Inside the Aurora it’s not exactly balmy, it’s ambient air temp with no wind, so it’s tolerable if you dress right.
Looking aft, towards the fore mast. This is where we first noticed the problems with the old mast wedges. As I took each wedge out and replaced it with a new wedge it became immediately clear just how much we needed new ones. Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s see, according to our original schedule, we’d be planked by Halloween.
It could happen. And Cheney could come out and admit the whole Iraq thing was a mistake from the get go too.
Meantime, back in the reality-based community, I’ve been fairing the rabbet down from the transom through the deadwood, and into the keel. Mike started the rabbet out as you can see here:
You see that slot cut into the side of the deadwood from beneath the transom and running forward? That’s the rabbet Mike started. He stopped it where he did until we had attached the deadwood and transom to the keel. This morning, we put in the final screws and 2 drifts to hold everything together, so now we can fair in the rabbet without fear of anything moving on us.
Read the rest of this entry »
The changes in the boat these days alternate between obvious progress and subtle things that you’d probably never know about if you weren’t watching carefully. Here’s an obvious one:
Woah, deck’s on! We’re fairing it here, hence the longboard and shavings all over the place.
Woah! Fairing is done, and the deck’s primed white. Looks pretty spiffy this way, but this is the last record of how the deck actually looks. Next comes the deck canvas to cover everything up.
It looks like we’re almost done here, and there’s nothing like putting the mast in (just to test for fit, mind you) to make it seem like we’re almost ready to go.
Trust me, it’s a total illusion. There’s a ton of stuff yet to do. Here’s a short list:
Oh yes, miles to go before we sleep. Launch day is June 2nd, that’s less than 3 weeks away. Read the rest of this entry »
The angels must have been lonely after you fell from heaven.
Now I can say I’ve actually met the girl from Ipanema.
Ok, enough before breakfast comes up. Not THOSE kind of sweet lines. These kind of sweet lines:
We’ve finished the ceiling planks, and it was fascinating how something that looks so straight is in fact so curvy. Anyone with a decent exposure to topology I’m sure would give a big eye roll and a DUH, but for the rest of us, it’s just cool. Here’s my ceilings in place. Remember, they’re the boards that go up the inside of the boat. Notice how, with the exception of the lowest one, they seem to be straight…
However, the boat is bowing outwards, curving up, and making a very subtle sweep up as well; those features change everything. So, to get those straight lines, you end up with boards with that subtle sweep that you see in the top photo. Read the rest of this entry »
If you don’t live in Rhode Island I’ve heard that you won’t know about the following thing: Coffee Milk. Like Chocolate Milk, only with coffee. I just discovered this stuff the other day and I’m here to say that coffe milk and a bagel in the morning makes everything good and right.
Wow. Who knew?
IYRS is nothing if not a monument to the romance of building wooden boats. When you throw in a foggy day like it’s been today, it only adds to the charm of the place.
Out back by all the old Beetles waiting to be restored.
The pier alongside the Coronet building.
That’s it. Coffee milk and fog in Newport. The foghorn on Jamestown Island sounding every 15 seconds. This is a pretty great place to be.