Down Side

Walnut Creek in the heart of Illinois was one of my favorite places as a kid.    A little over a mile from my house, it joins the spoon river which makes its way to the Illinois River and then onward.  I always enjoyed playing in the creek because of the rocky shallows which allowed me to explore up-stream from my access point.  I never had a boat to use back then, though I did once build a log raft inspired by Tom and Huck.  I never got to try it because a nine year old boy doesn't always consider the logistics of building a raft over a mile from the water.  Still: the creek was great.
Now that I have a boat, it is only natural that I would return to that water and use it for training.  The tight turns have helped me learn control and the debris makes my partner and I work together without hating each other's guts.  But those rocky shallows that were the joy of my youth have a down side: they eat my hull.
After the training run on the spoon, I put the canoe up on horses to refinish the scratches and discovered some serious damage.  While scraping down the creek, we took off a bunch of the fiberglass and water soaked into the wood.  This actually caused two of the planks/strips to separate.  Also, up and down the hull I was missing glass.

Those patches are where I had to affix new glass.  Of course it looks really horrible when it's dry, but those become clear when saturated with resin.  The worst part was repairing the wood.  The section where the boards cracked is right in the bilge area (where the bottom of the hull becomes the side) and is under the most pressure.
I got it, though.  And, after a lot of sanding and such, I have her back together.
What this really requires is to be totally stripped on the outside and re-glassed.  The budget however is not there, so it is getting some patches of really heavy glass.
Once the evening was upon me, I poured myself a nice tumbler of sour mash and sat down to watch the fireflies.  A nice peaceful evening with lots of work behind me... and then I got back to it.
Raccoons have always come into the yard for the mulberries and it was never a problem.  Recently though, two of the dogs have been injured.  So, to protect the dogs (which I don't like, but they are part of the yard) I outfitted one of my paint ball guns with a light and did a little "active defense" of the perimeter.  

Note the addition of an adapted bicycle light.  This not only allows me to see the critters' eyes, but also means I can do this one handed while holding a drink.

I sometimes wonder if I am spending too much time alone in a barn.  Isn't this how urban folk stereotype the more rural types?  I have an education you know, and I read a lot.
I guess what matters is this: fun is fun.

Anyway, before anyone begins a blog about cruelty to raccoons let me say that they don't like being shot, but it doesn't hurt them.  The tend to growl and hiss at me and run off muttering curses and obscenities.  I used to have a pet raccoon and it was indestructible.  Those are tough animals.  Also, though, you should know that they are ill-tempered and you should never touch one unless it is a hat.
Just sayin'.

So, now I need to smooth everything out and put the graphics on.  From here out, the Meers-cat and I will be training on the spoon and then it will be race day.  Hope this is the last time I do this for a while.
Stay tuned.