First Week of Boat School

Hello all! Boat school is a dream come true...here's a quick recap on my first week. I was extremely nervous the morning of, but after a few hours and seeing other students in the same boat (haha), the first day shaped up nicely. Standard introductions, tour, course outlines and tool distribution at the end of the day. I spent the lunch hour sitting on a picnic bench near the boat dock enjoying the view and the delicious lunch Sasha made for me. The other students are always jealous! The classroom and shops are located on the water so it's nice to watch the sailboats come in and out of the bay, and to get in a quick call to see how m'lady's day's goin'.

The second day was a little tougher. There is a two hour lecture every morning then the rest is shop time. We learned about the properties of different boat building quality woods and how to select them, then moved to the shop for sharpening and conditioning chisels and hand plane blades. A properly honed blade really makes wood feel like butter. Sharpening took up most of the day but toward the end we started practicing making cuts with our japanese saws. Those things are freaking sweet.

By Wednesday we were already laying out and cutting simple joints. I got through three variations of the half lap joint by the time school let out and had to drag myself out of the shop. The days really fly by in there!

Thursday morning's lecture was on milling and drying techniques and wood rot. Important stuff for boat builders to know! Then, more joinery. Each project gets increasingly more difficult, but I love a challenge and I literally feel myself improving every hour.

Today was a short day. Hand plane jointing demos took up the morning, and I was only halfway done cutting my mitered bridle joint by noon when school was out. Never enough time! After that we headed home and Sasha whipped up her famous white cheddar mac and cheese for the "friends and family" potluck we just got back from. We mingled a little then just cruised around the school to check out some of the boats under construction and steal some boards from the scrap pile for carving. It was a fun first week no doubt. Monday won't come soon enough, although I'm looking forward to some hang time this weekend with Sasha (maybe a bike ride and a ferry across to Whidbey Island?)

First day, check out my tool bucket!

My new Alma Mater