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Published: January 15th 2010
Wednesday, January 13th
The first order of business for the day was to fill all the remaining gaps in the centre seams of the canoe. After that Ferdi continued working on the second paddle while Talita helped John peal off the protective plastic layer on the perspecs panels that will go into the phone booth. This turned out to be a huge mission. The perspecs had been laying around for a good ten years and the protective layer was so thin and brittle that you could only get off a very small piece at a time. Eventually they resorted to using turpentine to try and get it off. This helped in that it gave the layer some elasticity, making it easier to get it off.
When all the panels were finally clear of those confounded protective layers, John installed these. Now the booth had one side completely filled with perspecs. John felt that the perspecs was way too much trouble so he decided that the rest of the windows would get glass.
Ferdi made good progress with the second paddle. He was getting very comfortable with the technique and managed to make the paddle in half the time it
took to make the first. He ended up with sawdust up his nose, down his throat, in his ears and in his eyes. Talita had a good giggle when she noticed the sawdust up his nose and had to get a picture.
After dinner we watched a movie in the van. At the same time we kept an eye on the bidding for Paddy’s surf-ski. The end of the auction was at 10:24pm and we expected it to be a fight, but in the end we managed to outbid everyone else without any trouble. We were very pleased to be able to help Paddy in this way. Unfortunately the ski is in Christchurch, so now we had to find a way to get it here.
Today’s highlights:
1. Good progress on the second paddle.
2. The telephone booth getting a side full of perspecs.
3. Winning the surf-ski for Paddy.
Thursday, January 14th
This morning we did the final sanding on the exterior of the centre seam and then applied the fiberglass. When that was done we headed into town to pick up a few supplies and to post Paddy’s gift to Siubhan. At home we had
a cuppa, did the cleaning, then had lunch.
Back in the shed we flipped the canoe over and then filled all the interior seams with our filling material. It was a lot of work and called for the delicate use of a plastic spoon. It was a tricky affair because it’s hard to maneuver the spoon when both your fingers are stuck to it.
When the seams were finally filled Ferdi continued shaping the paddles. Both are nearing completion now, with a bit more rough sanding needed on the first one and then some delicate sanding on both after that.
Ferdi was given some fresh filleted Flounder by a friendly guy so he decided to try his hand at deep-frying these babies in batter. He found a recipe on-line (it’s ridiculously easy) and prepared four fillets with great success. This won’t do his waist-line any good, but it tasted heavenly! Talita was delighted to discover that Ferdi had three grey hair; two on his head and one in his beard. Now she’s not the only one with grey hair!
After dinner we watched a movie in the Boesman Cinema, then went to bed.
Today’s highlights:
1. Fibreglassing and filling more seams.
2. Deep-fried Flounder fillets.
Friday, January 15th
The morning started out rainy, so we had little hope of a productive day working on our canoe. We were still in our “nighties” when Paddy arrived. He wasn’t happy at all. To make a long story short, he’d been to the hospital in Greymouth for tests and the procedure upset him greatly. We spent a while talking about it, then, in an attempt to lift his mood, we changed the subject to his new surf-ski. Soon he was laughing and telling us stories from his first attempts at using these tricky toys. After two cups of tea, a few cookies, and an inspection of our canoe, we said goodbye.
Talita phoned the ex-owner of the surf-ski to get the pickup details and then sent it on to Rick. He’s in Christchurch and would return to Karamea the following evening and we hoped that he could pick it up for us. He said he’d try, but his car is already filled with stuff so we’ll have to wait and see if he can manage it.
Lucky for us the day turned sunny and we
did more filling work on the interior seams of the canoe. With that done we cleaned, then had lunch. We returned to our canoe and spent the whole afternoon fibreglassing the interior seams. It was slow and difficult work, and even with all the ventilation the fumes made us a little dizzy. When we finally had all the seams fibreglassed we spent a few minutes lifting of the stray strands of fiberglass for removal later. At 5:30pm, with aching backs and shoulders we left the shed. We’d made huge progress and were feeling very chuffed.
Ferdi had defrosted one of his Kahawai with the intention of pickling it. He’d never filleted a fish before, and his first attempt wasn’t a great success. Luckily it didn’t matter because it would just go into a jar. After chopping it up he left the pieces in brine for the evening in preparation for pickling it the following day.
We made dinner and Ferdi deep-fried the last six Flounder fillets. After dinner we watched another movie, then dragged our tired butts to bed.
Today’s highlights:
1. Being able to cheer Paddy up.
2. Huge progress on the canoe.
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mariana
non-member comment
Ons is baie trots op julle!
Ons is baie trots op julle dat julle vasbyt en 'n mooooeeeeilike en soms nie-so-lekka job begin en klaarmaak!!! Ek sal nie graag ander se toilette wil was nie!! Talita het jy nie al begin dink om saam aan Ferdi se lekker vis te eet nie? Het nou-net nuus ontvang dat Jaco en Sarah se baba seuntjie, Elion, gebore is en 3.02 kg weeg. Dit gaan goed met moeder en baba. xxxx Ma.