Hot Work

August 3, 2015 Hours spent building to date: 1,258

In high school chemistry, I could never remember the difference between an exothermic reaction (gives off heat) and an endothermic (absorbs heat). It was the only question I missed on the final, and Mr. Krumholtz was aghast that I would miss such and easy one after three years of Latin.

But 47 years later, holding an epoxy-soaked piece of biaxial fiberglass in my hands with the heat blasting through my rubber gloves, I knew I had an exo going. Day after day of 90-degree temperatures have made working with epoxy very tricky, since it is extremely sensitive to heat. The shop tops off at about 81, but even then I have to work fast in very small batches. Nevertheless, bonding continues, and I moved almost everything off the boat today to get at the last pieces under the walkways. I’ve been filling in bonding sessions with carpentry, but all those projects are in too early a stage for pictures.

In my other job as volunteer coordinator of old-boat-stuff at the Connecticut River Museum, we had a big weekend, launching the reproduction Connecticut River shad boat Alva Starr. The Alva was donated to us last winter, and we have been sprucing her up ever since.

A boat name such as Alva Starr, which reeks of New England, conjures up images of someone’s great-great aunt who navigated the family clipper ship home after Uncle was eaten by cannibals in the South Seas. Our benefactor notes, however, that he actually named the boat after his favorite movie “This Property Is Condemned” starring Natalie Wood as the heroine Alva Starr. The images below will show that the name is entirely appropriate.