Friday June 1, 2007

Summer is here so quickly the water has yet to catch up creating a predictable fog by the time dawn comes. Rufus is spending much more time aboard as we adapt to this reality. It has been a good couple of days with a lot accomplished. The heat is churning the atmosphere and there are strong thunderstorms tearing accross the Halibut's to sweep accross the 62 & 41 highways.

There was a small break in the bugs allowing me to get the painting of the aft deck largely finished with the lazarette also ready for final color.

A sure sign of spring was the Waupoos Winery dock heading down the channel for it's summer work at the winery.

Sometimes it does not go so well! This immaculately restored Trojan surprised everyone by taking an instant dive once it saw the water. Kudos to the marina who acted quickly to mitigate any damage and by the time it got dark the boat was managing on one pump. However all the reasons Marinas hate wood boats for all the messing about and variables.

Rufus has it made over here as there are no roads leaving only the dock to deal with. The well kept grounds are a enormous pleasure to the visiting boater with a pet. It will not be long now before the picnic tables are set out and Waupoos begins to welcome visitors.

The back 40 or the park is a huge plus for those with pets as the beautiful grounds are bordered by a hedge row and hollow providing the perfect place for your four legged friend to stretch their legs.

John Bachelor of Joy B accompanied by Dingo are waiting for haul out leaving John free to work on the next version of a perfect rigid dinghy.

This is the next project which is just about right. A nice little classic boat that is light enough for me to handle and is far closer to restoration than many of the jobs I have been doing. I look forward to getting stuck into the project.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 3.00 AM EDT Saturday 2 June 2007 for the period ending at 3.00 AM Sunday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: Wind light and variable. Chance of a shower or thunderstorm this afternoon. Mist patches dissipating late this morning and redeveloping after midnight. Waves less than 1 metre. Outlook..Light and variable becoming southeasterlies.

I made a Home Depot run on the hunt for the best detail sander I could find and only came up with a light one that I will return Monday. It did however do the job and gave me a taste of what it is going to be like cleaning up the skiff. You can see the test patch which I have done left while I point out both the crack in the plank and the old repair to center. Hours and hours of hand work lie ahead. However it is a delightful little boat.

The heavy weather north of the 401 never arrived although we got the expected rain overnight. This morning the hot humid weather pattern is continuing while Rufus conducts this mornings inspection from the aft castle. The first of new neighbors arrived hot from Florida yesterday adding a Catalina 38 to our community. Today I have to decide if I do the skiff inside or out which is a tug of war as outside will be very nice on hot days and the light will be good. On the other hand then I need to build a new shade shelter as direct sun would be too hot.

Sunday, June 3

Fog blanketed everything this morning with only a wisp of a breeze stirring the flags. The Blue Moos is now open for breakfasts on weekends which makes a slow start to the day easy as the yarns of others help solve the worlds problems. I hate this dock and can not believe that after all the fuss other boats have been put where I was told there would be none which is what I was moved to D Dock. One more time I made a successful single handed trip to the pump-out and back to D Dock. .. But this is a BEAR of a spot to put Defiance.

Rick, Waupoos Marina's Harbor Master gets a little lift as he puts his new boat through her paces for the first time.

Sunday evening when I was taking the pictures of the gaff ketch a strong front blew through showing 44 knots on Bills guage. The ketch quietly rolled and picked up her heels with a burst of speed.

Of course a cat update. Rufus sleeps soundly once he comes back form a patrol while Mom and Sweety catch some rays on a warm afternoon.