Reflections On A Dead Computer And The selection Of Species .

In the Catholic church, the inquisition aside, the worst thing you can do to a person is to excommunicate him. Societies would ostracize undesirable citizens, banishing them to wander the earth, the out law. In this age of electronics it is the loss of one's electronics that is the equivalent. The dread fear of missing something propels us to take our devices with us when we go out in the yard (or the toilet). "You turned your phone off? What if you died???" Uhhhh, I'd be dead and wouldn't need it? The concept of being alone with our thoughts is the phobia du jour. The mail used to be the main source of  communications, checked once a day. Now we must look many times to see if we missed something. Sunsets aren't enjoyed,  they are sent to social media. We contemplate nothing, we send our experiences to the cloud while we miss the clouds. I had a minimal computer for a couple weeks. I slowed down. I read books.

As I take my daily walk to blow the cobwebs out of my feeble boat building brain, I take no devices along. I say hi to the neighbors talk to dogs (and birds and plants), and wave at passing cars. I notice the species favoritism of my neighbors. One feeds the feral cats, encouraging breeding and expansion of the population. One feeds the birds encouraging the breeding and continuation of that population. The feral cats killed his nesting bluebirds and hunt his hummingbirds. One or more people rescue dogs, who make a  cacophony as I pass. All these neighbors pat themselves on the back for their efforts. Man ain't no good at preservation of anything, especially ourselves. Our personal selection of species only wreaks havoc elsewhere.

​Oh, yeah, speaking of havoc: the blog.

I finished up the irregular fore deck pieces where they had to match the gap with the hull. The starboard  deck required two boards and the port deck needed three. Because I was dealing with short boards that would not necessarily reach all the way between two beams. I had to dowel the boards together for support. Of course the Douglas fir split off one end of a board and I had to glue it all back together. Hey, I never said this would be interesting.

Budge's butt. Be still your heart. ladies. He was doing something electrical. He has been trying to get the electric run. First up; the hard stuff- alternating current, big fat cables, inverter.

Like this. Hey this boat will be top notch with some nice stuff. Next: the 3,000 mile extension cord.

See what happens to your hair if you touch the wrong wire?

Budge started the starboard side motor box tops and side deck. It's just like the other side.

Port side. Deck not in place.

Budge sawed the board that mates the deck to the hull. Right photo by Grin and Bear it, one of 'em. You can tell by the perspective.

I finished up the third (on the left) bow roller cheek and fit it into place, Yep, it interferes with the deck and we will have to bolt it in when we final assemble the boat. Otherwise, we could not remove the deck (sigh......).

The aft deck is coming along. I have the beams cut, epoxy coated and halfway painted. The deck slats are cut and Penofin finished. This is the deck block supports and the pocess to install them.

Cutting the ends of the aft deck beams to match the curve of the hull.

Aft deck beams in the finishing process.

I next tackled the  pod seat back. Of course, Budge had changed the plan several times (I learned not to ask). The concept is a plywood back reinforced with two curved boards. Curved Boards???????? Glue lamination! It's an eight foot board with a 2 inch rise in the center. We dug out some cut off narrow boards (top shelf, Ben) and I planed them down and glued two boards bent to the correct curve with the band clamp and clamped together. Budge was impressed and said I did a good job and seeing as I have the process down, I can make the five curved beams for the pod top. Thanks for the complement, Budge.......................................Hey, wait.................

The Music♪: Alan Jones "Donkey Serenade"

1934! Those damn fair senoritas, ignoring the gay caballero. There's a song in the air......quick, swat it!