Herring Run and Fascist Boards

The MasterPlanDan and I went to Hornby this weekend to prep for the roofing that should be arriving in a week or two. The first and foremost job was to build the skylight boxes so that they could be flashed before the roofing goes on. After that the skylights just sit on the boxes or "curbs" as we builders call them.

This job involves cutting a length out of one of the rafters whilst ensuring that you're not standing on the piece being cut. Then headers are cut to span the adjacent rafters, cripple rafters fastened, and the actual curb is placed on top and fastened.

Once both skylights were ready we moved on to the peak strapping. Wayne, our building consultant, wants to see both a good sized gap at the top for air flow and double strapping to give lots of wood into which to screw the roofing and the ridge cap.

At around 5PM Dan and I decided we'd had enough building, and no where near enough riding. We grabbed the bikes, rode to the top of Mt Geoffery, and descended some of the amazing Hornby singletrack. Sadly, the November windstorms had knocked over thousands of trees and many had fallen across the trail. One afternoon I'll head up with the chainsaw and clear out some of dead fall if someone doesn't beat me too it.

Sunday, we fastened up all the fascia boards, or fascist boards as Dan calls them. Ironically, our only real hitch came right after one of our great discoveries. We figured out that if you hook the extension ladder over the strapping, then there's no chance for the ladder to fall to the side. Super safe! Ya... just make sure you move the ladder before installing the fascist boards or you WILL have an "Oh shit" moment. Dan captured that moment in the photo on the right.

Every year after the last big winter storm herring converge on the area and spawn. The beaches and rocks are covered with roe and the water is milky. There's more bird activity than you can imagine and the entire food chain get all whipped up. We took a walk down to the beach and were stunned by the sheer numbers of seagulls.



The whitish stuff you see on the beach in the photo above is the row. The photo on the left is a closeup of the row.
We're now very close to being able to put on the roofing. There's still a stove pipe that has to be installed, we need to fasten up one more fascist board. Thanks a million to Dan who made some of the most accurate cuts I've ever seen, solved a bunch of problems, and was a riot to work with. Good times!