Put a Bird on It

Here at Alameda Point, we like to put a bird on it.  Every spring, the birds come in and get ready to nest and then they nest and then there's baby birds.  It's put a bird on it time, island style.

Great blue herons, mallards and coots.

Don't have time to look up the name of this one.

Great blues up in the Monterey cypress they have chosen as their nesting trees.  They re-use the nests.

And of course, Canada Geese.

Make it better, put a bird on it.

Time to Overhaul the Playboat

I decided it was time to overhaul the playboat.  Main reason being that the sunlight had deteriorated the lashings in the cockpit area.  The skin was still OK.  As I often do, I used materials in this boat that I haven't used before to see how they hold up.  And the lashings which were done in cheap poly-unbraided string had gotten eaten by the sun. So, strip off the skin and proceed.  This is part one of the series showing what the frame looked like after I pulled off the skin.  Subsequent parts will show repairs and overhauls.

1

Here''s the skin pulled off the boat, actually cut off.  I won't reuse it.  It's nylon which shrinks when the sun shines on it. I aim to replace it polyester.

2

The boat sans skin, defrocked, naked.  Goose pond and SF skyline in the background along with US Govt. cyclone fence separating us from the federal land.

3

Deteriorated lashings - the primary reason for rework.

4

Though the wood has gotten ragged and the varnish deteriorated, the lashings are still good where they weren't exposed to the sun.

5

With outdoor storage, spiders move in, hence the cobwebs.  Also note doweled stringer come loose with dowels working their way out of their holes.  Needs to be backed up with lashings, or heavens forbid, screws.

6

Here's the fuzzy wood look that wood gets when repeatedly exposed to water.  This is pine.  Doug fir and redwood which I also used in this boat do not get this disease.

7

Finally, for aesthetic reasons, I decided to put a bird on it.

8

And another version of Put a bird on it!