Happy Thanksgiving!

As a side note, I walked down the aisle 37 years ago on this date.  Not sure I realized at the time what that stroll down the aisle was going to entail.  It's been an interesting journey thus far.  Hopefully, there's another 37 years of discovery ahead.

Winter has it's grip on Michigan already and the lakes are iced over.  The early ice likely indicates there may be a late launch in the spring.  I was looking to launch a bit later in May anyway.

Progress on the cabinet has been painfully slow.  I've had a couple issues to over come and a whole lot of house chores to accomplish.  It's getting there, slow but sure.

I mounted the drawer slides and drawer boxes.  I had a little excess width on the drawers that I had to shave off...like 1/32" at most.  I'm not sure how much tolerance the slides will handle but I figured it was best to tune it in now.

Next steps are to install the drawer fronts and the top and extensions.

OK...the leaf collection task is complete!  It only took seven hours of hard labor.

I traveled west to work on the boat mid-week.  Friend Jim Sarna went with me to polish the hull sides.  Jim does a remarkable job polishing the boat.  I'd like to take credit for the way the boat looks, but it's all him.  I just follow along and apply the paste wax.  The result is a deep shine finish that looks like a new hull.

I also got my first up close look at the bottom after the paint has been stripped.  It looks good.  There's six coats of epoxy and paint that will be applied over the winter months.

Work on the cabinet continued to progress a bit.  After getting all the pieces constructed, it was time for final trimming, sanding and finishing.

I used a flush trim bit to trim the top edging back to the laminate surface.  I use an auxiliary surface clamped to the top to give me a support for the router operation.

Then rout an 1/8" round over to break the edge.

With all the parts trimmed and sanded, it's time for staining and some urethane.

A couple more coats of urethane, and it will be time for final assembly of the drawers and top.

Leaf maintenance continues to dominate the activities.  Unfortunately, it's still a losing battle with most of the leaves still in the trees and westerly breezes at 15 to 20 mph keeping what is on the ground in motion.

In the meantime, I've chipped away at the cabinet project.  I prepped some lumber and trimmed the top surfaces with a band of oak trim.

I use a pattern bit against a straight edge to trim the raw edges flush for the final piece of trim.

I've got all the pieces cut now ready for final sanding and finish prior to assembly.

Plan is to make a trip across the state this week to polish the hull of the boat, inspect the bottom condition after soda blasting and finalize the plans for the remainder of the off season boat maintenance.