Camp, Primer, Sanding and More

Friday was a treat: my BIL and I attended SCAMP Camp #8 for the day. It was good to see old friends and meet new ones. Seeing five SCAMPS in various stages of completion under one roof was educational and motivational. I never knew a utility knife blade could be used as a mini-scraper. Discussions of winter-time boat building in Michigan and Ontario resulted in ideas for extending the fall season and getting back to the shop earlier next spring.

While at SCAMP Camp I came to a decision: I will give Gardens my best effort to have her launched, outfitted and shaken down in order to participate in next year's Texas 200. This is an ambitious goal but one worth focusing on: John Welsford will be sailing in the event as will a number of other friends and acquaintances. The Saturday Night Special project (6 of John's new Saturday Night Specials to be built and sailed in the Texas 200 and kept as loaner boats) is a feature of the build-up to the 2016 Texas 200. There is also a good chance four or five Pathfinders will be there! I look forward to being a part of it all.

While the leaves on the trees are changing colors (yes, already!), Gardens is changing colors, too. The darkish brown of epoxied meranti plywood is giving way to the bright white of primer. Gardens will soon have a splotchy look to her as I sand,fill and fair the few blemishes revealed by the primer. But the prospect of painting color is exciting and not far away.

The mast… The mast has been shaped to nearly round - it won't ever be perfectly round - using my block plane and 40-grit paper on the ROS. Lots of shavings and sawdust! The next step is sanding the entire length with 60-grit paper, but I suspect it won't take nearly as long to do as the initial sanding/shaping.

Three other Pathfinders that I know of are in the works in Florida, Texas and Georgia. It is exciting to see each emerge from wood to become beautiful Pathfinders. Seeing the progress on these builds motivates me as I work on Gardens.