This morning, we gather at The Chapel of Carpentry and Canoes for Sunday services. We’ll follow the Presbyterian Order of Worship. If we were to celebrate a Catholic Mass, we’d have to drink wine, a bad idea when using table saws and power tools.
Matthew has given up sawdust for lent so he chose to wander the city of Port Townsend. He will return to New York later today and is trying to remain vapor and sawdust free for the sake of his fellow passengers.
Janell, Rich, and I get breakfast at home then head to the boat shop. We avoid driving by the bakery in a vain glorious show of self-control.
Gathering
Call to Worship
Rich is on gunnel duty today, sanding and prepping for a sealer coat of epoxy. Janell has decided to cane seats over the next few months and spends today prepping the frames Matthew and I constructed yesterday. I’ll apply another coat of varnish to yokes, thwarts and handles, then start on braces for the gunnels to accept those cross pieces.
Hymns of Praise
Oh mighty spirits of the seas and skies,
Bless us, humble cedar strip boat builders, we arise.
Grant us strength to wield the saw with grace,
As we shape our vessel, in this sacred space.1
Confession and Pardon
Visitors to the boat shop speak the lines in bold. Joel, Mark, Janell and Matthew speak the parts in italics.
Oh God. This boat is made of wood!
Yes. This boat is made of wood.
We did not know boats could be made of wood!
Yes. Many boats are made of wood.
Did you make it from a box?
No, the parts did not come in a box,
Did you use sandpaper?
Yes, we sanded to make this taper.
The Word
Prayer for Illumination
Fiberglass, oh guardian of durability and might, Wrap our craft snug, keep her safe through the night. May your layers be smooth, your bonds secure, As we fashion this boat, with love and allure. Epoxy, sticky elixir of the woodworking realm, Bind our planks tight, let no leaks overwhelm. May your mix be perfect, your cure divine, As we seal our creation, on this assembly line. Grant us laughter amidst the sawdust storm, And patience when things don't conform. For in this workshop, camaraderie's key, As we craft our dreams upon the sea. So here's to our cedar strip masterpiece, A vessel of joy, may she never cease. Blessed be our boat, strong and true, As we sail through waters, both old and new. Amen, and may the waves be kind!2
Scripture Readings
So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks
Genesis 6:14-16 (NIV)
Sermon
Joel was in the shop early this morning; He did some brief sanding on one of the epoxy blemishes; we are delighted to see them fade away. The boat regains its beauty.
He gave us a quick lesson on sanding out the bumps and rough spots. Some of these are serious air pockets under the fiberglass; we’ll need to cut out the unimpregnated cloth, sand out the rough edges, then lay in a fiberglass patch. Rich spends a good portion of the day working on these imperfections.
While Rich works out the imperfections, I’m making brackets to reinforce the gunnels at points where we will attach seats and yokes. We need six; the ends of each should be a similar shape. Drawing these curves freehand would result in six different interpretations of a theme. Instead, I build a jig. This has nothing to do with an Irish jig, even though it is St. Patrick’s Day (March 17). In this case, a jig is a template used to repeat a series of holes or shapes. In the photo above, you can see the pencil line resulting from my jig. I’m using a spindle sander to finish up the curves.
Caning a seat involves weaving cane through holes in a pattern. Janell uses a fence on the drill press to ensure those holes are precisely spaced and along a single line. The drill press uses a laser-generated “X” to show the precise drilling location.
The Eucharist
Offering
Our time here at the Northwest Maritime Center Boatshop isn’t free. We will spend about $1,000 to rent the boat shop, rent an airBnB, buy fiberglass and necessary hardware, and eat.
But it is SO worth it. The boat shop provides access to every tool we need, without us having to rent, buy, or maintain tools we would use infrequently. We have access to experience, tips, and tricks from Joel and other experts. Possibly most importance, we are in an environment where everyone is here to build a boat; we aren’t distracted by other activities in our lives.
Invitation to the Table
Today’s lunch is pizza from Waterfront Pizza. This is strictly take-out, you are not allowed to eat in the shop. Instead, you must take it out to the sidewalk or around the corner to the Tyler Street Plaza. It’s a sunglasses and sparkling water day, sitting in front of Port Townsend Bay is the best thing in the world.
Sending
Songs or Acts of Commitment
Matthew stops by to say goodbye. He tells us he is appreciative of the invite to see his Senior Year Carpentry project through to the end. We’re appreciative of his presence; a community formed around this boat and he is part of it. We look forward to his return later this year when we will take him out for a paddle.
The Charge and Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you.
Traditional Irish Blessing
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand
- Generated by Mark Niemann-Ross using OpenAI’s GPT-3 language model, developed by OpenAI (https://openai.com). ↩︎
- Generated by Mark Niemann-Ross using OpenAI’s GPT-3 language model, developed by OpenAI (https://openai.com). ↩︎