oars, bikes, anchor, etc.

Besides all of that there are plenty of other small projects as well as equiptment to buy and things to pack!  Wish us luck that we can get it all done before June 1st!


Spring Training

March 10, 2009

Every year Cleveland State University Rowing team goes to Oak Ridge, TN during the schools spring break.  The team practices multiple times a day for the entire week to get ready for the spring season.  We will be taking our converted sailboat down with the team, and putting it through the ringer.  It will be a good opportunity to work out any kinks in our rigging, footstretchers, and seats.  The water will be flat, the weather will be warm, and we will be rowing!


Crunch time!

March 5th

Work to be completed before spring break 3/14/09

Rigger Work 

      Hinges

  • Grind, Ream, reweld hinges to fit
  • Cut tubing to make washers
  • Weld washers to pin
  • Thread other end of pin
  • *Buy nuts and washers

       Backstay

  • Grind ends square
  • Drill holes in both ends of plate
  • Cut bolt tube to length
  • Locate and drill hole in rigger tube
  • Weld pin in place
  • *Buy nuts bolt washers


    Oarlock block

  • Drill hole
  • Machine indicator tab
  • Design and cut gussets?
  • Weld to frame

    Frame

  • Weld tubing to hinge and end plates



Boat Work

   Rigger prep

  • Cut fiberglass board to legth
  • Glue and clamp fiberglass into place
  • Cut backing plate boards
  • Drill hole in boat and boards
  • Bolt together

    Seat

  • Cut aluminum tube to length
  • *Buy/find hardware for mounting
  • drill holes in tubing.
  • drill holes in wood frame to mount slides.
  • design and cut adjustable boards for height adjustment


   Footstretchers

  • Cut opening for bows legs in top 4x8 sheet
  • Support top sheet to prevent sagging
  • Cut bottom 2x6 board that runs under footstretchers
  • Secure 2x6 in place
  • Cut footboard to size
  • mount footboards
  • mount footstraps to boards


   Through hulls

  • Cut hose to length
  • *Buy 3M 4200 sealent
  • Seal to hull

    Windows

  • Asseses mounting hardware
  • *Buy sealent and any hardware.
  • Assemble back together

    Hatch

  • Seal and Reinstall wood brackets


   Lead Ballast

  • Cut out lead on other side.


   Misc.

  • Seal holes from removed hardware
  • Quick washdown of boat.
  • Organize tools and supplies needed for trip


De/Re-construction Update

February 19, 2009

Last week we had a bout of good weather, so we took advantage of it and fiberglassed a section we had cut out to make room for Tom's feet.  The section was at the stern of the boat and previously was used as a seat.  Also, we have received our metal shipment from onlinemetals.com and have begun to work on our riggers.  We have spent a lot of time and effort coming up with our design and starting to machine the parts.  A large credit goes to Mr. John Hauserman for his knowledge in the machine shop and also with the design.  Being young engineers, it is very exciting to be learning hands-on knowlege of the materials and the tools used to make them.


De-Construction Update

January 27, 2009

Yesterday we began to remove the Lead ballast in the sailboat.  The ballast is used to lower the center of gravity so the boat does not tip over when sailing.  Since we will not be sailing, we decided to remove the weight in order to lighten the load.


De-Construction Recap

January 26, 2009

When we bought the boat in November, we took it sailing four or five times in the two weeks following the purchase.  After that, it sat in Jon's driveway for about a week before it was nestled into its new home: The Hauserman family garage.  The first step was to remove all of the sailing hardware and store it so that it may be used in the future.  In the cabin, all of the vinyl wall covering was removed, as well as the windows, curtains, and shelving.  The idea is to strip the boat down to its fiberglass shell to make cleaning, painting and modifying easier. 

 


SWEEEET!

Creating this website is wicked cool!  Its actually pretty easy to learn if you have the right teacher. Thanks Dave!!


Website Up!

Yesterday Dave Jon and Tom met and started working on the website.  If things aren't working its because we are working on them right now.  Check back often for changes!