Much Grass (Muchos Gracias) for the comment by Adrian on last week's post. I had been following his website until it blew up about a year and a half ago. Some of the shrapnel landed in my back yard. I kept trying to access it, but it slid down the bank into oblivion and now some peculiar odor is emanating from that spot. I suggest he try this website provider (it may even work with Macintosh). The photo shows his sage advice is a bit too late. So it goes So, it was another week of colorful, but abundant vocabulary as we tackled some interesting ("May you be born in interesting times") jobs. A cold snap blew through the Texas veldt as temperatures plummeted to 98° and only hit a hundred a couple times, maybe 3, maybe 4. I think I saw a darkish cloud one time! We worked on the Mirror Dinghy heretofore, known as "The Mirror". I'm tired of writing "dinghy" all the time. Here is how Friday progressed. I get up early. Ben drags himself up later (not a morning guy). I dragged the Mirror (should "The" be capitalized????) on the trolley to the back of the shop area as to put it in the shade. Need help to stand it up on end to access areas easier. Ben drags out, we stand it on the transom. I ask Ben a question....he gets snarky (too early). Now, I must explain to you that shade in the rear (aft) area of the shop lasts until about 11:00 AM. The clock is ticking..... The temperature is inching past 85°. Epoxy Hates: moisture, humidity, temperature above 80° or below 50°, and me. Ben and Budge are discussing the weather in Transylvania or some such important topic. I am deciding the filleting order of the filleting, which must be completed before the sun bakes it. We mix a batch of fillet material (the clock is ticking.........) a bit light on the fumed silica. Instead of peanut butter, it's honey consistency. I pipe it into the joints. It's a bit too runny, it slides out. Much bowlship language (see previous posts) emanates. The clock still is ticking. Sweat is dripping off my nose and out of my gloves. I pause, close my eyes, subdue my anger, try again. I exhaust my supply of curse words. Ben volunteers to take over and commences on his cache of colorful language. Budge is working on the design hatches (we are in the 4th iteration of this). We discuss the properties of wood vs. metal for the splashguards of the hatches. Ben is exhausting his own supply of language and I must assist. I must now address the imminent shortage of epithets in the English language. We have used them up. We need new ones, most foul. The Sun is now beating on the hull of the Mirror, the shade is gone. Ben is hot, frustrated. I jump in to help as much as I can. There is little room for two under the hull. The temperature is 90 (Oh, hell, who cares!) the clock is ticking.... finally, we say one final "F*** it and it's done. The clock has run out. We take a break. We oversalted the corned beef, it's crap. So much for the big meal of the day. I sleep for an hour. Back out at 3:00. Ben helps lower the Mirror onto the trolley and we move it to the front of the shop, now in shade. The trolley hangs up on a rock and the mirror slides off the trolley and the trolley creams Ben's shin. I work on modifying the trolley to better permit the dinghy transportation. This is how progress is made. There are no "Tra-la's" its fought for under harsh conditions and adversity while you subdue rage and frustration so the task is completed while the frigging clock is frigging ticking. I'll look back on it and laugh, but not today, or tomorrow...... All in all, after looking at this weeks photos, we seem to have done quite a bit. I don't know how this happens in spite of us........... Ben filled in all the screw holes of the lashing strakes. I won't tell you how many screws broke off trying to remove them. I pushed up the masking tape as the hole filled up (Ben doesn't have 3 hands- tell the ladies). My hand is the blue one. Budge and Ben worked on the portside cabin top. They filleted, glassed and filled the area. Applying glass over the fillets. Cabin top fore "eyebrow" filleted and glassed! Ben smoothing the first application of fairing material. A note to any Tiki 38 builders (yes, you, Adrian): if you see something that doesn't seem to be correct, we did it on purpose, it's not a mistake reading the plans..............honest! I feel that I must address the critical importance of the scrap bin/pile. I tend to throw scrap away rarely. You never know how many times I have rummaged through that bucket of wood or that pile of ply to find a bit or block to fit into a certain area. Ben almost threw away a very strange shaped piece of oak a couple times, but decided not to. It turns out it was perfect for the foot rest of the Mirror. That weird triangularish piece of wood at the bottom of the picture. It turns out we did a lot to the Mirror, We glued in the daggerboard case, . The hull stiffeners and center reinforcement. Hell, I'm rambling. It must be these Gin and Tonics...........................the pictures are out of order. It must be these Gin and Tonics.......................hey, did I say that already? My hand. That's hardened epoxy. I have epoxy on my shirts. I have epoxy on my pants. I have epoxy on my shoes, tops or bottoms, take your pick. I have epoxy on my arms. I have epoxy in my hair. I have epoxy on my cup handle. I have epoxy on my glasses. Another safety tip, guys: wipe the epoxy off before you go to the bathroom! From the Sharon Shannon sessions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
December 2022
AuthorChuck! Send money! |
The Blog of the Dog.
www.acatnameddog.com
It's important, I think...........
Click the "<<Previous" at the bottom of the page to see the previous week's post.