We're talking about our lovely seagrass transect squares. Due to the overwhelming response of volunteers, we could line up lots of trips ahead. Thus, we need lots more of these lovingly handcrafted pieces of equipment.
A few volunteers gathered on 10 Feb (Sat) to work some magic on these mundane things.
While half of us were human clamps, the other half did the hard work.CK (above), James and Kevin did the manly task of drilling the umpteen tiny holes. If a few extra holes got accidentally drilled into the furniture, we decided we would blame it on termites. James got so much into drilling that he offered to drill ventilation holes in the chairs.
Then everyone got busy with the strings. Which wasn't as straightforward as it first appeared. There was much fiddling around as to (a) how to get the strings through the tiny holes? (b) what kind of knots to use? (c) who's got the scissors already?!
With good company and many swift hands, the bare squares were soon nicely strung up.
Shufen reminded everyone to make sure the strings were taut. To which I added "It's the taut that counts!" to groans all round. Shufen quickly added that the men should NOT make them too taut, as she discovered they tended to pull the strings so taut that the squares became rather rhomboid.Within a little more than an hour, we got a nice stack of new transect squares! All ready for our many upcoming trips with the very many enthusiastic volunteers! Just remember to treat those squares with care. They sure take a lot of effort to make.
Thanks to everyone who came to help Kevin, Dickson, Anil, Gaytri, Kah Chine, Lai Mun and especially James and CK who brought along impressive tools and much needed crafting skills.
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