Itching To Do Repairs

     A few entries back I'd mentioned a broken aluminum canoe mount.  Who can say for sure what caused a metal bar to snap?  But snap it did.  I'll leave it at that.  Figuring some kind of repair would be an improvement over using a five gallon bucket to sit on, even if it was only cosmetic,  I ripped down a few scraps of straight grained ash for a new frame.  The ash was left over from paneling and flooring the cabin back in the mid-80s.  Guess it was about as dry and ready as it was going to get.
     The tough part of the job was drilling out the old aluminum pipe frame.  By and large it went slowly and as well as could be expected when whacked at by an amateur.  No blood was spilled and no holes inadvertently punched in the side of the canoe.
     This stage was to be done at the cabin and required all of the tools to do the job right to be brought from home.  Done enough jury rigged affairs in the past to know good enough is sometimes not good enough.  Once in a while it's a pleasure to do a job not only adequately but esthetically pleasing.
      I'd ripped more than enough one by ones to cover any mistakes I might make.  Good thing I did.  Enough said.  All pieces were cut to size and drilled to fit.
     Having the patience to do the job right had a lot to do with having enough mosquito repellant to keep the beasts at bay.  Yeah, she's been a fertile year up north.  Oddly enough the predicted swarm of wood and deer ticks hasn't happened.  But the skeeters are a terror.  To do the job I'd mounted the canoe on saw horses, slathered myself down and fogged around the boat.  Not very organic but it more or less did the trick.
     Long story short, the frame sits at home in the garage with three coats of penetrating varnish rubbed into it.  A few more ought to do it.
     I'm not sure if the ash frame will be as strong as the aluminum one.  Perhaps El Dean and I will go with the Alumacraft next year.  It's not as sleek as the Wenonah but the front seat is industrially strong.