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Dragons and the Main Mast

DougMay 25, 2016Foam Sculpture, Mast, Steel Boat

Tacking in the splice

“She has built a wall between herself and her goal. A wall made of conditions and expectations. Is it possible that you’ve built a similar wall?”
…
“Stop looking for the “right” career, and start looking for a job. Any job. Forget about what you like. Focus on what’s available. Get yourself hired. Show up early. Stay late. Volunteer for the scut work. Become indispensable. You can always quit later, and be no worse off than you are today. But don’t waste another year looking for a career that doesn’t exist. And most of all, stop worrying about your happiness. Happiness does not come from a job. It comes from knowing what you truly value, and behaving in a way that’s consistent with those beliefs.” — Mike Row

Full Article: Man Asks Mike Rowe for “Life Advice” – His Response is the Best Thing You’ll Read Today

Dragons and Mast

DougMay 22, 2016Foam Sculpture, Mast, Steel Boat

SVSeeker says goodbye to Ronald & Margie and thanks them for the assistance on the dragons and main mast. And we welcome Drew flying in from Salem Oregon who will be working on the main mast between thunder storms this week and next. Storms in Oklahoma are the Universe’s way of telling you to get off your butt and LIVE. 🙂

Ronald Yadro

Ronald & Margie Yardro

Dragon Work

Main Mast

Playing with Color

Trimming the Main Mast

Tacking in the splice

Scuppers, Keels and Pouring Lead

DougMay 18, 2016Casting, Keels, Scuppers, Steel Boat

The last of the lead; I think. About 1200 pounds, a surprising amount went into the leading and trailing ends of the keels. On the leading edge it will do an excellent job of reinforcing the keel against collision damage. There is already a 2 inch solid round bar with a 1/2 inch by 5 inch wide flat bar behind that; but with the lead behind it as well, I don’t see that as a weak spot. Pouring lead is always an amazing thing to watch. I’m glad the new crew got to have the opportunity. Many thanks to George, Andy, Zach, Terry, Jack, Hugh and Bart for their work this past weekend. Good friends, good work, good food, and relaxing cool evenings beside a fire of old cribbing and pallets.

Betsy has been patching and prepping the dragons and this coming weekend is more dragon work. The weather is forecast to be warm and sunny. And we are looking forward to it. The solar tank is holding water and Betsy already has her inflatable chair out by the tub, just waiting for some sunny skies.

So if you can, I highly recommend getting out to your shop, shed, yard, or basement and build that thing you always wanted to build. Especially if it involves molten lead, making new friends, and ending the day with sore muscles in a warm tub of water, or beside a fire under the stars. –Doug

Weld-Grind-Repeat, and other Boat Building Activities.

DougMay 10, 2016Steel Boat

Left To Right. Doug, Terry, Bart, George, Zach, Jack

I enjoy the welding and grinding, but what I enjoy the most is the journey this boat has taken me on. Physically I am in the same place I was ten years ago when we started working toward building this boat, but mentally I have journeyed to an entirely new world. I have learned to love myself first and in doing so I find I have no need to try to please others, and they have no ability to harm me. It sounds selfish until you realize that there is no longer any reason to try and control anyone. The way I feel about myself is completely from within me. And when I have love for myself, I have love that I can give to others. I listen more and judge less. I find it easier to find the good, the positive, and when I find the good and the positive it brings more of that into my life. I never expected that I would find so many rewards from Seeker’s crew, but they are now a huge influence on my life and my happiness. They bring creativity, motivation, insight, skills and knowledge of life. It’s been a surprising journey and one that I want to continue on. Life is about the journey. Set sail. –Doug

Weld/Grind Repeat

DougMay 7, 2016Steel Boat

An awesome crew! All of the porthole frames are welded in, the catwalk is done, the freeing ports are half cleaned up, and the steel plates over the lead are going in.

Terry from Alaska

Jack

Gluing Bart Back Together

George from Wyoming

Zach from Florida

Zach

Welding Blind

George Welding Blind

Left To Right. Doug, Terry, Bart, George, Zach, Jack

An Excellent Day Boat Building.

DougMay 6, 2016Steel Boat

And Excellent day indeed. George drove in from Laramie Wyoming. And Bart is back and moving into the house next door. Together we got a lot of welding and grinding done. If the weather cooperates, then by tomorrow we should have all of the portholes fully welded. And Betsy is prepping the dragons for paint by next weekend. Now we are off for Bar-B-Q.

Solar Water Heater and Dragons and a Mission Statement

DougMay 4, 2016Foam Sculpture, Steel Boat

We were closed last weekend so we could get some house work done but we managed to cobble together a video and we did get the dragons both mounted, but the solar tank is still leaking. 🙂 Anyway! I rambled for a bit in this video about the kind of boat Seeker is, and is not. Combine that with listening to the book: “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change” and I figure it’s time to start drafting a Mission Statement for Seeker. And a good mission statement is not crafted in the back cabin. It’s done on deck with the input of crew, because it is both skipper and crew that will have to live by this statement. Maybe we should call it our code.

Starting Ideas: Supporting learning, science, our oceans. Inspiring. Fun. Get it done attitude. Creative thinking. Low Cost. Provide assistance to those in need. A research vessel for the citizen scientist. Please add your suggestions in the comments.

Safety Third

DougApril 28, 2016Steel Boat

For all those thinking about helping on the boat. I want to share a warning from a concerned YouTuber.

Farlig66: “… You may well not give a fuck about what I think about your choices but I’m gonna tell you anyway for the greater good: Your attitude of “your safety is your responsibility not mine” is a big fucking mistake and may very well lead you down the path of shit and litigation down the line. Safety takes teamwork where everyone watches each other’s back. Safety is a culture where everyone thinks about the consequences of their own and others actions, it’s about thinking through “what can go wrong here” before proceeding with due caution and mitigations in place… I sincerely hope none of your helpers, now or in the future, get hurt by your attitude…”

SV Seeker

+Farlig66 I think if you look through a short list of civil court actions you will find the anything can lead to lawsuit. And I think that is because we have trained people to think that their safety is someone else’s responsibility. So now I hand you a cup of hot coffee and you proceed to take a quick swig from it, burning your tongue and dumping it in your lap and it’s my fault, because it was too hot. You take zero responsibility for your lack of awareness. If that is you then I don’t want you on my team. You need a nanny. And frankly there are people that come work with me that can do things that I can not do, and it is not my business to tell them to work at my safety level. Marc from Vienna Austria was holding onto the pilothouse roof with one hand and leaning out over the side helping me mount a dragon. I warned him that I did not want to stop work in order to take him to the hospital, and he demonstrated that he could actually swing easily from one hand. Turns out he practices parkour, so he was perfect for that job. When we start setting rules for what is safe, we ignore individual talents and as accidents continue we add more rules until everyone is forced to work as if they are a stupid, unaware, clutz. I do appreciate the conversation. It’s important that I can convey our safety policy so the mamma’s boys can safely avoid showing up to work. If they do show up because they recognize that they have been robbed of a meaningful existence by their nannies and they understand that it is up to them and them alone to decide what they will attempt. I really like it when I have folks look at me and say “No, that’s not something I feel like I can do.” That is an awesome team member. They looked after themselves first, and in doing so looked after their team as well. Because if you can’t hold that plate over my head while I tack it, I sure as hell would like to know that up front. 🙂