the dory is upside down in the front yard, waiting it's turn to find a slot
in the garage. Which will happen before the rains hit. I looked for a knee
on my boat that you can see in the close-up of my flemished painter,
however, I don't have any knees on the gull. Sad to say, but I think that
close-up goes to someone elses boat. Thanks for the points, though, after
all I did flemish the painter, shown in the full size photo, and it IS for
the presentation only. Usually my painter is dragging through the water
getting caught on stumps and roots, and the end gets closer and closer to an
Irish penant. My dad loves to say that. Hope it doesn't offend any Irish
boaters.

AARRrrrgghhh!!
Yeah, my Ace has "copper rivets", just not the ones I needed, mail
ordered them instead. Winks has the same story. Neither of them
carries bronze wood screws, so I now have to mail order them. Really
sucks paying 5$ shipping for 1$ worth of hardware. Neither Ace nor
Wink's nor Fishermans nor anyone else I have seen has the boat cleats
I want to use on the tender. This is just frustrating. I moved here
from Central Oregon and I swear that even though I only had one
hardware store to choose from, at least they usually had what I
wanted. And if they didn't, well, they were a small store in C.
Oregon, whadya expect. It was at least easier to take. I know I am
looking for oddball stuff, but geez!! Despite not being able to
secure necessary parts, progress is still being made. I am getting
closer.

Your boat is very nice.
Much nicer than mine. I "Finished" mine "Bright",
which was just putting on a coat of Epoxy, without
any UV protection, and after a few years it is
not so "Bright" anymore.
Bare lauan in spots, but the big runs are just fine.
They didn't show much when it was "Bright".
It was getting pretty bad, so I decide to sand it down.
Now the big runs show very well. I gave up after a
couple of days. Now all I want is to get it smooth
enough to put on a couple of coats of nice "Dory Latex".

I do have an Idea for your Painter.
I use my boat for Shad fishing on the Willamette River
at Oregon City. (About 50 feet from where I can put in.)
I hang a 15# rubber coated mushroom anchor from the
"Paiinter/Anchor line" run through the hole in the bow.
Drift boat style.
I enlarged and worked the hole to make it a smooth
sheave for the line to run over, and slathered the
inside of the hole with epoxy. Instant Anchoring.
15# anchor holds in most current, and doesn't bang
much if pulled up tight against bow.
When I don't need the anchor, I just tie a stopper knot
on the line and pull it up tight from the inside.
No muss, no fuss, no Irish penant.

I have taken my boat up to the falls. Again Drift boat
style, "Eddying" my way up. Only a couple of places
I had to work. Pretty easy close to the falls, it's
all eddies. Pretty scary though. Story is a 20 foot
sled got sucked under by a whirlpool. Light Dory gets
pretty small in Big Water.

Very interesting and very intimidating place. Huge
concrete walls on both sides, with huge paper mills above.

Lock on west side. Kind of fun to poke up in there.
I saw the "Spruce Goose" go through there.

East side has PGE's Power House A. Supposed to be the
first hydo power plant on the West Coast. Generator
came around the Horn. Was supposed to be 50 cycle,
but turned out to be 60 cycle, so that's what we have.
It powered the Street Cars in Portland.

Also on East side is "The Wet Hole". It is a hole in
the basalt about 40 feet in diameter and was very
deep befor the Corps filled it in. Was the Indian's
"Fishing" spot. Not much "Fishing" needed. It was
a natural "Fish Trap". When the runs were on, which
was pretty much all the time back then, the hole
would literally fill with fish, and all they had to do
was scoop them out. Not like Celilo.
Still a couple of petroglyphs on the rocks.

Best of all is the "Eel Run". Thousands of 2-4 foot eels
working their way up the falls. Every hole swarming with
them. Spooky. They attach themselves to the rocks with
their sucker heads, then flip themselves up and re-attach,
an slowly work their way over the falls to spawn.
some licensed "Fishermen" who catch them for Lab work
and fishing bait.
One of the most unusual sights I have ever seen.

Hope all this has helped you with your "Painter".

I still have no life.

Pat

ps

The Irish boaters are still paddling around in their
little round boats.(that should do it send all mail to Bryn)

Have Fun











--- In MessaboutW@y..., thoms.bryn@d... wrote:

the dory is upside down in the front yard, waiting it's turn to

find a slot

in the garage. Which will happen before the rains hit. I looked

for a knee

on my boat that you can see in the close-up of my flemished painter,
however, I don't have any knees on the gull. Sad to say, but I

think that

close-up goes to someone elses boat. Thanks for the points,

though, after

all I did flemish the painter, shown in the full size photo, and it

IS for

the presentation only. Usually my painter is dragging through the

water

getting caught on stumps and roots, and the end gets closer and

closer to an

Irish penant. My dad loves to say that. Hope it doesn't offend

any Irish

boaters.

-----Original Message-----
From: pateson@c... [mailto:pateson@c...]
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 9:39 AM
To: MessaboutW@y...
Subject: [MessaboutW] Duckworks Magazine - Depoe Bay


http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/

Nice "Cover Story" by Larry Barker. Well done.
Photos by John Ewing. Very nice.
(sorry if I missed any more credits)

Larry hadn't blown his own horn here.
Don't know if everyone has seen it and I missed it,
or the other way around.

"Bryn Thoms gets extra marks for neatness in his Gloucester Gull
presentation."
(It looks like that coil of line is epoxied in place. Does
that Dory always look like that?)

Thank you Guys.

Pat




No flaming, cursing or public mopery. Please be polite.
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
MessaboutW-unsubscribe@y...



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Greetings,
At the risk of using the dreaded "W" name ... doesn't West Marine at Delta
Park have bronze screws? I seem to remember buying them there -- never did
mail order when I lived in PDX. They've sure got a lot of cleats, but
maybe not what you're after. I'm not sure how the Medford area compares to
Central Oregon but I will say that sailboats and (more so) their hardware
are pretty rare around here. I sometimes miss those way-too-costly trips
to the boat store, especially when I'm out of epoxy.
Larry

Thanks Pat,
The story just appeared today. I wrote it back in May but Chuck has had
lots going on, including getting a new boat launched. John Ewing does good
photos, doesn't he? (As does "our" John).
Larry

Chris-

We've got several industrial fastener sellers here in Eugene, and at least
one of them, Eugene Fasteners, carries a limited selection of bronze screws
and a larger selection of stainless (probably not the "Good" alloy, but
good enough for above the waterline). I don't know about rivets. Look in
the Yellow pages under "fasteners" and maybe you'll get lucky.

--
John <jkohnen@boat-links.com>
http://www.boat-links.com/
Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes.
<Henry David Thoreau>

Great article Larry! Boy, that reminds me that I haven't sent in my article
to MAIB yet! :o( Maybe I'll get it in in time for them to publish it before
the next Depoe Bay festival.

John Ewing lurks here, so you can thank him directly for his nice photos.

--
John <jkohnen@boat-links.com>
http://www.boat-links.com/
There are two means of refuge from the misery of life - music and cats.
<Albert Schweitzer>

A while back I ran across a fellow in Newport working on the _sorriest_
looking ferro-cement boat. I talked to him for a while and was thinking,
"boy, this guy's got his work cut out for himself!" when he said, "and when
I'm done with this I've got my 103 footer". What? Where's that? "Anchored
up the bay by River Bend". Turns out she's an old fish packer, the MARGARET
ANN, 252126, IMO #7307512, built by the Fulton Shipyard at Antioch,
California for the Army in 1943, length 96.3' (for tonnage), beam 21.4',
193 GT, 131 NT. She was aptly named NUISANCE IV until the end of 1994.
"She's got a big fish tank forward-- that's going to be my swimming pool,
and a little tank aft that's going to be my hot tub!" I'd just bought an
ancient 15' motor launch and was feeling kind of like a desperately
hopeless boat nut, but talking to this fellow made me feel much better! <g>
MARGARET ANN is anchored up the bay so her owner doesn't have to pay
moorage fees.

http://www.boat-links.com/images/MaggieAnn/MaggieAnn-1.jpg

http://www.boat-links.com/images/MaggieAnn/MaggieAnn-2.jpg

I'm sure glad _I_ don't own her!

--

John <jkohnen@boat-links.com>
http://www.boat-links.com/
"Necessity is the mother of invention" is a
silly proverb. "Necessity is the mother of futile dodges"
is much nearer the truth. <Alfred North Whitehead>

Speaking of hopeless boat nuts, (actually I'm not quite there yet, but I
have had dream of a boat similar to the Nuisance), My kids (two at 4.5 years
old) greeted me at the door when I got home with a big smile and the new WB
in hand. Pretty cool, huh?

So I just got back from the Willamette at Beltline (northwest Eugene city
limits, for those of you that don't know layout of Stumptown. That's
another story. Actually the place attracts a crowd that makes you wonder if
your vehicle will still be there when you get back. At least that's the
perception, most of the folks I meet there and other boat ramps on the
Willamette look a bit rough, but seem to be pretty good folks. Anyway, the
kids and I, took the driftboat out on a small quiet stretch of the river
with my grandfathers 5 Hp Johnson Seahorse of, possibly, late sixties
vintage. I just got a temporary reg and title today, so I'll stick out like
a sore thumb without my numbers and tag for awhile, oh well.

So the motor worked quite well, after I got it running, and the kids had a
ball. We went upstream into the base of the rapids until our max velocity
equaled the current, the fell away at a quick rate. An interesting thing to
note, is that the motor is not a long shaft, therefore it must be a short
shaft, relatively speaking, and when attached to a driftboat transom without
a cutout, the prop is just barely covered with water. That's with myself,
the 30# anchor, a toolbox, the 5 gal gas tank in the stern and two 30# kids
just fore of amidships. So one has trim things a bit to make the most of the
short shaft. The neat thing is that once you get a little speed up, the
boat by default tends to wallow so our short shaft then becomes a long
shaft, relatively speaking. The water intake, just above the prop, then
finds itself in a much better location for actually working. Another
interesting thing is that the driftboat, again by default, has much rocker
to the bottom, so that one can make quick spins, or "pirouettes" as all the
historians say. I found this isn't such a good property for motor boats. I
thought the driftboat, under power, would be horribly squirrely, but I was
quite surprised to find that it held a line pretty well.

S, ... much fun was had with the kids, a hand built wood boat, an heirloom
motor, and only two hours of a pleasent August eve.

Stumptown? I saw that name on a USGS 7.5 minute quad, for that area of
northwest Eugene. It was right there at Delta Sand and Gravel.
Interesting. GottagoreadmyWB

Sounds like fun.
The other great thing with motoring in a standard drift
boat is that, when trimmed for a short shaft motor, the
bow is many feet in the air, creating quite a nice sail.
Running downwind is a "Breeze".
Just pray your final distination is in that direction.


(btw)
Not to down rate standard drift boats, but, that which makes
a Rapid Robert so funny looking on a a trailer or in the
water, the towering 18" high "Bow", and 30" high transom,
make it a more comfortable motor boat.
Mine still will not plane, even with my 15 HP and light,
because of the slight rocker cut in the last
16" of the botton.
Ray Heater claims his boats will, and I have seen pictures.
But then, he is a "Magic Man" when it comes to boats.
Actually a Rapid Rober is going backward when motoring.
(I still have a hard time determing which end is "Front")
I guess one could accomplish the same thing by cutting
a motor well a few feet from the High Bow end in a drift
boat, and motoring backward. Or even in the center, with
a 360 degrees turning motor and go either way, or with
skill, even sideways. (Now there's an "Idea")
Must not be a "Great Idea", as I have never seen it done.

Have fun

Pat

Way too much time on my hands.



--- In MessaboutW@y..., "Sandy Thoms" <thoms@p...> wrote:

Speaking of hopeless boat nuts, (actually I'm not quite there yet,

but I

have had dream of a boat similar to the Nuisance), My kids (two at

4.5 years

old) greeted me at the door when I got home with a big smile and

the new WB

in hand. Pretty cool, huh?

So I just got back from the Willamette at Beltline (northwest

Eugene city

limits, for those of you that don't know layout of Stumptown.

That's

another story. Actually the place attracts a crowd that makes you

wonder if

your vehicle will still be there when you get back. At least

that's the

perception, most of the folks I meet there and other boat ramps on

the

Willamette look a bit rough, but seem to be pretty good folks.

Anyway, the

kids and I, took the driftboat out on a small quiet stretch of the

river

with my grandfathers 5 Hp Johnson Seahorse of, possibly, late

sixties

vintage. I just got a temporary reg and title today, so I'll stick

out like

a sore thumb without my numbers and tag for awhile, oh well.

So the motor worked quite well, after I got it running, and the

kids had a

ball. We went upstream into the base of the rapids until our max

velocity

equaled the current, the fell away at a quick rate. An interesting

thing to

note, is that the motor is not a long shaft, therefore it must be a

short

shaft, relatively speaking, and when attached to a driftboat

transom without

a cutout, the prop is just barely covered with water. That's with

myself,

the 30# anchor, a toolbox, the 5 gal gas tank in the stern and two

30# kids

just fore of amidships. So one has trim things a bit to make the

most of the

short shaft. The neat thing is that once you get a little speed

up, the

boat by default tends to wallow so our short shaft then becomes a

long

shaft, relatively speaking. The water intake, just above the prop,

then

finds itself in a much better location for actually working.

Another

interesting thing is that the driftboat, again by default, has much

rocker

to the bottom, so that one can make quick spins, or "pirouettes" as

all the

historians say. I found this isn't such a good property for motor

boats. I

thought the driftboat, under power, would be horribly squirrely,

but I was

quite surprised to find that it held a line pretty well.

S, ... much fun was had with the kids, a hand built wood boat, an

heirloom

motor, and only two hours of a pleasent August eve.

Stumptown? I saw that name on a USGS 7.5 minute quad, for that

area of

northwest Eugene. It was right there at Delta Sand and Gravel.
Interesting. GottagoreadmyWB



-----Original Message-----
From: jhkohnen@b... [mailto:jhkohnen@b...]
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 8:42 PM
To: MessaboutW@y...
Subject: [MessaboutW] Hopeless Boat Nut


A while back I ran across a fellow in Newport working on the

_sorriest_

looking ferro-cement boat. I talked to him for a while and was

thinking,

"boy, this guy's got his work cut out for himself!" when he

said, "and when

I'm done with this I've got my 103 footer". What? Where's

that? "Anchored

up the bay by River Bend". Turns out she's an old fish packer, the

MARGARET

ANN, 252126, IMO #7307512, built by the Fulton Shipyard at Antioch,
California for the Army in 1943, length 96.3' (for tonnage), beam

21.4',

193 GT, 131 NT. She was aptly named NUISANCE IV until the end of

1994.

"She's got a big fish tank forward-- that's going to be my swimming

pool,

and a little tank aft that's going to be my hot tub!" I'd just

bought an

ancient 15' motor launch and was feeling kind of like a desperately
hopeless boat nut, but talking to this fellow made me feel much

better! <g>

MARGARET ANN is anchored up the bay so her owner doesn't have to pay
moorage fees.

http://www.boat-links.com/images/MaggieAnn/MaggieAnn-1.jpg

http://www.boat-links.com/images/MaggieAnn/MaggieAnn-2.jpg

I'm sure glad _I_ don't own her!

--

John <jkohnen@b...>
http://www.boat-links.com/
"Necessity is the mother of invention" is a
silly proverb. "Necessity is the mother of futile dodges"
is much nearer the truth. <Alfred North Whitehead>




No flaming, cursing or public mopery. Please be polite.
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
MessaboutW-unsubscribe@y...



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Reading on Bolger Group and found reference to this boat.
A guy said he built one using lauan and Bondo.
He says Not to use Bondo for construction.

http://www.capecodfrosty.org/

Anybody want to build a "Fleet"?
Probably take a whole weekend.

Pat

I've put some snaps of a couple of interesting boats seen on Dorena
Reservoir a couple of months ago here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MessaboutW/files/DorenaLake/

One of them is Mamacita, a carvel planked rendition of the "Italian
fishing dory" in Chapelle's "American Small Sailing Craft". A nice boat,
but Pickle managed to catch her easily for these shots. <g> The other boat
is a Stevenson Projects Weekender. I'd never seen one in person before. I
was favorably impressed.

--
John <jkohnen@boat-links.com>
http://www.boat-links.com/
I have no truck with lettuce, cabbage, and similar chlorophyll. Any dietician
will tell you that a running foot of apple strudel contains four times the
vitamins of a bushel of beans. <S. J. Perelman>

Pat-

I've got the bows and sterns of drift boats all mixed up and can't make
heads or tails of what you're trying to do to that poor boat. <g> But Harry
V. Sucher has plans for some flat-bottomed skiffs with an outboard in a
well forward (the pointy end, it's easier to tell which end is which in an
ordinary skiff) in "Simplified Boatbuilding". Here's what he has to say:

"Many small skiffs, and particularly those whose lines indicate their
function as moderate-speed displacement hulls, will perform better and
carry larger loads when powered by an outboard if the engine is placed
forward of amidships in a well. While this arrangement may appear somewhat
unorthodox to boatmen not familiar with this practice, it has been well
proven in several types of skiffs. The advantages are that the operator
sitting well forward does not add his weight to that of an engine placed in
the conventional manner in the stern, and much of the danger of'being
swamped by a stern sea is eliminated. The weight of the load to be carried
can then be easily arranged with the center of gravity just aft of
amidships, and the bow can be kept well immersed to cut down pounding. The
propeller appears to function quite efficiently as a tractor unit, and the
boat is steered by swinging the engine in the usual manner."

He mentions the Florida mullet skiff as an example of a working skiff with
an outboard forward. Here's Sucher's 15 1/2 foot skiff:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MessaboutW/files/BoatPlans/SucherTractor.gif

I like the outboard too! ;o) There's even a 19 1/2 footer rigged as an
(occasional) offshore salmon troller in the book!

--
John <jkohnen@boat-links.com>
http://www.boat-links.com/
Nobody ought to wear a Greek fisherman's hat unless they meet two conditions:
1. He is a Greek
2. He is a Fisherman <Roy Blount Jr.>

--- In MessaboutW@y..., jhkohnen@b... wrote:

I'm sure glad _I_ don't own her!

Second that! I divide boats into two types: ones that you own and
ones that own you. I think that guy has two of the latter type.

Of course, maybe that old fish packer is basically sound, and he has
$200,000 that he is going to use to make it into a yacht!

Carter

Pretty cool. I guess my idea wasn't so crazy or even "New"
(Let me know when you see a Truly "New" idea. "Cummins figures the IC
engine reached maturity by then, further development has just been
refinement!")
But that's what I was jokingly talking about. 360 degree
steering, turn the motor sidways and go sideways. Real
maneuverability. Like on of the big tugs.
Looks like a nice arrangement. Could also simplify motor control.
Put a couple of levers to extend throttle and shift
and attach a wheel or handlebars to the and straddle it
like a motorcycle.(aarhg, Am I describing a PWC?)
Wonder if that would work on my GP-16/18.
I'm still trying come up with a control system for it.
(One that won't cost me any money.)
I think having prop at stern would be better for a landing craft.

Question on terms.
Semi-planing and semi-dory. As in a semi-planing semi-dory.

BWT "The sail I have is for a Brick/Teal/Surf" (jk)
That is Bolger's generic, one size fits all sail.
Rudder and leeboard are likewise the same for
Elegant Punt #279 Surf #287 Teal #310, and I think a lot of others.
Surf was enlarged Elegant Punt, as Bolger thought the sail
rig for the Elegant Punt "was out of proportuion to the cost of the
hull" adding 4' to each end. He seems to like Surf better,
but "It" won't fit in the back of a Pick-up.
Kind of a cool idea for small sailboats, as sail rigs usually
cost as much as the boat. One rig, lots of boats.
I can only sail one at a time, and it takes about two
minutes to swap them, if you don't hurry.

I kind of liked that Cape Cod Frosty. I can carry my "Toad",
but not fully rigged. Would be fun to sail into a "Model
Boat Regatta" in one of those things screaming "Starboard".

No reservations needed at Detroit campground this weekend.

Pat







--- In MessaboutW@y..., jhkohnen@b... wrote:

Pat-

I've got the bows and sterns of drift boats all mixed up and can't

make

heads or tails of what you're trying to do to that poor boat. <g>

But Harry

V. Sucher has plans for some flat-bottomed skiffs with an outboard

in a

well forward (the pointy end, it's easier to tell which end is

which in an

ordinary skiff) in "Simplified Boatbuilding". Here's what he has to

say:

"Many small skiffs, and particularly those whose lines indicate

their

function as moderate-speed displacement hulls, will perform better

and

carry larger loads when powered by an outboard if the engine is

placed

forward of amidships in a well. While this arrangement may appear

somewhat

unorthodox to boatmen not familiar with this practice, it has been

well

proven in several types of skiffs. The advantages are that the

operator

sitting well forward does not add his weight to that of an engine

placed in

the conventional manner in the stern, and much of the danger

of'being

swamped by a stern sea is eliminated. The weight of the load to be

carried

can then be easily arranged with the center of gravity just aft of
amidships, and the bow can be kept well immersed to cut down

pounding. The

propeller appears to function quite efficiently as a tractor unit,

and the

boat is steered by swinging the engine in the usual manner."

He mentions the Florida mullet skiff as an example of a working

skiff with

an outboard forward. Here's Sucher's 15 1/2 foot skiff:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MessaboutW/files/BoatPlans/SucherTractor
.gif

I like the outboard too! ;o) There's even a 19 1/2 footer rigged as

an

(occasional) offshore salmon troller in the book!

On Wed, 29 Aug 2001 15:53:23 -0000, Pat wrote:

...
I guess one could accomplish the same thing by cutting
a motor well a few feet from the High Bow end in a drift
boat, and motoring backward. Or even in the center, with
a 360 degrees turning motor and go either way, or with
skill, even sideways. (Now there's an "Idea")
Must not be a "Great Idea", as I have never seen it done.
...

--
John <jkohnen@b...>
http://www.boat-links.com/
Nobody ought to wear a Greek fisherman's hat unless they meet two

conditions:

1. He is a Greek
2. He is a Fisherman <Roy Blount Jr.>

Could spend that much just on Lysol. OOOOHHH ! !
A really Big Hole to throw money in.

Pat

--- In MessaboutW@y..., jkck@s... wrote:

--- In MessaboutW@y..., jhkohnen@b... wrote:

I'm sure glad _I_ don't own her!

Second that! I divide boats into two types: ones that you own and
ones that own you. I think that guy has two of the latter type.

Of course, maybe that old fish packer is basically sound, and he

has

$200,000 that he is going to use to make it into a yacht!

Carter

Pat-

Ever seen one of those little boats they use to herd logs around in a log
pond? I've been wracking my brain, but I can't recall what they're called.
Anyway, they're short, fat, and have an outboard mounted right in the
middle, arranged to spin around 360 degrees. Nowadays the motors in a
special mount that spins, with a circular "handle" on top that the operator
uses like a steering wheel. Last year at the antique outboard showing in
Florence there was a great big, long shaft 10 hp. Evinrude built for the
Navy in WW II that had a circular handle all around the powerhead. It was
geared way down and had a huge propeller for pushing barges around, and the
circular handle was to spin it around for reverse (no gearchange). The
old-timer who brought it said that after the war surplus ones were used on
those little log pushers. It may be there again this year (plug, plug).
With dry decking replacing all the log ponds it's hard to find a place to
see one of those little pushers in action anymore. A friend of mine used to
drive on at the Hull-Oakes mill at Dawson (west of Bellfountain), but I
never went up there to see him work it. If the motor on their log pusher is
anything like the machinery in the mill (still running their saws with
steam!) it's probably worth a look. Maybe it's one of those old Navy
Evinrudes?

I saw one of those boats at Depoe Bay a while back, a fairly big one, steel
and black. For some reason I thought it was the tug for the port. It'd make
a good one. Know anything about it Jack?

No water in the lake at Detroit either...

--
John <jkohnen@boat-links.com>
http://www.boat-links.com/
A paranoid is a man who knows a little of what's going on.
<William Burroughs>

The Cape Cod Frosty is a neat idea. I like the idea of a developement class
though. Say, just for argument: any monohull you can make out of 3 or 4
(pick one) sheets of 1/4"lauan, maybe limit it to flat bottom or single
chine, no ballast, a set sail area, sails must be made out of Tyvek, mast
and other spars made out of wood, no longer than the boat and unstayed.
There would be a claiming rule, if any contestant wanted to he could force
another contestant to sell him his boat for a set, low price, maybe $200?

Whatya think?

--
John <jkohnen@boat-links.com>
http://www.boat-links.com/
I have never seen a situation so dismal
that a policeman couldn't make it worse. <Brendan Behan>

The log pusher. Several years ago I was collecting sediment samples on
WeyCo. Springfield's log pond in the middle of winter. It was very foggy
and I felt like we were in a calm piece of the ocean or a harbor, because
you couldn't see the edges. You could here the noises, though, like the
steam out of the stacks and the rumbling of the machinery, and most of all
the smell of sulfur, (around here we call that the "smell of money").
Anyway, one of the log pond fellows had a log pusher (steel hull), I'm sure
he had a more appropriate name for it, I can't remember it though, that he
used to push the last remaining logs to the chain and mill at the west end
for final removal. While we were out in the log pond on a pontoon boat
driving core, he would offer assistance with his log pusher. One time, out
of my dismay for his disregard to THE UNION, he let me drive the thing
around a bit. It was like a bucking bronco, or a weeble wobble on water. I
swear we were gonna tip over. Anyway, it had a wheel directly of over the
outboard shaft and you could spin that boat in circles or do all sorts of
weird maneuvers. There was no reverse, you just very quickly turned the
wheel 180 degrees. If you would fart around at 90 or 270 or anything in
between 0 and 180 you'd start going sideways. The operator was a pro, he
had been out on that log pond for probably a good 20 years. He was a dying
breed, I suppose. Soon after we completed the job, WeyCo., decommissioned
the log pond and it turned it into chip storage. I noticed they had a
couple of the log pushers, and if I my memory serves me correctly, both
boats were left high and dry in the boneyard. I wonder if there are still
out there. Seems a shame they don't have them on display in a museum, or up
at the front desk, or something like that.

Another fun job at the log pond, was when we strapped a trackhoe to a very
small steel barge to collect sediment samples. I was the geo that was
logging the samples when the trackhoe bucket would drop a big pile of
rotting elephant dung on the deck in front of me. It was a great job, I had
to hang on every time the trackhoe would stick his arm out over the edge of
the barge and the gunwale would drop under water, I'd be on the upper side,
right behind the roaring diesel. Then the arm would come up and the barge
would slosh back to the other side, I'd get up close to the side of trackhoe
as the operator would swing the bucket over in front of me and drop his
load. The whole time I would be scrambling around trying to stay dry and be
ready for a capsize (unlikely, but it sure felt like it).

That's fun thinking about the field days.

Anyone, installed a car engine in a boat?

--- In MessaboutW@y..., jhkohnen@b... wrote:

Ever seen one of those little boats they use to herd logs around in

a log

pond? I've been wracking my brain, but I can't recall what they're

called.

A friend of mine used to

drive on at the Hull-Oakes mill at Dawson (west of Bellfountain),

but I

never went up there to see him work it.

I *think* it many be called a log bronc. I have the Hull-Oakes video
and if I get around to it, I can watch it and see if I can confirm
that.

Incidentally, the Hull-Oakes mill is the last mill using steam power.
They give tours and it is worth the drive if you are interested at
all in old technology.

Carter