Hi Folks, well the last of the work in building the brewery, then distillery, is well under way. I mentioned that we are finally installing the steam boiler for the brewery. It's a difficult and heavy job. First we took apart all the old steam pipes attached to the brew kettle, and scavenged all the pieces that we could use. Then we cleaned them up to remove mild rust and treated them to prevent further corrosion. Many are already cut to the perfect lengths and threaded at the ends. So it will save us a lot of time and work to re-use them.

We here at Winterport Winery / Penobscot Bay Distillery & Brewery live by the New England and Maine way of thrift. As Francis H. Sisson said almost a hundred years ago, "Thrift was never more necessary in the world's history than it is today." But there are many sides to thrift. As Orison Swett Marden said, "Thrift means that you should always have the best you can possibly afford, when the thing has any reference to your physical and mental health, to your growth in efficiency and power." This holds true in business, as in personal matters. So, while we use and re-use what we can, we also make sure to use the best quality available as well. So in matters of construction, if it is good, solid, and recyclable, it's back in the game. If not, then chuck it out; and replace with the best available.

Just as a side note: the type of pipe we are working with is called "Black Pipe", the type of steel pipe used for natural gas, hot water and steam circulation in boilers, and it is made of heavy steel. It's thick, strong, but not as hard as stainless steel; and so more malleable. It expands and contracts better and is able to handle shifting; that would crack the harder, but more brittle stainless steel. You need heavy equipment to cut and tread the pipe ends. So we rented a pipe cutter/threader to do the job. This pipe is connected with even more malleable cast iron fittings. All of which are very solid and long lasting, but weigh a TON.

Wow, the twentieth chapter of my journal, and still no distillery! Whodda thunkit? Well, it won't be much longer now. (Fingers Crossed, as well as toes, eyes, lips, legs... I must look like I have to pee REAL bad.) Anyway, I always loved to climb, as a kid, and then a teen, I would scale the highest trees in the neighborhood, always trying to get my head above the canopy. I only fell twice when branches broke. The first time was on a young willow tree when I was in 4th grade. I slightly twisted my ankle and learned that willows have weak branches for their size. I promptly went to the library and read up on trees and learned to identify them and which were strong or weak. I also moved on to climbing the sides of buildings, radio antennas, and anything else that was possibly climbable, and a few things that probably weren't. There were no rock-climbing areas near me, so I really got into tree-climbing, sometimes even using safety ropes, and what later became known as "Buildering," climbing buildings and other structures. The neighborhood cops got to know me by name, since they found me on roof-tops, telephone poles, flagpoles, light poles, street signs, tall fences, etc. on a regular basis.

The second time I had a tree branch break on me was when I was nineteen and I messed up my right knee real bad for the first time and was on crutches for awhile. (Note: Do not have keg parties in trees without safety harnesses. I learned the hard way.) As soon as I was healed I fell off the roof of a house during a thunderstorm. It had been real fun running along the long, low, slanted roof in the pouring rain and sliding down it; and then to bring yourself to a stop before you got to the edge. One time I tried to do a stunt from a cowboy movie and grab the gutter as I slid off, and do a drop kick onto a friend. Oops! There went my other knee. That was a great summer! As I got older I started working for Outward Bound and was always up in trees on challenge/ropes courses and got so comfortable I could make it through these airborne obstacle courses 30-60 feet in the air, blindfolded.

Every now and then over the years I would put in a stint in contracting and construction, thereby ending up on ladders and rooftops. Well, unsecured ladders started to scare the hell out of me real quick. I had a best friends father fall and break his neck when a ladder slipped. A fellow worker had a ladder slip and he broke both his wrists. I started getting really conservative when it came to ladder safety. Even when setting up access to a ropes course I always made sure the ladder was secured at the top so it couldn't slip. Even after all my years going up and down ladders I am still fearful. But I also stubborn and refuse to be intimidated or controlled by anything other than myself.