Front Door Varnished

Last coat of varnish on the front door to the living room. Good,
because it's getting cold.

I Missed my Jibe

Went sailing today, missed my jibe.

The Wind Clause

Friday I came home for lunch and it was "dog ear windy" in the gorge, so I had to invoke the wind clause in my employment contract, and take the afternoon off to sail.

Judy Mixon, a windsurfing instructor and friend, met us down at the river and gave me a great lesson from the beach. I had been going into my footstraps too early, before I was up on a plane and really schlogging along. Now a whole new world has opened up and I'm much more balanced and relaxed. Yeah.

Fire Fighting Helicopters at the Hood River Airport

There is a forest fire on the Gnarl Ridge of Mt. Hood and firefighting helicopters are using the Hood River Airport as a base o operations. Here is a helicopter that I cannot identify, any hints?  It has a snorkel and a big bladder that expands like a bullfrog to carry the water.

Here is a SkyCrane with a tank and snorkel.

The snorkel has hydraulic lines running down it and a hydraulically powered propeller in the red housing.  The prop throws water up the hose.

Varnish

Varnishing the Door

The front door was blistered from the sun, so I had to varnish it to protect it from damage before winter.

I dismounted the door and took off all the hardware and removed the varnish with pain remover and sanding. Unpleasant work. Tobias had used an oil based spar varnish, so tomorrow buy some of that and get going.

Note: In planning the project, I was worried about the weather because this will take a few days and I'm working on the deck. I was not worried about having a sheet for a front door. Here's hoping!

Sheet Door

I took off the door to varnish it and hung a sheet in its stead.

Historic Highway Walk

Trailhead.

Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!

Man and Dog

Woman and Dog