ALL HANDS
OK you guys, you've missed it. It's too late this year. Lent is over so the summer season has started, gentler winds, warmer weather. It's been eighty and eighty-five in the sun every afternoon that isn't overcast for the last month. I can only guess what "warmer" is going to be. I'll find out though, sooner than I want, no doubt. The air fares are down, there's room on the planes and I'd be grateful for help on the mast, so anyone is welcome. What's happening here is mast. I've built a forty foot workbench along side my house, begged, borrowed, or stole whatever tools I could and I'm building a new mast. Glued up construction out of common fir boards. The bulk of the mast is together now. Ditto the gaff. Drawings are due from Nat Wilson, and I'm waiting for them before starting the taper. Taper will be in the square, then I'll add the 1/2" filler piece all the way up before starting to round it out. Since it's mostly hand work it doesn't go fast. No where near enough clamps so I've been screwing down boards as I add them on, removing screws after the glue has set, then planing and sanding for the next board. Labor intensive!The above is from a week ago. Now it's Sunday 4/19 and there's some progress on the mast. The taper is 'into it', and I'm putting the last layer of wood on. 1/2" boards screwed and glued (the screws will come out before finishing) to fill out the round. The hardware is far from being all in hand, but a lot of it is here and ready to work on. Wire, turnbuckles, steps are here. Gus (in Maine) is gathering blocks and some other hardware. I'm sure that there will be difficulties, but I'm equally sure that 'We Shall Overcome'. One of the nicest things that happened recently is an invitation to use the defunct Sugar Co. hoist. I asked permission to use their wharf, and they offered the lift. But life is very quiet. Big excitement of the day is a trip to 'Gilligan Island', a local day resort with nice beaches and clear water. (Our water in this harbor is very murky.) Couple of my friends like to go to watch the girls, and I need to clean the weeds off Apogee's bottom. I may get a chance to look too.'Nother great thing--I found my lost incisor, knocked out by a flying line when the mast disaster was being coped with. I'd assumed that it was gone to the bottom. Nope, it showed suddenly after a heavy downpour, under the edge of the engine hatch. I can't imagine how it could get there, or why I didn't find it before. I'd looked for it on the fwd deck, where it was knocked out. Weeks later, twenty feet from the place I was standing! Now to get it in. Crazy glue?
Company from France again--a catamaran with a Frenchman and his Brazilian girl. Very attractive too. Two evenings already--I'll never get the mast finished for yakking!
Still no schedule for going back to 'States' but it's getting closer.
My best to all of you.
Peter