Day 2, Carpentry Begins

Reggie and his young helper arrived at 7.30 AM and before long Reggie was at work at the bow with a small angle grinder. While he was taking a breather after that job I asked what comes and he said that he would start laying the teak.  He had brought with him a tiny workbench supporting a router and a planer. 

Grinding Around the Chain Locker

I had a brief conversation with the boy.  I told him that his English is very good and asked where he had learned it.  He replied that from the time he was a baby his mother taught him to name things in both languages, and he also studies it in school.  I asked him if school was out and he replied yes, with some glee.  Don't you like school? I asked. No, except for my friends there. While he went away for a few minutes I took the opportunity to tell Reggie what a fine boy he had: intelligent, attentive, and very polite; and that he is a credit to him and his wife.  Reggie replied that he's been fortunate with all three of his children.    He mentioned that the family is Christian.  I replied that that helps a lot. Later I asked the boy his age, which is 12.  He asked me my age and I told him 67.  He looked surprised and said that I look more like 57.  This guy is really really good and he will go far in life.

At End of Second Day

Reggie began the carpentry work and I figure that I'd just get in his way.  He agreed that he needed no help so I took the opportunity to do some grocery shopping, which is not a trivial operation using a bicycle on a blazing hot day.  I returned to the boat at 2 PM poured glasses of cold pineapple juice.  By then Reggie had had enough.  The constant wiping of sweat off his face had driven the fiberglass deeper into his skin and his face was burning.  I was glad to see him leave to get some rest and relaxation at home.

As you can see in the photo, Reggie has made a good start on the teak work.  The pieces are screwed in but when the woodwork is completed every piece will be removed and then laid on the bedding compound.  The edges of the cockpit surfaces -  such as where the seat meets the coaming - are radiused (i.e. curved).  The previous work had the square edges of the boards against the curved edges of the fiberglass, resulting in a channel that held water.  Reggie is putting a radius in the edge boards to match the radius of the fiberglass, eliminating any channels that can hold water.