Preparing 'la escuelita'

We are getting ready for the southern hemisphere beginning of the school year.  Our three volunteers Emma, Yanna and Stefania have been painting a beam that runs across the main classroom area of 'Estrella de Sauce' in preparation for the arrival of the children in just a few days.

Photos above by Emma, below by Tobe

A new gnome from an old tree trunk

We are busy getting our after school enrichment program here in Sauce ready for the upcoming southern hemisphere school year.  A dead orange tree in the back yard had to come down leaving a stump that I just formed into a gnome by chainsawing, sanding, carving, painting and making a nose on my wood turning lathe.  Tobe Halton took the photos.

Recycling an old boat

My friend Tobe Halton is here.  We've been playing lots of music as well as working on renovating this old abandoned wooden boat with a view to converting our sailing catamaran into a trimaran for improved flotation and carrying capacity.  Right now we are covering it with two layers of fiberglass which gets fastened to the wood with LOTS of screws.  Nasty work but hopefully we will enjoy having a better boat at the end of the fiberglassing marathon.

After repairing inside and out this third boat, which was kindly donated by some friends, we will launch it and locate it in the middle of our catamaran.  This will have the effect of creating a trimaran which should float higher in the water.  More freeboard you see.

Normally traditional wooden boats last only about a decade here as there is a marine worm which slowly eats the wood away, which is why we are seeing less wooden boats and more made of aluminum as the years roll by.  By covering this one with fiberglass below the waterline it should last several decades more.



Tobe driving screws

Martin drilling