Road Trip News

We left Essex Junction this morning and cut across Vermont to No. Conway. I'd seen dead deer along the highway in California and Pennsylvania, but never once in New England.
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But on this trip, we saw two - one on Route in Vermont and one in NH, both on Route 302.
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During the ride, both Mike and Ryan called. Mike was getting ready for his trip home from DC, and Ryan had just returned from a morning fishing outing at Stellwagen Bank. He said he was out on the Bank by 5:00AM, and ten minutes later, hooked onto a giant Bluefin which stripped the line.
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The fish must have been well over 400lbs. to do that to our Olkume tuna rigs, and Ryan said that he was powerless to halt the line stripping. WOW!!!! I would have loved to have seen that.

A Happy Day

Brian and Stacey's wedding was really fun... until Jill Phillips did the unthinkable.
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It's hard to articulate this, so I'll just blurt it out. She put a lightly tanned liquid in a wine glass in front of me, and told me it was a Dark and Stormy.
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Naturally, my defenses went right up. I could tell that something sinister was in process. I think that Jill felt that she could take advantage of me because of the sweat pouring from my forehead as I tried to regroup for the next dance set.
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She must think that I'm a big, fat, idiot.
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Even in my reduced physical state, I could tell that the mislabeled drink sitting in front of me was Ginger Ale and Myer's Black Rum..... certainly not a Dark and Stormy.
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Nice try Jill. Joanne and I still had a great time, despite your evil plot.

Deck Cap Plan

Last night I got my inspiration for the deck cap design.
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It will be patterned after the breasthook of the yacht tender, which was formed with two pieces of Meranti Mahogany, and a strip of red oak epoxied in the middle. There is a crown on the oak strip that was formed by planing and belt sanding the breasthook. Then fine sanding, a couple or three coats of epoxy and at least five coats of marine varnish.
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1x8 meranti boards will be positioned over the rail curves from post to post, then curves of mahogany will be jigsawed from one side and jointed to the other. All of the angle joints will be expoxy glued and reinforced with biscuits.
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Under all of the edges will be a 3/4 strip of oak, which will form a two toned illusion of a 1 1/2" rail piece.
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I'll set my router edge guard for 7 1/2" inches and run a straight edge bit along the entire rail to insure that the rail curves are parallel.
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Then I'll reset the edge guard to center on 3 1/4" and make the center plough cut which will house the middle oak strip. Then 1/4" oak strips will be cut from a 14 foot oak board that I have been storing for a couple of years. The thin width of the oak should allow it to bend easily into the plough cut, which will be bedded with epoxy.
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When all that dries, I will plan and sand the crown and edges.
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The contrast of the dark Mahogany, enhanced by the oak highlights, with the painted white curved rails should be cool as hell!!!
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I'll definitely take pictures to show you. If all goes according to plan, we should see this masterpiece before the 4th of July when Mike comes home again.

Vermont Wedding

Joanne and I are in Essex Junction, VT to attend the long awaited wedding of Stacey Mallette and Brian Butler. Naturally you recognize their names as former Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week.
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We are staying at "The Inn at Essex" which is a hotel restaurant complex that houses a culinary institute. The food is good.
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Tomorrow, we will drop over to St. Michael's College to pick up a baby sized T-Shirt for Will, then rest up to get down for this happening affair. I'm going to try to be reserved, but I brought my dancing shoes just in case.

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.