Kayak Building Update

Nobody asks how I am any more.They ask "Is the kayak done yet?" So here is an update.

Bulkhead installed

I installed the bulkheads. This was by far the most difficult part of building the boat, not really difficult, just a hassle working in such a small space half upside down.

A friend checks out my sanding job.

Then there was the sanding. This should take up more than one sentence but what really is there to say. It feels like it goes on and on.

I borrowed a friends garage. Here is second or third coat of varnish.

Varnish on the deck. OK, I have to honest here, after all this work, and getting used to seeing the boat all scuffed up from sanding, I almost cried when I saw how pretty the first coat of varnish looked.




I did feel some anxiety drilling more holes on the boat. These are for the deck bungee
cords. I drilled the hatch tie downs at the same time.




It's getting there. This is the gasket to seal the hatches.



And on top of the car! It's not quite done yet, I still have to install the seat. I will paint the hull orange in another week or two after I try it out on the water.

Adventure While Delivering Art

Pink Peapod, 20"x 16", oil on canvas


Stephen Taber with Yawl Boat , 16" x 20", oil on canvas

New Work! I've been having a hard time lately finding the time to do all things I have to get done, like deliver these two new paintings to the Camden Falls Gallery. So when my friend Valerie called to see if I could go out on her boat for the day I was really disappointed I couldn't go, unless she wanted to go to Camden??? She said she would go anywhere as long as there wasn't any fog because her GPS was being fixed. The weather report looked great.

Camden Harbor.

It took about an hour to get there. Camden was beautiful and sunny. I like going there because there are a lot of boats. Here is a photo of Mistress with a small boat tied under the bow. We dropped off the new paintings and found some really good food for lunch. A few clouds in the distance made us think it was time to head back. About ten minutes out of Camden Harbor we ran into this.....




Yup, that would be fog, really thick fog. Lucky we knew exactly where we were when we suddenly couldn't see where we were. Too bad about that GPS. Fog is very disorienting. Sounds seem to come from different places, it's wet, and kind of creepy, but mostly you just can't see. We managed to find the entrance to the thorofare between North Haven and Vinalhaven and right there we left the fog.

Leaving the fog, for now.

On the other side of the thorofare, however, it was completely foggy. If you don't know what it's like to enter a fog bank it looks about like this....

Schooner American Eagle about to enter the fog bank.

We didn't really want to go back into the fog and Valerie remembered she knew some people who lived on North Haven. We found the dock and wandered up to the house but nobody was there. We found someone working on one of buildings who told us the family had indeed left for the summer. We got permission from the caretaker to take shelter there for a while. From the big front porch of the old summer house we watched the fog close in, then swirl away, then come back. The weather was supposed to be getting worse: wind later, then rain into the next day. Just as we were going to walk into town to find some food we saw a break in the clouds and fog and made a run for back to Stonington.

And that was good, because we got back in time to watch The Simspons Movie at the Opera House that night. :)