Comments
(sorry, closed due to spamming)

Evan Hardman 11 Feb 06 09:03

Great article. It's amazing what people can do if they will try. I'm sure you can still get fin-necked bolts. I've used them building silos, but only steel and 1/2 inch diameter.

Bob Throne 11 Feb 06 08:21

Thanks Paul. I too relish your story and greatly admire the skill and character reflected in it. Historians are just now realizing that it takes a good bit of such "peoples history" to capture an era authentically. I remember my mother's stories of helping build the family camp and garage in upstate NY, helping my Dad grind the valves on our 35' Ford "V60" V8, tapping maples and making maple syrup with a friend in my early teens, making a tool shed with my own boys .. formative experiences all. Without them I wouldn't be building a boat. None of us are Luddites - we 're sharing all this on state of the art computers over the internet - but "hands on" experience is the heart of boat building and a rich tradition that needs to be carried on in our buy-and-throw- away consumer world.

Tom Hamernik 11 Feb 06 07:23

Thank-you for sharing this story and those pictures! It's amazing what knowledge, technique and skill can produce with relatively simple tools.

David 10 Feb 06 09:53

Paul, Thanks for bringing me back to what it was like growing up in the Pacific NW. I remember helping my dad & his pals through years of projects (no boats of this size, however - more's the pity). They built: Six or Seven adjoining cabins on Puget Sound - Eld Inlet near Olympia; swim floats; outhouses; roads; rowboats; paddleboards (an early plywood version of a sit-on-top kayak); sailboats; & hydroplanes. The older kids got to be helpers, the younger ones were go-fers. The women kept the food coming, and the yougest kids out of the way. When we got bored - we went swimming, fishing, clamming, crabbing, oystering, walking, berry picking... or just hung out shooting the breeze. Or we made bets on how many beers it would take before skinny old Ole would strip off his clothes & jump in the Sound. Great time, and good memories. Thanks for recalling them.

John Wright 10 Feb 06 08:24

What a great story, with pictures and everything. My father built me a glued redwood strip 12' boat covered with canvas and paint when I was 12 year old. I still remember that boat and its performance and the cleverness of the design and construction. Your story took me back to that time and that boat. Me thinks, the size of the boat does not matter much in my case. I remember seeing the fin head bolts in a 35' keel sloop built in Sweden in the early 50's.

Ron Bennett 10 Feb 06 07:35

And we worry about our little spaces and shops being heated and warm! What an eye-opener, working with large timbers mainly outside in the weather and look at the fine craftsmanship! The photos (and the article) are fantastic, give us more Paul! What a tribute to your Dad.

Tom 10 Feb 06 07:14

Paul, Your story reminds me of the difference between formal schooling and on the job training. Every bit of your father's learned skills was useful in boatbuilding, even sweeping the floor. In comparison, my schooling up through a masters in engineering, I actually used little of the taught subject matter in my work. Good story. I'm sure you got a lot of pleasure in the telling.

Bill Tosh 10 Feb 06 05:49

Thank you again Paul, and as already mentioned, these are indeed the things most of us just dream of doing. I have been crafting and boatbuilding for nearly 30 years, and still dream of HAND building a boat...my, my........!

Joe Tribulato 10 Feb 06 01:38

Thank you Paul This is the real stuff that moat of us are just playing at. Looking forward to more.