Weekly Reflection 2

5/23/22

This week was yet again taught me a surplus of lessons, one of which is that nothing is ever square. I worked on many different aspects of the boat, starting with the skids on the bottom and ending with the rubrails. I had to depart campus on Wednesday afternoon, but I was able to get back in the shop by Saturday morning. This cut my week short a little, and as I am writing this I am contemplating how much catch up work I actually need to accomplish. 

Amongst the lessons I learned this week was one about patience, which came hand in hand with the installation of the landing skids. One of the tools that I needed to use was a chalk line, which is essentially a tape measure that has a chalk coated line inside. This complex device is used by carpenters to "snap a line", allowing them to get an accurate centerline of something. 

For the installation of the skids on the bottom of the hull, I needed to be certain that they were exactly the same distance from the center of the hull, hence the need to snap a centerline. Doing this on my own required some innovation, because in order for the line to snap properly it needs to remain taught. 

To get around this, I placed a weight over the start of the string in place of someone holding it. This allowed me to pull it tight and snap the line. The impact of the line on the hull leaves a clear blue line of chalk. Not only was patience required of me during this step, a trait that I am still working on familiarizing myself with, but it was also required when I found myself trying to line the skids up an even distance apart. 

I had to alter their position countless times in the pursuit of mirroring their positions, and even now I am not convinced that they are perfect. Now I can look forward to this thought noodling around in the back of my head for the rest of my life.

Although much of the work I completed this week was a test of my patience, I did in fact enjoy what I was doing. It was interesting to learn about more aspects of boatbuilding, and how to use a new tool. This being said, not everything went as I expected. I will refer yet again to the bottom skids, and how the wood split when I drove the screws in. I drilled pilot holes, ran a dry fit, countersunk, and everything I suggested that I would not encounter any issues. 

I have come to the conclusion that nothing can prove ones patience more than someone who can sit under a boat, driving screws in that were sent specifically for this task and hearing the wooden skids (which were coincidentally also supplied for this specific purpose) split, while epoxy and dust drips into your face. 

Regardless of all of this, the weeks activities have indeed benefitted me. I have gotten good practice in terms of solving problems under duress, on top of which I have learned more about boatbuilding and tricks that can be used while working with wood. Not only has this benefitted me, but it has also pushed me closer to achieving my goal - which is still to finish with the best boat that I can make. I was able to get enough accomplished in the beginning of the week before I left in conjunction with the work I put in on Saturday to ensure that I would not run out of time. 

Although I may find myself in a bit of a time crunch, if this project has taught me nothing else it has taught me to work within such situations.



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