White on White

Cocooned in snow over a covering of white plastic, framed by wood in a shape resembling a Quonset hut, the boat is being prepared. The job of getting a sixty foot long building water tight, pitched so that the rain and snow slide from the top, around masts, over the top of the wheelhouse enclosing the entire boat was the work of a crew who knew what they were doing. Thanks to Dickey we found a company of three men who rolled and tucked, pulled and attached, around the bones of wood strapping, enclosing the Richard & Arnold in her own cocoon hopefully to be a butterfly in spring. Dave can sleep good tonight, while the hull dries and winter washes the world with snow. The week has been very rigorous for our captain, days with his beard covered in ice. He stripped metal and wood sheathing, then built the frame while the temperature went from o to 35 and back again. Many people have stopped by, one man asked him how old he was? "You'd think I'd be old enough to know better," came the reply. "But step one is done."