I few months ago I quickly put together a new mold for a 10 foot allred Cedar Wheelbarrow Lapstrake Pram. My very close friend has just got thru some major surgery. He seemed alittle down. Years ago he and I would trout fish the high lakestogether. Those days were a good time! I let him…
Current Projects
Free canoe with a very Big Hole!!
Last weekend a friend picked up a free fiberglass canoe! The owner was going to take it to the dump. So Henry hauled it away and brought it to me. Henry kept the few pieces of fiberglass that were broken away. The hole was about 4” wide by 10” long. A big hole!! The first…
Spinning Honey
Harvesting Honey!
Sailing
Sailing the seven seas with my friend Larry!
Honey Season
This past weekend harvesting honey!
Post-Catching a Swarm of Honey Bees
This day I was in my house with the front door open. I started hearing bees buzzing! The buzzing started to get louder and louder. I stepped outside and noticed the sky was filled with bees. One of my hives was in the process of swarming. They lit on a branch approx 10 feet high….
Catching a Swarm with a Vacuum Box
6-12-21 Yesterday late afternoon a huge bull swarm of honeybees lit way down deep inside a bush next to my driveway. To make sure I got all the bees and the single queen I had to use the vacuum box I built just for this type of thing, it sucks them right into a brood…
April and May are honey bee swarming months
The months of late April and May are honey bee swarming months. There’s a saying; if you catch a swarm in the month of May it’s worth a truck load of hay, if you catch one in June it’s worth a silver spoon and if you catch one in July there’s a good chance it…
A Triple Split
A few days ago I took a video of one of my wild hives that I split three ways. This last August I added a third brood chamber for the hive to pack away Fall honey to feed themselves over the winter. This spring there were maybe 75,000 bees filling all three big brood boxes….
Long hive build
This last Friday I finished my first of many builds of a long hive! This build took two days. My hope is the next dozen or so will take me maybe one day rather than two. Like I wrote in the last post these long hives will save my back plus houses wild bees will…
April and May is swarming season for honeybees
Hi All, It has been a while since my last post. Over the last month and a half my wife Jody and I have contracted COVID-19. We have obviously serviced. It is 7-10 days of a serious bad nasty head/chest cold with fever and fatigue! Anyway, we now have the antibodies in our system. And…
Snow Storm Week
The last three weeks have been interesting to say the least. Three weeks ago the Pacific Northwest was hit with a major cold front. Lots of snow and ice. About a quarter million folks were without power in the Portland metro area. This is not counting areas further north and south. I’ve attached a short…
Anti-foul Bottom Paint Complete
This last weekend I finished all the winter maintenance on our Cape Henry 21. The masking and bottom painting is now finished. That’s it for her yearly maintenance. She’s now ready for summer sailing!
Topside Maintenance is Now Complete!
This last weekend I finished the brightwork, varnished the bowsprit and companionway. Then painted the topside Jade Green on her transom and rudder. Next weekend I fire up the wood stove and tackle the red bottom anti-foul paint.
Brightwork!
This last weekend I fired up the old Jotel wood stove. I hand sanded all the brightwork with 220 grit then cut in a single coat of TotalBoat “Wood Finish” varnish. There are just a few more details before she’s ready for her Spring launch.
Beginning Her Yearly Maintenance
This last weekend I started “Slough Coots” (our Dudley Dix designed Cape Henry 21) yearly maintenance. I prepped her hull by giving it a light sanding with 220 grit and an orbit sander. Then washed and dried it. The fallowing day I rolled and tipped a coat of Pettit EZPoxy Jade Green topcoat paint. Also…
Mid January and They’re Bringing in Pollen??
Moving the Staysail Sheets, Fairleads and Cam-Cleats
This last weekend I moved the port and starboard fairleads and cam-cleats for the staysail sheets.I’ve posted 4 photos. The first is a full photo of the starboard side of our Dudley Dix design Cape Henry 21. You can see the cam-cleat mounted to the deck in front of the horn-cleat. This location has had…
The Day After Christmas!
This weekend I removed the hatch cover for the companion way on my sailboat, a Cape Henry 21. I sanded it fair and added a coat of brightwork. I then tore apart my free standing sander and repaired the main belt pulley.The two weekends prior I removed my burned out stove and replaced it with…
16 Foot Skiff Restore (final)
This last Thursday and Friday I finished sanding the interior to near bare wood, then mixed a solution of 1/3 turpentine and 2/3 boiled linseed oil. I put it in a spray bottle and applied it liberally and brushed it deep into the wood. It doesn’t look very pretty but it will help this little…
16 Foot Skiff Restore (cont.)
This last Thursday I applied the last coat of Jade green topcoat paint to her hull. Then early Friday I had a few friends over to flip the skiff right side up. Its interior is a mess. I re-fastened most of the in-wales, re-adjusted the port oarlock mount, did some gluing, the transom and stern…
A 16 foot skiff restore project
A close friend of mine had this old 16 foot wood skiff and asked if could restore it for his grandson. His grandson is an avid duck and goose hunter. This skiff will be perfect for this. I checked the skiff out and it was well built and worth the material and labor for…