Birds nest, Budge Tics Off Time. I Fret

    I gotta get outa here! Ya know that bird? The one with the beautiful song? The one that always wants to nest in the band saw? Well she is nesting in the motor box now. We see her come and go all the time, three little babies. It's a boat, dammit, not a nesting box! We are getting ready to see if the motors fit And the birds are in the way. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, but they sing so prettily, awwwwwww. We'll let them stay. They are using the boat........I seem to be not.
    That said, I let my desires slip through my lips: to be in the boatyard by the end of summer. This is evolving into a series of decisions. Budge said this would happen early on in the process and now it is happening  The horns of the dilemma (dilemmas have horns????..........Like cows???) are that the boat will never be finished. I could sit here in Bumphuque Tejas and twiddle on this or that project to make it perfect or I can get it close and tweak the tweaks based on the practicality of what I actually need. At this phase, it's all supposition. We will be making a series of decisions that will essentially be the same: Do it now, or adjust it later. I will be in a good position of having a great basic structure. Electrics will be fantastic, plumbing will be basic and simple and adequate. I have solar panels, a wind generator, a watermaker, winches galore, an ssb system.  The basic decision will be "Now or Later". The shift to get it finished will be the ever increasing driver. Building one of these is overwhelming. There is no leisure time to conceive, ponder, design and execute a project. Your brain would explode because there is no leisure time. I am currently working on three or four items, the proverbial getting pecked to death by ducks. So I want to be here in October:​

Port Aransas Wooden Ply Boat Show

The nest with the wee bairns. I pledge to let them fledge. On Tuesday, I had to watch Grin and Bear It, the boater kids, while Budge went in for an heircut. They helped me glue in the support blocks for the hatch holders. They actually helped. The rascals are almost useful The bird bairns are not. 

The complexities and intricacies of the legendary battery box. Conceived and executed in our customary slapdash  bumbling fashion.

 Oh, mama, Now the fear sets in. Can I get it done in time? Will it be strong? Will I have enough money? Is this a pusillanimous pursuit? Am I not pretty enough? Don't answer that. I never get comments. I've driven away all the starry eyed dreamers and there's no one left except you two guys. Hang in there, guys. Soon it will be over and your all to hastily conceived commitment to see this to the final conclusion will dribble to an end,.
 

The complexities of the cockpit. Soon to be more complex.

This is all jumbled up. Hell, let it be jumbled. I fretted over these simple hatch supports for months. I glued blocks on. I chiseled blocks off. I fretted over how to attach them. Finally we cobbled together two different supports. The forward cabins have these swingy arm slidy things and the central cabins have these not installed according to the directions springy things. Decisions must be made. Plans (HA!) must be executed. I should be executed for even starting this!

On to the new can of worms! The motor supports. We don't even have a clue as to how to solve this problem. How to put this succinctly............hmmmmm...........Big motors, small motor boxes. Yeah, that should do it. Oh, poo, we have to do something. This is a two six pack problem. No, wait.......my brain just short circuited. Pour another beer!

The problem: where to mount the propane tanks. I had been working on the concept for months. Waaay back in the back of my mind. The solution: no solution. Fuggit, stuff them into milk crates and lash the crates down to that aft deck. This is one of those decisions that we will be making as the roller coaster crests the peak.

All the little stuff we do, flitting thither and yon from project to project. We have to write down all the stuff that we are in the middle of, lest we wander in the wilderness.

Goddam Budge. Like a dog with a bone. Won't let me forget that I set the frigging goal. Money, time, grit. Today, do something and don't stop. So here I am, trying to be productive. Running on what I conceive to be grit. I've been here before in different situations throughout my life. This is just another one. I try to work each day as long as I can. I walk for an hour at 6:00 pm every night to clear out the cobwebs of my mind. I get home at 7:00, pour a beer and actually contemplate if eating is a worthwhile endeavor. I eventually throw something together and eat. I am no longer that person that started this project. I'm just finishing it up for him. I wonder why he started this or what his intentions were. I guess I'll never know. He must have been one strange fellow. 

The Music♪: Dave Van Ronk "Luang Padang"

Heroic! Music is magic. It is one of those art forms that lets us attempt to rise above ourselves.