Liftboat Legs III, 94' x 63' with 130' legs, 680HP
My new office, with windows on the world...
I'm happy to report successfully reaching a bit of an overdue milestone after months of hands-on hard work in an oilfield shipyard where many liftboats have been born. I jacked my boat down into the canal the other day and motored out for a short trial run, driving the rig solo around the corner to a bulkhead where the yard's largest crane could load my mobile shop-in-a-shipping-container aboard. I was pleased to find that the boat's maneouverability lived up to her reputation as being a favorite in the fleet. Now I can pick up the pace and finish all the remaining work down on the bayou where the weather is usually a little kinder than a NYC winter before my departure in the spring.
I arrived in New Iberia, Louisiana from Portland in mid-April with a truckload of tools and equipment, and a spreadsheet of my anticipated work tasks and budget. There turned out to be more hull repair work than I had planned on, and the complexity of the electrical, piping and hydraulic systems have been a challenge. Add to that my installation of solar panels (temporarily on deck until my cranes are up and running), a 48V battery bank, solar water heating, new appliances, interior modifications and updated navigation electronics among other tasks, and you can begin to understand the slippage in my optimistic ideas about the schedule and budget.
It's been hard to pause my painting practice while I'm concentrating on getting this great new studio and home put together, and then embarking on the coastwise voyage north, but I'm ever more certain it will be a great move. Southern hospitality is more than just an expression, and I've been welcomed and treated royally by all I've encountered, which has made this detour from my usual habitat much easier. I've also made some great trips to NYC as a cultural counterpoint to the shipyard work and to spend time with family and friends, but for now it's a full time push to wrap up the work over the winter.
The State Department's Art in Embassies program is making a short video about my work featuring the Oman embassy exhibition I'm in, and I'll add a link to my website as soon as it's available. For those of you who've always wanted to add some of my artwork to your collection, this a great time to speak up, since I'm putting all I've got into this remarkable project and I can use all the help I can get !
My wonderful gallery representation: LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
And as always, you can also contact me directly by email: info@sethtane.com and follow my occasional photo posts on: Instagram