Summer and CAI's bronze casting - 9/30/2017

It has been five months since my last post.  So now fall is here and it's bringing cooler weather including some welcomed rain.  The adventures of summer are winding down and it's time to get back to the blog. 

It seems like we have been away more than home sometimes.  Since my last post in April CAI flew to Sweden and Finland to visit his family.   Then I flew down to Boise to visit my family and camp out in the breathtaking Sawtooth Mountains.  Shortly afterwards we packed up our R-Pod trailer and went to Port Townsend so CAI could learn how to cast bronze for his birthday.  He expects to cast small parts for the boat at a significant savings. In addition we'll get custom pieces you wouldn't find anywhere.

Happy Birthday, CAI!

 

CAI's first attempt casting bronze

A cap for our Samson posts.  CAI has just started polishing it.
It's about 4 inches square.

 

Later in August we spent 10 days with our little R-Pod again and traveled down to Stanley, Idaho to watch 2 minutes of total eclipse with my sister Mary and her husband Sheldon.

Stanley attracted an international audience for the eclipse lured by forecasts of clear weather.
Except for some episodes of smoke from nearby forest fires, the viewing was excellent.

Shadows turned into hundreds of miniature crescents on the side of our RV.

Sheldon equipped us with numerous stargazing gadgets.

In September took a week-long venture back to Port Townsend for the 41st Annual Wooden Boat Festival.

We took classes on diesel engines and electronics systems maintenance and got tidbits and advice for new equipment and gadgets.   We met world cruisers including Matt Rutherford who recently completed a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the Americas in a scrappy little sailboat to raise money to help the disabled go sailing.  You can check out his blog here:

http://solotheamericas.org/

CAI spotted this wooden hull Ingrid at the show.
 It is one of the few original classic Ingrids, built in the traditional way.

I don't know how to adequately describe this boat festival.  It attracts people who love traditional boat building from hand made canoes to the 133 ft schooner, Adventuress.  Nigel Calder (a world cruiser and author) calls this event,  "The largest gathering of crazy romantics in the world."

Below is a lovely photo montage of the festival that I found on YouTube from this year's festival. Maybe this gives you a hint.

Lastly, before departing, CAI and I strolled the piers at Boat Haven Marina in Port Townsend.
It's a great place to get ideas for AtLast.

In between our adventures we have still been working on AtLast.  Look for future posts about these projects-

     building the fridge
     repairing the rudder
     building and installing the skylight
     fairing the cabin (on the outside)
     painting the cabin walls (on the inside)
     painting the hull
     building the main salon table
     painting and varnishing shelving
     and drilling holes in the hull, not exactly an intuitive thing to do to a sailboat!

See you soon!