Judy P's Tickle Trunk

..or Today’s Costume: Boatbuildress – green coveralls, blue Nitrile gloves, pewter grey respirator and ancient brown leather boat shoes. Umbrella.

What a day. Woke up this morning to find huge collections of rainwater on several sections of the tent roof; one so bad that it bent up two of the roof poles. There was water leaking in in several spots and overall it was a precarious mess. Thank heavens I got into the habit of making sure everything was secured under plastic every night when I finished up. You get what you pay for in tents, folks. So I pushed up the roof with a pole to spill the water then added several more jury-rigged poles to make peaks and came inside for breakfast, wet and exhausted and somewhat discouraged. What to do. With several bent poles there is a good chance the next wind-storm will take it all down. I could build frames to go inside but that is a lot of work and expense and would use up work time which is flying by already. I thought about the barn loft but too precarious getting it up the steep stairs. More tarps? Find an empty building? In the end Lance graciously offered up the music room in the downstairs barn where he practices every day. It will fit on an angle and we will cover the floor and furniture and then I can buckle down and get some work done. In the meantime some more progress has been made. I am finding this stage very difficult. Basically you need to get things right the first time because once you start to fuss with it, it just churns up a whole mess. Fibreglass with the first layer of epoxy is now on the inside bow section and the area between the two forward bulkheads. It will likely take two more coats.

I love how the epoxy brings out the details and the grain. It won’t look like anything made by a master craftsman, lots of rough and crude spots, but it will be pretty from a distance for sure.

Now for a nice hot shower. It was thirty degrees all afternoon and very humid. I almost drowned in sweat in the respirator. Tomorrow will be boat moving day but I hope to get at least another third of the interior glassed and epoxied. Oh, and I also have to get a haircut. Last night I had to cut two inches off the end of my braid because I unknowingly dipped it in epoxy resin. There was no combing that out!! Life is just one big adventure after another. Wish me luck.

© Judy Parsons 2014