Okay, people are weird.

I gather from Chris (if he isn't exaggerating) that his brother is thinking about building a copy of the Maiden, gluing a weight to the bottom, covering it with wax and setting it to sail on their pond next summer...

His brother really liked the CWU Gormenghast Chris built him, and wants to try his hand at it.

Bear in mind that the kid is around 13 or so, whether or not this interest lasts long enough to happen is anyone's guess at this point. On the other hand his brother Chris certainly showed that he could keep focussed on a project until it was done. (I wish I could, unless it is a fairly short project I tend to be the off and on sort of builder. I get them done, eventually, but it takes a while.)

But it is a very silly idea. I kind of want to try it out myself...

The Auld Grump, who almost called this Waxing the Maiden, but that sounded wrong somehow.

You really don't want me to... I know more than a few, and I really like folk music...
Suckin' up the coal dust into your lungs,
Underneath the hills where there ain't no sun!
Gotta make a livin' on a dollar a day..
Diggin' coal, in Pennsylvania...

Now the Welsh, the English, the Germans, the Dutch
Control the mines, they never leave much....

The Auld Grump, and compared to some, that one is down right cheery!

Someone get a videocam out to that scene! I would host that file in a snap. I would love to watch the Maiden sink or swim. Funny stuff

Aye. The salvage operation was a good many years later. Naturally, the ship itself had pretty much rotted, but there were enough clues to her whearabouts (and the pond wasn't that deep, really, 3-4 feet).

The ship's manifest was recovered in tact. A couple of railroad spikes, and some glass insulators from the old telegraph line (that ran along the railroad track, next to the pond).