Breaking it down

Spent some time this evening with my recovering sick child dismantling the stove so I can get it up and running...temperatures are now dipping into the mid 40sF (7C) so having the fire roaring is a must now!

The stuff around the pipes came off beautifully (except for closest to the stove where a smallish section of the wrap fused to the pipe)...but the white Wrap elsewhere was like shrink wrap and left a gooey residue behind. Even the strongest tough adhesive and tar remover didn’t get it all off how I would have liked it. We did our best tonight and plan to reassemble it all tomorrow....stay tuned for the final reveal!

Scrubbing away the grime where it fused to the pipe  

Dismantled and almost cleaned

I kept laughing the whole time at the thought of me not realizing how obvious it was to take that protective wrap off...even when reading the warnings, for some reason it completely escaped me. So often I see this same thing with friends, family and acquaintances...something so obviously wrong in their own life that is not even on the radar for them....some will never see it, some will after the “damage” has been done, and some will wake up quickly and work their hardest to rectify it before it gets out of hand. Sometimes we are so close to it it’s hard to notice, that’s why it is so important to stay aware and mindful and check in with our deepest truest selves....as well as check in with our deepest truest friends...often we and they will have the insights our busy external selves will miss or even purposefully avoid!

Can I be any slower?

Ok, I'm not talking about slow as in the progress of my final touches (like the floating part of this "floating" home with heart)...I'm talking unwrapping packages properly!

That smoke I was getting yesterday (and ...gulp, today) was from the protective film wrapped around my entire stove!

OMG....I can be so dense at times (ok don't all agree at once...those who personally know me!)

Yeah, I was so upset that all the pieces were "painted" white and that my pipes had writing on them. Then OMG the Cubic mini guy writes me after I send him the pic from yesterdays post and exclaims...
"BUT you still have the protective film on the wall mount and the pipe. It MUST be removed, if not it can melt and get fused to the metal. Also that can be what is smoking. Thank you"

Well it finally dawned on me that it could be peeled away! DOH.

It takes a big Wo-man to admit her faults and this one is really knocking me out of my ego....which is good...I'm always trying to find ways to keep that three letter word in check anyway. 

So, now I get to spend the next little while dismantling everything to get it all sparkly silver and then...then I can use my stove in comfort!

Please, some newby learn from my mistakes!

Pontoon slow build

Today I got some work done on straightening up one of the middle sidewalks of the “pontoons” I’m making. Used all the tricks I’ve learned so far to set them straight and squared off. Hammer, screw gun, t-square and jack stands and I’m oretty happy with the first one.

I’m starting to see better places to position the jack stands and have way more confidence in moving them around...as I worked today I moved the outer edge of stands in so I could place the next outside board. Slowly but surely I’ll get this thing together. It’s gonna feel so go to havenitnset up and ready to go for an early entry into the water this spring!

Nervously crossing my fingers it all works out! ;-)

All fired up

it’s been a long break with summer fun and lots of fall travel. Back from trips to Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Korea, Iceland, Ireland and England and now I’m ready to focus again in getting things done in my little home!

Today I installed the last section of pipe for my stove so it would be higher than the loft and I started up the stove! I realized I had been scared to light it up...since I installed all of this myself, I was nervous I may have done something wrong and lighting a fire would possibly burn something or smoke me out unexpectedly.

Well, I had to just extinguish those fears, come up with a backup plan and just light my fire!
This little grizzly really throws the heat! I’m super impressed! I’ve had an electric space heater running all night and it was still chilly inside, one little bit of wood and paper and my little home feels nice and toasty! I love being off the grid!

I think I need to play around with the settings, after a little while I did start to notice smoke inside. Not sure why yet. Another mystery to figure out. Stay tuned...or better yet...leave comments to help me troubleshoot!

Ok read the operating manual and found this golden nugget...


Nontoxic smoke will be emitted during the first hour of operation as the paint is
curing. Open windows or hatches as required to vent cabin. Or you can cure the paint outdoors by attaching a couple sections of stove pipe to the stove and lighting it outside. To eliminate the odor can take up to 20 – 30 hours of burn time.

Feeling better I did things right...burning off the shit so I can keep warm!