It Don't Have To Be Fun To Be Fun

... temporary tie wire fix to a busted Jeep KJ upper control arm that (eventually) got our ass (and wheels) out of the woods (literally) last week...

... now the challenge of extracting some nearly impossible to reach (and expected to be a bit seized) engine bay fastener bolts for repair...

... not bragging, but we have a heck of a perfect (nearly half century) streak of gettin' ourselves out of backwoods jams that include busted bikes, ruptured rubber rafts, snapped skis, mirings in muck, torn tendons, broken bones, wasp attacks, one venomous snake bite, two hard ground falls, three near drownings, two pissed mother black bears with cubs - not to mention  "gettin' confused" on occasion... probably should have not mentioned any of this as we now have just possibly jinxed all our good luck...

... one favorite episode was when we were a good ways "back in" ridin' MTB's with our buddy 'Professor Howie' when he snapped a seat fastener bolt on his ride... we had no replacement and the prospect of continuing the route ahead (or behind) - several miles of extremely rugged terrain - was a bit grim if having to stand the entire distance... we knew that a local timber company was engaged in some forest clearing a short distance from our route so we took a ride over to see if they could provide any assistance in the form of spare bolts... it was the weekend and the crew was off, but there was heavy machinery about... we walked over to the nearest log skidder, opened the door, and believe it or not there sits a coffee can full of bolts of numerous shape and size! - we found a near exact match for the broken bolt and continued on our way... to this day that same bolt is fastening his seat to the post...

Angry Birds

... well it's Spring nesting season again which means the local bird populations annual aerial assault on all things feline...

... role reversal - protagonist sizing up the prey...

... Bluto the Bluejay (think that's still him after all these years) - he's relentless...

... dive bomb - one of hundreds - all day long - dawn to dusk...

... Ig the cat... these photos are from yesterday... it's around 6am as we type this - had just let 'em out and we can hear the commotion has begun for the day...

... don't know what's gonna' happen if he eventually latches on to one of those guys...

... he doesn't seem to mind - more of a pesky annoyance than anything else - though they do get a strike every once in a while...

... if he goes near their tree though, look out - he's met with a barrage - like stirrin' up a hornets nest... we've counted up to eight Bluejays in that tree and they all come at once if they think their tree is imperiled...

... this year there's a second strike force - this male Northern Cardinal...

... and his mate...

... he's a bit of a dive bomber himself...

... she hangs back a bit - has a punk rocker hair-do (feather-do?)...

... linin' up another run...

... found a line...

... Bluto has a gal himself - that's her...

... that's him scowlin' at the camera - he don't like anyone lookin' at his girl... he's pretty mean...

... got himself a good lookin' gal, though...

... don't mess with Bluto nor his tree!!...

Riverboat Rigging Part II

... finished product...

... came out pretty good (see 'Riverboat Rigging')...

... old school cross lacing, closed cell foam knee pads and foot rests, nylon quick release thigh straps - we color coordinated the tie-downs and lacing - almost looks a bit too city-boy - but looks good none the less (our opinion)... now in dire need of some scuffs and scratches for personality - maybe even a dent or two...

... not a mistake - we like to position the rolled edge of those knee pads to the outside for lateral stability - with age they have a tendency to get a bit slimey and slippery when wet (especially with bare knees)...

... 2" D-rings fore and aft (nautical talk) - we bonded the whole system using West System G/flex 655-8 thickened (two part) epoxy adhesive... concerned with a comment or two from individuals "who know" ("... you'll never get those vinyl patches to adhere to that HDPE plastic...!!...") we really researched the adhesive and followed directions to a 'T' - that included sanding all bond surfaces, flashing the plastic surface, and clamping (w/ sandbags) the bonded components for 24 hours - we also stuck to ambient air temperatures > 50ºF... now finished, the whole assembly appears bombproof and passed our stringent post fabrication system testing (hoisting the boat by the D-rings with additional manual tugging force on the D-rings and grommet patches)...

... 1" flat nylon webbing w/ slide buckles for air bag tie down...

... we hitched the upper thigh straps to the seat rail and the bottom to adjustable grommet patches - we included optional adjustable grommet patches for the upper thigh straps (just because we had 'em) but will probably never use 'em... we're still up in the air regarding that drop angled seat - it's a bit foot constrictive when entering/exiting from a kneeling position - seems a bit hairy if having to bail from a capsize - especially if in a swift current... have a feeling we're either going to trim back the angle a bit or replace with a traditional parallel-style seat - we'll see once we test it in the water...

... the 5ft length 'Light Weight 210D Thermoplastic Poly Urethane (TPU) High Tenacity Nylon Airbags' (couldn't have said it better ourselves) were separately purchased along with the boat... they are damn nice, tough looking (damn near tenacious) airbags with a brilliant inflation/deflation system - fabricated by 'BPM Whitewater' (some English guys from England - good work)... we go back a long ways with air bags, beginning with old 'Voyageur' vinyl airbags with twist lock valves which would usually impose hyperventilation before ya' finally got 'em inflated by blowing up like a giant balloon - these bags you can inflate with a modern small hand pump with correct fitting...

... not a high performance "whitewater charger" but a great flatwater to moderate whitewater cruiser - was fun puttin' it together...

... another of life's challenges lived...