Kudos on Mike's Bolger Index

Very nice work Mike. That is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for a few months back.
 
Seth
________________

That's fantastic and a great resource. Thanks for creating the index. I am especially interested in the "Big Bird" design, although it doesn't look very weatherly :-)

Bill, in Texas

Thoughts

Hope to try the scullmatrix while doing a photo project on the Florida edge of Ms. Gulf of Spicy Mexico, on a real ugly boat I am repairing and adding a small cuddy for some Cramping, since its too small call a camper and is a day boat unless a tide traps me. Shooting the same spots above the water and under it, with camera on a pole or rope with dive light. In waters I have watched for 40 years.

I have been thinking a lot about the changes in water quality and sea rise, seeing it first hand, over time. You cannot have a conversation about the environment without finding some political rage. Maybe looking under the skirt of Ms. Gulf for what beauty she gives birth to in the mangrove crib, is somehow obscene to developers?

Well, I guess a new condo is a church and fees are the collection plate, and I have to be sensitive to such spirtual dovecote's, if they are good guests on the skivvies of Ms. Gulf. I guess I am, but I am grumpy about any lack of respect for Spicy Lady.

Is being environmentally thoughtful a political obscenity?

Watching your site for years, it helps people get on the water. They learn they came from the sea long ago, and carry it inside them daily. Both the Gulf and the inner sea can be a scary place. Maybe that balance is a kind of walking on water, (not to confuse the feet of Jesus with a paddle board.) Said with a smile. I remember Rob White...he was cultural and it slid into political, and it made people mad, but its all in the same pot belly. One has to use wit as a paddle in both seas, the one in the belly and the one that gives us life.

Keep up the good work.
Thanks.
Roger

Influential?

My name is Georgia Ward and I represent the Mesothelioma & Asbestos Awareness Center at maacenter.org – the web's leading resource for those affected by asbestos cancer. I am contacting you today because I noticed you have an influential website that has already chosen to highlight the dangers of asbestos for your visitors—and even link to related sites. I am hoping you will take some time to look through our site and consider adding it as a resource link on yours as well. I am confident you will find it an important and valuable source of information for your visitors.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Best,
Georgia

Design Challenge

Chuck,

This would be a worthy design challenge for our readers if they do not have the 20K asking price.....

It looks remarkably like a Michalak Harmonica with smooth corners.....

-Sealander-

Regards,
Gary

Grand Opening

Paddling and traditional boat enthusiasts:

Chesapeake Wooden Boat Builders School has moved to the Upper Bay Museum in North East, MD.

Please join us for our Grand Opening & Canoe Rendezvous on Sat., Sept. 8 from 10 until 5.

(Yes , I know its the same day as the DRTSCA Union Lake Messabout and the CYRG Crab Feast. There are only so many days in a season.)

· Canoe enthusiasts mingle and launch their boats in the park.
· UBM hosts their historical hunting demonstrations including punt, bushwacking and sculling demos (ever see a punt gun or battery gun fired?)
· Museum/Boat School Tours
· Explore Boat School's Courses, and sighn up for the fall semester.

North East Community Park (foot of Walnut St., on Northeast Creek) hosts the Boat School's new location with canoe ramp accessibility.

Download the flyer HERE

See you there!
Greg DeCowsky greenfire@mad.scientist.com

It turned into a poem

Chuck:

It's beem a while since I have submitted anything, and thought you might like this. It isn't BOATS, but it is certainly nautical.

My friend Bryana Tastad took a photo of her friend Rowan Misch, and I looked at it, and said, "There is a story here. I may have to tell it, as soon as I figure out what it is."

It turned into a poem.

An unkind person subsequently pointed out that, in most of the English speaking world, "quay" does not rhyme with "bay", but rather with
"key". It's a better poem if you don't know that, but such is life.

Take care,

Paul Haynie

(click to enlarge)

Rowan's Ghost

She walks the quay when the skies are gray
Wrapped in a snow white shroud;
Her feet are bare in the salty air,
And she never speaks aloud.

In vain she waits on the cruel fates
As she walks the quay alone,
For her lover sleeps in the ocean deeps
And she sleeps beneath a stone.

Paul Haynie
9/2/2011

Photograph by Bryana Tastad
Model: Rowan Misch

To John Cupp

Hello Sir,

I just got through reading your article (RYOBI Rebuttal) and retort from the fellow that thought that Ryobi tools were junk. I recently bought a new cordless drill at Home Depot to do a job and found it to be a great tool for the money compared to my Milwaukee, Makita, Porter Cable, Craftsman, Freud, Delta and DeWalt tools. Yes, I have a whole array of brands and love them all.

I was just looking at a router table from them with a router for a mere $99, how could I go wrong? I have a nice Hitachi plunge router and would not want to tie it up stuck in a table set up. Being disabled like yourself, money is tight with no side type of income. I just do carpentry and cabinet / furniture work as a hobby. I was disabled 3years ago at the age of 55. I have a bad heart with 2 bad valves with a cardiomyopathy and also CHF which makes it hard for me to walk more than 25 feet or so even on the oxygen I am on 24/7. I have to use a cane in the house due to a mild stroke and I have a mobility scooter I use when I go to a store, park or to the yearly woodworking show. I refuse to give up and lose the things my wife and I enjoy. I got a kick out of your comment about your wife not going into Home Depot with you anymore, my wife is getting that way, hahaha.

Thank you for the great article and comments on Ryobi tools. You just gave me the assurance that they will do me well as an amateur woodworker.

Warmest Regards,
Henry Drummond

Amazing Epoxy

Crazy John Question

Hi Chuck,

I just had to comment. Crazy John's sharpie is beautiful. I loved the sailing video of it. Is that his own design? It seems like I've seen pictures of a similar one before. He sure did a beautiful job on it.

Paul Cook

Crazy John Answer

Dear Chuck and Mike,