Sunday, September 30, 2007

Dory Shape

These are the extreme frames and stems for the Marblehead Gunning Dory. Unlike the Tender, the stems will not be flush with the breasthook, but will extend about six inches beyond.
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Not for any particular reason outside that I just think it will look cool. A little bit like a Viking ship. Suitable for pillage and plunder.

Add another three hours for a cumulative 20 hours on the dory. Not too bad. We'll be planking soon.


Dory Projection

After the Bluefish victory yesterday, I took an obligatory nap, then put in another 2 hours on assembling the Dory frames. This brings the tally to 17 hours for the project. I also got a chance to tell Will about some of my fishing prowness. I think he will be a fine boatbuilder like his grandfather.
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With any luck, the frames and stems will be set up on the strongback this week. Then we'll have a feel for the true lines of this boat. Unlike the Tender, it should easily accomodate two rowers, and equiped with a 12 HP outboard, it should be great for moving in close to the rocks to flyfish for Stripers.

Circus Boy and Red Sox

I tried a six pack of Katelyn's Circus Boy by Magic Hat Brewery yesterday at dinner. I share her recommendation. A fine choice.
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BTW, have you noticed that the Red Sox won the American East Pennant? Sox are ending the regular season with a 96-65 record - best in MLB. Unlike the bulk of you fretters and non-believers, I never had any doubts.
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Maybe I'll stockpile some Circus Boy's for the post-season run.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Don't Get Mad, Get Even






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Bluefish will mock me no more this year as Bruett and I boated a dozen of them in Fish Alley by the Ledges behind Baker's Island this morning on the WhaleEye.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Good Guinness


Business drops off fast on Friday afternoon so I jumped into the Tender and rowed out to the gut at Children's Island to see if a big Striper wanted to give it up. No takers so I rowed back for a decent 6 mile rowing workout.
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After a half hour on the Cybex, and a much needed shower.... it was time for refreshment.
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Most people don't know that Guinness has less calories than light beer. I could care less. It just tastes so freaking good. I'm thinking of tasting a lot of it this weekend.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Dory Frames

I've been working on the stems and the frames. These are the skeleton of the Dory and they have to be perfectly symetrical. This is where the bandsaw is a necessity in boatbuilding. The manuals will tell you that you can get by with a jigsaw, which is possible but the quality would be unlikely.
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With a bandsaw, you can screw all of the matching pieces together and cut them simultaneously, ensuring that they come out symetrical. Then you just flip them and attach opposite ends.
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It is also possible to cut the stem molds to use to clamp the stem strips into a laminated curve with the bandsaw.

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I mean, don't go rushing out to buy a bandsaw just because of this. But if you wish to build quality boats, you should invest.
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I have a Jet 14 inch which I'm pretty pleased with.
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With three hours spent of the frames, the cumulative tally is now 15 hours.
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Next I'll attach the frames to the dory bottom and set everything up on the strongback to start planking the Dory.



POTW Week 39

Even though it was a slow day, we still closed out one carrier order, opened another, and continued the Coast Guard work in Maine. So maybe it wasn't that slow.

Announcing....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for Week 39 of 2007
  • Bob Brown *
  • Michael Murphy
  • Mahmoud Almadinejad
  • Lindsey Kepnes
  • Matthew Peabody
  • Kevin Rockett

* Automatic Lagavulin Rule.

This would be so much easier if more of you would just buy me a bottle of Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch like that mountain of a man, Bobby Brown. Then I wouldn't have to think. Course I'd probably be too sloshed to think, with all that Lagavulin around. So maybe we have reached a kind POTW selection equilibrium.

Excellent Michael Murphy Dance Video

I don't generally enjoy watching white men dance, but these moves by Murph at his wedding are a special exception.

Common Courtesy

It's already Thursday. Let the hysteria begin.
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Before you start uselessly sending me your POTW selections, could you please review the selection criteria????

To become a Nanepashemet Peep of the Week, the lucky/unfortunate candidate will be measured as follows:
  1. The candidate has to have done something annoying, stupid or inspirational in the past weeks.
  2. Animals and dead people are not eligible.
  3. The gift of Lagavulin to me within the last week is an automatic selection.
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So even though it is highly unlikely that I would pick anyone that you recommend, you could at least have the courtesy to recommend someone who is eligible for selection.
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Now... Bring It ON!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Slow

Slow day. Waiting for the phone to ring. Joanne thinks that if I work on the Dory during the day, that somehow I'm goofing off. But she doesn't know that I'm doing a lot of thinking... crucial to moving the business forward.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Food Reaction

Joanne and Amy Mann went to the Red Sox game tonight at Fenway Park, and I was left home to cope by myself, so I treated myself to a decadent kettle of macaroni and cheese which I seasoned with a 1/4 cup of Red Hot Sauce.
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DAMN GOOD!!!
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The only problem is that Frank's Louisiana Red Hot Sauce always makes the sweat pour out of my forehead. Eating apples has the same effect on me. I really love both, so I've never really understood why this happens.
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Probably some allergy, but as long as people who eat around me don't get grossed out, I will continue to enjoy both.

Dory time

Another 2 hrs today, gluing up the other stem, bringing the total Dory time to date up to 12 hours. The weather is too nice to sit in waiting for the phone to ring.
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Next step is to build the frames and lay them out on the Dory bottom, attaching all to the strongback. Then it will look like a boatbuilding project.

Gale International

Tom and I attended the monthly Executive Breakfast Club meeting at the UMASS club in Boston this morning. Bob Maloney of Gale International gave a presentation regarding the status of commercial development in downtown Boston. His company is presently building 2.5m square feet in Boston, and have a huge development in South Korea as well.
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He said that over the past 30 years, downtown Boston has absorbed an increase of 1 million SF of office space on average every year, and that there has been no new large scale corporations migrated to Boston during that period. The space has been assumed by organic growth of companies, particularly in the financial and venture capital industries, as well as some law firms. This has been achieved despite major banks leaving the core downtown during that period.
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He says that the vacancy rate is around 10% which is the equilibrium point.... over 10% rents begin to go down, under 10%, they go up. Rents are now in the $45 per square foot range and he expects them to trend up to $70.
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Bob says that it costs $600/sf to develop first class office space in Boston, and that you need rents of $75 per sf to justify the expense.
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He was completely in command of the Boston Market, understanding all of the development prospects of his competitors, and what their impact would be on the overall market. A very impressive presentation.
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BTW, I didn't ask any stupid questions, nor did I offer ridiculous comments, although I had to fight the temptation.

Monday, September 24, 2007

More Marblehead





Disclosure

OK. I'm going to admit something to you. Something from my vulnerable side. Something requiring a little bit of trust and understanding.
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I really like watching "Dancing with the Stars."
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Does that lessen me in your eyes???
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If it does.... Kiss my Royal Irish Ass.
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I'm sure you all have your freaking weaknesses.

Impatience

I've received quite a few emails lately, asking about the progress on the basement.
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What do you think I am? A Freaking Octopus?
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I only have two hands and the weather has been so nice that it would be foolish not to take advantage of it in the driveway. And I'm no Fool.
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Even with the need to finish the basement by Thanksgiving, I'm better off spending time on the Dory. Plus I'm writing the book on the Dory project... not tiling the basement. Who would ever be interested in that???? The Dory is where the money is.

Little Persuading

Mondays can be so tiring.
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Three nights of Dark and Stormies can take their toll. I wish that I hadn't been the spokesperson for that cocktail. Everybody who comes over now brings a big supply of Black Seal and Barritts.
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It would be rude to turn down their considerate gesture to join them with two or three D&S's.
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And I pride myself on my manners.
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So today, my ass is dragging.
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Luckily, there was nothing hot on tap at Nanepashemet Telecom.
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I did get a half hour on the Cybex and glued up one of the Dory Stems using a mix of oak and mahogany 5' strips. I thought that I would have to steam the strips, but they bent in the mold using the pipe clamps and epoxy easy enough.
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There is actually an inner and outer stem in the clamps, separated by cellophane so that the epoxy doesn't weld them together.
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Chock up another 2 hours for this operation and the cumulative today is 12 hours.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Stem Work

Laid out the Stem mold patterns which will be identical for the bow and stern.
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I use 1/4 luan for the patterns and always seem to find a piece of a sheet in the garage that meets the required dimensions.
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The curved stems will be formed from strips of oak that are 5' long, 1 1/2" wide and 1/4" thick. I bandsawed the strips from a 3/4" oak board, and will epoxy glue them, and then clamp in the patterns that I cut from a piece of 2x10 construction lumber.
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Add another 3 hours on this project for a current total of 10 hours.

Fit the Bills

Pats play the Bills today at 1:00 PM.
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Until that time, I'm going to use the beautiful sunny day to lay out the Dory frames in the driveway. Somehow a couple more courses of basement tile have to be laid and a workout has to factored in.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Skunked Again


Waiting for Dog and Lec to show for the fishing trip, I put in two hours on the dory, sanding the bottom and laying out the frame templates. Cumulative now is 7 hours.
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Dog showed up to fish with a bottle of Lagavulin. You know what that means???? An Automatic POTW selection. I love it. He also was very considerate in bringing an ample amount of Guinness to last for the three of us during our sporting event.
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Btw, we didn't see any blitzes, and had no strikes. That's right... we were skunked. Live with it.