Fall 2014 in the Community Boatshop

Once we knew for sure where our booth would be at The Toronto International Boat Show, the team got to work completing the boats and displays needs to highlight our new youth programme. This will include kids learning to sail in the Lightning and having rides in the TNT and the new Mini-Hopper sea fleas.

We also needed to take care of some maintenance work on our trusty fleet! To that end we brought our Richardson cedarstrip in for varnish freshening up.

Richardson in place..

a cradle for the Mini-Hopper

And the Mini-Hopper is mobile!

Soon scrapings and paint are mixing in the boatshop - oh rats, not what we wanted ....

The show skiff with colour started

Anton preps TNT for colour

and Richardson opened up.

 Painting moves along but hard to keep dust out of the finish! Still, doesn't look too bad.

interior of TNT all sanded out.

and painted Buff like the skiffs

not too soon to test racing seats!

skiff gets it's gunnels fitted.

 Encouraging! lots of Hopper Racing Team Green in the shop now! But the pressure is on!

backbreaking scraping!

Anton tapes TNT

and the Mini-Hopper

Bernie tests the steering ideas

With the TIBS looming closer (Boat Show) - the team is really putting in a great effort.

gold trim on TNT...

gold trim on Mini-Hopper too

The gold trim became a nightmare! With a sample in hand from Gas-Hopper a search began for metallic gold enamel. Can't get it here - had to buy a metallic gold latex which took 8 coats to make opaque! And then I had to varnish over it to make it jump!

done and done!

including George's oak coaming!

and the TNT - looking good too.

So the boats going into the booth at TIBS are ready, the Lightning is ready but stored.

Back again! Here's a little catch up, Nova Scotia in Sept

My wee wifey and I spent most of September in Nova Scotia, first time for Gretchen and first time on holiday for me. Loved it - a boaters heaven in many ways - especially Bras D'Or Lakes, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (Halifax), Lunenburg and environs and Annapolis Royal - in other words the whole province. Here a few pictures:

Museum of Atlantic, Halifax

A.G.Bell Museum, Baddeck

skiff at M of Atlantic

my boat ride in Halifax!

View from our B&B balcony, Fisherman's Cove, Hfx

Bluenose, Lunenberg

a dory in front of a house, nr Lunenberg.

caulking in Annapolis Royal

offered as a donation to K&C

 That's the quickie tour. In Baddeck at the AGB Museum I met with the director and discussed the restoration of Scrapper II which was built in AGB's boatshop there. We have ideas which I'll share in a later post.

In Halifax I met with the Assist. Dir. and discussed kids-at-risk boatbuilding as we do it - they are interested in further discussions - it would add to great programmes they already have going.

Lunenberg was amazing - boats and boatbuilding everywhere, lots of interest in our Scrapper restoration goals there too.

I couldn't help imagining a K&C summer raid on NS wherein a group of our volunteers and Gatsby members tow some of our boats down there to participate in some events - our boats would be unusual there.