Houseboat Gets A Facelift

                         

Houseboating Excursions got a facelift or should we say carpet lift. Throughout the month of June between all the horrible weather we have been having we decided to take off the carpet that was glued down on the boat and repaint the deck. This turned out to be a bigger and nastier job than we anticipated. The carpet was glued down so well the owners that did it must of intended it to never be removed. We used a 6 inch scraper by Red Devil,  that was designed like a large razor blade to scrape the carpet off, this also took a lot of pure muscle. The glue was at least a quarter inch thick in some places. To get the glue off we used a 7 inch grinder with a wire brush wheel and it did the job very well. We recommend that you use gloves, eye protection, long pants and shirt because the grinder shoots off the glue like little BB's and do sting. After this was all done we cleaned the surface and used a paint by Conoco,  specifically their DTM Acrylic Gloss Idustrial Enamel, this paint has great adhesion and is mainly used to paint heavy machinery but lasts an extremely long time and is cheaper than boat anit-fouling paint and gives the same results. We also mixed some anti-skid sand into the paint for traction then  sprinkled some blue- gray decorative flakes on the deck in the fresh paint to give it nice color and character. We then went to our local hardware store, Menards, and got a piece of outdoor carpet to cover the bow area. We also painted all the railing with Rust-Oleum Protective  Enamel, gloss white.

Now some of the guys have been teasing me, Troy,   is there anything on the boat that shows that a man is on this boat, because  everything looks feminine, so here is a photo that says YES, we make our meals on this cutting board every day. 

I love my wife and her ability to decorate or in my world everything would probably be plain.

Please continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we explore more cruise destinations and continue to provide more information. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook to see where we are or where we are going next.

Please continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we explore more cruise destinations and continue to provide more information. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook to see where we are or where we are going next. Please Don't Move Firewood and Stop Aquautic Hitchhikers.

Marine Rummage Sale June 26,2010

On June 26,2010 the Pettibone Boat Club is going to have a Marine Rummage Sale. The sale starts at 9:30am - 4:00pm.  There will be booths set up throughout the marina where you can buy, sell or swap anything marine you have. All items will be sold or swapped AS/IS. Cash only will be accepted. The Pettibone Boat Club and it's members accept no liability. There will be NO firearms allowed to be sold, bought, or swapped.
All monies after expenses paid are being donated to the Pettibone Boat Club for use for memorials, etc.
The sale was approved by the Pettibone Board of Driectors.

Please continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we explore more cruise destinations and continue to provide more information. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook to see where we are or where we are going next.

Stormy Free Fishing Day

The weather started out nice but about mid afternoon the weather became very stormy. This last weekend was Free Fishing Weekend in Wisconsin, which means you didn't need a fishing license to fish. The fish were biting pretty good all weekend, most were catching sunfish and a few catfish. We are in the process of removing carpet off the boat and repainting the deck while some boaters fished with their kids from the docks and others were doing maintenance to their boats. On Sunday afternoon a nasty storm came in and produced high winds, heavy rain, hail, and lightning.  The storm was strong enough that even the fish were taking cover.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                       

The storm didn't stop the diehard houseboaters from doing their maintenance duties, like this guy powerwashing his boat.                                                                                                           

The storm didn't stop some of the fisherman from trying to catch the big one even though they are practically holding a lightning rod.

The storm was successful in stopping us from doing our maintenance duties as we had planned to do some painting but that is for another day so we turned the afternoon into cocktail hour and watched everyone else do their thing. The sky did eventually clear and it turned out to be a decent afternoon.

Please continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we cruise and explore new destinations and provide more information. Help support our 2010 campaign and stop the Invaders: Don't Move Firewood and Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers.