Painting boats.

We began painting the Bevins Skiffs by applying a coat of urethane enamel to the insides. Applying paint to the outsides will begin today.

The students chose the color schemes for each boat. One boat is to be painted two tone on the outside, and so a "waterline" will be taped off.

How can one draw a straight line all around a boat at a consistent height? I've thought long and hard about this and came up with a reasonable technique on my own. Prop the boat up at both ends so that it is level in relation to the ground. Cut a block of wood to a length representing the distance that the line should be from the ground and use it as a guide to mark a pencil line all the way around. A flat carpenter's pencil works best. Apply masking tape to that pencil line. The masking tape will guide the application of paint, and the line will be straight all around the boat, from stem to stern and across the transom.

This may be the same approach used by others, but not knowing how they would do it, I've had the pleasure of coming up with it myself.

The high school students of America continue to call "BS" on our politicians over the gun control issue and whether or not our society can be made safe.  Most of those politicians are so deeply nestled in bed under the covers of money with lobbyists from the NRA that they refuse to be awakened to the fact that the government is a tool through which real people should be served and through which society can be made safe.

In making the Bevins skiffs, we started with scarf joints and the stems. The stems are important because they lead the boat in the right direction and push the bow wake to both sides. Our young people will be like that. The ranks of Democrats and Republicans alike will be cut through the middle and pushed aside if they fail to protect our kids.

Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning likewise.