So boat school is going well. My wood working skills seem to be developing, which means I can focus more on other things like measurements and proportions. I am still behind most of the class, whom are working on toolboxes and scale model boat plans, but that is okay. Are class is fortunate in that we have been having a rotating schedule of instructors, as ours has gotten hurt recently. This means we have been receiving a different approach from several different people, which has been refreshing, our instructor, Leigh, nonwithstanding. Recently I made two spar guages, which are essentially small pieces of wood measured to length like a ruler, 3 or six inches roughly, with nails driven through at precise points. You apply these nails to a long square piece of wood on all sides, making marks with the nails as you move down the wood, the holes forming two straight lines on all sides of the wood. Then using a cutting tool called a planer, you actually shave down the edges of the wood. You go around and around the wood like this until the square becomes a circle. This is how masts and oars are handmade.

The gauges I made came out pretty, but were not precise. When cutting my square piece of wood, the sides were not equal in width on all sides. The planing looked good along the wood, just the distances that were incorrect. So I'll be working on that on Monday, and probably Tuesday.

Otherwise things are good. Fall is here, the grey, cold and rain are coming, but we are still having our share of beautiful days. We have sunny days here and there, and blue skies. I like to sit on the beach, as the school is on stilts, right on it. I've also been walking the beach at night in Port Townsend, which I've always enjoyed.

Here are some pictures:

These are pictures of the shore outside the school. The second is of one of the boats we'll be making. The third is a drafting plan we made. While in the picture it looks fine, in reality it wasn't precise enough. We'll be using these plans to create small scale half boat models.