Sled in Pieces

A few months ago I bought a second sled so I could take other people mushing. The previous owners chose to paint the sled a godawful yellow and slopped paint everywhere to boot. The sled looked like it was used to clean a house paintbrush. I tried paint stripper (bought the first trip to True Value where all the clerks fell in love with Trask) but the yellow would not budge. The only way to remove it was to completely take the sled apart and sand it. In the process I found out that the owners had substituted sheet metal screws for bolts in places - something I would not have noticed until the sled came apart on the trail as it apparently had for them because one cross piece was tied on with a shoelace.

My original plan was to take the sled apart in two halves so I would know how to get it back together. Today, after my second project trip to True Value (where Trask expanded his fan club of all the clerks to include customers) to get a lot more sand paper and varnish and with the help of four Chinooks, I got all the left and middle pieces mostly yellow-free sanded and varnished. Then I said "to Hell with it" and dismantled the right half. I did take pictures and marked all pieces in ink so I can hopefully once again assemble it. 

Trask was especially helpful. He, who moves about everything that he can drag with his mouth, had a field day carrying away sled parts.

 Yup - talking about you Trask.