Mike Pennington

Yepper, I seen those before, and they still make me drool.

You can send the blade out to be heat treated, though I can't recomend anyone at this time. Very touchy process. Sometimes they bend in the cooling, they also tend to scale up with carbon, tough to grind off. I'm going to check that site out John. Some of the kits are more finished than the others, the bevel for the edge is all ready cut. This wouldn't be to bad to work with, plus the polishing of the blade is done for you. Buffing a blank blade is more work than grinding one. I can't stay at the wheel like I used to. The vibration from the belt grinders or the buffer are too hard on my wrists anymore. I like the 440c steel or AST 34 which has nickle in it. I'll look around a little more. Sam inherited the knife business from his brother Jimmy Little. Sam's pretty well known in Alaska and Texas. But Jimmy was the true artist, if you ever see one of his knives buy it, the piece is worth a lot of money to a collector that new him. Yes we made knives in the eighties to the mid nineties, Sam of coarse is still at it. He mostly makes hunting knives now. The bowie and sword days are long gone.

John, Are you looking to buy already shaped and heat treated blanks for the blades? Are you going to use pins or bolts for the handle scales or just epoxy? Are you going to use an exotic wood or micarta for the handle? Are you going to use a bolster? I went looking for some of the companies I use to buy from, none of them look familiar, sorry. This is the only one I recognize. http://www.knifeandgun.com/index.htm I would suggest Knives magazine's advirtisements. Otherwise go shopping on line and look for the best deals. If you are using preheat treated blanks you might consider a softer steal because they will be a bear to sharpen. I still have the knife shop, I'm leasing it out to Sam Little an Alaskan custom knife maker. I even still have the furnace to heat treating at 2100 degrees. After heat treating I would put them in a -70 freezer, the blades averaged a Rockwell factor of about 80. The knives hold an edge real well, but they are a booger to get sharp to begin with. One needs a good belt grinder. Mike Good luck, keep me posted with your progress. Oh yeah, I can't resist telling this one. Ever go to dinner and can't cut your steak with the cutlery they give you to eat with? Well, nothing like whipping out your own pig sticker.

Craig, Would you go out in the bay with a smaller motor than the one you curently have? And do you have a Johnson 9.9?

I think I'm going for the warm blanket and not get out of bed, except to go to work.

It was only -20 when I got off work this morning. Yep, looks like you folks took my weather. But that's okay, you can keep it. I remember when I was a kid it snowed over a foot in Texas and that was on the coast. I thought that white stuff was so great, I ran away to Alaska. I've been stuck/frozen here ever since. :roll: I even know how to build an igaloo. I can't wait till I grow up to be a Snow Bird ( that's when a person retires and goes south for the winter every year). :wink:

You all drive safe in the bad weather. I'm use to this stuff, knock on my wooden head, and even I scare myself now and again. I hadn't thought of my little joke might be someone elses problem. Glad you made it home safe, Dave. We go for long trips in bad weather for adventure. But our vehicals are built to drive in this stuff. Big engines to generate more heat. :wink: Heated seats. :shock: Auto start :roll: Heaters on the battery, transmission oil pan and block heater are all standard equipement on my Wife's Rough Terain Vehical. Frank, when I was on Maui last month. I actually met locals that wanted to come hear to go snow machining. That old sled out back , was there dream machine. Oh and that picture of California snow in the post above, Some times that is all you see when you drive up here. Nothing but white out, can't see beyond the windshiel wipers. By the time you get to a stop, that is if you dare stop, you realize you've been pushing some poor old lady's chevy for the last mile. :twisted: I was once playfully busting threw snow drifts with one of my old monster trucks and I found a buried car in the road. I kind of got it unstuck for the guy at least. Knocked in clean out of the snow drift to a bare patch of road. Lucky for me the snow cushioned the blow and I didn't crunch his front end. Hunker down, enjoy your Christmas Folks, I'll try and remember to keep the door closed. Mike

How do you like the weather guys. Look like you Southern Folks are getting a little white stuff. Merry Christmas

And harder! :wink:

Excellent, Hybernating between work days. Planning my next sailing trip in May. Cleared some unwanted stuff out of my garage. Thinking about building a new main hatch and a monster rudder. :wink: Wondering what power tool I want to ask Santa for next? :roll: I hope every things fine with you, too, fair winds. Mike

Yeah, I did. Sorry gang :oops: My wife has had me moving furniture around, I got a little hot and forgot about the dang door. :wink: Heck, I even had the garage door open I had to make a shoe rack for the pesky Firstmate, too. I put up a four foot Christmas tree, and she said it wasn't big enough. Take it down? :shock: Okay, I put a seven foot Christmas tree up. She said it doesn't fit there. So I got to move the furniture again. :roll: Then, last night, the two grandmas across the street put up one more string of lights than us. Now I get to find my ladder. Ye old Frozen one. :twisted:

I'm still practicing, Barry. TOR has had a mystery novel of mine for awhile now. (only three months) I figure the longer that they don't send me a rejection slip, the better chances I have. :wink: My fantasy is, if they pick it up, I am going to buy a metal garage building for the new boat shed. DNA publishing is about to get a fiction piece. If I ever get enough nerve to call it finished. I have set a goal by Jan. Lars Opland, a retired quarter master off the Eagle, is sending me small pieces of witty remembrances. I've made it a project to weld the tales into a couple of nautical short stories, at his request of coarse. So I

Writing, writing and more writing. Rewriting, rewriting and more rewriting. :shock: Barry, I have meant to ask you more than once, who do you write for?

Mark, That was my thought, float her off with air bags. She had been on the reef since halloween. She was pretty much intact until two days before I took the picture. Even still had her furling sail up. Sorry to hear about the eviction notice. Mike

Frank, The yacht's name was The America II out of Lahaina. Slip six. $40/person The sail was worthy it, I would do it again on my next visit. Sure beats a boogie board. By the way the movie was Wind, the boat portrayed by America II was Geranamo. :oops:

Barry, Nope, not the Big E. And here I was going to put a disclaimer on the quiz, saying you were excluded, due to the unfair advantage of being a habitual resident. The racer was modified for day sailing. I don't believe very many America's Cup yachts are ever used for this purpose. The keel and mast were cut down from the original racing specifications, I really would have loved to sail on her orignal design. The Skipper told a tale about the lady who bought her after the conversion for tourism. She made sure everybody on board knew the boat belonged to her. Insisted on sitting up front, after all the boat was hers. The Skipper tried to convince her to sit back in the stern, but she didn't want no part of that. He said she got a little wet, and was thoroughly ticked off at him. :wink: The boat is still a high performance speedster, you can't help but get wet.

Me Too! Rudders have become the most repaired / reconstructed part of my Vacationer. Of coarse I've pushed the limits, by adding more sail and sailing in rough weather. Good job, Barry.

I don't usually double submit, but I feel like bragging and I'm too tired. So here's the pitch. What does an old sea dog do when the water gets hard? Go south! Well this snow bird hooked up his water wings and took off for Maui. Yep, beaches, jungle and lots of water fun. The only free boat I found was this one, and I would have made her mine if I could have. Not enough rode, is why she is on the reef, sad. However, on to more cheerful thoughts, I kept looking and found another ride. I am sorry to say that I don't have a picture of the whole ship, because of a "duh!" moment, a wet camera and the fact I was to busy hanging on. My fault, I kept yelling, "More sail!" The Skipper was so nice to oblige me. Joan, took a picture of some of her pals who stopped by, so of coarse I'll share. I love a good sail, :wink: as some of you have heard over the past few years :roll: What makes a good sail for me? The three W's, wind, waves and lots of wet and the boats got to heel over a bit just for grins. I was totally horrified when the Skipper enlisted me to help reef the sails, but there were squealers and kids aboard, the fuddy duddies. I took great pleasure when the skipper purposely aimed for the larger swells just to get them even wetter. :twisted: I mean when you got seventy six feet of mast, I say use it. The Skipper and I were having so much fun he forgot to watch the time. We just kept going, he had all kinds of stories to tell, yes, tell me more I would prompt :wink: But those dang (very wet) squealers had to go and blow it. I mean, I thought they were too busy hanging on to look at their watches. Bummer! The Skipper also had to radio in and cancel the last sail of the day, because it seems someone fibbed when he asked what time it was. Okay, so I tipped him. Bribes are totally cool when it comes to sailing. The weather was getting better by my standards and I believe if it was just the Skipper and a few other salty souls we would have gone for a real sail. As it was, we got in a little late. That two hour tour was more like four hours. Fine by me, twice the sail. Then to top off the day, we got a little blessing to point the way home. Okay trivia quiz: What boat was used in the sailing movie Geranamo, a story about an America's Cup race? Also, the name of the boat I got to sail on last Monday. Mike Pennington, the guy grinning ear to ear.

Twenty-three years ago, when Joan and I, first staked our homestead we had that back to the old ways bug. My son never saw a flushing tolet until he went to school. I asked my son recently how he felt about growning up out in the boonies. I was having doubts about raising him without all those aminities that I have become so fond of these past few years. Naw! He's cool with it and since the squirt makes more money than I do now days and likes sailing, I guess I did all right. Besides, he told me he can't wait to tell my grand kids how hard it was in his days as a kid. :shock: I've seen lots of kids grow up out in the bush. I think the most important thing is that they get a book education, along with the rural life style's education. If they get both, they are awesome to behold. The old boy that built the cabin was one tough hombre. I liked the shelf he made. Yeah, I peeled a log or two. But that guy was Paul Bunyon, Sargent Preston and Klondike Mike Mahoney rolled into one man.

Thats right Mark, boat show, think boat show. May 1 Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby begins - Summer long sponsored by the Homer Chamber of Commerce. Monthly cash prizes. Call 235-7740 for more information. 5 - 8 13th Annual Kachemak Bay Wooden Boat Festival - Boat exhibits, rowboat races, demonstrations by boat builders and a kid

Yeah, Mark, Wooden boat festival in Homer first week of May. I already took the time off, I will be there. Mike

I have to put my experience in too. THe respirator is a good idea, but as you can see by the photo coverage is important too. Including safety glasses. I wear long sleeves when I epoxy these days. I have had some skin reactions with RAKA, and now use West, so far I have been okay. I also mean no slander against RAKA. The stuff has worked well for lots of others. However, what Oyster says, sensitivity can occur after multiple use to some users. I have also epoxied my left tear duct closed while in an inclosed space. Argh! Almost as bad as getting stung by a yellow jacket in the corner of the eye. Swelled my eye shut for days. Thus my mention of safety glasses above. :roll:

Yep, I hate it when a piece of wood decides to take off on its own. I was once splitting a short piece of stringer. Had to let go of one side, to close to the blade, and because I was tired forgot to stand to the side for safety :shock: Said twelve inches of wood launched off the table and speared me in the chest. I looked like Count Dracula on a bad day But heck, I think a little spilt blood puts character in a project.

Mark, I still haven't found the flotation planks I'm looking for, I believe I'll be learning to make them, too. A scientist's work is never done Closed cell spray foam, floats, now I just need a coating / shell to keep it from being shredded. Maybe foam a board up in layers, shape it, then fiberglass it. It would have to be stream lined to look good, but the rail wouldn't go under. Besides, when my girl breaks loose and goes dock bashing on her own, like last summer, she'll have a little armor. :wink: Personally, all joking aside, I think the best solution to extream healing over in a blow is to add weight to the keel like Ray did. Then counter with positive ballast up high in the boat.

Mark I found this site http://holtallen.com/holt/bbag.html I'm still looking, I used to have 4'x4"x4" floats for my Colman Scanoe they bolted to each side of the canoe. The boat was real hard to roll over. I'm still looking for a similar product. http://www.seamarknunn.com/catalog/subcat151.htm http://www.marinestore.co.uk/thestore/buoybags.html