Attention on deck!

Thomas and I worked on his boat today. Just cleaning the edges of the panels with blocks & sandpaper, and trimming the panel CNC breakaway tabs off with a razor. I had to re-assure Thomas he wasn't going to make mistakes, and that this was his boat .... convincing him he was a big part of this project. My fault probably - I like things done right and am admittedly a bit of a control freak when it comes to this kind of job.

He worked with me a for a while, preferring to work on the smaller panels.

After about an hour of this, I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride to see Eliane's boat. He did, somewhat to my surprise. Thomas generally likes to stay close to home, and he is often shy in places he doesn't know well. We jumped in the car and drove out to Robert's house, hoping an unannounced visit would not cause trouble. We talked boat colors on the way out, and Thomas said his boat was going to be red, with a white cockpit. I approve of that.

Got to Robert's place and luckily we were both welcome and able to see the Microskiff. Robert asked Thomas to take off his shoes and to try walking on the cockpit floor. The cockpit floor held Thomas' 100 pounds without any problem. Whew! I've been wondering about the reality of the 1/8 plywood as opposed to the theory of the 1/8 plywood. I did some subjective testing here at home, and as long as the 1/8 ply is firmly supported, I can walk on it without problem. Basically, the Styrofoam support concept appears valid at first glance.

I'm sure with paint it will be better, but Thomas did no damage at all.

Thomas and Bibitte got on famously - although Thomas now saw some failings in our 14 month old puppy, who doesn't obsess on playing with him, and also can't catch a ball on the fly while twisting like a pretzel. Too bad Eliane wasn't there, Robert assured Thomas that Eliane had secret turtle catching abilities.

The Microskiff looked better in person than in the pictures.

I really want to get the measurements from Eric to start layout of Thomas' boat!