If i had a quarter....

...for every time i had to make something because i couldn't find what i needed in the shop, i'd be rich.

Today we committed a felony in the shop and used a quarter for a washer because our ribband wouldn't lay down, and we couldn't find one even close to the right size to fit our needs. George was happy to help.

This is a carvel planked Davis Boat. Its a 13 foot motor launch...well, actually, its 12 feet. Because it accidentally got lofted 12 inches too short. We thought "Gandalf Sasoon" (a dude with stylish, well coiffed wizard hair) might blow a gasket when we had to tell him he and his cohort had made a simple, yet colossal error. This was discovered AFTER the keel was made--about a 3 week process. Anyhow, in carvel construction, you make molds the same as with lapstrake, but you use long skinny battens called "ribbands" to support the frames when you bend them in. Then, when you plank, the boards fit tight (hopefully) together instead of lapping over each other. Later, you remove the ribbands and molds, and are left with a swanky new boat hull.

Here are some pictures from a recent small craft gathering at the Maritime Center: the Pocket Yacht Palooza. OK. I didn't name it. I just hung out and took some pictures. There were many great boats, and a talk by a wingnut who rounded CAPE HORN in a sailing CANOE. Long, crazy story. 95 not winds, 10 days in a tent going bonkers, etc. Really nice, humble guy. He has recently been working with the government of Micronesia to develop the world's first "world park" to protect millions of acres of ocean from overfishing by...you guessed it, China.

We ended the day with a little sail on a 25' Atkin Cutter. The office manager at school needed crew, and we were happy to oblige. It was built by the school, and was the perfect example of all the boat details we have been seeing on the chalkboard every morning for 8 months. It was pretty great to actually understand how to make all those pieces.

Oh. I failed to mention that I'm headed home at the end of June. I am going to volunteer at the maritime museum on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in order to get repair and restoration experience. Its pretty much a rotten old historic wooden boat playground for dirtbags like me and my friends. Hopefully, if funding is in order, i will then become a paid Shipwright's Apprentice.
Either way, i'd rather work for free than pay $80 a day to scrape and poke some other dude's shitty old boat. the $4k  i won't be paying for my last quarter will buy a sweet bandsaw and lots of blades for my micro shop i'm planning to put together in a storage unit in balty.

However--don't be alarmed. I may keep writing about my boat related exploits after i leave school. I still have to fix my boat in my brother's yard, live on it during a Baltimore winter, and take Wiggleberry across the bay in a gale, to see if he really is a Salty Sea Dog. I also have to convince Sarah of the necessity of our new Sid skiff, (plans by Secret Ninja Ray Speck,)lofting and construction provided in part by my pal, Eric, east coast storage unit style.

I'm sure there will be much to write about.