A boat, Terrapin. I knew very little when I started, had some help along the way, and stuck with it till it was done. I would never build a glass boat again, and I wish I had listened to those who counseled me to build smaller and out of plywood, which is a much better material for a beginner. But it did teach me to build.

When my son was six I built him a little boat, the Nuf, designed by Carl Chamberlin.  Its a great little boat, about 30 lbs, and Carl went on to build many with kids and families. I sometimes helped.

Fort Flager, WA.Boat building with kids. 24 kids, six boats in 4 1/2 days. We had one adult supervising 4 kids on each boat.

Below at the Sitka Center on the Oregon coast. Four adults and one kid built five boats in 2 ½ days.

I helped construct Rusty Keeler’s first playground. The two pictures below were taken from almost the same place, during construction, and after.

I made an electric furnce to melt bronze and made (mostly) boat hardware. Other than a short paragraph the Whole Earth Catalog my bronze foundry lead to my first published article in Wooden Boat Nov 1986.

Above I’m making bronze slugs to sell at xmas time. The pattern for the slug was made by friend and artist Cathrine Cook.They were a popular item here in the NW.

I designed the take-apart lawn mower engine as part of a puzzle collection. Inspiration came from a small motor cycle engine I saw at the Smithsonian museum which had a similar piece of pie cut out of the engine block so you could see the piston move up and down.  Inspiration also came  from kids, who love puzzles.

                                     

The floating ball exhibit I built for a children’s museum. The blower is a furnace fan I picked up used for $5.

My wife is an occupational therapist and  we designed two busy boxes for special needs kids.

This one is still being used 30 years later.

My son is pretty smug after putting his pet rat inside.

 

The Voltswagon. In 2010 I converted a VW Rabbit pick-up to run on electricity. I drove it for 22,000 miles in 6 years, before buying a Leaf.  I used nicad batteries recycled from and old transit bus. Me (right) and my brother Doug.

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Log buildings built by eighth graders. The top one over looks a small gorge built in 9 days. Next are the front and  back of the same building.

Under constrution it looks like a can of worms, but bracing in necessary until the main timbers get fastened together. The small building was built in 9 days with eight graders rotating in for 1 ½  hour shifts. The larger building took18 days. I had never built a log building before, let alone with eighth graders, but my supervisor said, no problem. It was basically his design and together we worked out what to do every morning before the kids got there. No one was more surprised than I it worked so well.

 

Rowing dory designed by Phil Bolger, the Gloucester Gull. As Bolger says, “its a great rowing boat as long as you don’t stand up and try to admire the view.”  I built quite a few of these.

The “Scooner,” also designed by Phil Bolger. It had 200+ square feet of sail and  fun to sail. Some said they got it up to 20 knots but I only came close to 10 once, downwind and surfing, which was a thrill. You can see the ridiculous amount of sail in the picture below.

The Star Stove. I had a wood stove on my first boat, Terrapin. I noticed the fire burned half way up the chimney, which seemed  like a waste. I added a damper but still didn’t work that great so I designed this little stove with a baffle. It worked well. I made quite a few for friends and one said he could keep a fire in it overnight. I was never able to do it though. The fire box is 8″ X 8″ X14″.

The writers cabin. I guess now it would be called a tiny house. It was 7′ X 14′.  I built one of these with wheels to store and move all my kids stuff. My cousin saw it and wanted one for a writers retreat. I finished the ends inside with 1 x 4  tongue and grove cedar. The rest of the trim was cedar also.

 

That’s all folks.