I was encouraged that there might actually be a boating season this year when I looked at the web cam overlooking the Mackinac Island marina and saw there was a noticeable absence of ice.

Then the view refreshed and I wasn't quite so encouraged.

Well, at least it's broken ice now.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my new mower was delivered.

And there's progress on the dresser project.  That lake ice will thaw eventually so I need to get this thing finished.

It was time to make the top, so I picked out some stock to match up the grain.

After truing the edges and turning 4 planks into 2 planed pieces (because my planer will only handle a 12" width), I made the final glue joint.

Final cutting, trimming and sanding, results in the 63" x 21" solid oak top.

Just need to put the caps on the through mortise slots and add a couple decorative treatments and this build is complete and ready for stain and urethane.

Like I said, launch day 2014 is getting close.  Mother Nature needs to turn up the thermostat just a bit and we'll go boating.  The ice is gone in Manistee so as soon as it gets just a touch warmer, I'll have the boat put in there and then cruise north to Mackinaw City as the water (ice), waves and weather allow.

Well, last weekend was a disaster.  A storm blew (that's an understatement) through and wiped out the DTE electric grid.  We ran on generator power for a day...and we were one of the fortunate ones.

The wind blew so hard, the needles were stripped from the pine trees here.  Of course, it also stripped power lines from poles.  Here's a shot of the top of the neighbors spruce tree.  Most of the needles are gone on the new growth.

But after a record breaking 3" snowfall (made the season total over 94" breaking an 1881 record), spring appears to have arrived at the ranch.

There's actually signs life beginning to appear!

The melting snow left a lawn covered with sticks and debris from numerous winter storms.  So a day in the yard raking and burning got me a pile of ashes...

16 bags of debris to be hauled off...

a blistered hand, sore back, and achy legs.  Winter was not kind to me.  But the hard part is done and I can look forward to all the summer fun.

I visited the boat Friday and completed all the mandatory pre-launch chores.  There is still one more coat of paint that will be applied to the bottom this week.  Still no rush as the northern Michigan climate is still on the cool side.

And that's a good thing because progress on the dresser is slow and that's a generous evaluation of the progress.  But I'm back at it getting all the drawer guides made and glued into the case.  It's a lot of time consuming detail work that has to be done bit by bit.

It's looking like a possible boat launch in about two weeks.  Certainly nothing definite, but about the 2nd weekend of May is looking good at the moment.  Just have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in mind.

I bet you think I've been sitting around cooling my hoofies...WRONG-O! (remember the 7up undeer?)

I've been plugging away and progressing on the dresser bit by bit.  I've got a pile of drawers all assembled.

 
It took a few days to get through that process but they all turned out well and most important...square.

I did a little trial and error and figured out how to build the drawer slides.  I have a rail mounted on the cabinet frame and a track that mounts to the drawer.  I stuck trial parts on a drawer with hot melt to see if the system worked as I expected.  It's perfect.

But there's a bigger problem...

The snow is melting and the outdoors is calling.  Not sure if I'm going to get this project finished in time for the soft water season.  The race is on!

Well, maybe not.  Today's view of the Mackinac Island marina is a bit less than encouraging.  Looks like I have a week or two before the boating season commences on that part of the planet.

and life goes on.