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2015, Tuesday, June 20, 2023
This has been one of those somewhat frustrating days that seem to crop up in the midst of big undertakings. It is one of those days where you have to accept some things for what they are, and perhaps chuckle in the face of it.
I onow, in the photo above, it looks like my brother, Bob, has an axe sticking oit of his head. Maybe it will make you chuckle along with me when faced with delays. In reality, I took the photo of Bob and I during our drive up to Newfoundland when we took a ten minute detour and played the pRt of "accidental tourists." A sign on the highway said that the world's largest axe was right there in Nackawic, New Brunswick. It is a tribute to the major role the timber industry has played for centuries in that area. A photo below shows the tru scale of the axe.
anyway, now that we have all had a chuckle, back to our progress on readying Tazzarin, our real objective.
My mechanic friend, Jessie, met us at the oat at 0900 this morning. The boat was still on dry land. Jessie was there to do a brief test run of the diesel engine that was rebuilt last summer. He also ran a pressure test on the coolant system and retention the alternator belt. The good news is the engine purred beautifully to life on the first try. Jessie will come back when the boat is in the water and give it a full check while it is still under warrantee from the rebuild.
So, back to our progress today, or lack there of. We noticed that the anchor windlass had significant rust and corrosion. it is only two years old. Bob, dismantled part of it and found that the clutch nut, pictured below, was rusting away inside. It must have been a bad batch of allergy when it was made. I contact my home boatyard, Dions, back in Salem MA and they got a replacement in a matter of hours. One of my crew will bring the part up when they come.
We were due to launch the boat today. however, she is still ashore! A combination of weather and a backup in launching another boat kept Tazzarin ashore. Newfoundlanders have a special term for weather, "RDF." It stands for the typical Rain, Drizzle and Fog. Today had all three in abundance, along with cold winds of 25 knots. The temperature peaked at 45 degrees and there is a frost warning for tonight. The weather slowed the pace of another boat launching and also meant that four fellows tried for close to an hour and a half to step a mast. It swayed and bobbed in the stormy weather and defeated them. Bob and I waited and waited, eventually heading off to an exhibit of scientific drawings of marine life from the 17 and 1800s. I lo Ed the octopus and it took my mind off the launch delay!
Photos and a little more text below...
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