Making Progress

I hadn't planned on doing an update on the progress of the boat so soon, but I haven't had much chance to get out and around to get any pictures and since my son Ben called this morning asking to see what's been done so far, I opted to post the most recent development. Both boys used to fish with me when they were growing up, so the ol' Bonnie J holds memories for them, many of which I'm sure they would rather forget. I used to take them out to the ocean, on the outside coast where there was always a swell, and they would both get seasick. I truly felt bad for them, but I needed the help. You can imagine what a nightmare it was, being confined to a rolling platform that smelled of diesel and exhaust with a clown who yelled all the time, being away from your friends with nothing to do, and knowing that in the morning the first thing you would do would be puke your guts out. I can't imagine why they didn't enjoy fishing with me. Anyway, we somehow all managed to survive. The bottom picture shows the bow stem pretty well. John Kveum used the old one for a pattern and carved this one out of a piece of Douglas Fir. I so admire his skill. To me this bow stem is a thing of beauty, like a piece of art. The middle picture shows him on the deck installing a new breast hook. I don't know how they ever came up with that name- it sounds kind of like a medieval torture device. There are a lot of strange names for everyday things on boats. A marine toilet is called a head. What's that about? A wall is a bulwark and left and right are known as port and starboard. Why not just say left or right? I don't know; I guess it just doesn't sound nautical enough. I honestly don't know if I have a poop deck. I know some boats do- I just use a bucket and toss it off whatever deck I'm standing on, but I'm certain that's not what the name refers to. I've been spending a fair amount of time down at the boat while John's been working. Mainly my job is to hand him tools and entertain him with stories. I mentioned playing cards with my friends Bob and Gail Pinard last night. We get together most Saturday evenings in the winter to play Gin Rummy. Bob is at that age where hair is getting kind of sparse on top. He was sitting down studying his cards when Gail complained about an offending hair and reached up and yanked it out. Why do women do stuff like that? I once had a female employee give one of my eyebrow hairs a good solid yank. Apparently she thought it was a loose hair that was going to poke me in the eye. It wasn't until my  head followed the rest of my eyebrow that she realized it was attached. Though her intentions were good, frankly, that hurt. Anyway, Bob was upset that she pulled it out- claimed it was his lucky hair. It turned out that it was. He ended the night with only 110 points- the lowest I ever recall him scoring. In any event, John liked the story and promised to return tomorrow to start on the planks. I think if I can keep him entertained with tales from my past,his work will be well on it's way to finished by the end of next week.