[Public-List] Touch down - Loved by two Women

[Gordon Laco]

Thanks Michael - 

Well I have been working all morning with an 8 pound sledge hammer and a pry
bar.  I have a bare hull - the interim cabin and interior is in a pile of
splintered wood beside TW now.

I always find it interesting to dig through someone else's work... What
would the fun of an old boat be without indulging in thinking 'what the heck
were they thinking'.

Here are a few discoveries...

- massive but totally delaminated 2" thick plywood doublers on either side
of otherwise perfectly sound floor timbers.  Beside those, badly cracked
ones with no repairs.

- a million bronze screws and 5200 gluing on plank...on top of a sound
plank. Don't know yet how I will get that one off...

- sistered ribs all over beside sound ribs; rotted and broken ribs not
sistered all over.

-thick square 2x4 construction pine 'bumpers' all around shear and transom
in place of rub rails.

- that lovely solid oak rudder solidly sheathed in fibreglass...now the oak
is the consistancy of peanut butter inside the glass sheath...

Ah well at least she is here and safe.  I owe a great debt of gratitude to
Pat Witt for everything she did getting TW ashore and safe after Hurricane
Katrina AND Wilma.

She is the one who salvaged the 36' clear sitka spruce mast and all it
fittings.  Although it is broken into three pieces I am absolutely delighted
to judge that I can do a clothespeg slice and end up with a perfectly
straight and sound stick again.

The boom is there with all its gear.

All the winches plus a priceless collection of old bronze ones that Pat sent
along to me.  (including two of those obsolete flat handles nobody can
find.)

Three of her sails were aboard - didn't look at them yet (don't want to
crumble my fragile high spirits)

The hook where I used to hang my glasses is gone but I found the hole in the
shear clamp were it went.  Best of all - she is here.  Sorely injured but
alive and I hope to sail again before too long.

As you can tell I am much happier now than I was last night.

If anybody wants to see pictures please let me know.

Yours Aye - Gord #426 SURPRISE & F 16 TOUCH WOOD


> Well Gord,
>  
> You can at least say that you are well loved by two women at the same time.  I
> think, were it not for you she would have been lost.
>  
> Michael
> 
> Gordon Laco <mainstay at csolve.net> wrote:
> Hello folks - 
> 
> Well Touch Wood has arrived at R&W and is blocked up outside the warehouse.
> When I first saw her I was elated at how good she looked; but up close
> things were not so good. In summation, I would say that in some ways she is
> in better shape than I feared, in other ways worse.
> 
> Well, it is done now and she is safe. Tomorrow I will start making the list
> of jobs. I climbed inside and took a look around and found the whole thing
> a little heartbreaking.
> 
> Gord


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