Small Sailboat Cruising's video: WARNING: Are You SABOTAGING Your boat

In a battle between wood and epoxy, the wood will always win. This is about a boat, but it's about much more than a boat. It's about the concept of saving and preserving something that could easily be lost. It's about the fundamental necessity of passing things on to the next generation, whether it be money, virtue, or even critical-thinking skills. This video is about keeping the soul intact. Working with wood, and wooden boats in particular can be contemplative and even healing. Claire de Lune is a classic wooden sailboat with soul. She's 57 years old, and has spent most of her life in a shed, but she in need of some love. Working in harmony with natural materials gives us the opportunity to assume a more leisurely pace than we are forced to assume with materials such as fiberglass. Or at least we have a choice! Just as long as we are prepared to work with the materials, not against them. This video is me thinking about how to fix the cracks in the hull of my wooden boat-building project. Wood moves in response to its environment. It moves differently depending on the type of wood and the direction of the grain. We do well when we try to understand the way wood behaves and go about our work in a way that is sympathetic to the unique nature of wood. That is why you will often see me pause, and reflect for extended periods of time. My wooden boats throw up many technical challenges, and the process of thinking these through and coming up with solutions can even rub off some of life's callouses. The character of wood can build character in me if I am open to letting it have its way with me. Just sitting quietly in the cabin of my latest King Billy Pine boat project can generate a smile that comes from my innermost being. I enjoy a deep resonant upwelling of gratefulness. I find myself taking in the aromatic resins, the mellow musical tones, and the rich and timeless patterns in the wood. Different woods have very unique and diverse personalities. It is the interactions of the three different directions and rates of movement that set up stresses that we should learn to accommodate, rather than “epoxy” them into submission. There is one thing we can guarantee, “The wood always wins! Such are the enormous forces generated when wood takes on or releases moisture. The Nords understood this when they designed craft that could conquer oceans without the use of modern adhesives, fasteners, and finishes. Clever and simple engineering allowed the wood to move the way it wanted to move and still retain its seakeeping qualities with most of the water remaining on the outside! And so it is that I am always trying to keep most of the water on the outside of the hull, but I realize that if I try to keep it all out, I will fail. As I said before, the wood always wins. So in saying that, victory over the quirky personalities of wood is always going to be a compromise. The type of wood I choose, the fasteners, adhesives, and finishes are important, but the design, and in particular the engineering of the joints will determine how much is surrendered in the tradeoff of integrity and longevity. And when the work is done, there will be more time to rest and contemplate the eye-sweet lines we have created. A unique combination of form and function has slowly and painstakingly unfolded to reveal something very beautiful to behold. The story is as familiar as time itself. The creator, toiling hard at his work, and when it was finished, in a sigh from within we too can say “it is good”. This is the story of a little wooden boat created in 1965 by my mentor, and rescued from a life of dormancy by a young man with incredible vision. “ Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.” – John Lennon. Life has its own strange ways of flowing, like a river, which is undecipherable by the human mind. The river of life is flowing in its unique and special way. Sarah Ann has followed me up to Queensland, and I am now her custodian, embarking on a very unique wooden boat restoration project. Follow Chris Joseph sailing trailer boats, wooden boat projects, and fiberglass boat restoration projects on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sailingmoonlight We have a healthy and growing community conversation about all things sailing, and you are welcome to join us on Sailing Beat https://www.facebook.com/groups/sailingbeat/ Follow Sailing Moonlight on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sailing_moonlight_dinghy/ There are some affiliate links on this page that give us a small commission. All our music is licensed from Artlist https://artlist.io/Christopher-1171683 unless otherwise noted. Predict Wind is an app I use and highly value. See just how helpful it is for sailors like you and me. Go to https://www.predictwind.com/?ref=christophersly Copyright 2021 Vinsek Pty Ltd