On Thursday afternoon we celebrated a number of things including an awesome crew, lots of progress on our current project and a job well done. Friday was a paid statuary holiday, Canada Day, and it was fitting to start the celebrations and time off just a little early with a visit to Cultus Lake Adventure Park with the crew. Phoebe joined us as did the newest member of the family, little Juniper. It was her first visit to a theme park. She was in awe of all the color and action. Juniper took her very first ride on the colourful carousel. As per family tradition she had her picture taken in the little red truck. Look close and you can see her daddy's hands holding her safe. Peter was hiding behind the truck. :)
Mast
Yesterday and today the two masts for the Viking ships were covered in concrete and sculpted by the crew. They'll be allowed to cure over the long weekend and then next week will get their colourful paint job. They look spectacular already and will look even better with the paint! They are massive and taper towards the top. As a point of reference the bottom plate is thirty inches across and the masts measure twenty eight feet tall.
Moving target
We've been looking forward to the loading of the target features for a while. This would be the first time we did a live load, which is loading a container while it was still on the truck. The driver is waiting and on the clock and so time was of the essence. Just the same, experience has taught us that everything needs to be checked and rechecked and the loading has to go strictly according to plan with safety being the top priority. We set the crane, hooked up the load and backed the truck into position. I was in the box with a two way radio to talk to the crane operator who would be working blind. We had two spotters and a helper to guide the load and watch from the outside. As the giant 11,000 pound feature came off the ground the wheels dropped off perfectly, as planned. The crane operator skillfully guided it into position and moved it through the container, inch by inch. It went perfectly smooth! The second smaller target, which weighed in at only 2,000 lbs was much easier and faster. In less than an hour the truck was on the way to port and within a few days the container with our features will be sailing to Dubai.
