Austin!

So I blew it last week and never published last week's post.  Oh well, I'll figure it out eventually.  Mostly I worked on the galley countertops. The truck was gone and a cold snap hit slowing down epoxy use. Ben finished cutting out rudder parts and I went back to countertop production.

As I posted previously I bought a larger sink (Budgettboater thinks I'm  crazy. Hell, everybody thinks I'm crazy; get in line!). In order to accommodate  the larger size, I had to make the countertops wider. Of course I had to make it  curvilinear (maybe they're right). In order to get the oak to follow a curve on the edge, I had to use bent laminations. I cut a bunch of thin strips 1/8" thick 1" wide and 8' long. After an epoxy adventure, the first strip snapped going around the corner so we left it alone and would come back to it. The next day we softened the curve so it would work. It still split a little, but would make it. No, I do not have a steam bending box! Yes, I could Make one if I needed it more often.

I had two tops to put this edge on and Those of you who build things know about clamps and the necessity of clamping things correctly. I used every clamp I had gluing the second lamination on.

Yes, 53 clamps!  The final lamination took fewer.  Good thing we went to Harbor Freight and bought more clamps.

The Music ♫

On Thursday we took off for Austin to attend a free music fest associated with the Formula 1 race being held on the Sunday following. We only stayed for Thursday and drove back on Friday after the concert. There were six stages going with various artists. My feet are killing me after walking all over and standing for the 90+ minute shows. We ate off of food trucks (there are over 1100 in Austin).  I usually go to concerts alone a lot because few people want to come along with one exception, my friend Craig.  I have a saying "If I don't go alone, I don't go at all". You don't know how many fantastic performances I've seen with no one to tell about them. What do you say? "I went to a great concert last night" Luckily, this time I had Ben as a companion. Live music is the best way to hear music. So, we went to a great concert the last two nights! Who stood out? I was introduced to the Roger Creager Band. Los Lobos is celebrating 40 years in music and rocked the stage, playing a lot of their old stuff. But, playing to a small audience on a Thursday night was the band I came to see: Clairey Browne and the Bangin' Rackettes . Wow............................................... Wow!