Saturday brought more activity that tyhe marina had seen all week. The picnic tables were humming with morning gam and coffee. Arthur and Beauty were down for several day and it was almost like old times with everyone in port. Waupoos Marina hosted the traditional "Pot Luck" dinner in the evening and one more time it was a gorging blast of great food, far too much to eat, but far too good food to resist.

In all probably 60 people showed up and by 21:00 we were all rolled into our berths, belly s full and dreaming of excess. HHurrahfor Waupoos and the folks who make the place special.

It is amazing what a little help will do. I spent any time that was not taken up by the visiting with Rufus watching the work

Chris and Diane came down for the weekend which brought some life back to being on the the hard. I greatly appreciate Chris's help. Whatever the need that would be a hospital trip and no arm for six months were I to have attempted this much grinding.

The picture of the keel has a 1000 pixel wide image available and if you wan to know how much weld we had to build up give the thumbnail a click as it is a lot of weld.

Sunday was grinding day. By the time all was said and done Chris spent 6 hours on his back knocking off the piles of weld. Slow but sure is about all a person can do with a project like this. Today was the day I gave up on trying to keep to my schedule and will let the marina move the boat and face up to paying for another lift when I need to get to parts of the bottom that have been inaccessible.

Diane settled into the weekend with her homework and cell phone games. It was fun to sit around in the day with Ruth of S.V. Witchcraft and help her with her English work. For this short period of time Defiance's salon has become the social area it should be.

Monday October 1, 2007

S.V. Witchcraft left for Kingston today and I had my last social morning coffee of the year as the marina is pretty much deserted now with only JP who works odd shifts living here on their boats.

I have no more time to wait for people to show up. The marina word is down Defiance must be moved this week and there is no way that I will be able to do another day of welding and grinding let alone put 5 coats of A-238 on. Then the next issue which is trying to get Defiance high enough that I will be able to weld on the heel of the keel. The marina simply has not enough blocks to drop me with 18" under the heel. Then again that is a issue because the bow block will have to be 32" high to make the boat level.

The writing is on the wall so I dedicated the day making a road trip north to pick up some large dimension timber for blocks. First came getting the little trailer ready as I don't use it enough to stay on top of it and the floorboards are questionable. It is a long drive up HWY 62 to Bancroft but it was a nice day and I enjoyed the drive with most of the trees in full color. The highway department has resurfaced much of 62 north of Madoc which made a huge improvement in the ride from 5 years ago. Just when I was getting sad about moving from up here and moving aboard Defiance and the current life the drive was a reality shock. It is a long way north and however rural my winter digs will be it will not take three hours to get to people as I have become too social again for the pure hermit act.

It was 14:30 before I made it to Bauman Lumber (613) 332 4602 in Hermon, 1 km north of Highway 28, east of Bancroft. Ten years later I still return to the Mennonite saw mill when I need lumber. I bet I paid for the trip in savings on wood let alone Bauman are the nicest people. Not only did I find 40 feet of good hemlock, it was all cut to roughly two foot lengths.

Having made it to the Great White North of Carlow/Mayo stopping by to see Arthur in Combmere. This was a good road day and I found his place first try which amazed me as all I knew was a rough location on 517. The place is very much Arthur and should make a wonderful retreat. It is entirely off the grid and has no power and the new well will get plumbed in next week. However a very nice place with a view of Ontario wilderness backed on to one of the largest Crown tracts in the area.

Tuesday October 2, 2007

Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 10.30 AM EDT Tuesday 2 October 2007 for the period ending at 10.30 AM Wednesday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: ..Small craft wind warning in effect.. Wind southeast 15 knots increasing to south 20 after midnight. Scattered showers ending late this afternoon then fair. Waves 1 metre or less. Outlook..Strong southerlies diminishing to light to moderate westerlies.

I work up to a windy overcast day. I wonder if I will get a welder today? Now I am getting fed up. This is over a month and I still have not completed the bottom of the keel. Ah well,time for me to sign off as there is a trailer to unload and a welder to chase. But not very hard.

I have in face pretty much given up on others and have picked up a box of rods and can easily see me finishing the welding myself. He calls me by 09:00 or I am going to get on with my day as this is ridiculous he wants big money and is never there. Once again there was a cat party with Clyde in the salon, Rufus seems happy enough and Clive leaves without protest but it is a test of wills as I know a trying cat.

It is 13:30 as I log back in . Of course, no sign of welder Colin:

Haul out...
On the hard, on the hard we sit.
The blocking blocks are stacked by the wall with care.
In hope that a completed keel will soon be there.
Defiance sits grounded, still pin holes in the belly.
The first pass of welding a little more like jelly.
Waiting the comming of the man with a MIG.
Now there is nothing to do but consider a swig.

What can I say, everyone else calls it "County". Whatever if it does not happen today I will undertake the remainder of the welding myself or Chris. This is nuts!

Time passes here it is 16:15 and I have no business sitting at a computer at this time of day, but I am. No more chasing welders! This project has now moved to owner welder. Doing it myself was not the original plan, but feels pretty good a half hour into the shift. Next stop is Harrisons and picking up a load of practice steel followed by practicing. Practicing my overhead technique until there are no pin holes. Then with no hourly pressure I can spend the time and address whatever I like.

I will get moved and set up in the final hard location and settle into a long haul.

Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 10.30 AM EDT Wednesday 3 October 2007 for the period ending At 10.30 AM Thursday with an outlook for the following 24 hours.
Forecast: ..Small craft wind warning in effect.. Wind south 25 knots diminishing to 15 this afternoon then veering to west 20 this evening. Wind diminishing to light and variable near midnight. Chance of a shower today otherwise fair. Waves 1 to 2 metres lowering to less than 1 overnight. Outlook..Light and variable.

I got lots of housekeeping and medical done while squeezing in an hour of practice with my own MIG welder at the shop. Given a bit of practice I was having no problem in getting good penetration on 0.25" plate. I might even try it with my own MIG as once I practiced I could lay a nice bead.

Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 10.30 AM EDT Thursday 4 October 2007 for the period ending At 10.30 AM Friday with an outlook for the following 24 hours.
Forecast: Wind light and variable becoming southeast 10 knots this evening.Wind backing to east overnight. Mist and fog patches dissipating this afternoon otherwise fair. Waves less than 1 metre. Outlook..Light easterlies veering to southeasterlies.

The mornings are spectacular. The deserted marina one of the best places on earth to catch a unused hot tub as the sun embraces the nights dew.

I finished picking up the rest of my welding stuff from the shop and settled in to finding out how welding overhead was going to go. The good news is my own MIG 10 (115V) seems It took a bit of practice but by the end of the session I was able to run an acceptable bead with no flaws directly overhead. It takes some adjusting to the MIG after last welding being 99.9% stick. The Argon shield does not create that much of a area and wind steals your gas leaving the metal exposed which will instantly cause the weld to get dirty.

The biggest problem is not the welding it is the deciding where to stop as even when you fill a spot there is a leading bead from where you sparked the arc. This light up is usually rough, but as you are building up the bead and going for a pin free surface there are start up edges which show as a edge. I find I grind too much as the original bottom is anything but flat and everything is subjective.