Sailing: "A state of blissful awareness punctuated by sheer terror."
May 29, 2013 7:45 AM Subscribe
Shaped on all Six Sides: A short documentary about the craft and philosophy of wooden boat carpentry. [via]
Namedropping the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle if you're into this sort of thing. They do a free sailing outing in one of their boats on the lake every week as well. Actually asked MsEld to marry me at the park nearby. Very cool and if I lived there I'd be a member and boat building apprentice in a heartbeat.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:17 AM on May 29, 2013
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:17 AM on May 29, 2013
If this appeals to you, another place to check out is http://www.thewoodenboatschool.com
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:24 AM on May 29, 2013
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:24 AM on May 29, 2013
What's always fun to do sailing is to take out somebody who's never been sailing before and they expect it to be some sort sunbathing/drinks-with-little-umbrellas experience. Right up until the boat leans over 30 degrees and water's coming over the bow.
As pretty as wooden boats are, and despite all the talk of history in the video, I'd never want to own a wooden boat bigger than a dinghy.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 9:24 AM on May 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
As pretty as wooden boats are, and despite all the talk of history in the video, I'd never want to own a wooden boat bigger than a dinghy.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 9:24 AM on May 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
Great minds and all that, eh blaneyphoto?
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:25 AM on May 29, 2013
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:25 AM on May 29, 2013
They're pretty, but for most of us, life is too short for a wooden boat.
The bane of new yacht brokers, and the salvation of the impecunious boater... fiberglass boats last so long, and are so easy to fix up. Our small sailboat was 26 years old when we bought her 7 years ago; with a little work each year she's now in better shape when we bought her, and has at least another 15 years of low-cost life ahead.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:59 AM on May 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
The bane of new yacht brokers, and the salvation of the impecunious boater... fiberglass boats last so long, and are so easy to fix up. Our small sailboat was 26 years old when we bought her 7 years ago; with a little work each year she's now in better shape when we bought her, and has at least another 15 years of low-cost life ahead.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:59 AM on May 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yeah, you don't build or own a wooden boat because it particularly practical, you do it for the love of the boat and the wood its crafted from.
posted by blaneyphoto at 11:32 AM on May 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by blaneyphoto at 11:32 AM on May 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
I owned a 36' nearly 50 year old wooden boat for about five years. This usually meant that every weekend (and quite a few weeknights, as well) from March through June was spent at the boatyard, mostly sanding and varnishing.. By July she'd be in the water and that was it for maintenance till the next year - except the painful process of covering her for winter; we tried to make the costs reasonable by doing nearly everything ourselves. We did sell the boat in slightly better shape than we bought her, but then again we sold in 2011 and Maine kind of has a glut of these madams lying around, and we got a fraction of what we paid for her (and what we paid for her didn't even come close to the costs of storing/mooring/maintenance).
Still seems like the whole ordeal was worth it, in many respects, but I think that thought makes me a madman at the same time.
posted by mbatch at 3:18 PM on May 29, 2013
Still seems like the whole ordeal was worth it, in many respects, but I think that thought makes me a madman at the same time.
posted by mbatch at 3:18 PM on May 29, 2013
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