Lay Lake

Fully intending a day of boatbuilding, Kathy and I instead took a Sunday drive to the site of our planned first sail of the Passagemaker dinghy. I refer to Lay Lake, a hydro-power reservoir on the Coosa river. The lake is part of a system of lakes created and maintained by Alabama Power. Lay Lake is one of the smaller in the system, but after our visit today, we saw it will be plenty big for sailing. We checked out a free public boat ramp that at about 25 miles away, is the closest to home. It is a nice facility, with two cement boat ramps, nearby docks, and plenty of pull-through parking for boat trailers. Also, just down the road is a second boat ramp facility at a commercial marina called "Paradise Point" marina. Curiously, the road to paradise is strewn with potholes. The free public ramp at Beeswax park is much nicer. It off of the main lake in a small protected cove. Perhaps in a month, well be able to have a little boat christening ceremony, and go sailing.

After returning home, I did a quick oil change in my car. After that, I had time to cut the upper opening in the daggerboard trunk. This was done in the same way as the lower one, by drilling a 1/2" starter hole, then using the router with a 1/2" flush-cut bit to cut the slot even with the interior surface of the trunk. The edge was then shaped with the 3/8" roundover bit. A slight unevenness at one end was the result of a stray glop of epoxy that was squeezed out of the joint which the bit bearing rode over. This will be smoothed out later by hand.

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