I haven’t posted anything in a while, but I am going to put in some time today to publish some of the drafts I’ve been working on.
The previous posts I’ve made have mostly been a sort of photo-journal, but going forward I’m going to attempt to include more technical details and references to the books that were recommended with the course.
I’m also going to title the posts beyond the date, with what we worked on that day. I will go back and update the titles for the previous posts.
Due to weather, I missed the third lesson. My group and the evening group arranged where the boat will be built and they laid the keel. The evening group also glued the deadwood to the keel. Eventually, the deadwood will be shaped, and most of what we see is wastewood. It is easier to make two pieces into one piece, and then cut, rather than cut two pieces and try to make one piece from them.
On January 10th I went to the QEII library to browse their collection of books about boats and about Newfoundland and Labrador. I borrowed Boat Building in Winterton, Trinity Bay Newfoundland by David A Taylor, which is from his Master’s Thesis. I also borrowed Of Boats on the Collar: How it Was in One Newfoundland Fishing Community by Hilda Chaulk-Murray.
Continue reading January 10th
In the second class, we started to build a shed inside to build the boat in! On the diagram you an see what it will look like. It will have three sections or rooms, one for each section of the boat.
These photos mark the beginning of my boat building adventure. Last May I walked into the QEII and saw this beautiful boat just sitting there. After, I found out it was made in partnership with the Wooden Boat Museum. When I saw the course being offered this semester, I just had to jump at the chance to get involved.
Today was the first class. I got in there a little early. I was first and went into the work shop after I met with David, who is an Assistant Professor and MUN and is assisting with administering the course. There are five others taking the class. So far, I am the only woman.
We went over the course outline, safety procedures, the history of the Marcus French Rodney as well as the Wooden Boat Museum. Mr. Canning spoke of his experiences and the class introdices them selves. We also set up the loft, the plans for the boat, by mounting it to a wall.
After we discussed some basics about constriction the boat, lofting, and the three piece moulds.
When I got home I looked up D.A. Taylor’s thesis for his folklore masters (https://research.library.mun.ca/6958/1/Taylor_DavidAlan.pdf) and the recommended books, which I am eager to add to my collection.
In December, I saw a post on Twitter adverting a boat building class with the Wooden Boat Museum at MUN. There were no prerequisites, so I registered.
The course started on the 7th of January and since then I have been keeping a record of each class though photos, notes, and drawings. My photos have been posted regularly on Facebook, but I’ve been delayed in publishing posts here.
Each post will include a combination of materials I collected for each day, I am including my journal entries as I wrote them that day, so the tense might be a little confusing until I get caught up!
Building a Traditional Newfoundland Punt 