Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Murmeltier - I - The Frame


Murmeltier is a flat-bottomed sloop Marconi-rigged with a mainsail and Genoa flying off a bowsprit on which I've attached a siren from an overflowing volcano of booze served at Chino Latino - let's call her Adrienne.


As I mentioned in an earlier post, Murmeltier was born out of sickness - a local flu virus and a greater emotional akin to seasonal affective disorder. I'm not exactly sure where the idea came from but I think it had something to to with public television's daytime programming.

As I started going back to work, I grabbed some stir sticks from Starbucks (unofficial sponsor) and some Elmer's glue from the office supply store. I glued a layer of sticks together side by side and coated it everywhere with glue, which has a nice glossy clear coat look when it's dry.

It was about this time that I realized I could actually do this. It was also about this time I started taking a bunch of shit for using water-soluble glue. Admittedly it would be fun to watch it disintegrate coasting along on Lake Calhoun, but I didn't want it to fall apart right away. I vindicated myself by demonstrating that the Elmer's wasn't a terrible idea because the sides of the boat needed to be shaped. I wasn't about to try and shape each one the same and then glue them together. So instead I glued them into a straight panel, let it dry, then wet it, and bent the whole panel at once using binder clips and nylon twine to hold them in shape. It worked like a charm.

Now I needed a bottom, deck, mast, bowsprit, and boom. I took one layer of sticks and layered another set of sticks on top staggered between the sticks of the first layer like common brick layering. Once I had a few panels like this I cut out the flat bottom using scissors, shaped the pieces with sandpaper and a knife and glued the initial structure together.

I was so pleased with myself that I forgot to worry about how the thin would maintain a course without a keel or rudder...

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