The Beginnings of Something Great! Week #1 of Project Gilligan!

 I bet if I were to ask you what is something you enjoy doing/are passionate about that you would have an answer!

 

What are you into? Sports? Fortnite? Reading? Cars? Painting?

Well people of the internet, I am passionate about woodworking! I love it! The smell of wood holds a very special place in my heart, however, I could do without the sawdust plugging my nose as I go in for a wiff lol.

At any rate, Project Gilligan is underway and I could not be more excited! The boat is in the garage and has been getting inspected and having the old cracking varnish stripped off of it (because that is something I have learned that you want to do if most of the boat is showing that its varnish is cracked). Don't know what varnish is but want to still come along for this adventure? No problem! Varnish is what boat makers use to seal the wood so that it becomes more durable and water resistant. It can also seal boats so water does not seep in.

*Disclaimer* - If you have any questions regarding Project Gilligan, please feel free to post them in the comments and I will answer them to the best of my abilities!

 

Back to the boat. So I have begun this restoration prior to the start of this project, however, the productivity levels for the restoration have been quite low. I would find myself getting inspired, working on the boat for a few hours every couple of weeks, but then I lose focus and forget about it. But now that I have this to work on it for a school project, I can set it as a top priority and schedule blocks of time throughout the weeks to work on it. (The image above shows the Clear Western Red Cedar I bought, it also demonstrates how a more vertical grain will provide better structural integrity.

One thing that has constantly been a battle for me is intimidation. I am not a professional! This is something that continues to get in the way with this project. I tend to overthink the tasks I need to do which prevents me from doing anything. What I continue to remind myself in order to get over this intimidation is that I am going to make mistakes, and that's OK! I have this opportunity infront of me where I can use this boat to experiment and learn new woodworking skills and techniques! I am not on the clock to restore this for a customer! I am doing this for my own discovery! Let's get going!

So I now venture into researching how other boat builders (shipwrights) around the world have gone about restoring their own boats. Three great resources that I have found have been Youtube channels that have been dedicated to wooden boat building: Tips from a Shipwright (has complete boat building and restoration tutorials) , Boatworks Today (Demonstrates various techniques for boat and general wood project restoration) and Xyla Foxlin (Shows the steps and techniques for building a cedar strip canoe in 30 days!)

Once I learn more from the above resources I will be checking back in here to show you what I have learned so far! I will also be posting progress photos of the boat! Exciting! 

Until next time,

Cpt. John Storozisnki (not a real captain, just very excited about this project!)