There has been some tremendous progress on boat #2 since the last update! The stripping of the deck is about half done. However, this half that is done in measured in terms of area. The half that remains will be significantly more difficult than the half that I started with. Funny that I spent hours drawing out ideas for the design of the deck, and now that I am a ways through the actual implementation, the design has changed significantly a few times. I guess before you have actually built a boat, you can't get set on any one process since you don't really have a clue what you are getting into anyways.
As of yesterday, I changed direction significantly on the way the remainder of the deck will be stripped. The details aren't important, but what was hard for me was to take out the saw and carefully cut off and toss what amounted to 15-20 hours worth of work. I have been talking to another boat builder about his experiences with building and he mentioned to me that in his canoe, he was alternating strips by types of wood, and had one error in the hull. He decided to leave it, and now laments that he will have to look at this for the "rest of his life". I'm not sure this sounds so bad. However, the parts that I cut off were not going to work well, and were going to need to some significant alterations before the sanding stage would be possible. In general, I welcome indicators of a hand built project. For instance, any imperfections in our so-called "boat #1" that were the result of our inexperience that are not present on "boat #2" are kind of a neat example of the learning that we did together. Don't get me wrong... if any of these cute little errors require either duct tape or a bilge pump to remedy after the boat is done, I will not be pleased.
During that same conversation with this other builder (you know who you are), he also advised me to "savor this part of the build" while I was stripping boat #2. These were rather wise words that I didn't totally understand until I was in the middle of it. I found myself getting anxious, and just wanting to get on the water. Thinking about this conversation again, I slowed down, and really enjoyed making each strip fit perfectly, and thinking through how each part of the design would look in the final product. Come to think of it... it seems I have always either sold or dismantled my projects shortly after finishing them. I guess I'm usually in it for the build anyways (I can assure you the kayaks will be around for a while though.
