On the Road

Flash! News Story! I’m working in the net shed this afternoon listening to NPR and having a good time when I hear Martina approach with what I hoped was a cup of hot tea. But it’s a baby black bear instead! It walks right in under my rowboat to within 7 feet of me and we both realize something is wrong. He bolts for the door and I’m scratching my head wondering what a yearling is doing out of hybernation. We’ve a wolf in the area and it’s possible the mother lost her life defending the cub. We track the bear behind the woodshed and up a tree about 25 feet. Here’s a few photos–we left the cub alone so he could go on his way:

The first photo went off with a flash and I picked up the eyes only–see them?

And here’s the only track I could find:

HE’S BACK

Abandoned on our neighbor’s beach we pass by this old boat on our daily walks–a 1957 Feathercraft

The Feathercraft Company produced these boats in the 1940’s-1960s. After World War II wound down, aircraft companies produced things like aluminum toasters, airstream trailers, canoes, and other cool riveted items. Since I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff, I tow this over to my dock and hoist it up out of the water–just in the nick of time as it leaks:

On the bottom is a big plywood patch–not good craftsmanship–it was fastened with rivets, screws and such that covered an 18″ split on the bottom:

It’s -6 F temperature this week so I’ve got to get out the blowtorch

Here’s the bottom after it’s cleaned up–the ‘cure’ was worse than the ‘disease.’

Now, I’ve got about 68 holes to patch and the local TIG welder lives across the narrows–hmmm, I’ve got to give this one some thought. Our plan is to get this to float and bring it back to Seattle on our Tug, Katahdin in summer 2010. We’ll name her “Nancy Drew” and use her for a runabout on Lake Union. Stay tuned for future repairs and visit this site if you like Feathercrafts.