Outdoors Maryland; 2

It is as temperamental and as changing as the city which made it world renowned in the Potomac River. If ever there was a moving liquid reflection of our nation's history this is it. For photographers she works nicely as a reflective foreground Washington on the Potomac or Washington by the Potomac. But this is a body of water with its own story to tell a story separate from the monuments and souvenir shops on our shores. The Potomac starts here a humble beginning for our nation's capital river. And yet even in this frugal start. There is a rich history to tell. The sewers of the Potomac River Fairfax and. Wordperfect lived about 100 years ago and he up our by. Water from land between the Rappahannock and quote through earth a river. So naturally he wanted to have a survey. Among those with Jefferson. Father Thomas Jefferson and 1751.

Around that time he made a map that was considered one of the first maps of Virginia. And also here is an example of the battle which this body of water has had to fight for its very life. This is what remains of a long forgotten industrial site. A heap of slag lying a few hundred feet from where the river ekes out its humble beginnings. But it's only a few miles downstream where there are hopeful signs of life here the Potomac is flooded directionless stream where beavers have busily created a series of dams. And it's not too far from here where one of the river's most faithful watchers. Charles Matthews may be found on any agreeable day. I've been working on a book calling now I'd say for a good 50 years or better. Off a wall. Terrible Wow. I don't remember very very few people we ever seen on the river.

We were facing daylight to dark for days at a time I never see a soul but lifelong fisherman Charles Matthews says his favorite sport has only gotten better in the past few years. I find fishing in the river better today than ever. I'd say it improves 50 or 60 percent every bit. Today the river has a steady flow to it. I don't I don't think goes near the pollution in the river. That was when I was younger. A lot more efficient river today than there was 50 years ago. There's fishing the Potomac and then there is fishing the Potomac. These fellows cost twenty five hundred pounds out of the same nets just the day before this scene took place. The commercial fisherman of the Potomac. These catfish will wind up

on farms across the south. It's the smaller ones which are the most marketable. They're good feeding outsiders. These waters are also attracting a different breed of fishermen. It is dawn on the Potomac. Rumbling is an aggressive fleet of boats. Are powerful engines could rip through the center of our nation's capital within minutes. But these boats are no cause for alarm. They're operated by members of the bass anglers sportsman's society the Bassmasters top 100 pro-am professionals and amateurs are here in a three day competition to see who can pull the biggest bass from the waters of the Potomac River in the allotted amount of time.

There are tens of thousands of dollars at stake here but perhaps more importantly the Potomac. Is the fact that this competition is held here at all. A river which is shown in television news spots of a very few years ago. Look it's. The biggest change is the reason we're here it's just because it's good fishing. You know lots lots of. In the spring and the fall you know the peak times so we fully

expect to get 50 or 60 back today if we don't respond. Ken Penrod is a professional sports fishing guide on the Potomac River. The fact that a man can make a comfortable living as a professional sport fishing guide in Washington D.C. is a real surprise to many who visit the nation's capital. They get calls from people that come in from out of town. You know just our staff and his dad bring him mom and all the kids to the city where he doesn't want to be anywhere because it's easily found through a yellow pages and seizes a fishing guide in the city. You know we've saved his life. This is the drawing card for money to the Potomac River. The large mouth bass is very smart. You know it is custom made for this kind of thing. Beautiful color good fighting ability and the challenge to the fisherman is to outsmart the fish. But the large mouth bass is not the only dweller of these waters. The long lean

walleye has found a home here and in the more sheltered waters where the Potomac has its beginnings thrives. The small mouth bass bluegill and pumpkin seeds help round out the fishing population. And if you're a fishing guide on the Potomac River chances are some of your clientele will have faces which often graced the leading newsmagazines. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently took time off from her busy schedule to sample the offerings of the river which runs less than a half mile from the Supreme Court building. What a. Man. It was a big surprise to me to discover that there is good fishing in the Potomac River. It's such a beautiful spot

and a place that we'd like to think. Could be. Clean and full of fish and available for recreation. And it was quite exciting today to discover that it really is. Odd that fish have come back and that the place is available for recreational use to people who've been working for years on cleaning up the river. The fact that sportfishing has been able to return in these waters is no big surprise. A lot of effort and a lot of money went into sewage treatment plants and into carefully laid plans plans which never seem to have an ending. The people in my area especially are much more aware now than they were before they took the river for granted. And I think that we're. With everybody all the agencies are working together the Department of Natural Resources and the commissioners and they're all making a concerted effort to make public awareness. As far as projects on the Potomac we are constantly

asking local people if there's things that we can do to upgrade the water quality. But fishing so close to the powerful city of Washington D.C. does have unusual disturbances but they only disturb until you get used to them. This boat full of fishermen totally ignore a giant airliner swooping down over their fishing spot destructions or not. There are still fish to catch this happened. They're a totally different thing than I've ever seen. Well we thought there's some pretty story that's just what they look like some very story. I don't know to read like Benjamin about any reason if you doubt that I could use that almost human quality about our vision for the vision that they have.

They get a good look at them. They would read your freeze if you put one on just string and grafted. Land long the bag with the vision of where they would go wrong needed. To look like. A. Lizard. Around here. You. Got. To. Pick the. River. Western Maryland home to one of the state's most bizarre forms of life and aquatic salamander whose lineage reaches back three hundred million years. Ed Thompson of the Melilla Natural Heritage Program and wildlife photographer Robert gnomon come in search of a creature surrounded by myth and mysteries. Local people call it a water dog but its real name is more ominous.

Hellbender. When. You. Wanted to. Touch your toes. For hours the two men search under the large rocks lining the riverbed places where hellbender liked to hide. Finally they're forced to give up on the river's a little bit too high. For. To find these things mainly because it's too Turbin you can't see the salamanders when you lift the rocks up. And. That's

basically the problem. There's also too many places they could be when the river gets lower. There's they're concentrated in areas. So it becomes easier to find. So. We're. Going to be very difficult if we would have a week without any rain the river would be low enough to have good success. A month is past the heavy rains of summer are over and the river is now low and clear. Perfect conditions for finding hellbender is. Really only to find out. When three. Go. I. Can't get a rock I think. No. One home today. It sure is a good looking

globe. These things are rare. With. A large rock but. You never know. There is. A hellbender. There's a hellbender under this rock Marjoe. I got it. You're kidding. Man. On. The whole if you want to photograph him we should have put him in. OK. Look at this. Right. She got a little cut on.

The. Biggest salamander in Maryland and United States is one of its longer but this is actually. This. It looks just like a rock. I don't ever see it. Now I just saw her shaking her head. She got about. 16. Inches a 16 18 inches. Wide. So. It gets away and we get a shot out of it. I was wondering if she was in a fight with another building still want a dog. Is. Like a water dog. This is incredible. You'd never think something like that would be in this area. And it's not like the other salamanders. I mean this tail is fleshy it's muscular it's proceeding it's an OR they can have short bursts of speed. That's like a fish. But they. They can move pretty good but they normally just walk all. Three feet primarily on water. They supposedly they really love crayfish and they'll eat earthworms that

wash the strain. Don't eat fish if they get catching although they usually that there are sick fish or dying fish. And they're completely non-poisonous right. Harmless. Very hot. You never think an animal like this would be in the river. I know it's your life to be in a river like this but a lot of people don't know they're here and when they do see one they are quite shocked. I can look at it. OK. I've seen it. I've seen enough to go with her. Put. Her Down. Spilling air. On the. Way. There. It's just amazing. The cryptic coloration is just so effective that even walking by you never think that was an animal just a piece of wood or. A. Rock. Hellbender it is a rare. Form of life. And in a lot of the terrain.

They're still listed as an endangered species and they should be that there is a lot of other habitat in the river that should be occupied. It's not. Right. Because some places are much more silvery than others and. A little. More polluted. It's just an endangered animal it's one that. We're worried about. So we. Want to keep track of it and. See it. See how it's doing. After releasing the adult salamander it makes a remarkable discovery. A cluster of hellbender and to see the developing larvae inside. Look at that little baby hellbender. I've never seen the eggs in this phase of the life cycle. It's quite exciting. Will be a big hawk. This is this piece has broken off the main hunk. Normally this egg mass

group of eggs would be about five times its size. A female lays 300 or more eggs that these are in spite of the fact they broke off the main mass They're developing the not too far from hatching. I feel real excited. Because it's the first time I've ever seen them develop that for. So long and fine in eggs. It's always good. To know that the reality is. It's saving a popular or you know we just haven't held banners in the stream that are all going to die someday is just not good. And knowing they reproduce and then they might be here while this is good. I hope that. The stream continues to clean up. And. The population just continues to grow. It's an incredible thing. And. One. Of. Two flying to slip the bonds of earth and climb some

waiting to soar near Sun split clouds and catch the changing thermals. This is the beauty of a hang gliding. Expert and pilot Fred Parminter has been flying these Maryland skies over high rock near Hagerstown for 13 years. It's the freedom of being free doing what you want up there. You can see the panoramic view of the whole countryside. It's like looking down at a Christmas card. For Fred and his wife Ray and there is no greater challenge than facing Mother Nature one on one special wind and weather conditions are essential to a safe flight. What about the state of Maryland. I think it's probably one of the hardest places to learn how to fly. The weather is kind of cantankerous in Maryland we wait on it a lot for training purposes and for high flying. The benefit of that is while out in California they make it 500 hours a year real easily. Out here you're lucky to get 50. But

it improves your flight flying to a degree because you'll fly in fresh air conditioned space heater. You take what you can get out here and I think it makes it better pilots. You have to realize that Mother Nature can't harm you. You have to look at it real carefully. That's why we have to learn a great deal about me here Elegy. And. It gives one. A sense of accomplishment and achievement when I fly really well. I know. And it gives a real deep sense of self-satisfaction more than I get out of any other part of my life by. Launching a glider requires a group effort to ensure a good liftoff. Once several gliders take to the skies all the earthbound spectator can do is look wonderful. All.

Day long. So. Many spectators have been so envious of the beauty and freedom of the sport that they too wish to test their wings. Alex Tor's explains her fascination

with the sport. I've always wanted to do a drive from point. It's something you find an airplane but it's it's it's it's it's very different to find a glider because I think you put part of your body in. And. You know you can really fly it's close to the closest thing to flying you know like birds. That and. Here at Oregon Ridge just minutes from downtown Baltimore. Instructors train future pilots safety is of utmost importance. So all beginners learn the basics in ground school. Richard Hayes volunteers his time to teach eager students in hopes that more Marylanders will become avid gliders. The whole key and success the whole key to success to learning how to launch the glider again I emphasize on proper place on your shoulders which you're learning to do right now. OK. And letting the shoulders take the burden and the weight of the glider. And then when you begin to get to the point in which you run with the glider and launch the glider OK your shoulders act as a pivot point.

Then after several lessons it's time for that first flight or run it run it run it harder harder harder run run run it out easy. Good point and a little bit point and a little bit for a good flight point and a little bit better. Keep up your speed port in a little bit. Begin bleeding off your air speed. Pop the bar out. Pump it out. On your feet. And another successful launch. It's just something that you just need to do. I guess when you're tired of it but. There's always a calling for a certain people that really want to pursue it. You know. I think. I'm for some. Really good backup flying. And maybe someday soon these students will join Fred Rae and the other pilots on the cliffs of high rock for an incredible flight over the scenic Maryland countryside

or. The first release of Winter's grip. The warmth of the March sun sets free the sweet water of the sugar maple. The dripping maples are one of the earliest signs that the year's coldest days are drawing to an end. It occurs when most of nature is still draped in the icy cold of a fading season. It's March. Lee ocean holds favorite time of year. And is Maryland's largest producer of maple syrup. It's also his busiest. It's a way of life. It's something that you have to enjoy. I mean the average person wouldn't enjoy coming out in the woods in the snow and the rain and the mud to produce something.

It has to be in your blood. I mean it's just a way of life all your sugar producers that make maple syrup. It's you know it's just a way of life. It's a way of life which depends on faith. Faith that nature will provide enough single drops to fill a gallon bucket. And it's a way of life which knows that enough drops and enough buckets can keep a tradition and a business alive. When I was. A kid growing up it always impressed me when my uncle

and grandfather made maple syrup. It's like a family tradition. I mean in the spring of the year when things started to. Spring for life again. You liked the get out and drill holes in trees. I mean you know you take something out of the tree that looks just like water. And you brought into maple syrup and it's on and it's just like rebirth. You know things are coming to life and you and you're in the woods where you start to see the buds the birds everything starting to come to life again after they're dormant stage. Leo's grandfather taught him the secrets of making a clean tap. The knowledge of when and how to tap the maple for its clear sweet liquid is still something to be handed from one generation to another. Though the technology has changed. While the traditional buckets are still used on some trees. It's green

tubing like arteries laid bare to the last snows of winter which connect the lifeblood of Laotian holds business. Let's pull this line off and see how good the drop in the day. All of the flows are starting to fall out real well. The business of maple syrup is also a matter of real blood lines. Company meetings are a family ritual. I get that water to go. Around the table with three brothers and a cousin the s n s maple syrup company. You bring. It. The way that syrup you make. If it's light. Put it in that. Can. Become. Mean to Me and Baum's would get to me. It works real well this way because a family operation it's. Everything works so much smoother.

Everyone knows everyone knows with the other man can do and what to expect from the other man. And it's this time of year or so where we can all work together. It keeps a close knit family close. That's Billy manning the evaporator. It's his job to make sure that the carefully collected sugar water doesn't overcook and burn. A possibility which could ruin the highly specialized and valuable equipment. The sweet Stephen which really works is a drawing card to the sugar camp. It's something people are amazed. Where we evaporate. You know we're right close to court and Bill there and the people can see all the steam and get inquisitive and they come over to see what's happening. And when you can show them they're a tree at the camp for the sugar water

dropping out of the tree and then take them inside and shine the sugar water that's going through the evaporators at one end and coming out the other end is pure maple syrup. It is amazing. Equally amazing is the amount of sugar water it takes to make Sir 48 gallons of sugar water straight from the trees when pumped into the machinery and the camp produces a single gallon of maple syrup. Maple syrup. Is graded by color. You can have your light amber syrup which is your top grade of maple syrup. It is sweet. But most of the Times doesn't have a real strong maple flavor it is sweet and delicate. Your darker grades your grade a medium grade A dark or a stronger flavored made for when I feel that the consumer likes the darker grade better because it has more of a maple

flavor. Like any product dependent on nature's delicate seasonal balancing act. The maple syrup is under siege. We don't know if it's from the polluted atmosphere. Or just raw acid rain. We're not sure yet. I'm not sure yet what is really causing the tops to die and some of our sugar maple. Could be anything. I realize we lose some to the gypsy moth. You know when we spray we don't get a. Total kill. But. I think a lot of it is polluted atmosphere also. Acid rain and gypsy moths aren't the only threat to the maple syrup drop this large stand of maple trees referred to as a sugar Bush is scheduled to be sold as timber. Plans that don't sit well with the ocean. When I see timber being cut. Clear cut. And especially the

sugar maple. Is down hard. I. Hate to see this happen because never in our lifetime and we see that tree ring around. The hardwoods are being cut away. And. It's just. We'll never see him again. Maybe our children won't see him. There is more than stands of trees being threatened. There is a way of life at stake. There is a sense of assurance in these drugs. They bring with them the first sounds of spring. Once again enough of nature has survived the rigors of winter and the encroachment of man to sing in the changing of the seasons.

It is temporary ponds like this that the brief ritual of spring occurs yearly and nearly simultaneously throughout Maryland spring rains form a nursery where amphibians can reproduce without the danger of their offspring being consumed by fish. The cacophony of sounds from hundreds of tiny Von's announces the presence of the silent spotted salamander. This beautiful creature is impossible to find. Most of the year spending most of its time underground it is only for a few short days in early spring that it leaves at subterranean world just long enough to make its own contribution to this small body of water. Now a rich embryonic soup. Stirring with new life. Acid rain has hit hard at populations of the spotted salamander and other parts of the country killing eggs and deforming surviving embryos. But here in Maryland it appears that the species has made it through at least one more spring.

It is the spring nights which are most remarkable and these temporary easy. To a biologist. These settings are a treasure trove or they offer a priceless chance to see the cycle of life in some of its most interesting forms.

These are the tiny creatures most responsible for the sounds of spring. Tiny tree from commonly called keepers gather by the hundreds to loudly announce their presence. They and dozens of related species are here for the same reason as the spotted salamander. They lay their eggs in the fish free environment of the temporary pond where they can readily mature without the threatening presence of any swimming predators. Nothing announces a Maryland spring as spectacularly as this state's wild

flowers. This is the adder's tongue better known as the trout Lemley. Legend has it that when fishermen see this beauty they know it's time to break out the fishing year. Legend attached to this spring beauty is that Indians use the blood roots orange and reddish pigment as a dye and the Dutchman's britches got its name from the pantaloons worn by early Dutch settlers and the beauty of the hepatica as variety from white to light blue. This lovely thrives only and undisturbed rich woodland soil but for blue there is nothing like a field of Maryland bluebells. Wild flowers. They appear briefly and protected by law. They cannot

be picked. They. And do all the touching necessary. And an ocean of life. Borders States eastern boundary. Lines from its most gigantic bossom for. Visits here. But it is right here in metro that one of the oddest looking birds in the world makes its whole nesting grounds. Soaring on Terra. Dactyl wings these birds have scarcely changed from their ancestors of 40 million years ago. With a seven foot

wingspan. Of brown pelican in flight. It's a memorable sight. But modern chemicals once threatened extinction. And it is only since the banning of the pesticide DDT that there has been a resurgence of the fish hunting bird. Including these recent permanent residents to Marilyns Chincoteague Bay. The brown pelicans was a threatened species in the late 60s and early 70s and with the banning of DDT the Pelican populations increased to the point where they started to expand. The best example of the recovery is the fact that they now nest in Maryland. The first pelican nests that were ever recorded in Maryland were last summer out on an island near Ocean City. We went through historical records for pelicans and

other birds going even back to colonial times. And we can't find any records of pelicans ever nesting this far north on the East Coast of the United States. So when they nested here last year that was the first nesting for Marilyn. And also the farthest north that they've ever been known to nest. It was a very significant event for us. It was nice to see a species recover to the point where they can colonize new habitat. David Branker is a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland. His research with brown pelicans and other species is overseen by the state's Department of Natural Resources. The work has its awkward moments. Pelicans nest where they could be far from dangerous raccoons and rats would steal eggs but Dave believes his efforts will prove worthwhile. The reason we banned pelicans is to. It's an. Expanding population and we want to find out where the young dispersed to.

We want to add to the information available on how long pelicans. And things of that sort. So they've developed a stainless steel band that will last 25 30 years Republicans or very wrong like those 35 and 40 years of have to. And this allows us to. Study their migratory habits by people finding a dead pelican with the band on or reporting it to the fish and wildlife service in D.C. we can find out where the Maryland population is wintering the Maryland population Mike Winter in a very restricted area. All right guys go. Pelicans and other colonial nesting birds do not always avoid fatal confrontations with predators. These empty nests were once filled with black skimmers.

One of the. Problems that the water birds have has to do with predators and that's why they come together in groups colonies in this case it didn't work as a strategy because they came and nested on the shell beach here and you had a lot of skimmers and common turns in here. But the rice rat population on this island was very high and the rice rats like the cover of the grass what they do is they come out here at night. They run out into the colony grab an egg or two and come back to the security of the grass run into these tunnels and bring the egg in. And sit there and eat the egg in nice security where nothing can get them and when they had that nice little meal then they'd go back out and find another egg in the colony come back in here. Hide in the cord grass and eat the eggs. In some cases the rats would come out and in turn would not leave the nest. They had an opportunity then to take the adult turn and kill the turn of the skimmer or whatever was on the nest. We found dead Willett's out here they've been killed by rats and then they dragged the body back. To the security of the tunnel and sit there and. Eat some of the breast meat or parts of the bird itself.

See the feathers sticking out here. This was how I found this tallest. It was a little bit of feathers sticking out. You go in and you find what's left of a common term. RAT. Killed right on its nest and right back in it. But the biggest danger to these birds isn't their natural enemies but the neighboring population of summering people on vacation. Try and urge people that wild. Water birds are beautiful and it's fun to watch them. If you're near a colony you watch it from a distance. You don't go in because one intrusion by a person could ruin a number of nests in your. In some cases you may have only one colony in a calm county so that if you ruin the production or if you cause 10 percent of the nests in that one colony to fail you're causing 10 percent of a county's population to not reproduce that your. Particular problems are lying around Ocean City where we have this intense recreational industry and Ocean City is a wonderful place. And what we do is we go out in the islands that the

water birds nest and we post them with a little information sign it says keep out bird nesting area. And we only leave the islands posted for as long as the birds are there. So we wait till the birds are about ready the nest put up the signs and as soon as the birds have successfully raised their checks then we take the signs down so people can. Go back and use that island. And there's generally enough space that you know we have one island posted there's another island right next to it that doesn't have colonial water or incitements and Rick could visit it if they want to. Stop in the salt marsh or get on a sandy beach island and see. What. We're trying to do is get people to realize that there's plenty of room for both the birds and us to enjoy the seashore and the Atlantic coast. Nestled in every corner of our state they cover hundreds of thousands of acres.

Every year they continue to vanish. Gone forever. The place of mysterious beauty. Neither completely water nor completely land. They pulse with the life giving nutrients of earth and sea. Nurturing in their shallows a fragile ecosystem more diverse than any other in the world. The wetlands within these life giving acres there must be a story sometime somewhere in all the years of traveling around and through these wonderfully strange places. A vow was made some day there'll be a story centered around this place then it'll help all understand where is it.

Perhaps the place to begin is in these black waters. It's here that the water carries up its tiny but significant donations to the food chain. The brine shrimp. Beautiful and eerily fanciful as it tries to outmaneuver the hordes of small hungry fish and the small hungry fish themselves. The killer fish minnows and even young seahorses. Now hunters but in turn to be hunted. This is a place of beginnings. The grass is above and beneath the waters may be the single most important group of plants in the wetlands. It's their life cycles from living to hold the soils in place to die and rotting. Which feeds huge amounts of organic matter into the bay. This is the

beginning of life in these waters. It's the same grasses which provide hiding places. And a place to look for a hidden meal. It's also a place of contrasts a place of flatness which suddenly demands that the I reach into the heights of magnificent pines. In winter it's bathed in what at first glance seems a drab sameness only to come alive in the spring and show a diversity in the summer of incredible flourishing growth. And yet it's a place of rest and refuge attracting life in all shapes and sizes. The tiny fish attract larger fish and they in turn attract

fishers. The elusive bittern the hare and its vigilant eyes always searching. There is much on which to reflect after a day in the wetlands. Somehow it's those little discoveries which stay with one the longest. Like the encounter with the diamond back Terrapin. And snapping turtle. And a close up look at the striped leopard frog. Eggs. Spent the summer in nearby water. But mainly the reflections upon the beauty of the land itself. Grass mosaics. Are colors. And texture saturate the. The Greens left from summer. The Reds of a dying

autumn. Clashing with the cold blue sky of a coming winter. The wetlands. They are indeed special places. It's a blend of land and water. Created so. It in turn can create and foster a new life. There is indeed a story here. Which one to choose first is the only problem. But first. These places must be allowed to continue on with their business. A day on the bay swept along by steady breezes lulled by the creak of the mast. A traditional Marilyn pleasure. Enticed by the romance of wooden boats but finding them extremely rare. The

thought might occur to you. I could build one. The. Chesapeake wooden boat. Bill will be glad to introduce you to this time honored friend. He took. These numbers. And lost the full size and that made Peter Steinem's teaches a class of wooden boat building that's offered through Harford County Community College. This is the basis of boatbuilder putting the pieces together is not a complicated item. You have to be able to know what the boat looks like full size before you can build it. No the class has only one limitation on both sides when finished. It's got to fit through the workshop door. You'll learn what it takes to tackle that thirty footer. The key is to start small new classes form in February with an eye toward getting the boats in the water by summer. Bruce Gallop is one of the instructors.

The process of establishing the faith is the same for their boat small or large. You half that understand the concept of establishing the points in space that define those curves. Once you understand that on a small boat knowing ahead of time that it's a lot more work and it's going to take you a lot longer. You can really build a larger boat. Bruce built a 25 foot crab skiff in his backyard literally from scratch. But any boat not skip Jacks are pretty boats and I'd always wanted kind of wanted to build one. The neighbor next door he came in as I was bringing in this big chunk of hope for the keel sun and he saw it when he drove in the driveway and he came running over and said you're going to build a Skipjack that was worth even telling him. These boats were originally designed to pull oyster dredges in the larger

sizes and that's why they had such a large scale this is a lot of sail for a small boat. Twenty five and a half foot boat with over 400 square feet of sail up. Had a lot of fun with this boat. I get a lot of compliments on it. People. Go by and take pictures of it. So I break my arm patting myself on the back when they tell me how pretty it is. Why. Is it that measuring the final placement of these rivers on the inside of the boat. So that we don't put a rivet through this side point at the location that the rib will be so now that we mark these when we drill a hole for the river to purposely avoid these more. The cost is not very popular this year we had 44 students and we have either under construction or have completed something both.

We're preparing to glue the bottom onto the boat. We've got glue on the frame itself and then we're putting some on the piece of plywood that will go on as the bottom and then over top that will fiberglas the bottom. Wooden boats. Are enjoying a renaissance and there is a certain honesty and charm associated with boats. There are probably more unfinished boats both fiberglass and wood in the world than there are of those that have been cleaned. Our approach. Is. To do it with comaraderie alone. You tend to have more perseverance if you have support. To do.

Things to laminate the bottom and sides of the square with fiberglass and epoxy it does two things. One is it gives tremendous abrasion resistance both feet on the bottom and could get strength. Here. We go. With. The boat's upside down on the ex-SAS that we have is to do a little fairing but note that the it must be. Pretty. Good. In June the class displays the finished boats and boats in progress at the end take a

wooden boat show in Haverty Grace. That started from the beginning. I didn't know a whole lot about woodworking so now I've learned how to use the tools. I'm going to build what's called a Cavendish 14 feet to three people. The class allows you as long as you were able to build a boat and build a successful a man with the teachers feel you have the capabilities of it then you can build your own. And they wholeheartedly agree that I can go ahead and build my own. So the next time you dream about a boat dream about the boat you're going to be. An.

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