It’s coming up to 2 months since the kit arrived and we have at last made a couple of pieces that will form part of the boat itself. Plus we have all the bits to be shaped to make the rest of the hull.
We have been inventing techniques or adapting the skills handed down over generations to meet each challenge. Sadly, these skills come mainly from Joe’s Dad, so we are likely to be skiffing a massive egg rack down the
This may not sound like spectacular progress, but we have a growing confidence in our decision making, as we have taken plenty of time over every single step of the way, never doing anything in haste and being careful to compensate for our natural aversion to a meticulous approach. The fact that we only get to work in periods of about 2 hours at a time is frustrating, but also means we have plenty of good reflection time.
Despite the temptation on occasion to enlist professional help, we have ended up tackling some of the trickier bits ourselves and discovered that we haven’t done too badly. It may seem trivial, but learning to map our plans onto the wood (using carbon paper) and then cutting a perfect shape with a jig-saw, was a major triumph.
What we have learnt:
- Craftsmen are not communicators – the notes and instructions that came with the kit are not written for novices. We have found that they do begin to make sense, however, once we are facing a particular problem.
- Don’t trust the detail – some of the measurements are plain wrong. Mercifully, it is usually obvious.
- Listening helps: Joe and I often approach problems from different angles, but because we have (surprisingly) respected each other’s views, we have usually ended up with a good ‘third way’ (thanks for the idea, Tony, where did you borrow it from?).
- Wood is expensive, so planning is very important.
- Joe’s home made lager is lethal.
- Brendan has the largest collection of useful tools in the known universe.
I am very excited at the prospect of, very soon, cutting out the planking. Worrying, isn’t it?
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