Seagoing Drones, Beautiful Storm, Tidying Dowels
As if bluewater sailors don't have enough navigational hazards to avoid. Now they have unidentified drones, on or under the water!
Apparently the military have been using them for surveillance, pirates load them with explosives to attack ships and criminals load them with drugs (and probably arms), for export.
You would have to ask where these pirates and traffickers get their funds. To have engineers design and construct such a craft in secret, would cost a lot.
At a time when left-leaning economists is reporting a 50 year old chasm between wages and corporate profits, it's obvious that crime will at least pay. It's working for politicians and the corporate types.
Apology: Nothing in this post is aimed at feeding any myth that life at sea is dangerous.
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Type one word and let Auto Correct complete the sentence:
"Flowers in seawater to get some Ratz".
NB Ratz were a biscuit type invented by a friends mum, when she confused Jatz and Ritz crackers. Very funny. But I've since learned that many 1970s mum's were fed drugs to cheer up.
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The weather remains a key feature of life this morning. Twenty minutes ago great cloud heads were amassing in all directions of the compass. One spectacular example was off in the south, the clouds there were of a burnished copper colour. A light plane could be heard dodging about, unseen. Occasionally the engine noise escalates as the plane, or its exhaust sound, was caught by a strong downdraft.
Moments later the bottoms of the clouds tore away in great swathes to meet fog rising from the valley. Visibility reduced and random heavy raindrops of splattered to earth. Then stopped, then started again, their tempo building before cutting off again.
The small plane appears dashing low overhead, fast and straight. The pilot must have courage and the wipers going flat out.
It won't rain much today though. The weather is too volatile to do too much of anything with consistently. It's dead lovely though. It has a mood that seems to enliven any vigilant observer. The light is beautiful in its subtlety.
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Today's plan is to finish this coffee while the almost- shower passes ... then with a sharp chisel to knock off the dowel stubs. Once sanded back, a little oil can be dawbed. Not to completely seal off moisture, just to limit any wicking. To give Jacy a fighting chance. Well I hope so anyway, its what the books suggest.
After a day's sun they'll be ready for varnish and begin looking beautiful. Not new, suggest even better. Experienced, with battle scars all healed and hardy.
I'm loving this little boat like no other of the nearly twenty different sailing and rowing craft that I've ever owned.
WORK COMPLETED:
Knocking the stubs off with a chisel was unsuccessful. It uprooted the plug! Probably because I bought miranti dowel material which is quite hard.
So I cut them with a hacksaw blade, then used course #80 sandpaper to bring them down before finishing off with #180 grade. It gave a good finish.
In between I went to town & got a new pot of Marine Varnish & Stain. This was applied late today, just before a squally storm came in with a vengeance. Although I had looked nervously at the puffy clouds, nowhere in the forecast did it mention sleet and gale-force winds. Luckily, the varnish was quick drying. Phew!
It was so gusty that the loose footed metal canopy was under major stress and caused it to partially collapse. I unlashed the cover and tied it directly to the boat and trailer to provide some weather protection.
2041hrs: gale force SW still howling. Seriously concerned for boat cover staying in one piece. Might get long poles& tie the legs off so they are regular & to add weight to help tie it down. The problem is that it's on a stone base so can't be dug into place. Not a good night to be on the water, unless you're tucked in somewhere very sheltered & have a wood stove! Haha.
