With the temperature hovering around the freezing mark in the shop, I moved my carving bench inside and worked on some of the carvings that will become a part of Ravn. On the bow will be a dragon head and on the inside of the stern combing Ravn's name and carvings of two ravens on either side of the name.
The combing was difficult to fit, not made any easier by the near-freezing temperatures. I made a pattern out of scrap left over from Ravn's planking to get close to the right shape and size of the stern combing. The compound angles and the slight curve in the stern bulkhead kept me going back and forth, from bench to boat, using rasps, files and planes until I got a good fit.
Standing in the warm kitchen carving was pure delight. Daytime temperatures are now in the mid 40s. I hope that was our only cold spell for this winter. Living on the Oregon coast narrows the temperature range where you are comfortable. It is rare that it is too cold or too hot. Most of the time it's just right.
