Take a break

That was close!

I just tapped out a paragraph for this post expressing my opinion on an issue in the news today.  After reading it over I was struck by the fact that no one should care what I think.  This site is dedicated to an epic boat building project.  Our goal has been and continues to be the documentation of the building process and to serve as an affirmation that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

I quietly told myself when I started writing on this site that I would not talk politics, social issues or any other controversial topic.  If you the reader want news, opinions or analysis on a particular issue, you have a nearly endless amount of options available to you on the net.

We are honored to have so many individuals check out our project.  We have received messages and emails from literally all over the world.  Some offer advice, others offer words of encouragement and sometimes it's just small talk about building stuff in their part of the world.  It's been a wonderful experience and served as a strong motivator to press on even when we are just not feeling up to working.

I hope to return that goodwill by maintaining a place that people can come and check out some guy on the internet building a huge boat in his backyard and that's it.  No deep reflections, no social justice side taking, just a cool DIY project.  I want to offer a chance for people to turn off the real world and disappear into their own dreams. 

I once made a comment on a particular site on a social media platform where I stated that I was disappointed at how contentious and political the platform had become.  That I always hoped that the platform would offer a respite from the real world, not a reflection of it.  Someone commented on my post and told me that I should not run away from the real world but find a way to change the things I didn't like.  I was a little irritated by that comment.  The person who commented was obviously a young person based on their profile picture, full of piss and vinegar no doubt.  I responded and truly believe, that we do not need to battle every minute of every day.  It's ok to take a break from the "real world" and decompress in the excitement of others accomplishments or our own frivolous dreams and hobbies.

Well that is what we want to do here as well.  Please take a break, scroll through the pictures and take a look at the different parts of our project.  Consider what you would do differently or what tool you wished you owned yourself.  If you want more, take a look at the "links we love" at the bottom of this page and check out those projects.  Maybe click on this LINK and check out a couple of young guys in Massachusetts building a big sailboat in their front yard in a series called Acorn to Arabella.

I'm always sharing links here on other projects and YouTube series I think people might like.  I'm not in a competition with SV Seeker, Tips From a Shipwright or Salt and Tar for viewers.  I'm a fan who admires what they do and I find their work fascinating and entertaining.  I hope people think the same about our project but the goal is to spread inspirational and interesting stories.  Stories that  counter all the challenges and negativity we all deal with everyday.   It's ok to allow yourself a chance to unwind, Don't you worry, the real world will be waiting when you're done.

A very cool project and outstanding camera work in their video series.  Check out the link above.

As for myself, no one cares what I think, and if they do, they shouldn't.  Of course I have opinions and a political position, pretty strong ones.  This is not the place for that.  Man or woman, black or white, gay or straight, on this site it makes no difference.  We are here because we like building things or wish that we could.  

So thanks for being here and we hope you enjoy it. If you have questions then please, ask a way.  Let us know what you're working on or what you wish you were working on.  Share with us the challenges you face in your part of the world as you work towards accomplishing your dream projects no matter how big or small.  Most importantly, don't forget to, at some point, put the Ipad, laptop and/or remote down and go create something of your own!

Now lets talk boat stuff!

It's hard to make the machining of rough stock fun to read about.  We continue to press on with the building of various parts of the keel.  Running hundreds of board feet of lumber over our jointer and through the planer then gluing up the lamination's and cutting them to size.  Not to much drama these last couple weeks.

After prepping the stock we attach the pattern to the side of the keel and begin stacking the pieces up until they cover the pattern.  The above pictured piece is called, I believe, the aft deadwood and supports the piece the transom will attach to.

The plans were designed with "2 by" stock in mind, but my stock is thinner so more pieces are required.  The result is the same amount of board feet in each piece, just more layers.

Once again we glue up in sub assemblies where we can just to make sure we exert enough clamping pressure for the resorcinol to work.  The layers slip and slide when you begin to clamp so it can be a challenge to get everything lined up properly.  I have considered shooting a brad nail into the layers to hold things in place until the clamps are applied.  I have not done so because I worry that will end up having to drill through the brads when I add the keel bolts or drifts.

The white oak stem has been glued into one large timber.  Same process here as well and man is this thing heavy.  I'll have to come up with a way to lift this into position when the time comes.  I have an idea for a rolling gantry crane running around in my head along with an idea for a homemade jib crane.  We'll see.

The last piece to build is the biggest at over 17' long.  I have a stack of lumber on my bench ready to be machined to make up this mammoth piece.  We hope to have this in clamps this weekend.

In other news....the summer is officially over as it was dock out day at the lake this past weekend and it was time to get the jetski out of the hoist.  This required me to finish up what I started on the Zip this summer as it was sitting on my jetski trailer.  I was able to bend around 3 of the 4 sheer lamination's before we flipped it over and off of the trailer.  These 5/8" thick pieces of white oak bent surprisingly easy with no steam or wetting down required.

We used thickened epoxy to glue everything up and then added many, many clamps to close all the gaps.  The stem required some additional support from some plywood "washers"

Even though I don't always love every step of either project, I am still having fun when I'm working on them.  I normally spend a lot of time in the shop on the weekends and as time allows during the week.  However, like most adults, we frequently have obligations at work or with the kids that limit our availability.  We do the best we can and are grateful for the time we do have.