Well the framing jig is in place on the boat, now we need the timber to make the cabin top beams.

So its back to the workshop to saw the 30mm x 12mm strips of spotted gum.  I really like the fact that I have the equipment and know how to turn rough sawn planks of wood into nicely machined components of the boat.

So much more satisfying than running down to the local hardware for some crap piece of softwood that has no real strength.  Hardwoods are heavier than softwoods, but they are really strong which means you can use thinner sections for the same or better strength.

A rough sawn piece of spotted gum ready for machining

I know the timber we are using is not perfect – the grain is not always completely straight, and there are often flaws in the wood like borer holes, brittle heart wood and sap wood.

That’s part of the fun of using real materials – they are flawed like most people.  You can still get usable timber by working around the defective bits.

A couple of lengths of timber machined and cut to size

The power for running the machinery we have comes from a great little workhorse of a generator.  Its a single cylinder Lister diesel of 5kva output.  This sort of machinery is built like a brick outhouse and lasts forever – just the sort I like.

Great little workhorse

The eastern world, it is exploding
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’

But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

I think I have said before how much I like living in the Australian bush.  If it wasn’t for the fact that the world is such a fascinating place to explore, I doubt I would ever leave this place.

Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
[Take a look around ya boy, it’s bound to scare ya boy]

Our front yard with some 150+ year old trees

Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’

This magnificent wooley-butt in our front yard is well over 200 years old

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space
But when you return, it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace
And… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve
Of destruction