Saturday, February 23, 2013

I Ate Her Heart

Is this what they mean by "elbow room"?


There was just enough room to get the bow sprit hardware back on Spartina today.  It did rain all day, as forecast, but the temperature was warm enough that I could open the garage door, angle the boat in the two car garage and get some work done.


Above is the diamond base pad eye for the forestay.  You can see that I drilled out the old screw holes, tapped in mahogany dowels then predrilled into the mahogany to reset the #12 screws.  I would have thought that the wood beneath the diamond pad and other hardware would be darker that the exposed douglas fir, but it was the other way around.


Most of the hardware is now back in place.  The jib sheet fairleads, the mizzen sheet fairlead and the inverted hooks for the boom tent will go on next weekend.  Mentioning the boom tent reminds me that I need to order some three inch wide polytarp tape to do a little patching on the tent.


I also sanded and painted the upper planks on both sides of Spartina.  She looks about as nice or maybe a little nicer than the day she was launched six years ago.


I just received a "used" book of short stories, The Next New World by Bob Shacochis.  His first book of short stories, Easy in the Islands, is one of my favorites (but I will admit that I struggle with his full length novel Swimming in the Volcano).  This "used" book, a hardback, appears to be brand new.  And now that I flip through the pages I see that it is an autographed copy dated May 7, 1993.  Not bad for a buck.  With stories titled "Let Femmes Creols: A Fairy Tale", "Squirrelly's Grouper" and "I Ate Her Heart" I think this will be a good read.

steve

5 comments:

JimB said...

Do you prefer mahogany over teak for the dowels? If so why. I've got to pull Papoose's mast to varnish and may find I need to do the same.

What glue do you use on the polytarp?

Thanks.

Steve said...

JimB

I really can't speak with any authority on which is better. Both are hard woods, and my goal was to put the new screws into hardwood of some sort. I went with mahogany because it was available at my lumber yard. I've also used red oak in the past. Red oak is not good around water, but sealed in epoxy/paint or varnish and it holds up just fine.

steve

JimB said...

Thanks Steve.

What is the glue you use on the tarp?

Steve said...

It's not glue, it is three inch wide tape made for poly tarp material. It has lasted well for six years, put I'm starting to get some cracking and peeling. I'll replace the tape where I can.

steve

JimB said...

Got it this time. Thanks!