1522Hr- Not Good
I’m getting stressed. I’m simply not getting enough build time in and it’s mainly due to the hours and demands of my full time job and the knock on effect of fatigue associated with long working hours. If I gave up my little remaining rest and relaxation it would damage my personal life and ultimately result in burn out. What’s the solution? Well I can’t see one at the moment. It’s a catch 22, I need to put the hours in to get the money needed to continue living and building the boat. I have some ideas that could make things easier but they are long term and also demand that time is spent on them. I feel stretched thin, trying to do it all and not making much headway with any of it. So what do I do? I don’t see any choice but to throttle back on the boat and to invest more time in changing the situation. If I continue as I am it will take another 4 or 5 years to finish Gleda and I can’t live with that. This means that I will have to sacrifice my evening sessions at the barn, as it is I usually only manage one or two hours anyway and if I’ve made the decision then I won’t beat myself up about it when I get home late, I’ll just sit down at my desk and work on Plan B. If I do this for a few months then I’ll have lost about 48 hours of build time but I should be able to see some light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a shame that they are valuable Summer hours but the timing is out of my hands it’s just something I have to do to safeguard the project as a whole.
Given that I had all these thoughts buzzing round my head you can imagine how much I wanted to make today’s eight hour building session productive. You can equally imagine therefore how annoyed I was that at the end of it I was further back than when I started! In a nutshell I’ve made a balls up of the tumble homes. I was far too keen to get them fitted and trimmed and it wasn’t very long after staring to make what I thought were final adjustments that I realised it. As I’ve mentioned before, there are no dimensions given for these panels in the plans and the drawings have scant detail. I’d quite happily done what I’ve previously done when cutting panels i.e dropped on a long batten and ‘faired’ it by eye. What I missed this time however was the now obvious fact that the tops of these tumble home panels have to be level fore and aft and athwart ships so that the pre-fabricated curved sandwich deck panels drop on nicely. Because I had followed the hull lines I reckon 8 out of my 12 panels will have to be re-made. A huge waste of time and a pricey waste of ply. I would advise anyone following in my footsteps to use hardboard templates! Anyway after discovering my error I spent hours measuring and using the water and laser levels to get what was needed clear in my head. I’m still not sure I have it nailed but I’ll get there. I suppose I’ve been lucky to get this far in without any serious mistakes and at least I spotted it before it affected anything else. Like I said at the beginning…….stressed!
What about flextime: four 10(12) hour days and 3 day weekends????
Hi, Neil
I have the same problems than you. So, i consider things like that. The most important thing is the boat. I have to be allwright in my head, in order to get money and build the boat. If you don’t feel good, you can’t reach the target.
Don’t forget that a man who builds a boat is a special one, like JW says.
You can do it, and you will do it.
Bon courage mon ami.
Georges.
Hello Neil,
We are visiting our friend Jacques who is building a Tiki 38 here in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. Nev and I built our Tiki 46 in Wiltshire and launched in 2002 having started in 1997. We both worked but had to stop for winter and when Nev’s epoxy allergy got too bad. So worked full time for 3.5 years over the 5 year period. It was a lot of work. Read that part again!
I guess working at a job makes it more difficult because you take a long time to get tools out and set up ready to go and then you have to stop because you have to get to bed and rested for going to the job in the morning. What we did was to keep lists going and crossed off what we had done and celebrated every little bit of accomplishment. I think that is important. Celebrate. Also try to glue at least one bit of wood into the boat every day if you can.
I mixed almost all of the glue to build our boat and we had very little waste – maybe a gallon or two out of the 170 gallons of epoxy we bought. I mixed small batches of glue using the little pumps so I mixed just two pumps mostly. I used empty tin cans and cut the mixing sticks out of paint stirers and wiped them off ready for the next mix. Used only 2 stirers for the whole build. 300 metres of fibreglass.
I know you are struggling and wondering if you will ever get finished, but I am here to tell you we have been sailing now for 7 years and over 35,000 nm. It has been good and worth the work. Just keep mixing glue and putting in the fasteners, sanding it and painting and finally there will come a day.
We remember launching in the Bristol Floating Harbour and then got the masts up and sails on. We went out through the deep lock at Bristol and down the river Avon into the Bristol Channel and raised the sails. She took the air and moved well tasting the salty water of her intended home. That year we sailed down the coast of Europe and out to Madeira, then to Canaries and finally across to Martinique. She is an excellent ocean boat.
I want to encourage you to press on through these hard times because the end result will be worth all the sacrifices.
Write me whenever you want. peacefour@pocketmail.com All the best, Ann
Hi Neil,
Even those of us not building/never built are rooting for you. I wonder sometimes if I will ever get to build! What time work doesn’t take from me, my children do. One day, one day. I am sure most of the Wharram builders around the world, past and present have gone through similar frustrations as you. I think you just have to keep going… even if you just cut back to building weekends. Gleda will still appreciate your time and launch day will get nearer.
All the best my friend,
Paul
I’am new to your blog but I appreciate it.
you have made a great job.
Best Regards
Marc from Paris
a+
Hi Neil,
With Tiki 46 building plans sitting before me, I just know I’ll be where you are someday. All prospective builders will be here,, at this point. Each one of us is pulling for you because of the service you’ve provided in your blog. Take some time, if you need it, then resume your work. You can do it.
Bob
Hi Neil
I can fully understand that you are getting stressed out with the situation that you are in. 2 full time jobs if you include the build, it’s enough to make a grown man cry. But as you quite rightly say you must have your leisure time as well. Keep battling matey, the situation will resolve itself eventually. There is no use feeling guilty when you are away from the build, doing things that are necessary for the build to continue, probably the most important, enough leisure to keep healthy in body and spirit.
Don’t let it grind you down Oppo, there is plenty of support from your friends on the net.
Kindest Regards
Chris