Memorial Day weekend in the PNW was a typical mix of sun and rain. We had a great weekend of sailing and spent Sunday night at Blake Island. The price gas has changed the boater profile. Usually this moorage is crowded with power boats running their gensets all night. Not this time, plenty of masts made up the anchorage and the only thing playing into the night was a mandolin and a banjo dueling away on the beach. An up wind beat to get there and a fast run back home on the asymmetric. Out on a beach walk, we found one of the survey makers toppled in the detritus on the beach. All things change. Not all fun, some math homework had to get done before school was back in session Tuesday morning.

Last fall, after the rains began, I spread a couple of pounds of mixed cover crop on the then trashed backyard where I built Tsunamchaser. It has grown tall. When the grain ripens, I will make bread from it.

I've been asked about how I built my cockpit and what I think of how it turned out by other Tiki 26 builders. It works, I'm going to tweak parts of it. A boat is never finished. Here is a link to my Flickr site with a folder of cockpit photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeitgeistsurfer/sets/72157605008379936/

We're having a good time in the cockpit, what more can I say!

I've brought the tillers and the tiller bar home for repair. Over the winter a number of the epoxy joints failed where I used it to glue oak. This limits the problem to the tillers, motor mount and hast head and foot. All key areas but all repairable. The joints have failed only where I used glue as the sole method of fastening. No failures where glass cloth or mechanical fasteners were also used such as at the motor mount, both or on one side of the tillers, screws. You can see the second case in the close up photo. I've checked the motor mount and there are no problems there but I do know that the mast foot has a split in it. I'll fix this when I get a chance to take down the mast or crawl up it to inspect.
My plan for repairs is to reglue and add screws as possible. The tillers as the are of oak are pretty heavy so if the repair doesn't work I may consider remaking them of a lighter wood though not sure what that would be.

..............BIG BOATS..............LOTS OF GAS!