Judy P's Tickle Trunk

Like I said, life is good. I’ve got a boat in a box.

Boat in a Box.

and a boat now in the water

Paddle Song has settled nicely into her new home at Brooklyn Marina. Thanks to brother Peter who patched her and caulked her and gave her enough tender loving care to see another summer with her bottom wet. It was touch and go on launch day as after the short row from the slipway (seen in the background) to her berth she took on gallons of water. I pumped and the next day I pumped less and within a week she had plemmed up nicely. Today I went down to touch up some paint on the stern seat and there was not a bead of water to be seen. She’s some nice little boat. Curious thing about the paint: the bottom paint colour was called shark white but was actually grey. The inside of the boat I painted with a colour called baby seal (which to my knowledge have always been white) and that too is grey – most confusing.

 The boat in a box is a whole other story which I plan to impart over the next couple of months. It starts back in May when we were still on the road in the USA. The highlight of the trip for me was the side trip to the Chesapeake Light Craft store in Annapolis, Maryland. T’would make you weak in the knees my dear to see all those beautiful wooden boats in their showroom

and it was so cool to see the kits under construction

I have been looking at CLC boat kits for years since I saw them advertised in Wooden Boat Magazine. Twice I have gone so far as to get shipping quotes, but could never justify or even rationalize the expense. A couple of woodworking courses and the leisure time of retirement had me back at the website drooling over the kits again. When I found I was to be staying within 50 miles of the shop there was no way I wasn’t going to be driving back to Nova Scotia without a boat kit of my very own. I put my money on the counter and they gave me a bunch of boxes which I lashed to the roof of the car and fretted about all the way from DC to NS.

And the little monkey hitching a ride in the lashing? Well, that’s a story for tomorrow or the next day. And which boat did I choose? I was excited to find that in the five years since I first decided to buy a kit they had designed one that was perfect for my needs. It is called the expedition wherry and if my skills prove adequate she will look like this with a sliding seat rowing system:

Isn’t she pretty? And what!!! she’s right full of tiny monkeys!

Guess that means she will be a barrel of fun! I hope to get started as soon as I can get the house renovations in Prospect done (that’s a story I don’t care much to share – drudgery and expense says it all) and I will be posting my progress regularly. Yes, life is surely good.

To plem up– a Newfoundland term meaning the tightening up of the seams of a wooden boat after the wood swells when soaked with water. “she was bone dry but plemmed up nicely after a few days in the water”

© Judy Parsons 2014

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