an infrequent repository of mostly new stuff
Varnishing Aeon with Tyler and Emily
Had a great long holiday weekend, with lots of help on hand. Between the two, much got done. The new target date for at least one launchable boat is the end of June. “California” Doug Lawson and his pirate crew are heading East for a visit to Virginia, and I’d love to have a boat in sailing condition when they’re here, even if a few odds and ends get postponed. Doubt I’ll have the trailer modified to carry both boats by then, but who knows.
Oarlock Riser, fit checked and ready to mount
What are these things called? Oarlock Risers? Oarlock Pads? Oarlock Blocks? On a boat, every line, every piece and part, has a unique and definite name. Even parts of those parts have specific names. Oddly enough, there seems to be no consensus on what you call these things. What gives?
Toe Rail plugs on Aeon
While epoxy cures on the rails, all the screw holes can be plugged. Yet another step.
I thought you could buy ready made plugs in various sizes and woods, but apparently that’s just not done. Instead, you buy a set of plug cutting bits. To do it properly, you cut the plugs from the same wood, and then align the grain pattern as they’re inserted.
Toe Rails on Caesura installed
Installing the Toe Rails took all weekend. It’s a job that needs a lot of planning, preparation, and either a lot of hands or a lot of clamps.
Given the way they’re attached, once on, there’s no easy way to take the rails back off for repairs or to fix mistakes, even if you don’t glue them down. But since Ash is prone to rot, it needs to be sealed in epoxy, and it seemed pretty clear the best plan is to seal everything up tight during installation, on both sets, so no water seeps into seams or screw holes later. Maybe doing that will delay repairs a bit longer. Working with epoxy, though, means a limited window of time for the whole process, start to finish. Everything has to go right.
Finished Toe Rails, ready to install
It’s good to be back in the shop again after two full months away from it. Got two full days of work done on the Toe Rails. They took every bit of it, too.
There’s more labor invested in each of these pieces of wood already than any other single piece on either boat. More cutting, drilling, sanding and whatnot than meets the eye. And there’s still more to be done. Must be why so many people decide to do without them.
Hyacinths blooming in fresh snow
A few weeks ago we had snow on daffodil, crocus and hyacinth blooms. Yesterday it was almost 90 degrees. Abnormal is pretty normal here this time of year. I have photos taken several years ago of roses blooming in a snow storm. They don’t sleep well nights at the local vineyards and orchards until April is over and done with.
Toe rail, rub rail, and hardware mockup at the stem.
There are more posts to do on Guatemalan boats, but in the meantime we’ve got our own boats to attend to.
Time for Toe Rails. This is a good example of how to take something simple and make it complicated. Or maybe things that look simple are more complicated than they seem.
Chapelle’s scantlings for the Toe Rails are 3/4” x 1 3/8”. Barto specs them a little thinner at 1/2”. I’ve seen Melonseeds done with big thick rails, no rails, and everything in between. Frankly, they all look good. I made some mockups to try different sizes out.