Katona

G’day, from the UK. Happy Sunday!

Not much boat time this week, but on Thursday I started working on some tile samples:

These by hand, but I’ll get a pasta-maker type thing (a “slab roller”) for the rest, and I’ll spend a few weeks experimenting with clays, slips and glazes before starting mass production.

And on the way back I caught a photo of the aurora! I couldn’t see it particularly well, but my phone camera picked it up:

On Saturday I squeezed in some bedroom varnish sanding before heading out, then cleaned it up this afternoon, ready for the final coat (and lighting!). Moving back to the marina next weekend, and I’m looking forward to some longer boat days…

Until next Sunday!

- Nick

Sat on the balcony of my room, listening to Shania with the boys (my brother and cousin), nothing but blue sky and ocean waves; this week I’m in North Carolina, U.S.A, for a wedding. I would have said hungover, but thanks to magical chemistry it’s only tiredness. Gosh I love science. Happy Sunday, and happy October!

Getting here was fun; it started with checking in to the flight and discovering my passport was all-but-expired — thankfully the Danes gave me a spare. Then onto security with a full monty pat-down, a swab for drugs, and finally seeing my bag kicked to the side for inspection… “Anything sharp in there?” the woman asked. Confuzzled, I had a rummage, and sure enough: my leatherman. “Unfortunately I have to take this,” she said. I laughed, she smiled, and I shall never see that knife again. It was a gift (sorry mum & David!), and now it’s a story. Alas, I’ve become that guy.

Hoping that was it, but then at the gate heard my name over the loudspeaker, impossible to mistake the mangled “Bundegaard.” Nitch-olas Brunder-guard Good-hall. A few routine checks they assured me, like where on earth do you live?! To top it off, we missed the connecting flight, and spent 5 hours wandering the gates of Terminal 4 at JFK, in New York.

While here I’ve been trying to surf; I rented a board for a few days, but have been routinely humbled by my inability to get past the waves crashing over me. The weather’s perfect however, and with a winter wetsuit I could find somewhere in the UK… I can feel another hobby brewing.

More ocean than boat, but we occasionally saw one on the horizon:

On Friday some of us visited the Wright Brothers memorial museum — just 10 minutes from here! — where they first took powered, controlled flight. Truly 2 boys having a blast, who just happened to change the world. It reminded me what a gift it is to feel compelled by a quest, like an idea being pulled out of you. Plus they were phenomenally well-dressed, even in the sand dunes — I’m starting to wonder if my “technology brother” attire is just a phase.

In Katona-related news, I’ve added an archive to the blog.

Until next Sunday!

- Nick

Hello! Flooding season is upon us.

This is 4 feet above normal, and I’m staying on the other side of the Avon, which I can no longer reach by foot along the river path. In fact I’m staying by the church, and on Tuesday evening I went along to their bell ringing practice…

I walked into the choir vestry and met Rhod, who wondered if I was lost. A stranger, coming for the church bells?! There weren’t many newcomers, and before ascending the spire he graciously gave me a tour of Shakespeare’s grave. His head is supposedly at a nearby church, for reasons I can’t remember, but the rest was confirmed by an ultrasound years ago. Lying next to him is Anne Hathaway, and their 3 kids.

Anyway, I’m gonna learn to ring church bells, HELL YEAH. As if I didn’t have enough hobbies. It’s a niche part of music that I never considered; pianists have scores, guitarists have tabs, and bell ringers have methods. It’s very math-based, and I like the way Wikipedia describes it: “It is a way of sounding continually changing mathematical permutations.”

A wonderful thing is that once you’ve learned them, you can ring church bells anywhere; travel the shires, explore the spires. And a few good things about the bells at Holy Trinity:

1. It’s a big room, with lots of space (the veteran ringers assured me some churches are cramped).
2. They have 10 bells, whereas many only have 6 or 8. A few big’uns have 12, like St Paul’s Cathedral.
3. It’s right by the marina.

How quiet the ringing chamber was surprised me; much quieter than outside, and you can happily hold a conversation. I owe a thanks to my friend Beth for suggesting it, the idea that I could play those bells had not once occurred to me. Many such cases…

It was also a good reminder of how learning something increases the beauty of it, instead of dispelling magic or wonder. I’ve become more aware of them, like “Hey! That’s Robert up there!” as they rang this morning, thinking about what exactly they were doing. It’s fun being an adult and nerding out on the activities that would absolutely get you bullied as a teenager.

Anyway, something about a boat! I finally finished the bedroom wood trim this week, and this morning screwed in the lighting coves:

They camouflage well. Followed by a hoover and wipe down, and then varnishing… I was excited to start, which quickly gave way to “god this fucking sucks.” Every single time; I love having painted, or varnished. The process is fun for all of 30 seconds before monotony sets in.

The natural lighting is awful in there, but luckily I have some fancy LEDs to install after the next coat…

Until next Sunday!

- Nick

Hello!

It’s been a while since I started the engine, and on Tuesday I felt like giving it a little razzmatazzle for good juju. I went to crank it and sure enough, the starter hardly engaged. Sometimes it did but sounded painful, like a bodybuilder trying to force out a big one.

Thinking it might be the battery, I let it charge overnight and came back Wednesday evening. Again, same problem.

Given its history, and worried about a suspect leak from the crankshaft corroding things, I took it off for inspection. Luckily it looked great, dry as toast, and violently span on the deck when I directly connected it. So I put it back, re-wired it, and… presto? Worked a charm, started beautifully. Maybe it was just a loose connection?

Thursday evening I went to pottery, as per, making a beaker and a bowl on a stalk for Kokedama plants (aka a poor man’s bonsai), or any plant that could sit in a bowl:

Then I asked Cathy, my teacher who runs the studio, about tiles… Only planning to make the weird shapes by hand, I told her about my quest for some nice square ones for the bathroom walls, to which she excitedly asked “Why don’t you make them?!”

I did find these beautiful tiles, but they’re cement-based and require a coating every couple of years to survive a wet room. That I am absolutely not doing, so unless I find ones which tickle my soul… welp. 2 weeks ago I was making fun of my dad for wanting to buy a ton of oak planks for his boat, given all the prep work, now I’m considering a side quest in tile production. 🤷‍♂️

Alas, I have been nerd-sniped. Depending on size it’ll be around 400 tiles, and it also means I can perfect the colours and patterns. Cathy is excited about getting a tile rack for the kiln, and given I’m at the studio anyway… I also don’t need them all straight away — I can produce them over the coming months and install them when ready, moving onto the saloon/lounge while I wait.

Luckily one of my side-projects, Pogzul — a pixelated, programmable artboard — will come in handy for designing the kind of tiles I want:

Finally, I was hoping to install the bedroom lighting coves, now screwing them in, but the screws I need didn’t arrive… a “manufactoring delay,” their estimate was updated to October, so I’ve ordered some different ones in the meantime. I continued with the final bits of wood trim, and I’ll start on the varnish next week.

Until next Sunday!

- Nick

Hello! Happy warm weather again.

This week, more bedroom trim. I’ve now done most of it, but it’s like playing pick-up sticks and I can only do a few pieces each time while the glue dries:

For the lighting coves I was planning to also glue them, but curving and holding those in place is frustrating so I’ve ordered some more screws.

This afternoon I was about to panel the bathroom ceiling to feel some progress, but then remembered I need to run wiring and pipes above it first… focus, Nicholas! Thankfully the bedroom’s almost done; I can feel the pull of starting the next thing.

Yesterday, Saturday, I took a hiatus to check out Katona’s competition at the Southampton Boat Show. Only expecting to find the sea-faring kind, I was surprised near the entrance to find the one-and-only narrowboat!

The rest were indeed yachts and motorboats:

A bowsprit on Katona and I could sink them all, they wouldn’t stand a chance (but I couldn’t stand a wave).

We dallied awhile with the owner of a semi-custom Rustler 42; beautifully fitted-out, he involved himself throughout the 2-year build and knew the boat inside-out. One of the day’s highlights, and I did like the control panels:

And then we found this speedy-looking red yacht, possibly Katona’s cousin:

A “fast family cruiser,” it looked fancy but I wouldn’t call it cosy — inside it was modern and quite minimalist, nothing homely about it. Not even a fireplace.

Back to (narrow-)boating today, and the marina heron taking flight:

Until next Sunday!

- Nick