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barryhill

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About barryhill

  • Birthday 01/01/1

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    Pepin, Wisconsin

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  1. And Hi! from this corner. Been a long winter of this and that, here and there, struggles and distractions. The bit of boat work has moved to the old farm house which is a bear to keep anywhere near warm. Finished the room here at the house in town where the Teal was built so projects were moved up the hill. Duckboat restoration creeping along there. Things were thin here before the crash so going far afield for income. Did manage to feed my ongoing mid-life educational crisis with some electronics study and a ham radio license. Glad I stopped by here this morning. Bill, we'll start the countdown to Messabout. The Corps measure ice at 18" off Lake City and 22" at Pepin. Above freezing tomorrow and warmer all week. I'm done with the white stuff. The sun can deal with it. Dave, I'm green. Seems I can only manage port Townsend every decade or two. Had a kid in Seattle for a bit but she moved south again for the beach! Should get at a sail for the Teal. Tyvek might go part of a third season! Bob
  2. Hey Stephen, We're both up early. Only momentarily confused by DST! 18 degrees this morning, Yay! Maybe we've seen the last of sub-zero. We didn't get all the snow, but sure been cold. Ya oughta see the icebreaking routine here. Push a barge up on the ice and let it break down through. In heavy ice might only get a few pushes in during a day. Drive to and from the boat and stay in motels! One year took the better part of a week to get past Pepin (the village). Great to hear you're gonna make it here this year. Might even get my wife in that big boat. Bob
  3. Gettin' anxious here. Photo of the river this afternoon. Messabout site is on the far shore at the right of the frame. COE reports 17-29 in. ice. Signs of spring though, lots of wildlife out and about. Eagles tending nests. There's hope. Greg, any word from the RV park? Things will pick up around here when the river breaks up and the eagle migration hits. Kinda tough on'em right now. Up the hill yesterday chased one off a roadkill skunk! Bob
  4. May 30-June 1 here. If I remember Rend Lake is the next weekend like last year. Bob
  5. Hey Stephen, Thanks for sharing! Maybe this year I'll get on the big lake. Meanwhile we're hangin' on. Not much goin' on with the Teal. Hope to have a sail made to replace the tyvek by the Pepin Messabout. Bill has heard from several folks and expecting a good crowd. Good to hear you're planning on it. Ain't livestock wonderfull? Hauled a few 5 gallon ice cubes home from the horse corral! Just almost got to 0* this afternoon. Here's one Steve Lewis took of me mugging last July on Spirit Lake, Iowa. Bob
  6. Got out twice yesterday. Up the hill to feed the horse. By four the snow quit and the sun came out. Haven't seen this much snow in quite awhile. Blue sky anyway! 6 below this morning. Bob
  7. In school hands and knees was known as The "gunsmith position". Man! those little springs could fly. Finding one was a big relief if it wasn't somebody else's lost weeks before. Howdy Blacksmith. Hear you might get a little snow tonight. We get freezing rain and pay for this little January thaw. Heal quick. When I drilled my Teal for gudgeons that were drilled and tapped I held a finger on the other side. Figured I had to hit that spot. Bob
  8. My lovely wife surprised me with this. Been trying to round up the change to replace the old Radio Shack DX. Bob
  9. barryhill

    Baltic birch?

    Built my Teal of Baltic. Was the best stuff I could find locally. Was $17 for 1/4" last winter. Up to $24 now. Like it, BUT stains quickly if it gets wet. Sailed to the Lake Pepin Messabout with one coat of epoxy on the interior. Showed dark stains in a couple days. Anything bright needs two coats of epoxy and varnish. Other than that glitch it worked very well. Stood up to some hard use this summer and a major dunking at the end of the season. I'll use it again. Dryin' out and gettin' chilly on Lake Pepin, Bob
  10. Doug, the tyvek worked great. Used it because I had it when I needed a sail and time and money were short. Drawn with Sailcut CAD and sewed with a home type Singer so its got some shape. Got a few small holes I believe are from abrasion trailering. Will try to make a "real" sailcloth one this winter and crutches to haul it in. It certainly is lighter than polytarp. Not sure it would last another season. Will miss the attention it gets! Great Steve. Love to see 'em. Bob
  11. Thanks dale, Bolger Teal. Built last winter. Photo from Iowa Messabout at Spirit Lake in July. Steve, did pics of me sailing go away in crash?
  12. I'm gonna start SMELL like a pirate day. The irony is that I'd cleaned up good the night before for a birthday party with the hipsters downtown. Now I smell of the Mississippi. Might be an improvement. Man, that's a tough one. For myself, I'd rather camp at Loon and trailer the hop to Spirit if the sailing warranted. Turns out one of the guys we talked to at Loon works at Fish and Wildlife where I picked up the duckboat that week. He's tight with the guy at the campground. Believes we'd be accommodated. Then, I missed a career in marketing by always being wrong. Biggest problem is getting those city folk that far out on the prairie. Might be cannibals out there Bob
  13. To say nothing of a bath..............me and the boat! Bob
  14. Ahoy, been awhile. A beautiful first day of fall here on Lake Pepin. Temp. near 80, SSE breeze at 10-15 with gusts. Launched the Teal from the Sportsmans' Landing at 12:30. Cleared the pier and headed across the lake close hauled, then east on a reach. Repeated that several times over two hours and had the best sailing of the season. Gusting abated long enough to take a few photos. About the time I tired of paying such close attention and heading up the gusting came on and stayed. One last reach put me upwind of the landing. A little tricky downwind with this little double-ender in a stiff breeze but I've learned to tame her some over the summer. Did fine UNTIL 100 yards from the beach I rounded up to loosen the leeboard so it wouldn't be jammed to pull as I landed and to consider going to a starboard tack for the final approach. Never got to make that decision. Made my mistake as I turned to slide back to the tiller from the leeboard. The boat had gone sideways and before I looked up from the leeboard I grabbed the sheet, the sail filled with all my weight to lee and over we went. I slid down the flared side and went in feet first, hung on and crawled over around to the bottom and pulled her up......and over! The tanks in the ends were keeping her high but she didn't want to sit upright. Oh well.....just hang on and float in. Worst that can happen is to miss the beach and end up on the rip-rap pier that my spare life jacket and little pop cooler were headed for. About that time several fishing boats came up. Pro walleye guys headed for the Landing to weigh in. With a few attempts one got hold of my painter and towed me close enough to touch bottom. Another grabbed my PFD and cooler. Nothing damaged but my pride. Lost one oarlock (unfinished and not pinned in the socket or fixed to the oar). Pack with phone, camera and GPS stayed dry in the tank behind the Seadog hatch. After bailing, sorting and thanking the fisherman I realized my hat was on my head and bone dry! When I rode the Harley somebody told me "You ain't a biker 'til you take one down"..............so, Lessons learned; Pay attention and don't grab the sheet 'til you see what's goin' on. Gotta have a way to control the tiller and sheet for those times when hands are elsewhere. Get a painter that floats! On the positive side; The hatched tanks worked. Would have lost $500 in electronics without them. I did decide to quit when I was tired. Better to screw up in spitting distance of home than in the middle of the lake with the wind taking me to St. Paul and the current to New Orleans. Photo approaching Pepin,WI. The Landing is just to starboard of the marina. Bob
  15. Love my Porter Cable. Bought it 20 odd years ago when it got rave reviews in Wooden Boat. The poor old disc came apart this summer and whacked me in the forehead. Only bad thing its ever done! Team it with 3M green 36 grit and it'll move some stuff. Bob
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