December 2021

 Hi All,

It's pouring rain outside and I don't know about any of you but I'm getting a little tired of the wet dreary days of this fall. November was rainy and December is looking much the same. Oh well, I suppose it could be worse.

Our little helpers have grown up quite a bit since my last post (yes, I know. I'm sorry) and we have enjoyed many antics and fun from these two. Also they have kept us sane through the rough times of the past year with all that Covid had to offer.

We put a heat pump in the boat this past week so that we will be able to keep working throughout the winter. We didn't get as much done on the schooner this summer because we spent quite a bit of time doing some castings of some Nova Scotian celebrities. The bust of Angus Walters (artist Chippie Kennedy) was the first to be cast here and you can see Chippie's artwork in the Lunenburg Fisheries Museum. We received the wax from the artist and made that into a beautiful bronze casting. The next bust we cast was also Ms. Kennedy's work and that was a bronze of Viola Desmond. She is on display at the Buddy Daye Learning Institute in Halifax. We had a few other pieces to cast as well and along with pouring a 13000 lb lead keel for Bill's boat that pretty much kept up occupied all summer.

Since we started back on Lena Blanche this fall we have gotten the prop shafts finished out and installed, We had to build new struts for the shafts because the one's we had didn't fit properly. The after cabin has the roof framed up and temporarily covered, the windows have been installed and the lights are wired up and working well. We have laid the main cabin sole and framed out all of the hatches. We have had to insulate the deck so that we can heat the inside of the vessel and also put up a temporary door to the wheel house.

We had to bring in the stove while we could still get it below decks. This will be a welcome asset to our sailing days. For warmth and for good food.

Warren starting to lay the cabin sole in the main cabin. The round form represents where the main mast will be in the vessel. You may also notice the one forward which shows where the foremast will be.

beams on the after cabin

Looking down through the pilot house 

No more cold conditions for the winters. Yippee! We installed a new heat pump.

There will be couple of inlays in the hatches. The outline is there for one and the other will be at the other end of the sole. The wood we used is long leaf yellow pine. It is wood that has been reclaimed from the textile factory that shut down some years ago in Yarmouth, NS. It originally comes from the southern USA. This wood was on the textile factory for over 100 years old and now it graces the soles of our vessel. It still needs to be finished and sanded but I think it's looking pretty nice.

For those who are interested here is a link to a video I did going through the boat in September. I can only apologize for the quality of the video in hopes of getting better at it in the future. Be patient with me God's not finished with me yet, as my Mother would always say. Maybe the camera folks aren't finished with me either.

https://youtu.be/UR_2ZVhGq08

That's it for now.

Some pics and a winter update

 Happy New Year (a little late) to everyone. We sure need a break from the old one,  that's for sure. We have been doing our best to follow guidelines and health protocols and thankfully so far all has been well around here. I hope wherever you are that things are looking good too.

We are now back to working on the vessel for our client and so besides the scattered weekend dear Lena Blanche is sitting in a cold shop waiting for us to arrive  back again in the spring. Warren has had pneumonia for the last 3 weeks so I have been sneaking down to do a little work on our 'girl' and so I have been caulking the deck. It's quite a slow job but little by little I'm seeing progress.

Warren told me that I haven't put up any recent pics of the trailer and of the interior of the boat so here goes:

This is the start of the trailer for the boat. There are 3 axles on either side. The boat will be riding on 12 sets of dual wheels and 12 airbags and brakes on all wheels.

Inside the wheelhouse.

Doing some caulking at the bow.

For Christmas we got some new deck hands. It might take them a little while to get their sea legs though.

                                                                        Keelson

                                                                         Abby
They are keeping our house filled with entertainment. And we have learned (again) to look down when we take a step

https://youtu.be/Fn9L4LeD6HQ

Above is the link to the engines being tuned up on Lena Blanche. Doug Burris is our tech man and very good friend. A big thank you to him for coming and using his expertise in tuning them We had a great visit and learned a lot.