Yes, A Stand Up Paddle Board

I love my Baby Red unconditionally. She will always be my treasure, my pride and joy, my first love.  We still enjoy playfully splashing around in the water and watching the sunset over horizon, but I decided to build a paddle board for a few reasons. 

1)      Idle hands are the devil’s play things – If I’m not consuming my spare time with something constructive, I might just set fire to this city

2)      Craftsmanship – This has proved to be a useful hobby, so I better keep up with the practice

3)      More portable – I love Baby Red, but a woman of her size is more than I, alone, can handle

5)   Another vessel – Maybe I can tow this behind Baby Red when she's at full capacity

4)      Core workout – No comment

After watching Drew Brophy’s video, I’m even more ecstatic about this project.  I can’t wait to start getting my hands dirty.  Just like boats these days, most paddle boards you’ll see are made of synthetic materials (foam and fiberglass).  It’s a personal thing, but I feel a sense of satisfaction seeing lumber progress into a finished product, especially when the grain of the wood is showcased. 

Inside a wooden paddle board

The inside of a wooden paddle board consists of an intricate skeleton.  I’m planning to build this puppy at my place in DC, rather than using my dad’s workshop in Virginia.  I don’t have the tools to cut those pieces, so I will have to settle for building the board from a kit.  I'm in the process of searching for the best kit.  Anyone have suggestions?

Maybe one day I can be this cool

I Try Drawing.. and Reveal My Next Project!

Every year, my childhood friends and I go to New York City for the 4^th of July.  One night this year we ventured to a bar in East Village called Affaire.  Let’s just put it this way… even for New York, this place was WEIRD.  To set the scene--we were in a candlelight dungeon, trance music was blasting, only two people were dancing, and “artists” who haven’t washed their hair in days were painting canvases.  This is very snobbish of me, I know, but I expected people who put forth so much effort to look and act artsy to actually be good artists.  When I peaked over to see what they were painting, my reaction was Really?  That's it?  Maybe they truly are geniuses.  I don't know anything about good art, so who am I to say anything.  Reminds me of a short story…

I babysit three children of well-to-do parents.  There’s a 8”x10” painting in their living room.  For the longest time I thought one of the kids painted it in preschool.  This is the painting:

It wasn’t until months later that I flipped the print over and saw it was painted by Joan Miro.  I Googled to see who she was, and found out HE is a famous artist.  Oops.

A week and a half after my trip to NYC, I bought a sketch book to show that you don't have to be smelly to do art.  A friend of mine in college said she wanted to do a sketch a day.  I thought that was an awesome idea.  I am doing just that.  I haven't drawn since I took art in 8th grade, so I learn as I go and let my eyes dictate how I move my pencil.  Here are a few I've done:

A baby

Frames

An eye

Maybe it's time to reveal my next project to show you where this is going.  Next, drum roll please,  I am planning to and hoping to build a stand up paddle board!  I think I can integrate some drawing into this project as well.  Watch the video below to see what I'm thinking.  I'm a fan of Drew Brophy's work.  Maybe I can even do something like this with a boat one day...

The Reader Meets the Writer

This summer I took a trip to the Pacific Northwest.  It was the first time I ever spotted killer whales in the wild (Vancouver), witnessed the wrath of Mt. St. Helen’s (she was actually very calm), and saw multiple fully tattooed faces in a single day (Portland).

I’ve been planning this trip since summer 2010, so by coincidence, when I was researching how to build a wooden boat last spring, one of my favorite reads was written by a native Washingtonian, Sam Devlin.  I even quoted him in blog on my March 25 post.  I didn’t realize this at the time, but later when I looked at his website to check out some of his work, I noticed an address with Tumwater, WA, about 20 minutes away from one of my travel destinations.

My favorite read and guide to building boats (written by Sam Devlin)

I didn’t realize how uncool it was to email Mr. Devlin to request a tour of his workshop until I told my friends and they called me a nerd.  Despite the bit of ridicule from my peers (which happened to come from the same people that thought I would never go through with building a boat), my visit to Mr. Devlin’s was an experience of a lifetime.

We arrived at his workshop on the morning of August 24.  I could tell he was really busy because his phones were ringing off the hook, but he walked us around and showed us his company’s current projects including an extension on a ferry.  The tour was short but being the enthusiast, I was fascinated.  He has a staff of about 13 employees, all of which were working on different tasks on different boats.  When I thought Mr. Devlin was showing us to the door, he brought us to his office and asked how he could help me.  I explained I had already finished my boat, but that I’m intrigued by people who can do what they love for a living, something he is clearly practicing.



Mr. Devlin and Me



Our discussion became one about finding your passion and the challenges we face when we do something we love, including making ourselves vulnerable by putting our work out there for critics to see.  His phone continued to ring, but he continued to talk right through the sound.  Mr. Devlin even gave me the last copy of one of his favorite books, The Year of the Boat written by Lawrence Cheek.  I've been reading it and I feel like Cheek is speaking right through me.  Where was this book when everyone kept asking why the hell I was building a boat?

My current read: The Year of the Boat by Lawrence Cheek

Some Shots of Summer

I’m sad to say that the lazy days of summer are at its end. Baby Red will continue to receive frequent visits by me this fall, but come winter, the cold and early sunsets tend to keep me indoors more hours of the day.  To maintain my sanity, I’ll blog more frequently than I have in the past few months and keep everyone updated with Baby Red and any other projects I tackle.

I do have a lovely story to share from my vacation in the Pacific Northwest (I will post tomorrow), but today I thought I’d post some never before seen photos from this summer.  Enjoy!

Natalie posing.  One of Baby Red's first times out on the water.

During a picnic dinner on the Potomac

Katy rowing for the first time

Becky in front of the Lincoln Memorial (August 28, 2011)

August 28, 2011

August 28, 2011