Water Play

Work continued on key projects, including the Richardson, To 'N Fro, and the new skiff.  The Richardson is getting prettier by the day, with the cabin roof fully varnished and back in place, and a final coat of white paint on the topsides.  It should not be long before she leaves the shop and is once again cruising the lake waters of New York.  We reinstalled the windows, bedding them in Dolphinite to eliminate the previous leaks.

Looking sharp with her beautifully varnished cabin roof and white topsides.

 Making an old wooden hull look beautiful is a lot more work than just applying a few coats of paint, but all that hard work has come together to restore To 'N Fro's planking to its full glory. 

You can see your face in this mirror!

The lapstrake Whitehall, now named Huffin' (Huffin' and Puffin -- you get it, right?) is in the water, and is another beautiful addition to the growing ISM fleet of largely WoW-built boats.  She is a pleasure to row, and a joy to behold.

Huffin' at rest beside her sister, Puffin.

Meanwhile, Nick and the CHAD students continued to move forward on the skiff, building the remaining molds, and shaping the transom.

Nick explains a detail of skiff design to Brijith

Nick lays out the skiff's transom as Brijith and Brianna watch.

For a long time now, we have been looking for ways to make the entrance to WoW from the Museum more inviting to the public, and Joe took a big step in that direction by making a fine, hand carved welcome sign.  Lots of us have been pointing out the lack of signage, but Joe is the one who jumped in and is doing something about it.  He seems to be having a good time doing it, as well.

Joe carving away at his new "Welcome to the Workshop on the Water" sign

A big hungry crowd at the lunch counter.  Great to see so many folks involved.

The shop was really buzzing with activity all day.  Lots of volunteers, lots of students and interns, all working away on projects.  Sometimes, one doesn't realize how big a team is working in the shop until lunchtime, when heads can be counted.





 
The WoW crew hung around after work for a bit of mid-summer celebration with the entire ISM staff, volunteers, friends, and family.  A great barbecue was prepared and served, boats were sailed and rowed, and a good time was had by all.  A beautiful evening, one of the few this summer, it seems, certainly helped things along.  Thanks are due to John Brady, who suggested the celebration, as well as to Jeff who organized it and the interns and volunteers who manned the barbecue, shucked and steamed the corn (in a steaming bag, just like we steam wood for bending,) set everything up, and cleaned up afterward. 

Jeff sets up for the party. 

The guys shucking a full case of corn.  It was later steamed in our wood steamer setup. 

A happy and well fed crowd.

Party attendees enjoyed the festivities, both inside and outside the shop.

Sitting on the dock, watching the boats.  What could be better?

Huffin' races past Olympia.  Olympia wasn't really trying, though.