Tuesday 17 May
The big day had arrived and it was full of sunshine and promise. The boat was gleaming and thanks to the good weather yesterday, the resin coat was nice and dry and hard. (Note to self – don’t use resin on cold wet days). People started turning up to help out. Mark unclamped the glued frames while JP got under the boat to undo the temporary fixings while Adrian and others cleaned up the shed to make it safe for a crowd that we were expecting at 11.30. Nick and I got on with the frame to land the boat on. Nick had brought in his nail gun which made a loud and surprising bang every time he used it. Archie arrived with John and was most concerned by the noise. Adrian added carpet strips from Harry’s supply to the supports and it all looked ready to go. Stuart finished off the tab removal on the small bits of the frames and then there was a nice lot of time for a chat and a cup of tea.
Kay had been in early with a warm batch of date scones and butter for our morning tea and John S brought in a cake that Erica had made which went down a treat.
JP declared that after removing the brackets holding the boat to the moulds that it was still stuck tight with epoxy glue. We ummed and arred about ways to remove it and decided on brute force and a new variation on the a yoga pose – the boat (lifting) pose that Adrian demonstrated as we all lifted one end. There was a moment of breath holding as horrible ripping noises came from under the hull and then she was free, first at one end and then the other.
People started turning up and stroking the beautiful hull in admiration. More scones, care of the Balde’s arrived, this time savoury. Archie had to be kept away from the plates. Photographer, Nic Duncan came along and was very pleasantly getting us to pose for photos. At almost exactly 11.30 the school bus arrived with the Denmark Senior High School students. I said a few words of thanks and then gave them the plan of how we were going to man handle the boat out onto the grass and flip it over. With so many people helping it positively levitated straight up and over the moulds nearly clipping the top of the door frame. Out in the sunshine it gleamed even more as we kept it in the air and rolled it over and laid it down the right way up for the first time.
No sooner had the boat landed than the excitement got to Archie who jumped into it and out again in one move and seemed to be very pleased with the result.
The students had a go with the heat gun and chisels taking the lumps of glue off the inside where the clamps had been. Inevitably some were more careful than others but they got a quarter of the boat done in no time and were keen to tuck into the scones before they had to go back to school. It was great to have them come along and be part of this milestone event.
We’ll be back in the shed on Thursday and scarfing up the next keelson and cleaning up the rest of the inside of the first boat.
Thanks to all those who made it a special event today, hope to see you all soon.
Cheers Dave