Logical

Anything too stupid to be said is sung.
- Voltaire

Since I don't sing too well, the Blog will have to suffice.

Week 20 - Peep of the Week

For the first time in a long time, all of the POTW selections are males. Don't make a big thing out of it!! It's just the way it happened. I'm not going to pick a woman just to be politically correct! That would be so un-Nanepashemet-like. Why can't we all just get along????

ANNOUNCING...
NANEPASHEMET PEEPS OF THE WEEK for the 20th Week of 2007

Bill Hillegas
Pat Piscatelli
Steve Lewis
Peter Crawford
Timothy, the Gay French guy at the Paris Whiskey Bar
Tony Blair

Next week I will take care to see if any women meet the criteria, which bears repeating here due to the enthusiasm by which some peeps seem to feel when they are honored/disgraced.

To be a Nanepashemet POTW, one has to meet one or a combination of the following conditions...

• Do something Annoying
• Do something Inspiring
• Not be Dead
• Not be an Animal
• Have given me a bottle of Lagavulin 16 yr old single malt scotch over the past week

The Lagavulin condition is automatic. A side rule is that if you ask to be a POTW, you can never be selected, unless I forget later on.

BTW, I'm starting to run a little low on Lagavulin.

POTW Time

Keep your pants on. We'll be annointing the chosen this evening.

Marblehead Gunning Dory

With the Herreshoff Columbia Yacht Tender coming to a conclusion, I have to get serious about the next project. Even though I was set on a Maine Peabod, I've always liked this dory which was popular in Marblehead at the turn of the last century, and is known as the Chamberlain Marblehead Gunning Dory, as drawn by John Gardner.
~
Ryan was saying that my next project should be a boat that can be motorized, and could be used to flyfish in close to the rocks.
~
The dory design has a flat bottom and this version has a motor well. I can envision three people in this boat rather comfortably, with a fishing station in the bow and stern and the middle reserved for the "guide" handling the motor.
~
I would modify the design by decking the bow and stern to be conducive to flycasting, changing the motor well so that the shaft and propeller could be tilted back up clear of the bottom, and rounding the hard chines so that I could plank the sides with cedar strips.
~
The boat is 18' long and has nice lines. Some feel that this is the culmination of the dory line. I've seen this boat at Grace Oliver Beach in Marblehead and at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle.
~
Bill Hillegas was freaked out that I knew so much of this boat when we were on a business trip in Seattle and saw it on Union Lake, and when I told him that I had a set of plans in my room, I knew that he thought I was bullshitting him. So I went up to the room and brought the plans down to the bar.
~
I wish that I had bet him money. He couldn't believe it.
~
Maybe this will be the choice.

Feeling the Heat

Memorial Day heralds as the first real day of summer.
~
I'm going out on a limb to say that the Tender will be ready. It would be great to have it done before Mike comes home from Washington. Looking forward to trolling for stripers by rowing close to the shoreline and islands.
~
Ryan is already showing tuna fever - practicing Bimini knots and stuff. Mark Ryan at Ryan Marine says that the WhaleEye will be in the water by the end of the month. We have to take on the Maddie's Anglers in the Tuna Tournament.
~
This is going to be the year.
~
Adding sushi to the menu... not just the daily specials.

Waiting for Someday

This is an Apha dory that I plan to build at a future date. I hope God gives me the time. I'm thinking of building it in cedar strips rather than marine plywood.

KMA

More to Come.

~

I haven't even started yet.

Cleveland - Minnesota

Lucky Mike is sitting in Cleveland at the Indians - Twins game in the 2nd inning with Cleveland leading 7-2.

Incontrovertable Evidence

I can't get into "Dancing with the Stars" this year. I was rooting for Emmit Smith last year, but nothing moves me this time. Probably another bit of evidence on the irrefutable fact that I' m not GAY!!!

Running Out the String

Remember Chris Crawford? The Peep who got screwed out of the marathon win by the Kenyan who got the big head start?
~
Well his luck just isn't changing.
~
His wife, Sarah, made things so much worse by going on a Lagavulin binge at a whisky bar in Paris.
~
Nice Sarah. Although if you are going to kick Chris while he's down, I have to admit that Lagavulin in Paris is a pretty classy way to do it.

It's the OCEAN!

Does it irk you when people refer to the Atlantic Ocean as "the Pond" ? Me too, but in the most recent case, the perpetrator is one of my personal favorites, so I'll have to issue a pass.
~
Would the Pacific be termed "the Lake"? Extremely irksome.
~
Just don't do it again.

Note to Self

Remind me never to get a letter of recommendation from Buck Johnson.

A Day for Mother

So the Red Sox pulled off a thrilling 6 run, 9th inning rally to beat the Orioles today! Lucky for me that Joanne was watching some Lifetime, made for women, Chick flick instead. Otherwise, all of the excitement might have caused a spike in my high blood pressure.
~
Happy Mother's Day.

Tender Homestretch

The major structural components are done on the Herreshoff Columbia Tender except for the sails, masts, and tiller. I'm waiting for oar lock hardware to arrive from Jamestown Distributors.
~
Now the real dog work begins - final coating and epoxy sanding, permanent attachment of floor board and seats, and spray varnishing. These steps will determine the quality of the overall project, so I can't rush it.
~
I'm really happy with the lines of the boat.
~
I know that the next project was supposed to be a Maine Matinicus Peapod, but wouldn't it be cool to build another Tender which I could us to race various worthy Peeps, kids, friends and grandkids? The Peapod could serve this purpose, but we'll need a small fleet of the same Tender class.
~
If you would like me to build one for you, kindly send a check for $20k to Nanepashemet Boatbuilders and be prepared to wait for two years or so. Seriously, if there was enough demand, I would open a loft and do it full time, but I doubt that the market would bear the final price that all of the labor requires.

Tiling Slowly

With all of the emphasis on the Tender, the basement tile job has admittedly taken second position.
~
Mike is concerned that the basement will be in inoperable when he comes home from DC on Memorial Day and the 4th of July, but I have a contingency plan in place. we'll get stuff temporarily back in place while he is around.
~
Since I have to rip out cabinets, the tender is nearing completion, and the fishing season looms, even I would be nuts to tell you that the basement would be done by the Fourth.
~
But it doesn't hurt to try.
~
BTW, it is incredibly painful to lay tile if you don't do it everyday. Working on your hands and knees and stretching to trowel uses muscles that scream from disuse.

Mother's Day Thoughtfulness

So I ordered a Neti Pot from Amazon for Joanne for Mother's Day. The gift of clean and drained sinuses. I hope she doesn't get all emotional.

A Good Day

DId you ever have one of those days when everything seemed to work out pretty good? Today was one for me.
~
Got some quality time sanding and epoxying the tender in the morning, was accepted for membership in the UMASS Club on Franklin St. in Boston, had a good field meeting at cell and switch sites on the Cingular Energy effort, received more RFP's for the Coast Guard job, took delivery on the final marine varnish from NewFound Woodworks, and paid my dues at the Maddie's Angler Club.
~
A rich full day.
~
If this continues, I will shortly be formulating solutions for world peace.

Week 19 POTW

I have to hurry with the selections tonight, because I have to go to the Maddies Anglers Club meeting on the upper deck of Maddies Sail Loft. A trip to Maddies is always risky and I want to make the selections when my faculties are suitably sharp.

Announcing...
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week - week 19 of 2007

Lindsay Kepnes
Jill Phillips
Dale Johnson
Jim Ouellette
Will Murray
Janet Doyle

I'll check back with you after the Maddies Meeting.

Squirrel Antidote

You remember Isabelle? Our other cat who is always such a bitch to Ronick?
~
Well she proved her worth this morning as she kicked some freaking squirrel ass on the deck.
~
I love you so much, Izzy.

Making Tender Time

Before I meet the team at the cell site tomorrow, I'm going to try to get some Tender work in. The idea of doing a little after business is over isn't happening. It's just too tiring to haul everything out and get a fine layer of sawdust on me in the evening.
~
If I can coat some parts with epoxy, or get some sanding in before the morning shower, maybe I can make some weekday progress. I'm getting antsy, because I can see the conclusion of this project. The current goal is to completely finish before Kid Nestor decides to be born.