A dream fulfilled

Here is the english version of my last entry in the blog, it's a good exercise for me to translate (thanks Melanie for your help!) so now it looks like an "international blog"!

At the beginning it was like a kid’s dream forgotten because too complicated, or not enough time, or not enough money. And one day, a chance visit (if you believe in chance!), here is the opportunity to fulfil that dream, or quite. It was six and a half months ago when I visited for the first time the Wooden Boat Centre. This forgotten dream become in the space of a moment an obsession and magically, everything goes up to fulfil it. Then a long waiting time begin and some sacrifices, the couple of weeks originally planned for the Tasmanian’s step of my Australian’s trip are becoming months and allowed me to discover the Australian life and to enjoy the charms of this island and gives me an insane desire to stay! And finally, the long awaited day arrives… It was 7 weeks ago, on Monday the 6^th of September, arrived just 30 minutes early for fear of missing the beginning, as usual with Australians the welcome is very friendly and you really feel at home.

After the introductions and the discovery of the workshop it’s time to start building the boat

So I’m going to relate you the story of « Jacqo the Foster 10 ». (Jacqo because it’s the boat’s birth name and Foster 10 because she has been designed by Bill Foster and is 10 feet long).

Once upon a time was a tree, call him “Huon Pine” or “Celery top pine” living peacefully for hundreds years in a Tasmanian forest.

One day, maybe 20 or 30 years ago some guys decided to cut it to sell it to carpenters. But before using it you need let it dry for some years.

After a few years and many saw cuts here is our Jacqo:

A beautiful pile of planks! Sometimes attracting like the Huon Pine on the left and sometimes disgusting like the black pieces of celery top pine on the right!

So, here we are, on this Monday the 6th of September… Objective: Build a floating boat with these wood pieces!

I won’t talk to you about the evolution of the work as you could see any pictures on that blog. And on this Friday the 22nd of October, on a lovely spring day, after 7 weeks of complete happiness, of planing, sawing, riveting, sanding, our little Jacqo is ready to pass the workshop’s doors to have is first bath in the Huon river.

The weather is perfect for the launch, 25°C, light breeze, a bit of sun, let’s get some champagne and put the snags on the bbq…

Just a bit of rowing to get away from the ramp, sail up and go… Unfortunately I can’t describe the sound of water lapping against the wooden hull but believe me, that’s bloody exciting!

I’ve been lucky to launch some plastic boats costing about 3 or 4 hundred thousand dollars on which I spent a lot of hours to work to prepare them to a high standard and a good quality equipment. It was a very satisfying job and I had so much pleasure to do that but nothing compares to what I felt last Friday!

Of course you can tell me it’s different because I built that one from A to Z but there is anything else, these little wooden dingys, who don’t have the same performance and so much equipments than modern sailing boats have a little thing who makes all the difference: charm!

Chapter finished, one dream fulfilled and like a wish to do it again one day!

Thank you to all the Wooden Boat Centre Team for her welcome. Erika and Mandy for their kindness, their help and the meat pies and other nice cakes for the morning tea. Thanks Dean and Lew for all the explanations about everything and the full visit of the big boat even if sometimes it went over my head, I’m not perfectly bilingual yet!

Thanks Lachlan, our teacher who allowed us to achieve this project, who let me discover his wonderful Canadian hand Tools et who taught me that a good marine carpenter is not the one who succeed everything perfectly but the one who is able to fix his mistakes and make them invisible!

Thanks the two Grahams and Jeff, my co-builders who gave me a lot of ideas for a future trip on the main land and who helped me to understand a bit more the Australian culture. It was nice to work with you.

And of course I won’t forget Dave and Jenny, the two quasi-permanent volunteers who are here every day and finally the two dogs Tex and the little French girl, never tired to play with any piece of wood you leave on the floor!

Now it’s time to go back to work, certainly less romantic but not too bad! The Tasmanian step will probably last a long time again, a very long time!