Week 4: Some Of The Obstacles So Far

When I began this project, I had more in mind than just building a boat; I wanted to discover why boat building and traditional crafts seem to be on the decline. Over the past few weeks, some things have stood out to me as reasons this could be.

Construction space: One of the main stages in boat building is flipping the hull over. I have not reached that step yet, but I have had to hoist the hull to remove the cradle it had been resting on. I would not have been able to do this without rafters. Although this may seem like an unrelated issue to boat building, I would have nothing to attach ratchet straps to without – and unless you’re willing to construct mini wooden cranes, the construction would be much more difficult. The space you have may dictate what you can construct.

Heat: The weather is starting to warm up, and at the stage I’m at in the construction process – painting and varnishing – that is especially helpful. I haven’t discussed this in any previous blog posts, but each step of the construction requires epoxy, and epoxy doesn’t cure properly below 55 degrees. I’m building this boat in an uninsulated garage, and the temperature fluctuates greatly hour by hour. I’ve had two diesel heaters running 24/7 for most of the time, each consuming around a gallon of diesel every 24 hours. 

Costs: I thought when starting this project that most of the costs would be out of the way – we had already purchased wood, plans, and epoxy after all. However, I’ve found that with every new day, a new purchase must be made, whether it’s extra chip brushes, different paints, more epoxy (and more after that), or extra wood flour. And in today’s day and age, building supplies, especially wood, are at an all-time high, posing a significant barrier to entry for anyone interested in the craft.

I hope to explore these issues further by comparing my experiences with others in the near future, but in the meantime, I’ll continue to share progress updates. See below.