Rebuilding Titcomb Cabin

Wrapping up the season (with a floor!)

2011-07-01T23:56:00.013-04:00

Well, it's about that time again. Warning: this is going to be a long post. Chelsea, Malia, and I have all talked about writing one more blog post at different points in the last month, but all of our lives have been as hectic as ever, with the Thayer School investiture ceremony on June 11th for me and Chelsea, Dartmouth graduation on the 12th for Chelsea, and both me and Chelsea leaving for the West on the 13th.

Though the last few posts have given some detail into the work we've been doing, I feel like we've left out some details about our goals and our mindset this spring. As crazy as it sounds, Chelsea and I would both be leaving for good after graduation, so the 13th of June was as hard a deadline as we've had yet for this project.

Our goal was to have the space inside the cabin be as usable as possible by the time we left. The cabin technically can't be rented out until it has passed a town inspection, but we wanted to have the cabin ready for that next stage. We had made a list at the beginning of the term of everything that needed to be done in order to call the cabin "complete." It looked something like this (in no particular order):

finish closing in the gable ends
install all the windows, including all the trim
finish building up the subfloor and install the actual hardwood flooring
close in the bottom of the loft
install the loft flooring
stain the outside of the cabin
put diagonal braces on the front posts
install a front door
install the woodstove and the hearth
find and/or construct furniture
install decking on the porch
construct a railing for the porch and a few steps to get up to it from the ground
build some sort of ADA-compliant handicap ramp on one side of the porch

Yeah, I know. That's a lot. Obviously we didn't finish all of those things, but in my opinion, we did a pretty incredible job this spring. We worked a lot and had many, many volunteers come out to help. Chelsea described the staining process in her last post, and at that point we had already closed in the gable ends and the loft. From there, we did a whole lot of things, often simultaneously. First, here's a shot of the front of the cabin during one of our spring workdays - note the diagonal braces, courtesy of Max Van Pelt '11, former Ledyard president, and Emily Yen '10. They did an incredible job. I say "incredible" too much.

Also note the front window. This is almost what the cabin looks like now, except that thanks to Conor Galligan '11, there are two additional braces on either side of the center post that hadn't been installed at the time this picture was taken. Diagonal braces, up close:

These smaller-diameter logs were taken from the woods behind the cabin, and they look really great.

In addition, all six windows have been installed, as has the trim on each window. Here's an idea of what the window trim looks like up close:

...and the whole east side of the cabin:

Our method of installing window trim is really interesting and unique to full-scribe log cabins. Each window has an identical board on the outside and the inside surfaces. To allow for settling, those boards at the top of the windows are connected to the upper portion of the window-hole, but not to the window itself. As the cabin settles, this will allow the boards to slide freely in front of and behind the window, and any excess will be trimmed periodically. Note the 1x3 accents to match the roof. Another important detail that isn't shown in these photos is that all of the white window casings have been painted green to match the roof. I don't have pictures of that yet, but it sure looks snazzy, if I say so myself. I don't have a good camera and Lucas and Max aren't around anymore, so I have to rely on visitors for pictures, which isn't that convenient. Most of the photo credit for this post goes to Kelly Mallery '11, who came out with Kodiak, who heckled and drank beer and didn't do much work. What a clown. Since I'm in a volunteer-thanking mood right now, I'll also mention that the window trim was done by a team of Chelsea's dad, Anne Brown '11, and Aoife Duffy '11. Aoife has too many vowels in her name, but that doesn't impede her painting skills.

Next came the flooring, which proved to be a bigger challenge than we anticipated. First, Chelsea very slowly and painstakingly cut a 3/4" notch all around the interior of the cabin into which we would slide the hardwood flooring. This would make the flooring look nice and flush. Then, we built up the subfloor with a layer of insulation and 2x3 supports, and another layer of plywood. Then we got to laying the hardwood:

Here you can see the notch in the lower right-hand side of the photo. The Outdoor Programs Office had a flooring nailer that we used for most of the floor. We improvised a bit when we were too close to the walls, though. After a few hard days, the cabin looked like this on the inside (my apologies for the poor-quality cell phone picture):

...and Malia and I looked like this:

The oak floor looks absolutely gorgeous. At this point, we decided not to install a real floor in the loft area so that we could continue to use that space for tool and material storage. It would be a shame to have to store tools on that floor.

So finishing the floor brought us to the end of the term. Of our original list, several projects remain. At this point, we've all unfortunately had to move on. I'll talk more about my personal feelings in another post, but I'm living in the Boston area now and this project is now fully in the care of the Ledyard Canoe Club. I'll help walk the cabin through the first stages of the inspection process this summer, but I have faith that the current club members will finish things up and leave their own mark on the project. It's been an incredible ride.

Staining and other shenanigans

2011-05-31T22:26:00.003-04:00

Woot! My first blog post!

A lot has happened in the last week...quite a bit of which I missed, as I was paddling a canoe from Dartmouth to the ocean on Ledyard's annual Trip to the Sea. The ocean was amazing, but I'm glad to be back..

Greg and Malia had a lot of two-person days this last week, but they did manage to make a lot of progress. We have four windows now!

On Sunday, some volunteers accompanied them to the island, and everyone worked on cleaning logs in preparation for staining. Chris and Norah came out, and Chris showed everyone up with a chainsaw, perfecting our window-holes. Frances Davenport also came out and sanded logs for us. Thanks everyone! We'll be looking for lots of volunteers until graduation, as we've got a lot to do, so if this sounds fun, come join us.

On Monday, my first day back to the island, we stained the cabin! Milo Johnson, Kyle, and Benjy came out and helped the crew. It was uber-hot, and we all worked shirtless, and got stain EVERYWHERE. When we went swimming after work, the water ran off the stain in Greg's hair, and several showers later, I still have stain streaks on my stomach.

The cabin looks awesome with its new color. Malia took a picture with her phone, and you can kind of see the changed color - it's better in person though.

Today we weighed down the Dartmouth safety boat getting the hardwood flooring out (thanks Jeff!), so look for updates about a pretty new floor.

I'm also learning a lot about some of our frequent volunteers (one of whom also happens to live at our house. So, a list:

Things Kyle Is Good At Besides Staining:
-Singing along to the country radio
-Jumping off of very, very, very high trees into the river
-Causing the S&S boat to break down and drift into a sand bar for the second time in two days
-Jumping in the Connecticut to babysit a runaway skiff with lots of lumber on it

The next two weeks are going to be very busy, but we should have a mostly done cabin soon. More pictures to come.

In case you missed it...

2011-05-29T20:56:00.001-04:00

You can watch our TV spot here.

Woohoo! We're famous!

We're on TV!

2011-05-28T23:59:00.002-04:00

Sorry this is such short notice, but hopefully some of you subscribe to this blog and check it regularly enough that this will be helpful. CBS has decided to air our segment TOMORROW, May 29, on their Sunday morning news show.

The show itself goes from 9 to 10:30 AM, but we'll be in the last part of the show, sometime between 10 and 10:30. We'll be showing their correspondent Mo Rocca all of the steps involved with building a full-scribe log cabin, from peeling and drawshaving to scribing and chainsawing. Don't miss it!

Let there be Light!

2011-05-22T20:42:00.001-04:00

Little steps have led to big things out on the island the last couple weeks. Every project is brand new to us all... how to close up the gable ends, what grade of shingles to buy, how to cut a window, and how to attach said window...
But decision by decision we've either looked it up, made a well educated guess, or just took a shot in the dark with hope. And somehow it's pulling together!

The filming with Mo Rocca and CBS went very well... take a look at the below link for great photos and more info.
http://now.dartmouth.edu/2011/05/alumna-returns-to-campus-with-cbs-and-comedian-mo-rocca/

We thought they would air the episode this morning but it sounds like they decided to save it for later this summer... it's that good. Check back in here cause we'll post the air date when we know it! Don't miss it... believe me, you'll want to see Kodiak's chainsaw biceps on the big screen, hear Max's secrets exposed in his private interview, and laugh at Kevin's witty one-liners.

What went on behind the scenes? Chelsea worked. and worked. and worked... surprised? nope.
Jackie the dog (our resident Island Beast) burst into scenes like a demon and they then had to retake the shot.
And we all ate delicious lunches of falafel provided by the camera crew. Free food!... hey, I think I could get used to this Hollywood lifestyle....

Mo Rocca and his new chainsaw skills may become CBS's big deal but for all of us, the big moment of that day was cutting a new window.

Take a look back at previous posts. All that time and effort and sweat and labor into laying log by log those beautiful walls. And what do we have to do to get a window?! ... Stick a chainsaw in and carve away!

We all held our breath and screamed together 'stop!' when the blade neared a marked boundary.
A few cuts, a couple thumps of the sledge hammer and poof! ... we have a window!!

Well, kind of. We then had a hole in the wall. The steps following proved to be more time consuming than we first thought. We had to trim the window to the exact size, cut the angle iron (which we of course cut wrong and had to recut with a frustratingly slow hacksaw), cut vertical grooves into the sides of the window for the angle iron which is attached to a 2x4. Then haul the window up there and pray that it fits.

But we've been lucky I think! (knock on wood... of which we have a lot) We now have two beautiful windows installed!

The gap you see above the window is room for settling which the cabin will continue to do. Without that space, we'd come out one day to a shattered window! That's also why we are using the angle iron in a groove to keep the windows in instead of nailing it straight to logs that are going to be moving. We'll be covering the settling space with a nice finishing board soon.

Soon we'll have six windows in! Two on either side, one on the front and one on the back.

Titcomb cabin is no longer a little black box where we needed headlamps to see anything! We have light!

Titcomb 2.0 continues

2011-05-10T23:28:00.004-04:00

I got into Hanover yesterday evening for a short visit and caught up on the work the crew finished this fall and early this spring.

Some things haven't changed. Greg remains a compassionate and dedicated crew boss who encourages his crewlings with a gentle guiding hand.

When someone begins to lose steam (as is bound to happen amongst any group of people who works hard as these guys do), he has Jackie to take exhausted workers, lift them to their feet, and give everyone the energy to pick back up and move on.

Late last fall and in the early few weeks of spring the crew got the gable ends of the cabin covered up. Although most of the process won't be visible once it's all done there are lots and lots of steps that go into this. First, the empty spaces between the vertical logs are "framed" with 2x4s. Then the frames are filled with insulation and roughly covered with plywood. Here's a picture post-insulation and pre-plywood:

The finishing process is greatly complicated by the unfortunate shape of our logs. Our finishing material is straight and symmetrical with right corners. Our logs are lumpy, asymmetrical and otherwise log shaped. On the inside we're using shiplap, and each piece has to be custom cut to fit the shape of the gaps. Max seems to have both invented and perfected a technique to get this done in the same day. On the outside we're covering the gables with tar paper (to keep moisture out) and then shingles. Most of the shingles can be used as-is, but we're having to custom cut some of them to get them to fit nicely around the purlins and odd knots in the vertical posts.
Here you can see most of what's going on: the plywood on the left, and the shingles over tar paper on the right.

On the to-do list for the near future:

- finish the shingles on the front and back
- cover the inside gable ends and the exposed parts of the loft
- a real door! windows!
- a nice looking floor for the front porch and the inside
- furniture! a railing on the porch!
- installing the woodstove and accompanying brickwork

Stay tuned for more photos, updates, and perhaps some exciting media coverage.

Spring 2011!

2011-04-22T00:09:00.014-04:00

Hello faithful blog-readers!

It's been some time, but with the gradually warmer weather this spring, we've begun our spring work season. As of right now, we have a main crew of three people, including me, working four days a week, with many, many helpers.

Introducing the spring 2011 Titcomb crew:

Meet Chelsea Liddell '11. She grew up in Montana and Arizona, and has a serious work ethic which pretty much puts last summer's crew to shame. She came out to the island last summer to help put the roof on, and has continued to be a huge asset to the crew. Also, she's my roommate.

This is Malia Reeves '12. She's from Taos, New Mexico, and is a studio art major, something the crew was lacking before. So far she's been up to her shoulders in shiplap and shingles and she looks sharp. I like alliteration.

As for regular volunteers, we've also had Emily Yen '10 out a few times, as well as Kevin McGregor '11 several times a week. I might put funny pictures of them up later, but I'm pretty lazy right now. It's been incredible to have them both, though.

This week, in particular, is also special because CBS Sunday Morning News is coming to Hanover to do a feature on us. This opportunity has brought some familiar faces back into town: Max has been working with us for the past week, and Kate just got in today and is staying on my couch. Lucas has been around a bit too, and it feels nice to have everyone back. We'll have more updates on the CBS spot later this week.

...and then there's me, still here in Hanover. I'm all finished up with classes, so working on Titcomb is my first priority for this term. I'll be moving to Boston in late June to start an engineering job, so we're working hard to get the cabin into rentable shape by then. Stay tuned.

End of Fall Update

2010-11-26T11:16:00.003-05:00

Does anyone even read this blog anymore? I hope so. Otherwise, I guess I'm only posting this update to serve my own ego.

Anyway, a few weeks ago we wrapped up our abbreviated fall work schedule on the cabin. We had originally hoped to do quite a bit of work this fall term, like installing windows and a door, closing in the gable ends, and putting the woodstove and the stovepipe in. However, classes and cold weather got the best of us, and we're now all wrapped up for the winter.

We were able to get all of the fancy trim up on the roof and start to frame the gable ends. We also finished putting up the joists that will support the loft. We also used the safety boat to transport all of the scaffolding and power equipment back to Hanover for storage, which isn't as cool as finishing the loft, but is just as necessary.

Overall, a moderately productive season. We'll be selecting and ordering windows very soon, and work will commence again in the spring. I finish my B.E. degree at the end of winter term, so assuming I don't get a full-time job that requires I start in March, I'll be spending spring term finishing the cabin. I'm not sure who will be around - some of our original crew (Kate, Max, Lucas) seem to have left Hanover semi-permanently, which is unacceptable.

Here is the best picture of the cabin itself at this point:

and here is a picture of the crew enjoying the first celebratory beverage in the newly-completed loft:

End of Summer Update!

2010-09-08T23:36:00.005-04:00

Yes. That's right. This is the last update of the summer (kind of). As of about two hours ago, we achieved our goal for the 2010 summer term: we finished the roof of the cabin.

We had initially hoped to get to this point by August 28th, the end of the ten-week summer work period, but then as time went by we adjusted our goal, hoping to finish all of the logwork by the 28th. This included the five largest logs, the purlins, that run along the length of the cabin, front to back, supporting the roof. Getting to this point (spoiler alert: we did) would mean that by the end of the day on the 28th, when all our now skilled laborers went their separate ways, all of the remaining work could be completed with additional help from volunteers.

We did pretty well through the last scheduled week, using halogen floodlights at night and copious amounts of caffeine to power through the tough times. Our last log, however, took quite a bit of work. The ridgepole, the large spruce log that supports the peak of the roof, was our largest spruce, with a 21-inch diameter butt. It is supported by four posts throughout the length of the cabin, and required something like twelve people standing all over the cabin to get it in place. Jordan's dad ran the chain fall for this log, and put all of us young guns to shame. So by the time Max, Kate, and Jordan, left on the 29th, all of our logs were up and it was up to me, Lucas, and Kodiak to finish the roof.

It took about a week and a half, and lots of help from volunteers (thanks Elar, Chelsea, Parker, and Rob) but here we are with a finished roof. We chose "ivy green" metal roofing, the standard for DOC cabins, and it looks great. Here's the latest picture - sorry it's so dark, we finished around 9:30 tonight!

At this point, we've got a whole list of things still left to do before the cabin is complete - put in the stove, put in windows and the door, put up joists for the loft area, etc. However, for a week or so we'll be returning to the lives we ignored all summer. Lucas is fixing his truck, Kodiak is leading a DOC First-Year Trip, and I'm going home to spend time with my family. We'll still be updating this blog periodically in the fall as the cabin gets further towards completion.

Week 9 - a roof!

2010-08-25T11:06:00.016-04:00

I finished my last day of work on the 21st and left Hanover for a trip home, leaving the rest of the crew one person short and dangerously deficient of X chromosomes. Fortunately they have found a replacement for me as they have a big week ahead of them, faced with the task of putting up the roof!

But first, a bit more detail on what we've been up to the last couple of weeks. The cabin walls quickly got higher and higher, until we realized that our square cabin was essentially a giant crib and it was becoming more and more difficult to get in or out. We cut a rough hole where the door will be and set up some scaffolding to make moving around easier. For a couple courses we could get away with using what were essentially giant metal hooks with a platform at the bottom. You could sling two over the top of a wall and put a 2x12 in between them to walk on.

We had to raise the sky line to accommodate our taller cabin, so Kodiak got to climb some trees while the rest of us watched in awe and terror.

We've since put up some more permanent scaffolding on the inside and out to make scribing, chainsawing, and generally moving around easier. Things were moving along nicely until one day early last week disaster struck! Jordan's footwear became dangerously dilapidated and required the attention of a professional of the highest caliber.

Actually, we broke our comealong, a tool we were hoping to use to haul up the last load of logs. After bringing one log up the ramp and onto the island we decided we were confident of the chain falls "two ton" (or so they claimed) hauling capabilities and decided to go for the biggest log we have left: one of the purlins which will probably be used for the ridge pole supporting the roof which is easily two feet in diameter. It's a seriously huge log, and it promptly broke the chain fall into two pieces. This left us without any logs to carve and with a several hundred pound log sitting abandoned on our ramp.

We promptly ordered a new toy - a chainsaw powered motorized winch - and then spent several days chasing UPS trucks around Hanover looking for our package. We assigned one person to sit at the picnic table with a smart phone refreshing the UPS delivery confirmation every thirty seconds (not "out for delivery" yet... or yet... or yet...) and got started on some necessary tasks which we were planning to work on after finishing the cabin. Most notably, we decided to pretend we were trail crew for a day and built some stairs.

On Saturday we finally got our chainsaw winch, which hauls logs up the ramp in about a tenth of the time our human-powered tools could. We were able to place the last course of long logs, and put up some posts to support them over the porch.

Right now, the rest of the crew is undoubtedly still mourning my absence and far too depressed to work. But once they collect themselves they will be putting one more course of short logs up. Next are three purlins, and then the roof!

Time lapse of the day

2010-08-21T00:03:00.003-04:00

So there's this little, wonderful science museum across the river in Vermont called the Montshire that specializes in really cool exhibits that show kids how science happens. Those museum-ists know something about "cool" things, so when an employee (director?) of the museum told us this morning that she thought our last time lapse was cool, I told her she ain't seen nothing yet.

This is untrue, I actually said thank you very much (hi mom!).

In any case, here's a new video! Feel free to watch it. You can scroll down first and read my explanation of what all is going on.

This video shows the process of carving a log with chainsaws and chisels to fit on top of another log. Before we put the log on the sawhorses on the ground, we use a tool called a scribe to trace the contours of the lower log onto the upper one with pencils. Next, we bring the log down, score the long sections with knives, chisel out the lines in the notches, and trace over it all in permanent marker to make it more visible. The scoring and chiseling helps our sawyers (fun fact, pronunciation is "soy-yer") cut more precisely.

In this video you start off seeing me, Max (hi mom!) finishing off the chiseling of one notch, then Kodiak starts carving the first notch on the first log and Jordan begins carving out the groove on the other log (which is slightly out of frame). The time lapse is shot from 30 feet up or so on the steel cable we've been using to lift our logs onto the building. Halfway into the video you'll notice us all swarm the log as we realize that Jordan is having trouble prying out a section of groove. Hooray teamwork!

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

2010-08-20T22:08:00.006-04:00

Unfortunately, because our resident photographers are off doing manly things with cars and chainsaws, it falls to me to update everyone without photographic assistance, since it's been a little too long.

Our walls have been growing to dangerous heights over the past week, but we have pushed on higher and higher (safety is only our #5 priority, so it's been a pretty nerve-wracking process at times). We have definitely become more efficient at the standard log-laying process than I ever thought we would be, laying a full course on an average day. The quality of our logwork has also improved a great deal, with our logs fitting almost seamlessly together at this point.

What I'm hoping is that when we put in the final hardwood floor, it brings our last couple courses of good logs to eye level in the cabin so that when people look at the walls, they'll think we've been this good all along.

As of a couple days ago we reached the height where things begin to get a little more complicated because we are nearing roof level. We moved another load of logs down from the farm (which included our hugest logs that are going to span the entire length of the cabin supporting a roof) and had quite a few adventures/disasters getting them up onto the island.

I will post again later with some pictures to completely explain the events of the last couple days, which have been much more eventful than the wall-building week before. It's been a ton of fun. Not to give out an spoilers, but still to come with the pictures are: tales of breaking hoisting equipment rated to 2 tons, Max going insane when left on the island alone for several hours, staircases, my failed attempts to get Greg to sign off on building spiral staircases, a yellow jacket massacre, 3rd degree poison ivy, UPS's blood-lust inspiring behavior, the crew's blossoming modeling careers, a visit from the Schulz family, Sokol family, my newest celebrity crush and the explanation of how our crew came to possess 13 chainsaws (besides necessity, obviously).

And because I currently don't have means to take pictures of our escapades, here is a picture of the 3rd most awesome creature in the animal creature, and the inspiration for the way I draw shave every log. The Otter. Fastest way to my heart.

New publicity!

2010-08-11T22:25:00.006-04:00

Word on the street (and by street, I mean "The Dartmouth Homepage") is that we are currently the web spotlight of the world. Well, given the new exposure, we felt obliged to provide you, our loyal and new readers, with a glimpse of a day in the life of the Titcomb Cabin work site.

The video below is a time lapse of an entire day on Gilman Island. We start the day carving two logs, then prep and carve an entire second two logs. We finish off the day by beginning the prep work on a third pair of logs. We are only a few more levels from starting on the roof!

Also, keep an eye out for Lucas's family and our volunteers Dan and Parker. They've both come out to help a lot and deserve a round of applause for their help. Dan does a lot of work shaving logs on the left side of the frame while his dog Zealand roams the site.

To: Moms

2010-08-09T22:25:00.002-04:00

A few photos from the week: to be commented further by DaK and myself later or tomorrow when we are not quite as exhausted.

But who is actually sawing here? 'Tis for you to find out.

"Crushed."

'Tis becoming more and more of a cabin every day.

Our newest pet Larry the hairy caterpillar, quite the escape artist.

This Post is for Patty Olsen.

2010-08-05T21:55:00.002-04:00

We had a special visitor to the site on Tuesday morning! We might just be the only cabin-building crew to have had a U.S. National Team lacrosse player working for us this summer. Here she is hoisting a log up from the water.

Meet the Mallets

2010-08-05T20:53:00.003-04:00

As it turns out, the only reason any young man or woman gets into construction is the hammer. Hitting things with hammers remains the most primal form of human satisfaction; it's up there with setting things on fire. Fortunately, we Titcomb rebuilders understand the value of a good mallet and hammer. They can be used to nudge, tickle, chisel, place, suggest, command, and, of course, destroy. In fact, these mallets are so important to our crew that each and every one of them has a name. I present you with the family behind the reconstruction of Titcomb cabin: the Mallets.

From left to right, starting with our larger enforcers: George, Bricktop, Mikey, and Thudbuster.

Gorgeous George, über-mallet, 60 pounds, special attack: providing the mild suggestion that several hundred pound logs move left, right, up, down, or over several inches at a time.

Bricktop, large sledge, 16 pounds, special attack: fireplace elimination.

Mikey, maul, 8 pounds, special attack: sneaking into pictures with hammers.

Thudbuster, sledge, 8 pounds, special ability: enhanced veinyness of the user.

The bad news, however, is that we can't get along with just enormous hammers. We need more delicate tools for placing log dogs (steel pieces that keep logs from rolling), chiseling (for delicate work), and chicken tenderizing.

Brian and Kate are our two quality-construction hardwood mallets for chiseling. They do fine chisel work and were a gift from our advisor, Brian Kunz.

Next is our 3-pounder, Nubduster. He does the delicate destructive work like squashing yellow jackets and bees. The two hammers to his right belong to Kodiak and Lucas, respectively. We call them the wrist-burner and the wafflemaker, respectively.

We also have a small ball hammer and a leather hammer. No one has ever used them, because a leather hammer is apparently mainly only useful for brasswork. Oh.

You'd imagine that, with such a wide variety of wonderful tools, we'd be fully satisfied for any mallet-swinging needs we may have. But you, sir or ma'am, would be wrong. Instead we decided to just build more hammers. Those big round wood mallets you see? Bullseye, Crookshanks, and Ergo. Fortunately, these mallets are perfect for all the rest of our needs, so we have one more rubber mallet just for kicks. He's kind of like a bouncy ball... we just play with him for fun.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this short, wordy exploration of the world of mallets on the island. Please direct any and all further questions to jordan.nesmith@dartmouth.edu

P.S. After re-reading this post, I was reminded that I forgot to mention our lead shot-filled hammer, Nostradamus. Much like Nos's predictions, we spend most of our time ignoring him, hence the forgetfulness.

Log Drive, Round 2

2010-07-28T20:17:00.003-04:00

As we laid logs and and worked on building up our cabin every day, it became apparent that we would need another log drive pretty soon. So we set a date with Duff, our friend over at S&S, and okayed it with the crew coaches, and we were set.

Today we got up early again to head up to the Organic Farm and get the first raft ready. Duff showed up at 10 AM, followed by Dan Nelson in the S&S boat. We had the first raft of nine logs ready to go, and the first tow went about as successfully as we could hope for.
Because we were making good time, we decided to do three tows, bringing 36 new logs to the island. The larger size of today's haul (compared with that of the last log drive) gives us more logs to choose from as we build up, and that will help a lot.

The log raft and tow boat, as seen from the Ledyard Bridge. Photo by Rory Gawler.

Now we've got our work cut out for us as we haul them all up to the island... we'll be gettin' huge.

Us after the next few days of hauling logs up to the island.

How to use things that are not logs

2010-07-27T22:05:00.003-04:00

We here at Titcomb Crew, Inc. believe in many things: building log cabins, floating trees, and compensating for our own lack of masculinity with long chainsaw bars. We also believe in equal opportunity for wood-based materials, which is why we recently ordered items such as 2x10s, 2x6s, 2x4s, and plywood. That is why we decided that, after towing our lumber to the island, we would give it the same opportunity to float in the water as we gave the logs. Jordan promptly sunk the skiffs we used for transport.

Discovery: plywood doesn't like water. Fortunately, a pair of visiting canoeists from the Boston metropolitan area decided to stop by and help us. One of them was a lovely '06, the other a lowly pilot of Cobra attack helicopters.

Why use plywood, when we have such lovely and beautiful logs in excess? Oh, you know, silly little things like floors. Let me tell you, I know how to put in a floor.

Step 1: hang joists.

Step 2: place plywood loosely on joists, then allow your friends to pretend to be useful to the project, only to be told later that what they are doing (staining logs) is actually decreasing the overall lifespan of the cabin.

Step 3: spelunking.

Step 4: admire the logginess of your cabin, then congratulate yourself on your equal opportunity carpentry.

Cause and Effect

2010-07-27T04:20:00.002-04:00

As a result of said escapade I am still awake, with the NOS beginning to work it's way out of my system, which I suppose was slightly sensitive to the adrenaline like shot of caffeine.

Wow

Goodnight

Lesson learned. There will be coffee in the morning.

Escapades.

2010-07-26T22:56:00.005-04:00

Tonight Lucas, Jordan, and I went on our weekly food run to Price Chopper in West Lebanon. As we were waiting in the checkout line, the cooler of NOS energy drinks caught Lucas's eye. Soon, the three of us found ourselves shotgunning the 16-ounce cans in the parking lot. As if things couldn't get worse, we then decided to wash the NOS down with chocolate milk. However, Jordan dropped the chocolate milk jug, splashing it all over us and tearing a hole in the bottom of the carton.

Things are worse than ever.

The aftermath.

Kodiak's Weekly Musings

2010-07-25T22:59:00.000-04:00

Due to Kodiak's allergy to blogging and preference towards the spoken word, it is easier for us to communicate his messages with the outside world. Without further ado, I bring to you the mind of the DaK (with translations provided by myself):

Our Newest Friend:
"Gratuitous." (Necessary.)

Our "Plumb" Drilling Method:
"I can't believe we got all six of them right on the first shot. We had no business getting any of those correct. Dat was schweet dude." (Precision is everything.)

Matt Knight and Duff Cummings Guiding Lumber down the River:
"DJ Postman is looking very stern in this picture, or should I say bow! Hahaha." (Hahaha.)

After a Small Accident Unloading the Lumber:
"Draining a boat 101: not like that. Guess there are weight limits for a reason." (As a side note, after Duff and DJ Postman carefully delivered our wood to the island, we promptly sunk both of the barges. Had to happen eventually.)

Kate's Food/Work-Induced Naptime:
"Notice the ear protection and lack of any apparent consciousness. Kate is one of the only people I know that can make a wheelbarrow look comfortable." (Some people just can't handle "mac and cheese hour.")

At the Week's End:
"We're getting better at this." (Only a bajillion more courses to go.)

Thanks DaK, and we look forward to hearing from you again soon!

Let's build a cabin!

2010-07-25T17:27:00.001-04:00

A lot has happened on the island in the last week. We went from concrete footings sticking out of the ground to what's actually starting to look like a cabin. We started off by putting down our three half sill logs. Then we hit the full sill logs with the Alaska mill so we would have a nice flat surface to hang out floor from, and set those logs in place to complete the first course. Over the next few days, the crew worked hard to sink a couple of skiffs while bringing out the hemlock timbers we were going to use for our floor joists. With rough cut 2x12's placed every foot, this cabin is going to be able to handle one serious dance party before we have to worry about the floor giving out. By the end of the week, we had hung the floor, and completed the first few courses of the cabin walls. We finished off the work week around 6:30 on Saturday with a new first for us, a perfectly cut log on the first try. Now we just need to figure out how to repeat that...

The Alaska Mill

LOG HAULING!!

2010-07-23T21:31:00.003-04:00

It turns out that the only thing more fun that floating logs down the river is hauling them up the 50-yard embankment to where they can be piled near our site. While the rest of the crew was off playing in the water, Lucas and I were blessed with this lovely task. We managed to get six logs up to the site ourselves, until help arrived later in the day and we were able to finish off the first full raft by the end of the day. Above is a picture of a sleek, peeled log as it's dragged up the first pitch of the ramp. Hauling logs up turns out to be an excellent full body workout, much like rowing, but with the additional challenge of stabilizing a fidgety grip-hoist. It took us the entirety of the next day to haul the rest of the logs up, which mainly involved grip-hoisting in pairs of twos while the rest of us got our wind back. We used our skyline (the taut steel cable that runs over over the cabin foot print) to grab logs from the top of the ramp and pile 'em up.

Below we can see the grip-hoist being worked at a feverish pace, while Lucas takes a photo break. Even further below there is evidence of the extremeness of the second day of hauling, as Max and I show how the only way to effectively work the grip-hoist and the skyline simultaneously.

It was really extreme.

Needless to say, this phase of the operation is not the most precise part of the building process.

LOG DRIVE DAY!

2010-07-22T21:31:00.001-04:00

Thursday, July 15th, might have been our most intense day yet. We set our alarms super-duper early and brewed a pot of coffee on Wednesday night in preparation. Even more, we actually intended on getting up early to work, a solid departure from our normal ritual. This was the day that we were to float the first batch of logs from the Organic Farm down to the work site on the island, and we needed to be ready by 10:30 AM, the time at which Duff, our towboat driver, was to come around.

Our goal for the morning was to have a the first raft of logs in the water, ready to be attached to Duff's boat, by the time he got there. Duff, who works in the Marine Safety section of the Safety and Security Office, generously volunteered to drive his own boat to tug the logs, leaving the official safety boat available if an emergency came up. His boat has a 200 horsepower motor, and goes very fast when it is not towing logs. We had already set up the logs in three groups, ordered by size (see the not-yet-written entry below about Bobcat day), and we needed to roll the first group into the water, attach them to our homemade triangular frame, and tie the rope from that onto Duff's boat.

Once again, we were surprisingly efficient and were ready for Duff. Kodiak, in a kayak, tied the rope off to Duff's boat and we were on our way. About 100 yards from the farm, however, disaster struck. The logs were attached to the tow rig with eyebolts and carabiners, but two of the carabiners somehow came unclipped. Kodiak, riding the safety boat (piloted by Brian Kunz and Dan Nelson of OPO fame), jumped in the water and did some quick rope magic to tie the logs back on, and everything made it down to the island in one piece. Lucas and Jordan raced to the island as soon as the raft left the farm, and were waiting for us there to catch the logs, tie the raft onto a tree on the island, and start hoisting them up.

View of the first log raft from the safety boat, with the Ledyard Bridge in the background.

Aside from that initial carabiner hang-up, everything went almost as well as it could have. We made some adjustments to the connections in the raft and distributed weight a little differently, so the second trip took much less time and was much easier on Duff's boat. All-in-all, a success. We learned a lot and will be able to do the next log drive very efficiently.

Altogether, this first log drive brought 17 logs to the island, all of which will hopefully be used within the next week or two. This was most likely the first log drive in the past few decades, which is pretty cool. Also, the Valley News was there to report and take pictures of us. We're also on the Dartmouth homepage right now, so we're pretty much famous.

Day of the CAT!

2010-07-21T22:33:00.003-04:00

Many days have passed since bobcat day, but for some reason (ahem Kodiak's writers block ahem) we were not able to share it with the world until now.

The mission of the day was to transfer all the logs from the runners in the middle of the field at the Organic Farm to the staging area whence we would launch the logs. Assisting us for the day was our friend the Bobcat. Named for the most feared hunter of the Northeast wilderness, the Bobcat S185 proved to be an amazing beast. First to climb inside was Lucas, who quickly began to showcase his heavy equipment driving skillz. Luckily, he was up at somewhere around 6 AM, like a kid on Christmas morning, mentally and physically preparing for the ferocious feline that lay ahead. The rest of us watched as he effortlessly shuffled into the pile and began to set up new runners at our staging area at the bank of the river. After he had gotten a good handle on things, he turned the cat over to the rest of us, and amateur hour began.

As we rotated through, all with huge grins and some with a vague idea of what we were doing, we slowly made progress moving the logs.

Then, as high noon struck, there was a disaster.

The log moving continued to move forward, but we suffered a casualty. The young Max "Mr. Badger" Friedman began to realize the full implications of the severely diminished hearing in his right ear. The symptoms had been growing on him for over 24 hours, but during his time with the cat things truly came to a head, and he was rushed to the ER. The doctors at first thought he may have to lose the ear, but eventually some sort of breakthrough was made with some rather advanced technology. Eventually after some deliberation it was decided that he has an unusually large buildup of earwax, and so he put in some ear drops and he was fine.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, we had a visit from Lauren "Duff" Cummings, who surveyed our setup for the log drive to come in several days. We continued to work through the pile, gaining skill and confidence as the day went on, which led to increased efficiency, as well as some interesting maneuvers, including Greg's wheelies, my failed attempts at carrying four logs at once, and Kodiak's alternative forklift bark raking technique for cleaning up the mess we left behind.

More to come soon, as we are now beginning the first phases of real log laying.

Concrete Day

2010-07-12T22:08:00.007-04:00

Much of the work we've done so far will be invisible to the casual observer of the completed cabin - the permitting process and the hours we've put in practicing scribing are absolutely necessary, but don't really produce tangible results. The death slide, unfortunately, will probably be taken apart when we're done with it. Pouring the concrete foundation was particularly exciting because it was the first day we began work on something that will remain a part of the cabin. A quick step by step guide for pouring concrete foundations on an island.

1) Get the concrete to the island.

42 bags x 80 lbs each = 3,360 lbs of concrete mix canoed down the river and carried up a steep bank to the work site.

2) Get the sono tubes in the ground. Dig some huge holes.

Kodiak checking that the sono tubes are level and all at equal heights before pouring.

3) Get an electric cement mixer and a generator out to the island, also by canoe.

4) Redo your calculations. Go get 800 more lbs of concrete.

5) Mix concrete mix with water in the electric mixer, based on an extremely precise and scientific process known as "well that looks about right."

6) Shovel concrete into sono tubes. Sit and wait about six hours.

Lucas and Kodiak "pouring" (a.k.a. laboriously shoveling) concrete

7) Finis! A new foundation for a new cabin.

The Death Slide

2010-07-11T18:34:00.002-04:00

In preparation for next weeks log drive, after a morning at the O-Farm getting in a little more work on the practice cabin, we set to work building a slide to bring our logs up to the site from the water. In order to get the lumber down to the site, we rafted up a couple canoes into a "cargo catamaran" of sorts. Not the fastest way to get out to the island, but we had lunch along the way, and after arriving, got to work constructing the slide. As we scouted locations for the ramp with a suitable grade and tree spacing, Lucas discovered that rocks can be quite slick when wet, as he had a little "moistening accident" on the east side of the island. We ended up choosing a path right next to our usual landing site. Construction of the slide went quickly, and by the end of the day we had completed our ramp, which could successfully hold our weight even when suspended several feet off the ground.

Additionally, Gregory's percolating bowels (combined with our proficiency with impact drivers) led to the scene below. In case it inspires curiosity, he walked into the privy using the regular door, but some rapid construction forced him to seek other methods of exit. After several attempts at going through windows he became a little stuck, and we mercifully removed the screwed-in 2x4 and helped him down. He has promised revenge on all the responsible parties, but as of yet, no such revenge has been forthcoming.

Practice Makes Perfectish

2010-07-10T21:00:00.003-04:00

For several days we were delayed because our final permission to begin building had not come in yet, leaving us time to work on what had become our practice cabin, next to the skids where the freshly peeled logs were being held at the Dartmouth Organic Farm. In hindsight, it was great that we had these several days of time on our hands in order to practice, as we ended up doing plenty of experimenting with different styles for our corner joints, and have finally settled on a building system that should prove the best combination of reliability, accuracy and aesthetics. Fueled by strange uncooked ramen noodle and peanut butter concoctions, we forged through several 100 degree afternoons and made a significant amount of progress towards the accuracy and look we are going to require when working on the real cabin. Three elements to our success can be clearly seen in the picture below. Roxanne (18V LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless FM/AM Job Site Makita Radio Model BMR100), our siren (lower left) consistently filled the air with her beautiful tubes. H20, seen bottom right, replenished the salty fluids that oozed from our flesh and fell to the ground throughout the site. And finally K8 aka "The Scribbler," was scribing up some beautiful logs for us. After we began churning out quality logs with some consistency, we decided our farm time was finished and we would look forward to constructing our log slide the following day.

Chainsaws:Othello

2010-07-10T20:20:00.003-04:00

Because both take just a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master.

(referring to the learning curve of chainsaws as similar to that of the classic board game Othello by Hasbro, which proclaimed that it took "a minute to learn and a lifetime to master".)

A great part of today was spent learning chainsaw safety and maintenance, and then the afternoon practicing a variety of cuts that will be necessary for the cabin building process. It was a decibellious day, featuring three different saws and five different people of various ages and sizes unleashing their beasts on a pile of wood from a couple of recently-felled trees. It was a sweaty and dusty and noisy and thoroughly enjoyable day. Plus, Max made a stool, which is awesome, but also too heavy and crooked to actually use. Looks rustic though.

Now that we are all certified to use the necessary weaponry, we can begin working on our practice cabin in earnest whilst our building permits fall into place.

Pictured above is our instructor Mr. Burke, scalloping a smooth saddle into one of the logs on our practice cabin. Guy is a pro.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

2010-07-10T19:28:00.003-04:00

But a single night after we finished peeling all of the logs, rendering them sleek as otters, we returned to the island to prepare to dig our foundations. As it turned out there was still a great deal of work to be done burying the remains of Titcomb Cabin 1.0, which took the better part of the day. Several crater-sized holes were dug, and then filled with what used to be the chimney, hearth, and crumbling Sonotubes (the foundations of Titcomb 1.0). The work was not easy, but we made solid and noticeable progress towards something more like an actual construction site and less like a site of destruction. Kodiak took well-timed swings at the six-foot-deep slab of concrete at the center of the site with Bricktop (a 16-pound rubber-gripped, fiberglass-handled sledge hamma). Max and I dug caverns deep into the earth, Kate dug around the existing foundations and prepared to pour new ones, and Greg wheeled the "brickle-brackle" leftover from our destruction into the caverns. After we finished and leveled the site with the sand we had raised from the earth and placed the cardboard forms for the foundations in place, the site looked like the legitimate start to something legitimate. Up next: Chainsaws.

Day 4: Logs Done

2010-06-25T21:37:00.008-04:00

Finally! We finished peeling all 97 logs this morning. We spent the entire day peelin yesterday, and things were pretty grim when we got to the spruce logs that we should have peeled two months ago. Thankfully we got through that, and were back to red pine for the final stretch. Things were getting pretty competitive with the end in sight, and Jordan and I had our system down to a science and were cranking them out two to one compared to Max and Greg. After lunch, we went back to the island and resumed our cleanup efforts. Jordan went to town on the chimney with a sledge hammer, while the rest of us started digging out the old concrete footings that the cabin sat on.

Burn Baby Burn

2010-06-25T21:22:00.005-04:00

Day 2.

Big day today. We started things off this morning with the whole crew peeling logs. Around lunchtime we got our burn permit, and sent Greg and Kodiak to the island armed with chainsaws to drop the dead trees and do some last minute brush piling before the evening burn. The rest of us came down in the evening, and we proceeded to burn off all the remaining debris from the cabin and nearby trees. Greg and I spent the first night on the island to keep an eye on the fire, armed with a high powered water pump just in case the fire should have a mind of its own.

First Day

2010-06-25T20:48:00.009-04:00

Tuesday the 22nd marked our official first day on the job. Max, Kate, and I went out to the island while Greg, Jordan, and Kodiak headed off to Dartmouth's Organic Farm where our pile of logs was still waiting for us to finish peeling them. The island? What a mess... We were faced with the charred remains of a cabin, a falling down chimney, as well as half a dozen trees that had been killed by the blaze. So, we spent the afternoon moving everything into the middle of the old cabin site with the hope that we could soon burn the rest of the debris off.