Take Up

BOXKITE is almost ready for the river. Last year we put her in and let her take up at the dock. She was pretty much swamped for two weeks while the ten years in the shed cedar adsorbed the Delaware. It made the topsides paint peel. This year we wrapped her in a tarp and filled the cockpit with wet blankets. (I also got a lot of water on the shop floor doing this, but the floor is cleaner now since I mopped it up.) In only one day the wood swelled amazingly. At first, I could fit my pinky between the bottom planks. Now they are fairly tight.