About a month ago, we went to an event at the Museum of Vancouver and some of the surrounding places. One thing
that was mentioned was a wooden boat building demonstration, in a
floating workshop in the little harbour near the Maritime Museum.
The moment we walked in there, the smell of fresh-cut cedar told me this was the kind of place I'd like to hang out in, and just my luck, it was actually a club, very open to new members! I joined up the following Saturday, and have gone each week since then. It's a great bunch of people, very laid back and interesting, and totally willing to teach a complete rookie boat-builder.
There are about 10-12 people each Saturday, from 10am - 1pm, the first hour of which seems to consist of standing around drinking coffee, and talking. Then they get down to work, or, if there's something obvious to do (sanding), one can get right down to it from the start.
We're currently building a 12' long sailboat / rowboat, which is nearly finished.
The moment we walked in there, the smell of fresh-cut cedar told me this was the kind of place I'd like to hang out in, and just my luck, it was actually a club, very open to new members! I joined up the following Saturday, and have gone each week since then. It's a great bunch of people, very laid back and interesting, and totally willing to teach a complete rookie boat-builder.
There are about 10-12 people each Saturday, from 10am - 1pm, the first hour of which seems to consist of standing around drinking coffee, and talking. Then they get down to work, or, if there's something obvious to do (sanding), one can get right down to it from the start.
We're currently building a 12' long sailboat / rowboat, which is nearly finished.
The hull will be painted (white inside, navy blue outside), but the seats and the edge of the boat will be varnished wood - it's looking soooo good!
There are a lot of fiddly little jobs left to do, and each piece we add just makes it look more complete.
My project today was these little toggles, which will hold the seats in place.
The sail has been made, and was delivered last week.
The plans for the next boat are already up on the wall, ready to go!
The club has 3 or 4 boats, and has recently sold two others, including this old beauty.
I've been out for row a couple of weeks ago, on a beautiful day, with only a bit of wind to fight against!
Our friend Derrick joined the club a couple of weeks ago too - nice to have someone I know there!
The oars for the boat will be made by the club as well, and so, today we made some miniature oars as practice - it's surprisingly hard to take a square piece of wood and plane it into a smooth round handle! Fun to do it though.
It's been a great way to spend a few hours on the weekend, completely taking my mind off a crazy busy week at work!
2 comments:
Wow. Very cool. Those boats are amazing. Great work, fellas.
Sheri-Lee
Hey, that's awesome! Who knew there was such a thing as a boat-building club?? I can see how that would be right up your alley. And nice to see Derrick there too!
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