The Daring Book for Girls

by Andrea J. Buchanan; Alexis Seabrook; Miriam Peskowitz

  When you paddle alone it is essential to know the J-stroke, which, by means of a small flip at the end, keeps the boat in a straight line. The J-stroke is just that. As you paddle on the left side, draw the letter J (see the canoe illustration). On the right side, it will look like a mirror-image J, or a fishhook. In other words, put the paddle in the water close to the canoe, and before your forward stroke ends, turn the paddle out and away from the boat; that’s the J. Then lift the paddle out of the water, and ready it to start again.

  Some beginning canoers constantly move the paddle from right to left sides, but that’s a quick way to tire your arms. Using a C-stroke to steer will allow you to paddle to one side more of the time. Start as with a forward stroke, but trace a C (on the left, or its mirror image on the right) in the water. When you do this, turn the blade so it’s nearly parallel to the water.

  This next stroke has many names, crossback being one of them. It’s a stop. Drag the blade into the water and hold it still. Really, really hold the paddle tight against the water’s rush. This stops the boat. It also turns it to that side, but this is not a suggested way to turn, since it slows the boat down too much.

  One final stroke is perfect for when you find yourself in a cove with no company other than a family of sea otters and two seals nestling on the nearby rock. The quietest possible stroke will break no water and make no sound. Put the paddle in the water and keep it there, making a figure eight, over and again.

  Now, in the big scheme of life, all you need is a boat and a paddle. In real life, some additional gear is essential, the first being a lifejacket. It’s itchy and annoying and you’ll be tempted to leave it on shore. Don’t. Please. It will save your life in a storm. In a less dire circumstance, if you tip, it will give you a leg up as you grab your paddle and pull yourself into your boat.

  Drinking water is necessary, and, last but not least, bring a rope. Ropes are key to canoe adventures. You might find a stray canoe that needs to be towed to shore, or need to tie the canoe to a tree while you explore a riverbank. Perhaps the tide has gone out in a creek and you need to hop out of the boat and pull your canoe back to deeper waters. Lifejacket, water, rope, and you’re set.

  Last tips: In general, the closer to the boat you paddle, the straighter it will go. To turn, paddle farther from the boat. Crouch low in the boat when getting in and out. Read the tide charts so you know where the water is.

  Breathe deep, paddle smart, and enjoy your voyage.

  The Ultimate Scooter

  Handlebar Scooter

  THIS SCOOTER is not only about racing down the street and zooming around corners, it’s a chance to build an impressive wood-and-bolts project. (But once you do get to the racing and zooming around, don’t forget to use a helmet!)

  Here is a detailed game plan for making a handlebar scooter with three wheels. It’s just like the metal scooters, except it doesn’t fold, and the platform angles up a bit. So that you won’t have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, know that we found these wood sizes and bolts more easily at smaller lumberyards and hardware stores.

  Rest assured that even with perfectly sized materials, problems will arise. Directions will be misread, a hole mismeasured, an incorrect bolt purchased. The secret to woodwork is to experience the problem and unearth the solution. Measure again. Redrill the hole two inches down. Cut a new piece of wood. Professional carpenters solve problems like these and worse all day long. If something goes wrong, don’t fret, you’re in good company. Take the problem and solve it.

  WHAT YOU NEED

  * * *

  ♦ Three scooter wheels, 4 inches, or 100 mm, in diameter, with ¼ inch holes for the axis. These are available wherever replacement scooter wheels are sold. Or borrow the wheels from two metal scooters.

  ♦ 2 × 2 wood, 104″ long (if sold by the foot, a ten-foot length is ideal). Cut into two pieces 30″ long, one piece 32″ long, and one piece 12″ long. Pine is good, but if you use untreated pine, be sure and store your scooter indoors. High-quality, non-knotty, “clear” pine makes the scooter stronger, and is highly recommended.

  ♦ 2 × 3, 10″ piece of pine or other wood.

  ♦ ¾″ plywood, cut to 5¾″ × 22½″.

  Ask the lumberyard to cut the wood to size; many will do it for free or a small charge. These are American standard lumber sizes, which measure ½ inch smaller than their size (thus the 2 by 2 actually measures 1½″ by 1½″ and the 2 by 3 is 1½″ by 2½″).

  HARDWARE

  * * *

  Two ¼″ eyebolts, 3″ long, with a 5/8/5/8 hole.

  Two ¼″ eyebolts, 4″ long, with a 5/8/5/8 hole. Note: the 5/8/5/8 hole size is important, because these bolts fit around a ½″ carriage bolt.

  Four ¼″ × 1¾″ long carriage/coach bolts, with four washers and four nuts. Use stop nuts if available.

  Six ¼″ × 2½″ carriage/coach bolts with six washers and six nuts. Use stop nuts if available. Note: The preferred size bolt is ¼ × 2¾″, but this is a specialty size and not widely available.

  Two ½″ × 6″ carriage/coach bolts with two washers and two nuts

  One ½″ × 8″ carriage/coach bolt with two nuts

  Two ¼″ × 1¾″ hex bolts with two nuts. Use stop nuts if available.

  Two ¼″ × 5″ hex bolts, with six nuts and ten washers.

  Three 2″ × 2″ angle brackets, and four wood screws.

  One 4″ hinge

  Last, purchase an assortment of extra ½″ nuts and ½″ washers and nylon spacers, and a few extra ¼″ nuts, for lock nuts and because they invariably drop and disappear. Plastic screw protectors are nice to protect bare ankles from any bolts that stick out past the nut, but you won’t know what you need until you’re done.

  GENERAL OBSERVATION ABOUT BOLTS

  * * *

  Riding the scooter causes vibrations, and vibrations will loosen the bolts over time. Two nuts tightened together, called lock nuts, will prevent this. Or try stop nuts, which have a coating inside that prevents them from vibrating off. You can only use stop nuts once, so one option is to put the scooter together with regular nuts, and when you know everything fits together, replace them with stop nuts. As you ride it, tighten the nuts from time to time.

  Additionally, due to the discrepancies of wood sizing, depending where you live, you may need slightly shorter or longer or wider or thinner bolts, or you may decide to move the holes over a half inch here or there.

  TOOLS

  * * *

  Handsaw or jigsaw; drill, with ¼″ and ½″ bits; pencil; measuring tape; straightedge or carpenter’s square (3-foot is best); adjustable wrench; hammer; work area, and saw horse (or any setup to cut and drill wood).

  Step One: Cut the Wood

  If the lumberyard wasn’t able to cut the wood, then pull out the saw and cut the six pieces. Tip: when cutting the 2 by 2 length, measure and cut the 32-inch steering upright first, from the store-cut end of the wood, and mark this end “top.” This may seem picky now, but it will save you immense time later by ensuring that the cleanest, flattest end is where it is most needed. You may cut an angle into the neck, as in the illustration. Mark points at either end of the cut and run the saw between them. Don’t overdo it, and leave lots of room for the drill holes. Have an adult help, if needed.

  Step Two: Mark the Drill Holes

  Measure precisely. Pencil directions on the wood to remind you which panel is front or side, top or back.

  Centering is important, so draw the center line first and mark the drill spots on that line. On the four pieces cut from the 2 by 2, the centerline is ¾ inch in from either side. Draw that line on all sides, yes all sides, even if it feels like overkill. This line will guide the drill holes, help line up parts precisely, and show whether you’ve drilled a straight hole through the wood.

  These directions assume that you have a straight edge or measuring tape lined up, and that you mark spots in a row all at the same time, from the starting side; in other words, do not add the se
cond and third measurements to the first, just keep counting. When in doubt, refer to the illustration.

  On the two 30-inch runners, holes will be marked on both the top and the side.

  Top: Mark holes from left at 6, 16, and 24 inches.

  Side: Mark three holes: from left at ½ inch and 2 inches, and from right at 2 inches.

  The 32-inch steering upright fits beneath the handlebars and connects to the rest of the scooter via an ingenious steering column also known as the 8-inch carriage bolt. Look for where you wrote “top” when you cut the wood. Mark holes on both the back/front and the side.

  Back/front: Mark holes from the bottom at 5 inches and at 10 ¼ inches.

  Side: Mark one hole from bottom at 13/16/3/16 inches. At the top, line up the two-inch angle bracket against the wood, and mark the bracket holes. In some brackets, the two holes are a bit off-center, so don’t think yours was mismanufactured if that’s the case.

  The 12-inch handlebar is connected to the steering upright.

  Side: Draw a vertical line at the center—6 inches—from top to bottom. Line up this 6-inch mark with the ¾-inch center line on the steering upright when you’re ready to mark and drill the holes for the brackets.

  Bottom: Hold each angle bracket in place and mark the drill spots. Do this on the left and right side of where the upright and the handlebar meet, four holes in total.

  The neck is the chunkier piece of wood.

  Front: This is the narrower side. On the side that will face the steering upright, from the bottom, mark at 2 inches, then at 6¾ inches. These eyebolts will line up with two others on the steering upright, and the 8-inch carriage bolt will drop into them to form the steering mechanism, but don’t do that just yet.

  Side: This is the longer plane. Draw a horizontal line 1 inch up from the bottom. On that line, mark ½ inch in from either side. What goes here are the large bolts that bind the neck to the runners.

  The platform deck is where you’ll stand to race down the sidewalk. Draw two lines, 1¼ inches in from either side, across the length of the deck (the space between these should measure 3¼ inches). In case your wood has been mismeasured, the most important thing to realize at this juncture is that the holes should be 3¼ inches apart. Along each line, measure drill spots from the front/left at 3 inches, 13 inches, and 21 inches.

  Step Three: Drill

  Before powering up the drill, double-check all measurements, even though it’s a bore and your finger is ready for the trigger. Line up the wood pieces to make sure things fit, and then drill.

  Use a ¼″ bit on all holes except the two front holes on the side of both runners, and the matching holes at the bottom of the neck—these will be drilled with a ½″ bit. The ½″ bit can be tough to manage, especially on soft pine and drilling so close to the edge of the wood. To prevent the wood from splintering, start a hole with a ¼″ bit, then widen it to a 5/16/5/16″ bit and then to 3/8/3/8″. Using each of these bits before bringing out the monster of a ½″ drill bit should do it.

  The brackets that connect the handlebar and the steering upright can be tough to work with. If so, hold the brackets in place, and drill the holes right through them, not bothering with preliminary marks. Drill and bolt the brackets to the steering upright first, and then place the handlebar on top and do the rest.

  Step Four: Assembly

  Lay the wood pieces and bolts on the floor and keep these directions and the illustrations nearby.

  Use the two ¼″ × 1¾″ hex bolts to attach the two brackets to the steering upright, and then join the handlebar to the top of the brackets with the four ¼″ × 1¾″ carriage/coach bolts. Tip: don’t fully tighten the bolts in the brackets until all are in place. Marvel that you had the foresight to set aside the flattest edge.

  Fasten the platform deck atop the two runners with the six ¼″ × 2½″ carriage bolts. If on your scooter these are too short, and you can’t find the special 2¾″ length, try 3″ bolts. Stop nuts are recommended.

  Bolt the runners to the neck using two ½″ × 6″ carriage bolts, with a washer and nut on each. If there’s any wobbly space in between, use nuts, washers, and spacers on the inside to fill it up.

  Attach the two 3″ eyebolts to the steering upright, with the eyes facing the body of the scooter, and then attach the 4″ eyebolts to the front side of the neck.

  Line up the two pairs of eyebolts and drop the ½″ × 8″ carriage bolt through all four. That’s the steering column. Make sure it can turn freely. Then tighten two nuts together at the bottom of the bolt.

  Now for the wheels

  The front axle fits into the hole at the bottom of the steering upright. Find the ¼″ × 5″ long

  THREE TRICKY THINGS TO LOOK FOR

  The scooter wheel may have a spacer inside—you’ll see and hear it rattling around. It needs to be threaded onto the axle separately. Pry off one of the plates covering the hole, and you’ll find it. Slip the spacer onto the axle separately (as in wheel-spacer-hole cover), and it should work.

  Depending on the exact proportions of your wood, you may need a longer 6″ bolt (alas, 5½″ is not a standard size). Similarly, if the openings on the wheels you find are ½″, or 3/8/3/8″, just use a larger width hex bolt for the axle and drill a larger hole to match. By now the bolt bins at the hardware store are as familiar as the back of your hand, and you can pull the right bin in your sleep.

  Fiddle with the extra ½″ nuts, washers, and spacers to keep the back wheel centered on the axle and the front wheels set apart from the steering upright so they don’t rub. Our back wheel has three big ½″ washers on either side, and can use even more. Our front wheel looks like this: washer-wheel-washer-½″ bolt-washer-steering upright-washer-½″ nut-washer-wheel-washer and finally, a ¼″ nut and a ¼″ stop nut to hold it together. Yours might use a similar combination to keep everything in place. Just remember to place washers on both sides of each wheel, and then toy with it till the combination is tight enough to hold everything in place, but still loose enough for the wheels to turn freely.

  hex bolt. Place a washer on both sides of both wheels, and push the axle through one wheel, through the upright, and through the other. Make sure everything can turn, and top it off with a pair of nuts, or a stop nut.

  The rear wheel sits between the runners, which makes it a bit harder to assemble. Use the other ¼″ × 5″ hex bolt, with washers on either side of the wheel, so it can turn smoothly and won’t get caught on the wood.

  Once the wheel spacing is fixed, top the axle off with two nuts or a stop nut.

  Step Five: Final Touches

  If you’re the kind who stops her scooter by dragging a sneakered foot alongside, forget this next step, but otherwise, a 4-inch triangle hinge makes a good brake. Attach with screws at the rear of the platform so the hinge leans over the back wheel. The neck and platform can be extra-secured, if you wish, with an angle bracket and wood screws, though we skipped this step on ours.

  Adjust and tighten all the nuts, fit plastic safety covers over bolt bottoms, erase the pencil lines and clean up the tools. You’re off!

  Flat Scooter

  WHAT YOU NEED

  ♦ ¾″ plywood, cut to a 12″ by 12″ square.

  ♦ Four rubber swivel caster wheels, available at the hardware store. Find the type attached to a plate, with four screw holes.

  ♦ Sixteen small bolts with nuts (3/16/3/16″ and 1″ long).

  The caster wheel package will suggest screws, but this option assumes the respectable path of attaching the wheels to a chair or desk, not using them to roll high speed and rough-and-tumble across the floor on a scooter. We suggest small bolts, which are stronger than screws because they are held in place by a nut. If in doubt, ask at the hardware store. See below, you might need sixteen washers, too.

  Tools

  ♦ Drill with a 3/16/3/16″ bit

  ♦ Saw or jigsaw

  ♦ Adjustable wrench or 3/16/3/16″ wrench

  ♦ Sandpaper. W
rap the sandpaper around a small block of wood secured with some nails or tacks.

  Cut the wood to size and sand the edges and top smooth. While you have the saw out, round the four edges to remove the points.

  The caster wheels are set at each of the four corners, a half inch away from each side. It helps to draw lines a half inch in on all sides and place the wheels where the lines meet. Put each wheel in position, and mark the holes for screws or bolts through the plate. Use a 3/16/3/16″ bit to drill the holes.

  Insert the bolts and tighten. Depending on the wheels, there may be some adjustments to make. There are two considerations. The first is that the nuts need to be tight. The second is that space between the plate and the wheel might be limited, and tightening the nuts may slightly get in the way of the wheels turning. We tried several solutions; the best added a washer under the head of the bolt, on top of the scooter.

  Bird Watching

  BIRD WATCHING might seem difficult (or even boring), but we can assure you, it is not. Birds are everywhere—easy to spot and fun to observe. Most birders keep a life-list journal, a kind of bird diary, by writing down the birds they see. As you begin to bird, you can use a small spiral notebook to make a life-list journal for yourself, writing down the names of the birds you find, or sketching their distinguishing features so you can look them up in a bird identification book once you’re back home. All you need to go bird watching is a pair of binoculars, a good bird guidebook, comfortable clothes, your life-list journal—and some patience. Bird watching demands a certain kind of presence on the part of the birder: You must become a part of nature rather than stand outside of it. Here are eight common birds to start you off on a lifetime pursuit of bird watching.