Springtime on Kent Island: 4/19 - 4/22
—Blogpost written by Bob
Monday, April 19
The outside temperature was 52 degrees F when we woke up this morning--it was headed for a high of 64! The sky was mostly cloudy but the sun poked through the clouds for most of the day. (We did get a rain storm that blew through in the early afternoon.)
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Before driving to Annapolis, I pulled off all the masking tape on the blade of the knife. A very thin crack was still evident between one of the wooden halves and the knife blade but not all the way through as before. So, another attempt to fill the crack with epoxy was in order.
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| The tiny crack was on the right side of this image where the blade meets the handle. |
This time I decided to add epoxy using a the corner of an envelope to just dab tiny little drops of epoxy in place, assuming whatever gets on the unwanted portion of the wooden handle or the stainless steel blade I can remove by one means or another. (I'm sure it will take several applications like this to completely fill the crack.)
After my radiation treatment, we went out for a delicious lunch at Lemongrass II, our favorite Thai restaurant. I had an appointment for a haircut after lunch--it was my first haircut in over a year (due to COVID), not including Maggie's infrequent attempts to trim around the edges.
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| Coming home to Kent Island via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge this afternoon. |
I added some more epoxy to the crack (between the handle and the blade of the knife handle I've been working on) after we returned to the boat--this was the second time today. I was able to do this task in the cockpit enclosure where it was nice and dry. (The sky was still overcast from the rain storm that blew through the area but the bright sunshine appeared late in the day.)
Tuesday, April 20
The sun was out nice and bright from the get go today. You could tell that a warm day was in store for us (and it's about time).
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| Puddling tiny dabs of epoxy into the crack between the wood and the blade on one side of the knife handle. (If only I had placed clamps on the handle while I was removing the temporary machine screws!) |
I spent a lot of the afternoon napping--the radiation treatments wiped me out this week so far. I spent a couple hours sanding my knife handle with a vibrating sander and fine emory cloth--I made a lot of progress but still have some more to go. The toughest parts to sand are areas where the epoxy ran onto the wood handle.
We opened the hatches in the late afternoon, to allow the nice breeze to blow through the boat--this was the first time we've done this in this calendar year.
Wednesday, April 21
Today is "hump day" again! We expected some rain showers in the middle of the day today, even though it was sunny with a partly cloudy sky in the morning. It was 60 degrees F already at 9:30 AM, headed for a daily high of 64.
I have tried to stay on a routine in my prep for my radiation treatments, shower by 9 AM, prepare my 16 ounces of cold drinking water by 10:15 AM, start drinking the water at 10:25 and end by 10:35, leave the boat for the car at 10:55, and to get to my 11:30 daily appointment at Annapolis Hospital. I'm actually feeling much better but my fatigue is a small bit greater than it had been (but still very tolerable).
After my radiation treatment today and my brief Wednesday meeting with my oncologist, we went out for lunch at Carroll's Creek Cafe. As we entered the restaurant rain clouds gathered overhead. Soon after the rain started and we were glad we picked an inside table (since we usually eat outdoors on the patio at this restaurant).
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| Maggie waiting patiently for dessert at Carroll's Creek Cafe |
After lunch we did some grocery shopping at Fresh Market and it took a little longer than usual because we did so much "recreational" grocery shopping. By the time we returned to the boat it was already 3:30 PM and the day was practically shot. By this time, the rain storm had passed through and the wind was much higher in velocity and cooler.
Thursday, April 22
It was very windy and cold last night (39 degrees F) and it was difficult getting a good night's sleep. In the morning the wind had died down considerably but we had a big step up to get off the boat. We had to crawl up onto the dock!
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| The step up to the dock was about three feet this morning! (This image was captured with my wide angle lens and it just doesn't do it justice.) |
In the morning I applied the second thinned coat of oil finish to the knife handle I constructed and it looks great in my opinion. I still have a lot more coats to go though, applying varying grades of steel wool (#1 through #00) between coats.
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| Knife handle after only two coats of thinned oil finish. The wood grain really stands out! (I have many more coats to go yet.) |
I expected to apply one more coat of thinned oil finish after I steel wool the handle before applying full strength oil finish. (The thinned oil finish soaks into the wood as much as possible which creates the best foundation for follow up coats. It will end up looking like gloss varnish but it will be much more durable than varnish.)
I roughened the finish with #1 steel wool and applied the third coat of oil finish late in the afternoon.
Stay tuned and thanks for following our blog!
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