A Shipwright in Training

Working on Roann is wonderful and hard and dirty and interesting and boring. When you’re involved in a big boat project, particularly as low man on the totem pole, you tend to get assigned jobs that are necessary and repetitive. That’s ok, it’s always been that way, always will.Here’s today’s free Tip for Job Hunting: Interesting work is good and important, but good co-workers is better and more important. I really like the folks I’m working with at Mystic. They’re smart, skilled, not petty, and they’re willing to teach me things when I ask. They remind me a bit of the crew that Tracy Kidder followed in his book “House.” I don’t even mind coming in at 7 a.m. to work.The week started out below decks in Roann.John, a part time guy a the shop, and I started by cleaning out the bilges. This wasn’t quite as nasty it sounds. Remember, this is essentially a new boat, so there wasn’t years of dirt, rat poop, lead paint, fish oil, and cigarette butts down there. Just water, wood shavings and mold.That’s looking down towards the keel inside the boat. Read the rest of this entry »

Mystic Seaport is an interesting place. It’s got a segment that’s very touristy… folks in period costumes wandering about, rides on steam-powered boats, walk-through exhibits, that sort of thing. They’ve also got a very serious research component with an incredible series of collections: periodicals, drawings, books, film & video, ships plans, art, maps… on and on. They also have a huge collection of small boats that most of the public never sees, like the back rooms of the Smithsonian. I don’t know if most museums cater so equally to the serious researcher and the casual tourist alike, but Mystic is trying to pull it off. It’s not easy, and they seem to be forever on the verge of going under financially. Nonetheless, it’s a very special place, and I feel privileged to be heading down there.That’s Brilliant, a 1932 Sparkman & Stephens design. Translated into average person speak: “That’s a very sexy wooden boat.” I got to see her being worked on up in Rockport when I did my boat shop tour. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, we pulled it off! All those details piled up and culminated in an actual boat. My folks kept saying things like “that’s such a huge accomplishment,” but it rarely felt like that. It felt more like coming in every day, doing a little work, fitting one more thing in, and moving along. Kind of like how the underside of your bed can get filled with giant dust bunnies.

The last few days ended up being pretty damn hectic. We stayed late Wed and Thursday nights working on details. For instance, when we pulled the masking tape off of the rub rails after painting the deck, the assessment was unanimous: it looked like ass.

Sure, that’s a small thing, but when you’ve got rough edges like that along a smooth, sweeping line… ass.

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