Sailing Canoe Update

So some time ago, I answered the question of what exactly it is that I do when I'm not answering sharpening questions, and the answer was that I build a boat of course. It has been a while, so an update is in order. As you'll see, I’m not the fastest worker in the world, but I have made some progress.

Plugging Away at the Deck

The deck is on, the cockpit combing done, and the floorboards fitted.

The deck has been built, along with the cockpit combing and floorboards. All this involved convincing pieces of spruce that they wanted to be bent in rather unnatural ways. Rough words were spoken, but the wood is in place.

Self Taught Sailmaker

The mainsail is about 11 feet from peak to base.

My father was really good with a sewing machine and we had always assumed he would be the one to make the sails. Without him, I had to press on alone. I've never used a sewing machine before. Sailmaking is not necessarily what I would recommend for a first project.

Fortunately, I found a kit for the exact sails I needed with the pieces pre cut. Again, hard words were spoken, but the resulting main and mizzen sails are not bad.

Time To Move Outdoors

It really is amazing what you can fit on a Prius.

I had now gotten to the point where the next steps involved masts too tall for the shop, so it was time to load up the John Theodore and move it to a new location. I was worried about getting it on top of the car single handed, but it actually went pretty smoothly.

Keeping Moving

The mizzen mast. That's nautical talk for the mast at the rear of the boat. Or so I'm told.

Sharp tools were required to make and fit the mast.

So now I am working on masts, booms and yards. The mizzen mast is coming along nicely. Next up is the main mast which will be half again as tall.

This has been a fulfilling project for me. I don't get a great deal of time to work on it, but I've managed to make the most of what I have. I'm looking forward to the next steps in the process.

More to come.

Dan