Today was the long awaited day we would begin the conrete work on the bumper boat island. The welding had been done by Matt and Marty before Christmas. The application of the diamond lath has been saved for rainy days and so was ongoing in spurts of bad weather over the last months. With the design, manufacture and testing of the phneumatic fence system above and the wiring and plumbing behind the walls we have been held up wrapping up the lath work until today. There is still some diamond lath to do on the beams but by first coffee this morning we had wrapped up the center portion and six of the 'wooden' columns. These columns were actually perfectly straight structural steel (inside) but the boys had welded up frames to make them bent, twisted and broken timbers and logs. A couple of them appear to have been chewed almost through by Bucky the Beaver. It seems that he simply can't resist a good chew from time to time on whatever is handy.
The end result will be a cue line for the bumper boats with plenty of interesting things to see. Guests will wonder just how the giant wave swinger ride perched above manages to stay upright. Today's effort was actually the result of many weeks of work by our entire team as per usual. They worked their magic today once more to bring this area 'instantly' to life. Here, Jenessa carves Bucky's teeth marks into the structural timber. Her specialized tools of choice... a plastic spoon and a paint brush.
Today's effort polished the cement work off on the 'dirt banks' and about half of the upright timbers. A couple more days should finish the mud on this portion of the project.
The bumper boat island is quickly taking shape - just as I imagined many months ago. The giant mountain behind frames it all beautifully.
In my mind's eye I can clearly see the bumper boats bobbing on the blue water as well as the massive and colorful wave swinger ride perched above. This feature is going to be spectacular when it is finished! Stay tuned for more...
-grampa dan