To build a raft...

As promised, here are some pictures of the raft project. Over the winter, we gained access to a decent sized pond, and so the plans were hatched for a much bigger and better raft than was ever floated on our swamp. (In past years, all of us kids have build small rafts to use in the swamp across the road that floods during the spring melt. This raft beats any "raft" Nate and I ever built by a long shot... Ours were pretty useless as they didn't even hold one of us up... )
 Matt, Silas, and their friend Zak, built this watercraft all by themselves. They asked questions and got advice as needed, but did all the building  themselves. The only thing they bought new for this project was screws. The rest of the materials were rounded up from around the farm (and our other old building site). Dad was pleased that they used a chalk line, made sure things were square, and built the frame with 16" centers.

You probably already saw some of the planning stage with barrels in a previous post. Here is a collection of other pictures I took over the past few weeks.  Enjoy! :)

The deck

The shack frame

(The shack isn't centered on the deck in this picture because it was in the process of being moved onto pallet forks on the skid steer.) 

The rest of the raft being hauled (upside down) to the pond.

There was still a bit of ice on the pond when they took the raft down there.

But within a couple of days the pond was open, the motor on the back was installed, and the exploring of the pond began. 

It sat a little too low in the water at first, so they had to add a some smaller square jugs in the middle to provide enough flotation. 

Notice the red and white inner tube on the front? :) This is a well equipped raft.... 

It's actually gotten more updates since I took these pictures, and there are more updates planned, so I'll have to keep you posted as the time goes on.  I've gotten to a ride on the raft, and it seems pretty sea-worthy. They've got a decent sized motor on the back, so you get across the pond in short order. It's been fun to see them tackle a bigger project like this and be successful with it. Lot's of good times are going to be had on this pond, I'm sure of that. :) 

One final comment,  It's hasn't been named yet...  It seems that naming things is one thing we struggle with around here.