On Misteaks and Boo-Boos

[Dave Fleming]

On Misteaks and Boo-Boos

Spellin' is off in the title but, that is part of the point.

Folla my drift here.

There is an old 'saw' stating:

A good 'mechanic' ( honorific for an ACES craftsman ) knows when he made a mistake and knows how to fix it so no-one else will see his mistake.

I have a Tale on my humble website about a fella who took care of his mistakes another way, entitled Fine Old World Craftsmanship.

We ALL are going to make errors, mistakes, boo-boo's, eff-ups, god damns, etc..

It isn't the end of the world, the sky will not fall, you won't break out in warts.

What you WILL do is LEARN.

Learn to be patient.

Learn to read plans once, twice, three times before putting tool to wood.

Learn to think ahead without loosing sight of what is happening at the moment.

Time is on most of you folks side, after all most of you are enthusiastic Amateurs, in the best sense of that word.

Slow down, take a break, just don't get discouraged.

Folla? :wink: :wink:

[Andrew]

Dave

A true-er word has never been spoken, 'cept prehaps that with the amount of mistakes I've made, I should be 'all knowing' by now

I'm sure it has been said many times before, but my 'enhancements' just make this boat all the more MINE and not one of those mass produced, plastic fantastics that just cost LOTS of money.

I'm still trying to convince my 5 and 7 year-old girls that I may run out of room for a TV in the cabin - Still that would be another 'enhancement' HAHA

[Greg Luckett]

Somedays my mistakes lead to new opportunities. Little mistakes get work arounds, but the big ones give an opportunity to correct the little ones too . My sons have learned some new language skills also :oops: .

[Knut]

Some mistakes are private and therefore much easier to handle. Not so many around to add weight to the mistake by pointing a finger or using other more subtle ways of indicating how stupid you are. The public mistakes can therefoe be harder to deal with and may hurt badly.

However, we are all human and that means making mistakes. If you don't make mistakes, it is because you do absolutely nothing. Taken the right way, everybody will learn much more from mistakes than from a smooth ride without problems.

So be active, take the f.. ups in stride and don't worry, be happy :!:

(Very good approach to boat building. Should be rule number one in my opinion)

[Barry Pyeatt]

Build a boat, Creative solutions to little challenges.

[capt jake]

Build a boat, Creative solutions to little challenges.

AMEN!

[Dave Fleming]

Some of the comments made in this thread bring to mind a documentry featuring Ralph Stanley, now a National Treasure.

The comment was made that in the building of a Friendship Sloop one to have the attributes of a draftsman, loftsman, patternmaker, carpenter and painter.

Seems to fit most AMATEUR* builders here.

*AMATEUR in the best sense of the word, may I add.

[Fintan Murphy]

Experience is the knowledge to recognise a mistake the second time you make it.

And I love the word Amateur. I remember an old film I saw about an amateur orchestra. I can't remember the name, or the cast, but I do remember the conductor, after they got a review in a local paper calling them "a bunch of amateurs". He stood in front of them and said that that was the highest compliment they could earn. Because amateur is derived from the French verb Aime - to Love, and they do what they do for the love of it, not for money, or fame.

I suppose it's why we build boats (or houses, patios, furniture). Sure, in my case anyway, a professional would do a better, quicker, nicer job. But that's not the point.

[Mark Hughes]

Fintan! Now there's a brogue I haven't heard in awhile! Where you been hiding?

[Fintan Murphy]

It sounds dreadful, especially from someone who has kissed the blarney stone a few times (we live down the road from it), but I've had nothing much to say.

I've been keeping up with posts - My God, that Adla makes me jealous - Is she living in the same time/space continium as the rest of us? :shock:

I can't fit my normal stuff in 24 hours - but she's building a boat as well in record speed.

Adla - if you're reading - my hat goes off to you.

The boat hasn't seen the light of day since September as my second year in college (by night) is taking up all my spare time. I've one assignment to complete, and the year end project and then I'm back to boat work for the summer. There's about a month of work left in it to launch, and I've built up some holidays that I can take to hurry along the process. I hope to launch in June/July.

Unfortunately there is another cloud on the horizon - we are looking at moving house and have been looking at one closer to the city. At least it has room for a small workshop, and room to store the boat. But it needs some work. Hopefully I'll get the boat finished before the sale is finalised and work begins - or you'll see a repeat of this post next year

So, as I said, in May it's hopefully back to boat work. The hull is finished and painted, the spars have three coats of varnish and will get a few more. So all that's left is to make and install the rigging, make the sails, and get the trailer up to scratch.

Oh, and I bought a digital camera, so you all will get to see the launch pictures.

[adla]

Thanks, Fintan...i am reading but not working much on the boat the last day or so. Real world work has called... But, i won't let that distract me too long!

Trying to move, go to school, build a boat...that is multi-tasking! I can't wait to see the launch pics...the very best part!

a.