Spring Time!!!! Well Sort of ......

Welcome to the signs of Spring, dripping eavestroughs, running water (lots of it), gritty driveways, muddy back yards, dirty boots in the hall and (dare I say it) open windows (just a crack) to get some fresh air in and the smells of paint and glue and wood dust out of the house. After what seems like a forever Winter, we're actually thinking ahead to warmer days and club activities at the pond and out and about at some public venues. Dates and "Stuff" will get posted soon.

In the meantime, we have a few teasers.......... Don's been working hard on his Yorkshireman tug. The hull's painted, the power train is installed, complete with the nozzles, John has just delivered the winch assembly for the foredeck, the bow thrusters are in, and the railings are in place on the deckhouse. Don's been concentrating on the interior of the bridge and what a fabulous job he's doing.

Expect the charts to be laid out inside, soon. There's all sorts of goodies in the works, including a smoke generator, but will it be ready for our opening at the Odessa Car Show (June 15 and 16th)? Don hopes so but maybe not fully finished.

Bob's put the finishing touches to his little skiff that's pulled up on the beach and now it's very nicely mounted on a scalloped plaque....... complete with the very best quality of beach sand and dazzling blue water. And of course there's a fishing pole and tackle box. Maybe we'll see a seagull perched on the gunwale, who knows! A great finish Bob!

Peter's been doing things too. After talking about "it" for some time, he's finally started work on a scratch built model of the Lord Nelson, a Canadian merchant vessel that was captured at the start of the War of 1812, and subsequently turned into an armed naval vessel by the Americans ........ and later sank during a storm on Lake Ontario (there will be more about the history of the ship in later blogs). For now there's just a few images of the start of the model.

This shows the fully framed fibreglass hull. Part of the deck framing will be removed and bonded to a removable section of deck, to allow access to the mechanics of sail control for this two masted topsail schooner.

The boat has a "secret weapon" to avoid getting becalmed, or to move around when there isn't enough wind. Twin water jets have been installed to provide forward motion (without propellors being visible on the outside the hull).