A few shots of the beach

Marina Del Rey

Water Reflection

Fisherman's Cove

Some new computer features I have been playing with

Fisherman's Cove

Living Vicariously

These are a few pictures that Rolland sent me via email.  Their last trip on the NW passage they lost their really good dingy in really bad weather.  So Rolland is making a new one this week for their 200 mile trip to Russia this Saturday.  After getting Precipice ready after a cold winter and a long wait from the Russian government for the papers the Trowbridges are ready and off they go.  They have worked hard to get ready now they get to go have fun.  I haven't had any sailing adventures for a long time so this is the closest thing to for me right now.  This will be the third Continent that they visit. 

The first guess cut.  I extended the stern and increased the freeboard. Tricky.

Cutting the frames.  These will become the seats and give the hull stiffness.

Attaching the sides to the frame.  I tried screwing it together and ended up using stainless wire to "stitch" it together.

Setting the bottom pieces on.  At this point I didn't know if I could bend the wood this hard.  I had increased the freeboard, which meant a greater curve in the front. I had also used thicker plywood than the plans called for.
It bent hard.

Here are the boards bent.  The wire ties are barely holding.  The whole thing is under great tension.

Here it is from the front.  I didn't get the front or the rear transom pieces right on the first try. Second time worked.

Here is the completed boat, ready for epoxy.

Here it is upright.

This is the dingy after the first coat of epoxy, and the corners fiberglassed.  Tomorrow I will paint it and then fiberglass the inside.

Have A Good Trip!

Random California Pictures

Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Beach

La Brea Tar Pits

A few more of Alaska

Alaska...working on Precipice

Precipice

A very large chunk of my time spent in Nome Alaska was working on Precipice with Rolland, Jannelle and Bianca.  Since they had gone through the North West Passage through Northern Canada there was a lot of damage done to the hull from ice.  Precipice didn't get much attention this winter since it was too cold to do certain repairs. So on the days the weather allowed we painted and focused on getting the hull done so Precipice could go in the water.

Rolland and Jannelle.

Bianca

Both Bianca and Jannelle have grown since the last time I have seen them.  In fact, Jannelle is now taller than me and is very strong. Rolland no longer asks me or Deb to lift heavy things with him on the boat...Jannelle inherited that job.  Jannelle has also started checking the oil and refilling the gas on the generator.  Sanding the boom and gaff has become Bianca's project.  Sanding and varnishing, over and over again can get boring but Bianca has tackled the job and is getting good at it.  

Layer number one

  Before I got there Rolland had already started  to fill in and sand down the spots that needed attention.  We finished that up then and realized that the water line area was sort of "sanded off."   So we used what little areas were left un-sanded and Rolland sort of guessed/eyeballed some measurements and taped it in.  We then started painting layer 1 of 2.  I rolled it on with the roller with Rolland following close behind to brushed out the bubbles which gave the hull a nice reflective glossy look.  (This is called "roll and tip")  

Layer 1

Layer 2 of top and layer 1 on bottom

There were already 5 layers of bottom paint.    So we touched up the damaged areas and hit the important spots near the waterline.  It all ends up the same color after reacting with water.

Rolland then carefully painted the water line with no tape.  My job was to stand nearby with a rag and paint thinner for any drips or red escaping on to green from a non-compliant paintbrush bristle.

If I had a picture of what Precipice looked like before we started paint and compared it to this one (below), you would be amazed at how a few fresh layers of paint can really kick it up to something classy.  Everything in Nome is a little shabby and grey.  All of the boats in Nome are aluminum fishing boats that don't have a lot color.  It was good to see our hard work turn into something beautiful.

The Final Product.

Alaska- geocaching

Bianca, Rolland, Deb. Jannelle with Nome in background

Steaming Volcano 

(just kidding...just a vertical contrail from a plane that happens to be behind a few rocks)

Nome at 0100.  24 hours of light.  It was a little strange...I never wanted to go to bed.  We were still out geocaching after 10pm with sun shinning brightly.

Rolland at the radio station KICY in Nome doing his Sunday routine.

Rolland, Jannelle,  Bianca

Musk Ox that was in the way of our cache that we were trying to get to.  I have to laugh when I see these animals...it looks like two hunched humans with really skinny legs with a big hide thrown over them.

Me geocaching.  Nome has the best geocaches I have ever found.  The hikes to get there are phenomenal, the views breathtaking and the cache containers are so huge,

Trowbridge Family and their ride