Monday, April 19, 2010

Paint the damn thing!


There are some projects on a boat the will go on for ever if you let them. Such is (was?) the figurehead on my boat. I could not leave it alone! I would walk by the bow of the boat on my way to do something else and grab a carving gouge or my patternmaker's rasp or a scrap of sandpaper and an hour... or two... or three later I would still be at it. I worked like I was in a trance.

There are at least two dangers in this: one is that you don't get anything else done (which happened to me since I was supposed to be building a cradle for my new grandson, Corbin, who came two weeks early) the other is you can get carried away and ruin what you are working on -- a slip of a carving gouge could really have set me back.

I decided today that I would allow my self 30 minutes for some final sanding, then I would paint the damn thing. In the background of this shot you can see the spray paint can containing the primer. Right after I took this picture I finished masking it and primed it. Now I can finally move on to other projects on the boat and finish the cradle.

I missed the first wooden boat show of the season in Depoe Bay so I could go to Washington and see my new grandson. This lets me procrastinate finishing the boat a little longer. I am feeling the pressure to get it done because we are beginning to have some very nice days. Days that would be great for sailing and rowing.

5 comments:

  1. John K agreed to sell me his Valgerda while we were in Depoe Bay, so if all goes well, I might have it ready for the boat show in Toledo. What is a festival of Valgerdas called?

    Congratulations, Grandpa!

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  2. John's boat is beautiful! I'm glad you got her. She just needs a little lovin' and she'll be ready for the water.

    I've wanted to see the two Valgeri together since I saw it when went to his house to pick up the sail. This will be awesome!

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  3. If we could get another Valgerda I think we would have a gaggle of Valgerdi.

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  4. If they were all named after crows, mystical or not, a group of them would be a "murder."

    She looks great.

    Congrats on your new grandson. Sorry you missed the boat show. We all know what happens to goals when working on a labor of love. I suspect that for you this is more about the process than the boat.

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  5. I think it is about the boat... the boat that's in my head. When it's done I want it to be the boat that I've been envisioning all these years. I know it won't be perfect, but I do want it to be a faithful expression of my vision. That all takes time, a lot more time that I ever thought it would.

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