Opua: grided
Opua: grided
Yesterday was a perfect summer day: high 70ties; sunny sky with a few puffy clouds; light wind. I spent it waiting for a workman who finally appeared for five minutes late in the afternoon, took a measurement, and left.
To his credit he returned first thing this morning with the elongated C shaped bracket shown near the top--which is aft--of the above photo. With only a few minor adjustments, this was bolted in place. THE HAWKE OF TUONELA should be now ready for her next gale; and I have returned to my mooring.
Only the aft third of the gird is visible in the photo. It extends for another 7’ under the floor board a the bottom of the photo. The three big nuts are on the aft keel bolts.
With a bolt-on keel, THE HAWKE OF TUONELA’s bilge is shallow, in no place more than 5” deep, and it only takes a few gallons of water to be a nuisance when she is heeled over.
I am not certain what I am going to do next. I need to test the self-steering vane again. The gears came apart when I tried to use it on our return from Whangaroa. But for the first time since I flew back here 2 1/2 months ago, there are no critical boat repairs or essential maintenance.
The past two nights I have watched three of The Thin Man movies. William Powell, Myrna Loy, and a dog, Asta, who gets almost equal billing. The first, THE THIN MAN, from 1934; then RETURN OF THE THIN MAN, 1936; and finally, THE SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN, 1941. I don’t know how many others there are, but these are the ones I have. Along with Tarzan, this must have been one of the first franchise series. the first movie was best. Society husband and wife detectives. Sophisticated for the time and amusing. Many actors and actresses early in their careers in secondary parts, including a young Caesar Romero, Jimmy Stewart, and Donna Reed.
I started writing this a few hours ago. What I ended up doing next was refit the floorboards and scrubb and oil the cabin sole and the tiller.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007