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Published: January 13th 2010
Belt sander-1, T-shirt-0
Making a paddle can be hazardous to your healthSunday, January 10th
The south-westerlies brought with it a ton of rain, which it proceeded to dump on Karamea. The good news was that our third attempt at laminating a paddle had worked, so we laminated the second one and weighed it down with paint drums. Ferdi started the shaping work on that paddle, using an electric planer, belt sander and random orbital sander to sand out the shape he was after. While shaping the handle the belt sander decided attacked Ferdi and chewed up his unsuspecting shirt. Now he looks even more like a carpenter’s orphan; covered in sawdust and holes in his shirt.
Just before noon we went for a garden tour at Gary and Rose’s place. It was part of the Knowledge Swap workshops that are running in Karamea at the moment. It’s a great concept, because there are so many people here with heaps of knowledge and lots of people (like us) who’d like to learn new things. After the tour Gary did a talk on soil fertility, explaining the different kinds of soil and how to get the most from the soil you have. Most of it was over our heads, but you have to
start somewhere. We gained a new understanding for soil and the importance of the creatures living in it. It’s always amazing to watch someone talk about the things they love, and Gary sure loves his soil!
Gary’s place is very close to Paddy’s so we stopped by for a chat and a cuppa. Paddy fed us some sammies and a whole pack of delicious chocolate and mint biscuits. Back home we did a quick clean, then Ferdi continued working on the paddle. It’s fair to say that he’s a little obsessed. After he’d shaken of most of the sawdust we hopped in the van to watch a movie. We’re very happy to report our reclining seats work like a charm.
Today’s highlights:
1. Third time lucky laminating our paddles.
2. Learning new things about soil fertility.
3. Another interesting visit with Paddy.
4. Enjoying our reclining seats while watching a movie in the Boesman.
Monday, January 11th
The rainy morning eventually turned sunny, making for another beautiful day. Ferdi continued working on the paddle, doing some finer sanding work. It was starting to look really great.
When Talita joined him in the shed we continued working
on the canoe, sanding down the bottom seam and filling in all the little gaps that remained. This project is an immensely satisfying experience. It’s awesome to shape a piece (or pieces) of wood into something beautiful. Ferdi never knew he liked working with wood so much, but as far as he can remember his granddad de Lange used to be a great carpenter. Maybe that’s where Ferdi got the love for wood from.
When we could do no more on the canoe we joined John and started to paint the base coat on the telephone booth. Talita was real happy to finally be putting paint on the booth. It’s all she’d wanted to do from day one. Later Paddy stopped by for a cuppa and a chat. We’re in the process of trying to get him a surf-ski, because he used to be a surfer and loves the ocean. His previous ski rotted away on him, so now were bidding on one on TradeMe. For some reason surf-skis are extremely rare here in NZ.
When Paddy left we cooked dinner, had a shower, then watched another movie.
Today’s highlights:
1. More progress on our canoe.
2.
Soil samples
The good, the bad, and the useless Painting the base coat on the telephone booth.
Tuesday, January 12th
After a final bit of sanding we applied fiberglass to both the bottom seams of our canoe. We’re getting very comfortable with doing the fiberglass work, even though the fumes can give you a bit of a headache if you try to do too much in one go. With that done we did the cleaning, had lunch, and then returned to our beloved canoe. Talita started working on her paddle while Ferdi removed the stitches from the centre seams. When these were prepped we filled all the remaining gaps with the resin and sawdust mix.
We finished just before low tide, which is the best time to catch Kahawai, and since Ferdi hadn’t given fishing a proper go yet he took his new rod and reel, got a kayak and headed out for a bit of fishing. Talita stayed behind to read and had a bit of a nap.
Ferdi spent two hours knee deep in the freezing water (to try and keep the sandflies from his legs) while trying to catch some dinner. He saw a lot of fish, unfortunately they were tiny little Sand
Perch’s that nibbled on his feet. He also saw a lot of crabs and one biggish one spent a good five minutes eating its way around his left foot. There was not one nibble on his lure though, and seeing as his feet were getting more attention than his lure he considered hooking one of these onto his line and giving that a go. After swapping lures a couple of times he decided to try his luck fishing from the kayak. This turned out to be more fun but no more effective.
Finally he made for the mouth of the river where Bruce used to catch his fish. He dragged the kayak up above the high tide mark and found a huge old tree stump just inside the waterline. Sitting on this ton of driftwood, he cast his lure without much hope but enjoyed the feel of the old wood, the sun on his skin, and the light sea breeze. He’d been sitting for less than ten minutes when something big grabbed his lure and started running with it. Caught by surprise, Ferdi jumped of the stump and after a brief but fierce struggle the line went limp and
his prey disappeared. The lure was still attached to the line, so the hook must not have caught. Excited and with new hope he went back to sit on the stump. On his third cast his lure was taken again, only to lose his prey once more. After a few more casts his lure was taken again, and this time it stuck. A huge battle ensued. Ferdi’s poor little rod was bent nearly in half as he struggled to get the fish to shore. At one point the fish was pulling so hard that Ferdi lost control of his reel. He managed to stop its crazy spinning using one of his fingertips which got a nice blood blister for its trouble. The fish broke the surface a couple of times, jumping out and splashing back under. It was big, the biggest Ferdi had ever hooked. He was worried about his line snapping so he gave it some play, and then pulled it closer, repeating this process in the hope of tiring it out. After a few minutes of this he finally got it to shore. It was a beauty! A 61cm Kahawai. These guys are know to be a fighting
fish, they don’t come easy, and even a smallish one can give you a good battle. For a moment he was so taken with its beauty that he considered releasing it, but in the end he decided that he’d like some fish for dinner, so he bonked it on the head with a piece of driftwood and gutted it. Needless to say, Ferdi was suddenly very popular with the seagulls.
After cleaning his catch and depositing it in the kayak he went back for more. It was such a rush bringing in that big fish that he wanted to try and get more. He sat on the stump again casting his lure and hoping for another bite. He was pulling in one of his casts and when it got close he saw four big Kahawai all dashing for the lure! One snatched it up and another battle ensued. This guy came a little easier than the first, but not by much. It was another beauty, 58cm long, and once he was on shore he also got a bonk on the head. The fishing fever had gripped Ferdi and he left the last catch waiting on the beach and went
to try and catch another one. After about two casts he decided that he was being stupid and went to gut the second fish. Apparently you have to bleed Kahawai straight away, otherwise the meat tastes real bad.
When the second fish was gutted and in the kayak he went to try and catch number three. He had barely sat down on the stump when his lure was taken again, this time by a 56cm Kahawai. He battled this one to the shore as well and gutted it. All three fish were caught in the span of 15mins after fishing for two and a half hours without a single nibble. Having enough meat to last him more than a week he called it a day. It was nearing 7pm and Talita would be getting ready for dinner. Just as he was about to leave the local cop showed up. He was interested in what Ferdi had caught, probably to make sure it wasn’t trout, because you need a fishing permit to catch those. After a quick chat the cop went on his way and Ferdi paddled home.
Talita was grossed out by the fishy smell but managed to
take some pictures to commemorate this momentous occasion. Then it was time for Ferdi to clean his catch. Having never scaled or cut up a fish he enlisted the help of some friendly locals who supplied him with a de-scaler, a fish knife, and some helpful advise. Ferdi was still in his swimming trunks and while he cleaned his catch the sandflies had a party on his feet and legs, dining to their evil little heart’s content. Once the fish were all cleaned two and a half fishies went in the freezer and the other half was fried for dinner. Half a fish turned out to be way too much for one meal, so that was left-over for the following night’s dinner.
Today’s highlights:
1. Fiberglassing the bottom seam of our canoe.
2. Ferdi catching his three big Kahawai.
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Leon
non-member comment
Congrats!
Baie geluk met daai nice catch Ouma! Maak 'n lyn met 3 hoeke aan, maybe kan jy water ski met die kayak as 'n trio van daai outjies byt.