Back in early July we applied for Velocir to be an official USCG documented vessel. It may make customs easier, I don’t have to pay a yearly fee to DNR, and most importantly I can scrape off the state registration numbers from the bow of the boat. I dislike them in an unreasonable fashion.
Well, apparently this process takes them MONTHS, because this week we finally got the document!! Yay, I am overly excited about this, maybe because I am proud such a small boat can be this legit.
With all the preparation work going on, I was able to steal a few hours to satisfy my desire for a carved wooden official numbers plaque. Here’s how I made it.
In a word processing program, size the numbers in a font you like to be at least 3″ high. Print them out, measure them to be sure. Find a piece of wood that will be easy to carve (ours is the unused leg from our dinette table and a soft pine). Tape the letters to the wood with simple packing tape.
Then, with a dremel carve the edges of the numbers to get the outline for each one. This was a great guide for the router and gave me a cleaner edge.
Using a medium-sized router with a small wood attachment I ground out the numbers. This was time-consuming and made my elbow hurt for a while, but gave clean edges and a nice depth.
Finally, some varnish and paint make it shine. As you can clearly see, a huge mistake I made (compare this to first pic) is completely masked (thanks to using a wide piece of wood and a grinder). The only problem now is finding a place for it on the boat.
VELOCIR 
If only I knew you were so handy, Grant, I would have made you come over to weld or something. Also, do you hold “the art of useful manliness” classes? Ben’s a crack on Halo and would be great in a zombie attack, but I despair about his day-to-day ability to fix stuff, make things, and kill shit. You seem quite capable. I’ll admit I am assuming on the killing shit angle, but I’ve got a strong feeling.