Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Oarsome or better still, some oars

I am very fond of New Zealand, the scenery is spectacular, the people, when not chuckling over the sporting failures of the mother country, tend to be very friendly. However, there is one thing that particularly irritates me, it's the over and inappropriate use of the word "awesome".

A typical example would be at the pub ordering a bowl of chips.


Me "Can I have a portion of chips please"
Barman "You mean a bag of chips ?"
Me "Sorry, can I have a portion of fries please" 
Barman "Sure, would you like aioli and ketchup?"
Me "Yes please"
Barman "Awesome!"

Now, I've checked the dictionary and awesome means to fill with awe, particularly awe inspiring, whereas aioli is a sort of garlic mayonnaise sauce. 

For clarification.

Something flipping awesome
Some Mayonnaise

Some oars. While not watching paint dry, we've decided to kill time by building the oars. The process involves making a hollow box, with a solid bit at both ends, widening the spoon end and then using a series of templates, cut away all the bits that don't look like a spoon. This will require some actual woodworking skill and precision. The dimensions of our oars, in terms of length, overlap and inboard are governed by the width of the boat at either seat, which means we're having to custom build the looms. However, making the spoons is going to to require some outside help, we've found this at angus rowboats. Their instructions are very clear and the spoon templates will be essential.

Not a spoon
Another couple of photos for clarity. 



Spoons












Anyway, here are some photos of the actual oars being made, it's been awesome to actually build something for a change.

Obviously before we started building the oars,
we had to build an oar building platform. 


After much measuring, procrastinating and tea,
we start to glue an oar together. 

The spoon end of the oar, you might be able to make out the shape of the oar from this angle.

No comments:

Post a Comment