At Dawn We Contemplate

The Split team gathers their wits, takes a deep breath - and then goes back inside to get out of the drizzle.

What Raccoons Do At Night

After an earlier experiment, we had a nice round ball of clay left over. Gever set it carefully on a rock on the deck, and then sometime after dark the raccoons found it and played poltergeist games.

The Porch People

The Porch People are easily recognized by their trademark dirty knees. Here we see one of them (let's call him Theo for sake of identification) crawling around under their cart. Theo is one of the adventurous members of his tribe and often prefers to poke around under things.

Theo's Battle Cry

Here we see tribe member Theo yelling at the bolt to make it turn. He resorts to yelling when physical force proves ineffective - much to the amusement of his fellow Porch People.

Making of the Making of Diary

Who watches the watchers? As it turns out, in this case, it's Jiro watching Gever watching the Solids (Maxine, Tywen, and Eleni) but brace-plates on the underside of their cart.

Details, Details

Here's the mast-mount point on the Solids cart. Perhaps they are rightfully proud of this detail, but the Steeves/Split team thinks they need to be taken down a notch.

Behind the Mask

Tywen, with an eye to ocular safety, dons the auto-darkening welding mask in case there is a sudden solar flare-up.

Also Concerned With Solar Flares

Maxine, sharing Tywen's concerns, hits him with a tangerine and steals the mask, thereby ensuring her ongoing ocular safety.

If You Can See This...

With the carts almost complete, it's time to start talkin' trash. The Steeves/Split team decides to craft up a bumper sticker to show their collective disdain for the Solids.

A Few Too Many Lines

Since it will no longer be used as a free-flight device, the Steeves/Splits decide to remove some of the now unnecessary lines.

Sewing Wood

Reinventing a technique that is nearly as old as mankind, Tywen and the Solids are using thin line to lash together the seats on the recently christened Sandpiper cart.

First Test

Eleni, Tywen, and Maxine throw caution to the wind and climb on board the Sandpiper to see if it can hold them. Having done that, they throw caution to the wind and start scooching around and wiggling the steering toggles.

Flight of the Steeves

The mast seems to be working and the sail is catching what little bits of turbulent airflow are coming down the Tinkering School driveway. They were nervous about the removal of all the internal lines on the paraglider (retaining only the leading and trailing edge lines), but this is the proof they needed to see.

Asleep at the Mast

Eleni borrows the camera to catch a shot of Maxine having an afternoon nap against the Solids new mast.

Mush!

If the mast breaks, or the sail gets torn off, or the rear axle decomposes, or the steering fails, or the chassis snaps, or the park rangers stop them, or the wind dies, or the wind gets too strong, moving the cart up to the driveway gives the Solids a chance to test the tow harnesses.

Giddyup!

At a quick jog, Maxine and Eleni crest the hill and break on to the pavement. The harnesses work great!

Sails Furled

With their sails furled, the Splits start discussing the finer points of rigging.

At Rest in the Harbor

Stowed for the night, the carts look ready for the next days adventure. Is there something in their demeanor that suggests what the outcome will be? Could the best handicappers in Vegas give you odds on the winning design? Only tomorrow and four miles of misty beach will tell. Meanwhile the Tinkerers sleep the sleep of the justly tired.

Tinkering After Hours

Thanks to Eleni's excellent banana bread, Jiro, Gever, Hanna, and Julie, decide to stay up late and put together a high-speed flash-photography system (purchased from Make magazine). Unfortunately, Gever has tidied away his solder and as a result has to scavenge solder from a CD-ROM drive freshly dissected by Hanna - which turns out the be grueling and tedious process.

Do You See Anything?

A mere moment before Gever manages to temporarily blind both himself and Hanna with the accidental discharge of the flash unit, prompting Hanna to ask for the auto-darkening welding helmet.

Voila!

Our collective patience is rewarded by the frozen moment when Hanna's pin (mounted on a chopstick by Julie) punctures the inflated latex glove.