You're going to get a whole hodge podge of pictures this time. Spring is here at the shop, well I guess it's always spring here; I sure hope you guys are starting to melt up there where you live.

I should tell you that Lance works at Tropicana so he painted his foam kayak orange and Nicole painted Tropic Anna for him. This one is the last and the best of all of the foam boats made so far. And yes, this is latex paint; I've been telling you guys that this is not your dad's house paint anymore. It does not melt in water and is glossy.

Another water paint report. I pulled Helen Marie out last week to check things and here's a shot while she's still wet. I reported about three month ago about how the new Pettit water based bottom was holding up. All I did was wash off the scum line and put it back in. Here it is again, NO barnacles at all, none. What you see here is just easily washed off slime. I just gave her a quick wash, rolled on a quick touch up from where I run aground and put her back in. This stuff is super easy to apply, it's as thin as water.

If you're in Central Florida next weekend go Crystal River and bash some of the Crystal River Rats.

I'm sticking this one in to encourage Howard to build one of these old timey inboards. This is a Glen-L design and he's been talking about doing one for years. I'm pushing for him to get two old jet skis and use their water jet drive systems to have a twin jet drive boat. Our dock continues to evolve and attract more and more boaters who come along the river. This dock and our boats tied up there are like a magnetics to true boaters who happen by. And us waving them in with cold drinks is hard to pass up.

I want a custom steering wheel for my new boat so Howard is making me one from a big block of cherry that Steve had. He's finding this stuff really hard to work on the lathe. Here he's using a grinder to get the high spots off and smooth it out. They say that cherry is easy to work but he's not finding that to be the case. This block is really hard and tight grained. Maybe because it's so big and old. Wally's making seats for his river cruiser, I keep breaking the one rule about not helping by telling him to make them bigger.

Steve finished the rebuild of Chelsea, this time painting over all of the bright work. Real wood looks great, as seen on this canoe of his until the sun eats it up. He did refinish the mahogany on Chelsea two times but that's the end, it's now wood colored latex paint which lasts forever in the sun.

Helen got back from three weeks in Japan seeing the sites of the country and our new grandson, Jouji. He'll grow up to be the translator for his parents, neither one of them speak the other ones language. That must not be a problem in Kenny and Ako's marriage because they tell us that another grand something is on the way.

I don't know; if I had to pick which of these two boys had the most character it would be a tough choice; Jouji in the duck outfit or Kurt in the funny looking boat builder outfit. I've said it before and it still holds, all of us old boat builders seem to have the same outfit, we just switch to shorts when it gets hot.

My new boat is coming along. Steve got me glassing in the floor or deck or whatever they call the things you walk on in boats.

I could do this a lot faster if I had two good hands to work with. They've gone completely to hell in the last couple of years, sometime I can't even hold my grinder and that's my primary tool.

This beautiful kayak is a good example of why we're switching to foam boats. Wooden boats go to hell unless you store them away and never use them. This is one Kayak Kathy made years ago and finally got tired of fooling with so she turned it into a planter. The next picture is of Steve and an old guy out in Helen Marie. I'm calling him an old guy in reference to the old guy in the next picture who is our buddy Red Sears who turned 90 last month. He was out back in one of the sheds messing around with some kind of boat thing when I got him and told him that there was an "old guy" in the tiki hut who was old even by his standard. I can't remember his name but he's 97 years old and still getting around. I busted out laughing when Red responded with "hell, lets go see this old guy". The two hit it right off and had a grand time talking about horse and buggies and out house days.

This is Red out in his little boat, "Tom Hand" and later lounging in the Tiki hut having a cold one, wearing his knee and shin protectors and puffing on what may or may not be a Cuban cigar. Red is a classic example of how to grow old gracefully or maybe that should be how to not grow old at all. He is an inspiration to all of us.

Just like these two, they still look just like this, 43 years later. Richard and Mary Honan way back when we all looked like this. She's thinking "oh my prince charming come to take care of me forever" and he's thinking the same thing I was "oh my god, what have I gotten myself into now". Both of us are still with our true loves so I guess it was the right move.