James Herman Buehner

My photo
Lubec, Maine
Jimmy likes compost and maritime history. Building stuff improves his humor and and he has found that dirt on his knees encourages the lettuce and garlic growing in his garden. Peanut butter and garlic toast and strong French Roast revive his spirits most mornings.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Diapensia's New Coats


Diapensia has now gotten five coats of primer on her hull and topsides. We've just received some photos of the progress of the painting from Steve Newman of Campobello Island. We're excited that we're almost to the point of the final finish coats of Awlgrip. It certainly has been a slow process albeit a thorough one which was begun by me last May removing all the hardware from the decks, cabin top and cockpit. When we left Maine in September, the cabin top and deck sanding (top photo) had been completed, and Awlgrip www.jamestowndistributors.com/ was selected as a final finish.

Steve, a friendly lad and a fellow director of the Passamaquoddy Yacht Club http://www.passamaquoddyyachtclub.org/index.html, has been interested in boat building since he was a teenager nourished in part by visits to  Jim and Nicole Moores at Colson's Boat Shop when they  owned it in the 1970's. Jim  moved on to Palm Beach, Florida where he owns a successful boat building business specializing in the restoration of Trumpy Yachts.  http://www.woodenboatrepair.com/

Colson's was started by Ralph Colson in 1915 when he floated the structure we see today across the Lubec Narrows from Campobello Island. It had been a portion of a 19th century hotel complex that succumbed to fire (Campobello had been a playground for the wealthy of New York and Philadelphia, including the Roosevelts, but that is another story).

Steve, however, pursued plastic boats specializing in  custom fiberglass and wood finishing of cabins and interiors.  His web page can be found by clicking the photo of Renee and Diapensia.

As I'm writing,  it's another gorgeous day here on Clear Creek where we're nearly ready to re-install the propane furnace. A little more repair to the floor in the head is in order and then we can install Powder River's custom wheel well as well. The plumbing and electrical is complete.  We have great cause to smile on this account.

However, all cannot always be so rosy since we learned yesterday the Duramax diesel's injectors must all be replaced.   Even at only 104 k miles under her belt, apparently, after web research and talking to the Chevy dealer in Spearfish, South Dakota where she bought the truck, this has been a problem with all Duramaxes.  The injectors begin to leak and the exhaust begins to smoke as we noticed last summer,  especially at lower rpm.  Renee is hopeful Chevrolet will cover some of the $4500 expense. Renee will make the two hour trip to the South Dakota dealership Monday, if we expect to get any compensation. Oh, well, she'll get a loaner and we'll have her place ourselves for a week as Ruby and John http://makedelicioushappen.blogspot.com/2010/10/seared-venison-and-wild-watercress-with.html are headed to California for a wedding.

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