Boatbuilding does not happen in isolation
2004, Snuck up on me while I wasn’t watching! I am
dead surprised to see the date, as I hadn’t even got
used to being in the new millennium yet.
But with the new year there is the inevitable review of ambitions
and progress, of how last year went and what next year holds,
some disappointments some victories and some unexpected happenings.
One unexpected happening was our decision to move house. My
office is not big enough and is part of the house so work
is always there glowering at me as I walk past, the workshop
is nowhere near big enough for the new boat project so I was
going to have to build another barn 20 m x 8m x 5m high stud
( about 65 ft x 25 ft x 16 t) on the end of my existing shop,
the mortgage here is more than we like having to find every
month and the old house is doing its best to fall to pieces
faster than I can fix it up. (Don’t even think about
the ½ acre lawn and the gardens)
So the last month has been spent disguising the shortcomings
of the old place with new paint and carpet, new bits of wood
nailed over the old and fixing the plumbing, packing up close
to 3000 books and about the same number of magazines, buying
furniture to make the place look as though someone other than
a junkshop owner lives here (the number one Daughter has just
set up house with her dearly beloved and was hugely appreciative
of being given all the old stuff, more brownie points for
dad!) and I have finally managed to stop the roof leaking.
The for sale sign goes up next week and I have been out in
the garden with the biggest weedwacker I have ever seen, the
rose garden yielded enough hay to feed four horses for a week
and I have an armed party doing a reconnaissance patrol through
the vege garden to see what will be needed there!
I’ve spent a pile at the garden centre and have been
carefully watching those home renovation programs on the telly,
I can tell you that its not nearly as easy as they make it
look and the guy that I hired to paint the roof is nowhere
near as good looking as the girls who the TV company hire
to run their programs.
Its been a hot summer, and the last of the carpet goes down
tomorrow.
We have been planning to build our big motor boat and to
go voyaging for a while now, have a huge pile of wood, about
100 litres of adhesive and enough stainless steel screws to
start a shop, all the machinery and tools that a small shipyard
could wish for and have even started the frames. But progress
had come to a halt.
Whats missing? Money for one thing, to pay for the boat as
well as our mortgage meant that two jobs were necessary ,
with two jobs on the go between us there was no time and with
no time there was no progress.
The solution, invest a bit of time in preparing the place
for sale and find someone who will love the 6 acres, rambling
old home and huge workshop , find a nice piece of dirt over
near the sea and build a purpose designed building that will
combine the functions of living space, workshop, woodyard
storage and design office. If we do it right we will be able
to have a quick word with the Bank Manager (bye!) and will
have enough cashflow from our combined efforts to live and
to finance the project without my having to run a job as well
as the design practice. Drastic problems sometimes need drastic
solutions!
Boatbuilding does not happen in isolation, in our case the
funding is an issue as the boat will cost as much as a modest
home: to fund it requires planning and commitment; to find
the 4000 hours or so needed to build the boat means that the
project is either a near full time one or a very long one;
to provide the space and the machinery to build such a craft
means that all the facilities of a fulltime boatbuilders shop
need to be available and we still need to live.
We’re almost there, but the final step was a biggie,
sell, buy, build, find somewhere to live while in between
and then move in. Denny (my wife) is really impatient to be
aboard and setting sail, and has been the main motivation
in making the move so we are all on the same wavelength which
helps, but the next 6 months are going to be interesting ones!
This year also holds other prospects, we have two new agents
, one in USA who is building kitsetted versions of selected
designs, and one in UK who is distributing plans to get around
the long shipping times and provide a support service a bit
closer than New Zealand where I live.
I have visited my Brisbane based agent Ross Lillistone a couple
of times in the past, have met Chuck and Sandra Leinweber
albeit briefly (how did we get onto politics Sandra?) but
have yet to meet the guys and guyesses at Kent Island Boat
Works and Fyne Boat Kits up there in Englands Lake District.
It's time I did, so have been down to my friendly travel agent
(they are very very friendly when you want to spend THAT much
money) and have worked out the budget for the trip. Just as
well I am planning to do the trip in October, it will take
that long to save up for it!
I am hoping to work it in with boat shows or sailing events
so I can meet some of the locals at each stop, I hope to visit
some people building “my” boats, and am really
looking forward to going over the plans and boats with each
crew so they are better able to help the customers in their
areas.
The trip will take me from NZ to Texas and Chucks place (the
home of Duckworksmagazine.com). Then to the Cheasapeake and
Donna and David Romasco of Kent Island Boat Works with their
kitset operation. (They build Sherpa kits and more designs
to come) From there its back through the airport security
and on the big silver bird to Manchester (UK) thence to the
shed that featured in the Swallows and Amazons books as “Mr
Walkers Boatyard” (it really existed) where Paul Stanistreet
operates Fyne Boat Kits and their plans service.
After what I hope will be a nice break from travelling it
will away again from there via Manchester and London to Hong
Kong and to Bayside Wooden Boats in Brisbane where my family
will be waiting to take me off to a quiet spot so I can sleep
under a shady tree for about three days. We plan a short family
holiday there, some time with Ross, and from there its only
a four hour flight home. Whew! (But think of the airpoints!)
It will be a real adventure, and apart from spending the
equivalent of 60 hours flying time and a dreary lifetime in
airline terminals, as well as having jetlag for two weeks
solid I am really looking forward to it. The guys at each
point will be organising some sort of gathering so I can meet
lots of people, and I am hugely looking forward to catching
up with lots of you. Watch this space for dates and times!
2004 , a busy and interesting one, I’d better go and
pull the old carpet up so the carpet layers can do their thing
tomorrow.
