Wedenesday, June 20

Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 10.30 AM EDT Wednesday 20 June 2007 for the period ending at 10.30 AM Thursday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: ..Small craft wind warning in effect.. Wind west 20 knots diminishing to 10 to 15 late this afternoon. Fair. Waves near 1 metre lowering to less than 1 this evening. Outlook..Moderate westerlies veering to northwesterlies.

I have much more to show today after the second day on the backing blocks, or it could be the day of the 18" long bodywork block that I use to keep things flat.

I have sanded out the shear repairs to both sides and have the first coat of Interlux primer on.

In total there are now 21 cedar backing blocks behind planks that had suspecious cracks. No guarantee the old wood will not find a new place to crack but this is all that can be done to try to prevent problems. Each block had to be hand shaped to fit the desired curvature of the hull by hand. To see thdem and the fit you need to chceck the big images which are 1000 pixels wiwde.

June 20: 20:00 EDT
As usuial I try to spend an hour or so of cat time in the evening, hanging in the feline world.Rufus has established a new shore base in the bush alongside the dock which is probably a good thing as we move ever closer to the arrival of the summer people and careless cars. THe breeze always sweeps accross the shore and I often see him lounging not far from the water in the shade.

Again for cruisers this park is one of the most desirable features of Waupoos Marina. The small swimming beach provides a secure place for Rufus to enjoy a cool drink from the lake and nice cool shady sand. The rolling land and pond with its fountain provide a perfect place for pets. Rufus seem to particularly like hunting in the tall grass along the stream. He is getting fast, one minuite we are sitting by the camper and the next second I see streak cat and a tail sticking out of the grass. Next thing a unfortunate vole meets its end.

Thursday, June 21

It is the Summer Solstice today with 14.2°C deck temperature. The clear fresh air is still with us and a brisk 20 to 25 knot west wind has kept the bugs down and made sleeping much more pleasant. I will take a final pass over the new backing blocks for the skiff today and begin the trick of figuring out how I am going to clamp them in place as soon as I get client approval. Approval as once I put in the 21 full width blocks you can pretty much forget ever taking the boat apart plank by plank for pure restoration.

Thursday, June 21 17:00 EDT

The cool weather is hanging in there and the wind blows hard accross the plateau up here at the shop. The field is cut so I can see the road in again but this is pretty much a hermit shop with limited visitors.

Today I had a final client consultation and began the gluing of the backing blocks. Slippery little things they are once they are swimming in epoxy. I may yet have to resort to some soty of fastning if only to keep them where they are susposto go. It took a long time and alot of messing around, but I have good contact between the block and the hull plank. Look at all that good goo squeezing out, I bet that thing is stuck in there good.