Dark and Stormy Dilemma

Inner circle Peeps know that Dark and Stormies are one of my favorite summer drinks. You remember the recipe right?

• Ice
• Goslings Black Seal Rum
• a squirt of Lemon Juice or a lemon slice
• Ginger Beer (definitely not Ginger Ale)

Part of the deal, though, is that the Ginger beer usually goes flat if you try to save it.... and one bottle handles three drinks.
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So if there are no Peeps around, and I decide to have a Dark and Stormie, I really have to have three so that the Ginger Beer is not wasted.
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I'm just finishing my third now.

POTW Selections

I'm wicked tired from priming the deck railings, but it's POTW day, and I know that I have obligations.
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Many are impressed with my dedication to this massive obligation. I don't blame them. Even I have great admiration for my ability to select worthy or annoying Peeps for their contributions for inspiration or irritation over the past week.
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Often I'm asked "How do you do it? How do you muster the intestinal fortitude to make these important selections?" Excellent questions, the answers of which we may never know.... like the mysteries of faith.
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Had enough of this Monkey Dung? Me Too.
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Let's get on with it.
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Announcing
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for 2007 Week 25

Tyler Gill
The Incredibly Screwed up Indian Women in the Unitied Frequent Flyers Call Center.
Kevin Grimes
Eyk Van Otterloo
Amanda Houghton
Kat LoConte

Are you satisfied??? Now maybe I can get some rest.

Bondo

The Rockett Hotel meeting lasted until noon, then I went to Pep Boys Auto Parts to get the Bondo. After a 1:30 sales conference call, I was ready to Bondo the gaps in the railing. I had never used the stuff, but it was straight forward enough.
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After you mix the red hardener with the grey goo, it sets up really fast. Your have to mix small batches and work quickly.
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I was foolishly wearing my flip flops and didn't realize that a dollop fell on my big toe. I found out about it when it started to harden and burn. Then I was nervous that I couldn't get it off without ripping my toenail. It came off with a little too much force, but no apparent damage.
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After Dinner, I sanded half of the hardened Bondo. The railing came out far better than I expected. This Bondo is good stuff and could cover a ton of sins in the future.
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Tomorrow, I have to go to Jack Connolly's memorial ceremony at the Lynn Yacht Club, then meet with Peter Lojko. They are going to spread Jack's ashes in Lynn Harbor. I'm pretty sure that this will not be one of my final bequests.
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Afterwards, the plan is to finish sanding the Bondo, fill with Spackle and spray paint the posts, railings, and balusters. Friday may see an additional coat. But I have to leave for Concord to drop off a bid to the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission, and continue to Burlington, VT for Brian and Stacy's wedding.
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Sometime next week, I will start to build the mahogany and oak caps. This will have to be epoxied and marine varnished.
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When all that is done (probably by the end of next week}, I will power wash the deck and build the stairway railings. I'm thinking of something curved and laminated with mahogany and oak strips.
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Then we'll get back to the basement.
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Also, in case you were wondering, I blew off the Harbor rowing workout today. Tomorrow might be a better chance.

Working in the Workout

High Tide tomorrow at Marblehead Harbor is 3:30 PM in the afternoon. I have meetings with Mike Rockett in the morning, and will be attending to Nanepashemet details until after lunch. Then I have to get the Bondo and fill in the railing gaps on the deck.
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Hopefully, I'll be ready to try to get in a rowing workout on the Tender by 3:45 PM or so.

Deck Repairs

We are in a holding pattern with a couple of our projects, so I used the downtime to jack up a portion of the back deck that was sagging, remove the cap cedar on the railing that was failing, and purchase the red meranti mahogany for the new railing cap from Moynihan Lumber in Beverly.
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I jacked up the sag using the tire jack from my F140, then reattached the rim joist to the garage foundation using power actuated Ramset masonry nails. The system scares the hell out me because of the gunpowder explosion used to drive the nails into the masonry, but it is very effective for fastening wood to masonry.
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The 1x8 meranti went for $2.35/lf which would probably be about $4.00 per board foot. Expensive, but with the right finish, it will add value to the deck for years to come.
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I have to get some Bondo to fill wood gaps in the curved railings tomorrow and when that cures, I'll spray paint the bannisters, railings and posts, then apply the mahogany caps. Beneath the 1x8 mahogany, I'll epoxy 3/4 strips of oak to give a sense of bulk and also a two toned cap design.

Needless to say, once I got going on this project, I blew off the rowing workout in the Harbor.

A Biological Fact

I didn't get to row in the Marblehead Harbor as planned today, because Tyler Gill invited me to join his foursome at the North Shore Chamber of Commerce Tournament at the Ipswich Country Club.
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I haven't been to that development since it was new in the eighties and early nineties. It's still really nice and the course was in great shape.
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My golf game wasn't.
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Tyler hits a nice ball, and his EnerNOC colleagues were competitive. I had to be a drag to the foursome.
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Every time I play, I think it will be different, but by the 12th hole, I'm always done - with 6 or 7 holes left. Plus the game takes so much time. If the tournaments were 9 holes, I bet that I would even look forward to them.
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My father was a good golfer, and my boys, Ryan and Mike are very capable. But the golfing gene skipped a generation, because I truly suck. I feel that I am biologically incapable to score in the nineties.

A Great Place to Workout

Today, I was reminded that rowing is really good exercise based upon the overall soreness in my body.
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Since the Tender was so seaworthy, and fun to row, I'm planning on getting in the three mile loop of Marblehead Harbor at every chance when it is high tide.
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For the next two days, high tide is around 3:00 PM.
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It doesn't hurt that Marblehead Harbor is so beautiful. Even when I was a kid growing up in Lynn, I would ride my bike to the Harbor as much as possible.

Tender Launch

I know what you are thinking.
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"That must be a good boat to keep that Fat Bastard out of the water."
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Well, you're right.
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A successful launch witnessed by Joanne, Katelyn, Peter Crawford, Jim and Kathy Peabody, Chuck and Elaine Jellison along with William's great grandfather Pa Jellison, and Linda and Tom O'Shea.
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Peter Crawford provided the color commentary.
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It did leak somewhat, and the source has not been identified.
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But the trial run was great. After Katelyn and Tom took turns, I rowed out to the mouth of the harbor and back.... about a three mile trek that took me an hour.
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The boat was very stable and fast moving - a credit to the original Herreshoff design.
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Lots of compliments from onlookers.
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It is a freaking good looking boat if I say so myself.
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I hope that Ryan and Will catch a lot of fish from this Tender in Will's future childhood years.
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It is definitely a one rower boat though. I had hoped that two could row together comfortably, but the trial with Katelyn makes this doubtful.
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The next boat, the Marblehead Gunning Dory, should accommodate two easily.
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Now the sailing rig has to be finished to see how the Tender sails.

Busy Saturday

Lots of stuff to get done today.

• Install the centerboard and epoxy glue the front seat in place
• Clean up the back deck
• Get Mike a frequent flyer ticket to DC
  
• Launch the Herreshoff Columbia Yacht Tender
• Lay a row of tiles
• Drink some Dark and Stormies

I better get busy.

Power Week

This was as powerful a week as I've had in some time.
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Moved forward with two major projects for Nanepashemet Project Management and submitted a large proposal from out of the blue, met William Nestor, my new grandson, tied up a key loose end for Sundance Pre-school, substantially finished the Tender, and confronted my mortality in Concord, NH in the midst of coming in with the low bid for the NH State Liquor Commission.
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Whew!!!
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As much as the week was exciting, I wouldn't mind a little boredom in the next few days.
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Somehow, that doesn't seem likely.

Countdown

The last step before launching the Tender will be to reinstall the centerboard and permanently epoxy glue the front seat. I'll do that first thing in the morning with fast set epoxy so that it will be dry by noon.
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High Tide tomorrow is 12:57 PM EDT. So the launch will be at 1:00 PM sharp at the Riverhead Landing , Marblehead Harbor, opposite Devereaux Beach at the beginning of the Marblehead Neck Causeway. You are welcome to attend, but it will be pretty boring.
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Contrary to popular opinion, it will not sink!!!!
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After putting the Tender into the water off of the ramp, I plan to row around the perimeter of the Harbor, test for leakage and get the feel of the rowing performance of the boat with the fixed oarlocks. Afterwards, there will be Sam Adams on the deck at Beverly Ave.
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You are welcome to attend that too, and that shouldn't be boring for long.

Can't Top This

Lots of recognition and emails from the Peeps regarding the arrival of the Grandkid, Will Nestor. It was a great day. Even the freaking squirrel laid off of the birdfeeder for a while.
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It will be hard to top that day this summer.
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Even launching the Tender this Sunday won't top it.
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Even catching a Bluefin on Stellwagen won't top it.
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Even Katelyn letting me finish a sentence won't top it.
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Even losing thirty lbs. won't top it.
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Even a case of Lagavulin won't top it. ..... (But that would be close.!!!)

Now do you see what a great day it was????