#2 Pirate Ship playhouse project / Hanah / Autism

HEY THAR! This Bee's
Captain HighTide Again.....

2007 - Pirate Ship Playhouse beginnings


 One day while searching Craigslist, I happened to see this 36’ old wreck of a Chris Craft constellation, built in 1962. The boat was a short distance from where I lived at a Boat storage yard.

 



 

 

 

 

This Chris Craft Mahogany wood boat was essentially saved from ending up at and adding to the county landfill.  

 

My plan is to take this 1962 Chris Craft Constellation and turn it into a Pirate Ship play house.

Well I bought it… I told my wife on my cell phone. Really? You actually bought a boat? Yep.  How big is it?  Um… 36 feet long.  WHAT? …36 feet? Is that big?

She questioned.  Um yes dear. 

On the drive home, I had thoughts about calling the young man that sold me the boat and making up some sort of reason why I decided not to buy it, I was saying to myself, what will the neighbors think and say?  What am I thinking? Do I realize what I’m doing? Am I capable of a project like this?  Am I getting a little crazy in the head or something? How am I going to get it to the house?

 

So I email my family to let them know that I'm going crazy in the head and how I'm going to start building this Pirate Ship playhouse project.

 I have re-built or repaired many things in my life. I have also dabbled in invention ideas and small prototype models etc, but never would I have thought I would be, at the age of 48, building a 36’ Pirate ship playhouse in my backyard?  

I took Hanah with me one day to go see the boat at the boat yard before it was moved to our house.  It was a very warm day and the boat was coated with soot and dirt inside and out because of sitting at the yard for 2+ years. Hanah and I boarded the boat and right away I knew we had to be careful as the engine hatch was broken on the main fly deck, and the screws holding the side railings were very loose,  And it was making these weird eerie creaking sounds and it wasn’t even close to Halloween yet?

Hanah went inside the cabin and wanted me to be Captain Hook so she could be Peter Pan and save Wendy, I amused her for a minute with my Captain Hook impressions.  "Pe-T-er Pan!  Who and What Are" You! I said. "I’m Joy, I’m Freedom!" Hanah shouted.  Okay Daddy, Now let’s fly! C’mon Daddy Fly!  Hanah commanded.  Uh not now Hanah I have to put some things away before the move. 

 Hanah is running about the boat and getting dirtier by the minute.

 

 



I own a home on a corner lot in a quiet little county maintained neighborhood and already had a section of fence removed so he could back right in.  I had him place the boat as far back in the yard as he could so hopefully people driving by wouldn’t see it.

 



So here it is…the 36 foot long, 12 feet wide by 13 feet high boat taking up quite a bit of backyard space.

 



Of course Hanah wanted to play on the boat so I let her get on the boat a few times before I started the demolition.  The front cab area had a window hatch in the roof 



And I would climb up through it and onto the upper deck and then pull Hanah up and through the hatch. She loved that as well.  AGAIN DADDY!  Okay but just one more time okay?  Okay daddy.

 

 

Well about 5 more times, I was too tired and hot to do any more Peter Panning and it was time to start making my plans of attack to transform this boat into a Pirate ship!

 

 

Continued to-  Part #3 Pirate Ship playhouse project / Hanah / Autism

Click this here link
http://pirateshipplayhouseproject.blogspot.com/2010/10/3-pirate-ship-playhouse-construction.html