And then it was Saturday again

I haven’t touched the project for a week so it was a joy to fill the lungs with some strong smelling epoxy dust, (my work clothes are impregnated with the stuff) and get out there to tackle those tapers for the scarf joints. I did them one by one, you might even say painstakingly, and then came in to find this link at http://www.intheboatshed.net/ . Here Mack Horton does all his tapers in one go, a neat idea. Scroll down the page for some tidy workmanship. My tapers are not absolutely perfect—raucous behaviour from Bertie belt-sander I’m afraid—so I hope a generous buttering of cure-all goop will fill any gaps.

As always my antics in the workshop attracted a few inquisitive passers-by; I patiently fended off their enquires. The general line now seems to be, “It’s taking you a long time.” And yes, I suppose it is. I started nearly two months ago and I’ve spent most of my free daylight hours on the project, as my family will testify.

I would like to think I’m getting near the half way mark, but I’ve no way of knowing. The boat will suddenly come together when the side panels and sole go on. They say that building a boat is half construction and half sanding, with sail making taking up another half. The bulk of the sanding will be done fairing the hull, and sail making will be another adventure into unknown territory. But I won’t be able to resist launching the trow as a rowing boat probably even before fitting the deck. So maybe that moment isn’t too far away.

Later a group of children posed some interesting questions;

“Will it float?”

“What will you do about sharks?”

“Are you a pirate?”

“Can we come too?”

Interesting because these are all questions that have been asked at some point by adults.