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