I built my first boat over the winter and got it into the water the first week of March. Now the madness has begun again. Another Guillemot, this one for my wife. What a humbling experience! After three months of admiration from friends, family and total strangers I was becoming an expert in my chosen hobby. At times it was down right embarrassing. At first I could not believe they didn’t see the obvious flaws in my boat. The joints that had been filled, the small bubbles, the bit of weave showing when the sun hit it just right. Then it happened, I lost track of where the imperfection were and didn’t even care much about the dents and dings. I was starting to believe I after building one boat that I knew what I was doing!
Now that I have most of the hull stripped I have been knocked off my pedestal and into the gutter. What a let down, I did strip it in about half the time of the first one but I see no improvement in my stripping skills. Now the scary part, I’m not sweating it. I know I can fix my mistakes and I’m already thinking of the next one. So how many boats do I need to build before I know what I’m doing?

Thanks for your indulgence,

Lennie