Blown away

 

We have had two days of storms and strong winds, which have had the old Altona residents drawing comparisons with the 1971 storms. A landing from the pier broke off and washed ashore. Our Wednesday Wonders sailing gang often moor off one of these for our coffee outings.  I hope the risk averse authorities do not use this as a pretext for shutting off the pier and/or the remaining landings.

Undercoat

 

I took the plunge today, put the sandpaper aside, and rolled undercoat on the Skerry's hull. I was planning to roll and tip, but all  the foam brushes were cactus. Hopefully Bunnings will be open again so I can resupply before the next coat.

I was pleased though, the surface seems fairly good, a few spots and holes to patch. I have to wait 30 hours plus at these wintry temperatures before I can sand and start the next coat. 

It's not a race

 Various apologists for the dismal performance of our nation's vaccine rollout have been resorting to the response:"It is not a race."   And, given how slow and erratic my progress is on the Skerry, I find myself reaching for the same justification.

But in my case at least, there is some wisdom in the approach. As I take my time, I am doing some things that I would certainly have skipped if I was racing for a deadline, and which would have been much more time consuming to add retrospectively. Like foot braces for rowing.

It took me most of the afternoon to  cut, shape, locate, drill, glue and screw them on, and I will need to flip boat, fill, let set, and sand the screw holes, another couple of days there. But my lovely 8 foot Canadian spruce oars turned up this week, and I felt I should have the boat ready for some serious rowing.

My other time consuming addition has been "D" rings attached with epoxied webbing to the forward section floor, to lash down a couple of inflatable beach rollers as bouyancy bags. I nearly epoxied them into the wrong end of the boat, one of the perils of the  double ender.

If (when) I do capsize this boat, I hope they lwill hold. The other addition you can see is a couple of  bits of wood each with a slot, that I can fit a hoop of wood into. This might be a support for a little front tarp, a shelter for Oz if the weather is damp, and might help with supporting a weather cover when Derry has to go live outside.

I stumbled over an impressive dinghy cruiser I had not heard of before: Giacomo de Stefano. His journey, by sail and oar, in a Ness yawl, from London to Istanbul, took 15 months, and nearly killed him.  Early in the movie of his jouney Giacomo observes: "There are no records to break or deadlines to meet, just curiosity and wonder of being in the world."  It was not a race.

 

Whisky fillet

 

According to Leo, the nice youngchap on the Sampson Boat building company videos, there is a tradition that the last plank to be fitted to a boat is referred to as the  "Whisky Plank" and celebrated as the name suggests. There is still a lot of work to be done, but somehow the essential creation of the boat is complete.

Somehow that didn't translate to the glued lapstrake of the Skerry, with only three planks a side. But this evening i finished the last fillets on the Skerry, and that did feel like a significant step in process. Pretty much all the construction is now complete. The Whisky fillet. I might need to get some to mark the occasion. 

Vale Peregrina

 

I sold Peregrina, my much loved Mirror, to Jim at the Yacht Club. He wanted a boat for the tackers too big for Optis and too small for Pacers. I am glad she has gone somewhere she will be used. I rode down to the foreshore later today, and there she was, with two kids doing a nice job sailing her.  So a good outcome, but I have a really empty hole in my heart. I loved that boat. 

Gang aft agley

 I got a call from Anne from Katoomba hospital on Sunday. She slipped and broke her collar bone. I managed to organize flight up to NSW first thing Monday, various trains up to Katoomba, collected her and her luggage, then reverse to get home again. She  is home safe and ok, the orthopod says a clean break and  she should be feeling much better in two weeks. As an injury it is quite disabling, and a bit of assistance required to do things. Skerry works have largely ground to a halt, though I couldn't resist trying the mast fit. Sort of looks vertical.

So I won't have the boat ready for Sunday. Probably just as well, I can take my time and do a better job.

Slotted

It was distinctly brisk on our walk this morning, and the sea birds all looked like they had a rough night with the storm last night. I tossed and turned a bit, worrying about the big task for today, cutting the centreboard slot in the thwart. Routers can do a lot of damage very quickly.

After a lot of measuring and fussing, I  drilled a couple of holes, connected them with the jig saw, then very slowly ran round the perimeter with the flush bit on the router. A bit of sanding and filing, and I have the top slot done. I will flip the boat, and cut the bottom slot tomorrow. That, and fillets under the seats, and I will be pretty much finished the construction phase. A bit more coating, a lot of sanding, then painting. Maybe I can be finished for WBA sailing day in a week tomorrow. Or finished enough.