Woles: Two

Showing posts with label Two. Show all posts

Friday, 28 April 2017

One step forward two back

Today I spent removing the various dry fitted components off the hull - forefoot filler, keel filler and outer stem.

I roughly shaped up the deadwood to match both the lead keel and the boats keel. It looks ok but the angle of the deadwood where it supports the lead keel seems more acute than that of the lead keel - so I am not altogether sure if I have to do quite a bit more trimming off the "top" of the deadwoods.

More curiously, the keel filler which goes between the keel and the lead keel is curved, having been made by laminating to the shape of the outer keel on the hull. The corresponding part on the lead keel is however straight - so I presume I have to plane down the keel filler straight Fair enough...but on closer inspection, that will mean in fact removing all of the keel filler in the centre to attain a straight line from one end of the filler to the other. That in itself is probably not such a huge issue, but it does make me wonder if the keel on my boat is more curved that the designer planned...

Here's the keel filler - it looks like a tuning fork!

Keel Filler

Keel filler sitting on its position on top (underneath) the lead keel

When I took this off the keel and placed it on the lead keel you can see that there is quite a mis-match so I am pondering what is the best solution. The gap at the ends is deeper than the section of the keel filler. Alternatively I suppose I can build up the shape in the keel filler by adding new "wedges" to flatten out one side of the keel filler.

Am I over-thinking this? Comments Please!

Thursday, 20 April 2017

GEAR REVIEW Camp Chef Everest Two Burner Camp Stove

As several fall camping trips last year were coming into view, I started going through our gear bins on what we needed and what we didn't. The old green dual fuel two burner that we can been carrying on trips for almost twenty years had been giving us trouble and it was time to look at something reliable that wouldn't burst into flames from places in the stove that isn't supposed to have flames. I was holding onto it for sentimental reasons but it was definitely time for an upgrade.

It seemed that a many internet searches, along with quite a few online gear reviews, all pointed at the Camp Chef Everest Two Burner Camping Stove as reliable with a high output of heat and priced right at $100 depending where you buy it. It seemed like a good deal with a solid reputation and worth the investment.

Along with the Camp Chef Everest Camp Stove, I purchased the Mountain Series Aluminum Griddle and through the fall and into winter we have cooked quite a few meals on this setup. The stove has worked flawlessly and the griddle has been a great addition for making quick work of breakfast with pancakes, sausage patties or hash browns. This stove has been an excellent performer and we've been more than impressed.

The Camp Chef Everest Camp Stove features:

Two 20,000 BTU Burners
Three-Sided Wind Barrier
Fully Adjustable Heat-Control Dials
Matchless Ignition
Stainless Steel Drip Tray
Convenient Carry Handle
Regulator Adapter for Propane Cylinder
Adapter Available to Use with Standard Bulk Tank

Visit the Camp Chef website for more information on the Everest Camp Stove and the many accessories available along with their long list of other Camp Chef Stove options small to large.

I'm looking hard at the new Pro 60X Stove for group camping and the feeding program that our church youth group has started to serve those in need in the Columbia, South Carolina area. This stove and full size griddle would come in handy.

Tuesday, 18 April 2017

Two Canoe Day

I rise early, too early for the head cold and raspy throat that yesterdays canoe trip extended. But, I have a meeting in the marsh to attend. I have to be at the big lodge at 7 to meet up with B and MA, two local activists working on having the ridiculous backwards plans for a new SR520 bridge redesigned (I often refer to the current bridge as the stupid bridge, which is an accurate statement - the new bridge plan is stupider) .

I put in about 6am at the east end of the ancient portage. It is still and grey but the clouds are not a solid blanket, a sun event may happen as the morning progresses. Two heron fly overhead and I notice them by the reflection in the water to the left of my canoe. A brief glance and I decide that I prefer the reflection. I watch carefully the surface of the still water. Moving animals such as beaver and otters are easy to spot on an unbroken surface. As I near the workbench lodge, I see nothing and I disregard the workbench itself as it is now under a few inches of water. I pass by listening to the zip of my paddle as it recovers submerged. A splash. I didn't see it, but there was a beaver near the workbench although all that remains is the expanding ring of waves from its tail slap.

Castor Canadensis - The North American Beaver

At the next point, now between the workbench lodge and the hidden lodge, I spot a beaver in the water, then a second and eventually a third. I sit. They spread out and then return. One swims directly to and into the hidden lodge. One swims behind me, near the point, slapping a tail every few minutes. Another disappears behind the point and then, if it is the same beaver, comes to the shore and rips a dry cattail out at the base and swims off with it. The tail slapper slaps again. I stay as long as I can, checking my watch and heading off around the burial island towards the meeting spot.

wind up for a tail slap

note the webbed hind foot

As I turn the cattail point near the big lodge, I find a large beaver ahead of me, swimming with a cattail, which it abandons as it slaps its tail 15 feet from me. It moves into the cattails, unseen now except that it slaps its tail three more times as I continue, the noise turning my head to see the last of the fountain of water as it falls behind the cattails.

Near the lodge, I find a big block of foam, a 75 pounder for sure and I just herd it to land with the canoe. I see the big beaver once more as it approaches the lodge. At the same time, a canoe is approaching and I am sure it must be B and MA, who I do not know, but who impressed me so much by their willingness to be in the marsh so early in the morning.

We chat some of the politics, the concerns, an exchange of information. Then we head off on a tour.

My new friends both have canoe experience, so the tour is mostly me pointing out the things that I have been noticing and watching, the things that I track on 3 or 4 days a week, a frequency that few get to experience. I point out the brand new goose nests and we find the scent of castoreum on the beaver scent mounds between the hidden and big lodge. They've not seen the hidden lodge before. I show them the feed spots where the beaver have left cleanly stripped branches and we head north where I show them the fine stand, or partially standing stand of alder trees that the west lodge beaver have been eating. At the NE lagoon I send them in first, knowing that they will flush any ducks. A dozen common mergansers come out as they go in. We sit here awhile and talk history. 150 years of so called progress has altered this area so much. Then we head back, finding more wind as we reach the main bay. I bid them farewell after a final talk at the ancient portage. My cold has the best of me and I need a nap, but I wouldn't have missed this morning for anything.

Monday, 27 March 2017

Part Two Two Days to see Florence – a definition of totally inadequate

June 11-12, 2013

Day Two: After a huge first day in Florence, our second day actually started earlier than we planned as a very early morning text message from our daughter Yasmin informed us that our fifth grandchild had just arrived back in Australia. Harry James Chrzescijanski was born 2.11PM Eastern Australian time at 8lb 5oz and within an hour of his birth we were introduced to our newest grandson via Skype. It certainly wasn’t anything like being there for Nanny and Poppy cuddles but it was still fantastic to be able to see the new bub and share an hour or so via computer screen with Yasmin, her husband, Rob, and a very impressed big sister to Harry, two year old Lyla. Rob’s father’s name was Harry, so he was particularly moved regarding Yasmin and Rob’s choice of name.

Proud parents Rob and Yasmin with Harry and his big sister Lyla

Of course by the time we got over all the excitement our Gallery booking had come and gone so we grabbed some breakfast and by late morning were headed for the next must do on our list instead. Founded in 1294, the Basilica of Santa Groce is one of the finest Gothic churches in Italy. It also rivals the Duomo in size. We expected to breeze through it in half an hour or so but we were soon to find out we seriously underestimated how much there was to see. It is impossible to list the masterpieces which are housed within Santa Groce’s walls. It is also the burial place of such luminaries as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini along with many other important historical identities from Florence and other parts of Italy. Each tomb along the main walls of the Basilica features magnificent Funerary Monuments created by the outstanding sculptors of the day. Despite not actually being buried in the church, equally impressive monuments are included for Leonardo Di Vinci, the writer Dante, inventor Marconi and a number of others. No doubt the city fathers felt these famous Italians should also be spending their eternal rest here in Florence.

Michelangelo lays within this marble funerary monument. He actually made it clear he wished
to buried in Rome and even sculptured his own memorial but the Medeci family would have
none of that and spirited his remains back Florence and commissioned this monument instead.

The remains of Galileo in Santa Groce

Dante’s funerary monument is extremely impressive. The city fathers didn’t let a little detail
like him being buried elsewhere stop then from installing this magnificent empty
tomb in his honour.

From the floor to the incredible timber ceilings everything about
Basilica Santa Groce is impressive

Sante Groce also has a number of alcove like chapels that were sponsored by the wealthiest and most influential Florentine families who spent large fortunes commissioning incredible frescos, sculptures and other artworks to decorate their chapel in an effort to outdo all the others. All in God’s glory of course. Nothing to do with ego at all. The end result though is incredible and has to be seen to be believed. Then there is the sacristy where the clergy dress for mass surrounded by more priceless art and ornate decoration. Oh and there’s the cloisters with more of the same, and the storerooms which are now a museum. These were once packed with all sorts of art treasures that fell from favour for whatever reason and were stored away while there place inside the church was taken by some new masterpiece.

Just one of the magnificently decorated chapels within Santa Groce

The sacristy of Santa Groce

Florence’s Basilica Santa Groce was an unexpected highlight of our visit.

While the exterior of the Santa Maria del Fioreor Duomo (Cathedral of Florence) is truly breathtaking the interior is fairly plain and fifteen minutes is plenty enough time to spend inside. Sante Groce Basilica on the other hand is a place you need to allow yourself plenty of time to do it any justice at all. We spent three hours there and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it, particularly with the aid of the self guided audio tour that provided the history of not only the church but also over eighty points of interest within.

Santa Groce suffered incredible damage from huge floods in 1966 and a massive international
restoration effort took many years to bring many affected artworks back to life

By the time we’d wandered a few streets unsuccessfully looking for a reputedly very impressive library building designed by Michelangelo with an amazing set of steps, given up and made a café stop for a bite to eat it was near Four PM. As we’d missed our 9.15am reserved entry into the Galleria degli Ufizi, we gambled that maybe the line up may have thinned at little by late afternoon so made our way to the impressive building that houses the collection to join the back of the cue. Despite the lateness of the hour it still took fifty minutes before we made it through the doors, metal detector and cloakroom to check in our backpack and with Rob’s camera.

The Uffizi building was originally designed as administrative offices in the 1500s but the all powerful Medici family gradually used more and more of it to store and display their ever growing collection of artworks. The last Medici heiress negotiated for it to become one of the first modern museums. Opened to the public in 1765 the Uffizi is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world with works dating back almost 1,000 years.

The Galleria degli Ufizi building itself is well worth a look let alone what it contains

All Ufizi images were obtained from the web

Once more we made use of one of Rick Steve's free audio tours which explained the history and features of the most important paintings and sculptures spread through almost 50 rooms in the magnificent building. These included Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus, da Vinci’s The Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi, Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, Raphael’s Madona of the Goldfinch, Titian’s Venus of Urbino , Carravaggio’s Bachus and Sacrifice of Isaac and a couple of Rembrandt’s self portraits to name just a handful of the most famous. Because the museum closes at 6.30pm and we didn’t begin to make our way through until Five our visit was a little rushed but it was still an incredible experience to see the works of so many masters in one place. It was extremely impressive to say the least. Under normal circumstances you could easily spend hours wandering the halls and different rooms of this incredible building.

Michelangelo's Doni Tando

Leonado da Vinci’s The Annunciation

Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus

We made the most of the two hours or so of daylight remaining and ambled around a number of the streets of the old areas of Florence simply finding what was to be found and enjoying no longer having a plan or schedule. After a quiet dinner two exhausted sailors flopped into bed trying to work out what made us ever think we could ‘do’ Florence in two days.

It wasn't all museums and churchs in Florence. Karen found these amazing boots for
the Harley when we go home in a second hand store

Another dinner on the streets of Florence

For more about our travels and lots more photos check out and 'like' our Dreamtime Sail facebook page at Dreamtime Sail on Facebook

If you only recently discovered our blog and would like to read how it all started, click the link to go back to our first blog entry. Stuff it. Let's just go sailing anyway! We hope you enjoy reading the previous posts to catch up on our story.