Friday, Saturday June 9, 10, 2017 Guerneville CA.
All I could do was go to bed
Yesterday all I could do when I got home from kayaking Monte Rio was go to bed, so I did, early.
Paddling below Monte Rio
Yesterday, I put my boat in the water at Monte Rio and paddled down river to the Villa Grande Hole about a mile down stream. There was a breeze and it was nice out.
Here I’m just starting to head down river from the Monte Rio boat ramp.
Conditions have changed by the little island
Conditions by the little island just below the boat ramp have changed a bit from last winters heavy rains, so I wasn’t sure which way to go around the island. I usually go down the right side but I wasn’t sure I could get through it so I went down the left side and went by these little ducks with their momma.
I went by this great blue heron catching a bit of a breeze.
Made it around the island
I wasn’t sure I was going to get down the left channel, but I worked my way through the narrow part and through some tree branches and went by these male mallard ducks and I was back in the main channel below the island.
This is what back in the main channel looks like as I drifted down the river.
Little duckies
I pulled into these weeds to stop for a bit and these little guys came by to check me out.
They continued on feeding along as they went, not bothered by me at all.
Green heron fishing
I continued on down the river when I saw some motion off to the right in the weeds, so I looked a bit closer and found this green heron hunting along the water’s edge.
There was also a female mallard duck with her little ones hiding in the weeds watching me as I passed by.
I ran into another green heron not far from the other one.
Taking it easy at Villa Grande Hole
I made it down to the Villa Grande Hole and sat around for about an hour taking it easy and just watching things on the river then headed back up the river along it’s edges.
Here I stopped for a bit in the weeds just below Monte Rio.
Another green heron flew in just in front of me for a bit before taking off again.
And this great blue heron also landed in front of me while I watched.
Getting back up around the island
I stopped in back of this log to steady the channel up ahead as I knew I couldn’t get around the right side of the island I came down on without getting my feet wet. I wasn’t’ sure about the left side channel as there was a fairly good current up that side, but I thought I’d give the left side a try. If I had to get out of the boat it wouldn’t be any worse then getting out to get up the right side I came down on, so off I went.
Zigging and zagging
As expected the current was fairly strong, but I zigged a zagged around the fast spots and rested whenever I could find a slow spot and I made it up the left side and paddled on up just below the Monte Rio bridge to check out the channel below the bridge as that has also changed a bit since last winter.
From there I drifted back down to the boat ramp here and took my boat out and went on home for the day.
Done in for the day
Once I got home I needed a nap, but I couldn’t seem to get comfortable so finally just climbed into bed and that was it for the day.
Saturday June 10th
Working on the mower project
This morning I woke up rested so once I got it going I started working on the weed mower project again.
Fabricating a bracket
I needed to make a bracket to adapt the mower motor to the mower frame and it would be a good idea if the bracket was adjustable so the belt tension could be adjusted.
This is the bracket I made. The mower engine mount is welded to the new adjusting bracket on the bottom. I applied a bit of black paint.
Here’s the new engine mount bracket mounted to check things out before putting the engine on it.
Here’s the bracket with the engine mounted on it showing the adjuster.
Mounting the belt clutch
Once I had the engine mounted the last thing I needed to do was remount the belt clutch mechanism which needed to be raised up to match the belt pulley.
Had to make the this bracket twice
That didn’t turn out to be very easy. I made a bracket to make it work, but it didn’t’ so I threw the first bracket out and made another one that turned out to be simpler then the first one that didn’t work out.
Short test drive
After some trail and error, I finally got it all to work out and gave it a short test.
Could use some new back tires eh
It all seemed to work ok during the short test I gave it. Some new back wheels will be added as soon as I go to Gardener’s Aid to see Bill again as the ones on it are fairly worn out. It’s like driving with a flat tire, except I have to push it.
About the time I got that finished it was almost dark, so I quit for the day and that was my day.
