Steve Tarry

I was making progress until I broke a bone in my left hand and suddenly couldn't grasp anything with enough force to hold it. It's better now, but I lost months of good-weather building time. Sigh... Well, spring is coming, at least here in the northwest where winter never actually arrived. Svenska Flicka will yet float! Fintan, we're going to be in your neighborhood this summer -- what must I see as a tourist of that part of Ireland?

Adla, you are an inspiration. Tell me, though, all you glass experts out there... What do you do with the bits of fabric at the bottom of the photos? Do you wrap them around while things are still wet or trim them off once things get hard and cover the edges when glassing the top? If so, are they difficult to trim? I've never done glassing and this step (as Barry suggested) does have me a bit concerned waaaayyyy in advance of need.

I hope to get there for one of the three days, but the 7th is a work day and the 8th may be a "Camelot" rehearsal. Perhaps after rehearsal or on the 9th. Who knows... if I miss a Labor Day launch, maybe it'll be me at the Oly show next year?

Well, after a winter of lethargy, too much performing, and a chilly garage I attacked the Svenska Flicka again this past week. First, a whole lot of clutter had to be removed from the hull bottom as it seemed to have attracted every object that came in the house without an assigned home. After that, I attached the transom and dry-fitted the deck in place. Good grief, it actually looks like a boat. Right now, it's time to do some minor cutting and fitting and making of small parts, then the whole thing can be glued up and the sides put on. Maybe Labor Day is not an impossible launch date after all.

Ah, so you were a techie. Actors love techies; without them, we'd be in the dark. "Remember me, in light!" Opening went well, but I napped much of today away when I wasn't walking the dogs and my fat self. Now, it's off to the theatre again. When do I build this boat?

Booger sure does look Rottie, but what boat is that?

Dave, you impress me. "Screw your courage to the sticking place" is the Old Actor's attempted completion of the the line that begins with "Friends, Romans, Countrymen..." When I did the show in '64, the "Screw your courage" line got a great laugh because everyone in the place knew that it was the wrong next line and a million miles from "Lend me your ears." Neither of our preview audiences has even slightly giggled. Have we become that ignorant of the classics in the last couple decades? Guess so. By the way, the line is from Lady MacBeth when she's trying to get her hubby jacked up enough to kill the king. I did the role of the boy's father before but I'm the girl's father this time, without near the makup I had to wear the first time around. What did you play?

Ah, Dave is a veteran of the show, I see. Well, "Never Say No" and "Radish" are both mine, but as much fun as they are, I'd still rather be farther along with the boat than I am. I've had cut-out pieces all over one garage bay since early September and I'm still not 3-D! The deck is assembled, the bulkheads are ready, the mast box is waiting impatiently, and the box behind the cabin bulkhead (custom built to accomodate a wide-bottomed buddy of mine) is just sitting in the cold. Shoot, even the transom is cut out and ready. All I need is a couple hours in a row when I can screw the bloody thing together. Oh, well... After 11/30, my time is mine until "Camelot" in the spring. Anyone want to bet that I miss my 9/1/04 launch date?

Well, I have survived the rehearsal process and "Fantasticks" opens tonight for a month-long run. Please, someone remind me not to do back-to-back shows again. Between losing all my evenings and the building principal actually expecting me to show up for work and teach, there hasn't been much time for the boat. And now, there's still snow on the ground that hasn't melted from last week... By the way, how cold does it have to get before the resin glue just won't set?

Sorry for the outburst. The English-teacher part of my brain just exploded.

Okay, here I was with parts cut out and not too far from going 3-D and school and show started simultaneously. I have three more weeks of "Odd Couple" performances still to go, and on Tuesday I start rehearsal for "The Fantasticks." When is this boat going to get built? By the way, it strikes me that installing the steering mechanism would be easier before the sides go on. Is that totally impractical in the scheme of things?

Yeah, Ray's right. With 3/8", the trick is to get it to lie flat!

As I read the plans, the top of the forward bulkhead sets right against the deck panel joiner which runs from side to side. The mast box then abutts the bulkhead on the forward side, right beneath the panel joiner, forcing a cut through both the deck and the joiner for the mast to fit into the box. Wouldn't it make as much sense to make the mast box a bit longer to match the bulkhead and use two shorter panel joiners on either side of the mast location, or would this weaken something on some way? Maybe I'm just looking for shortcuts. We open "Odd Couple" this week and school opened last week, so I've done darn little boat building and am perhaps just tired and cranky.

Oh. I figured it was just a turtle.

I must be incredibly lucky. Not only is Inga parking her Subaru out in the weather so I can have half the garage for boat construction, but she helps with the construction and was the one who really urged me into doing this whole thing. Weird, huh?