Acorn to Arabella - Journey of a Wooden Boat - Episode 103: Blacksmithing in Costa Rica: Part 2

We put on this basic blacksmithing course in Costa Rica with the help of our friends and in conjunction with El Astillero Verde with the hopes of making a difference in the community down there. It was a very rewarding trip on many different levels. In this video we are wrapping up that trip.

The course went over so well and the best part was hearing from everyone that took the course saying that not only did they enjoy it, but that they would be keeping up with it and bringing it back to their communities. This was the whole point of the course in the first place, and we never would have been able to pull it off without the help of our friends.

Not only did the course go over well but while we were at the shipyard, our crew was able to tackle a couple different projects, including fixing up the student built boat there. Due to the drying conditions at certain times of the year there, the planking had significantly dried up and the seams had opened up, making it unusable. Kit Macchi and Anne Bryant reefed all the seems, installed splines and then Kit double planked the bottom of the vessel to help with any future issues, while Anne and Andrew Guest (from Restoring Rosalind) caulked the boat back up again. It was a tough problem to solve with the time given, the resources and the rough Costa Rican environment but they did an amazing job.

We also got to see a lot of work get done on the building on the Ceiba while we were at the shipyard, which is just an incredible project. Not only is the scale impressive but so is the concept of the work and change she is to bring about once on the water. Getting to see such a massive ship coming together was a real treat and we can’t wait to see her on the water.

Meanwhile, this trip likely would not have gone the way it did without the all of Steve’s hard work. After organizing the majority of this trip, he ended up taking one for the team, staying home to get our new thicknesser up and running for our upcoming planking party. We discussed this long and hard but in the long run, he convinced me that I needed to go to Costa Rica to get footage while he wrenched on the machinery here and got things ready. In the end, we are a team and sometimes we need to divide and conquer. At least he got to get out on a quick climbing trip locally.

We hope you enjoy this next installment. Don’t worry too much, we are all back and safe from Costa Rica. Self quarantined in Granby, working on Arabella with the crew that managed to get here just as the quarantining came into effect. We’re hoping to have her planked by the end of this scare if all goes well! [March 19th, 2020]

—————————————-

Sign up for our email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hn3Qyv

Acorn to Arabella is a boat building project taking place in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve and Alix started as amateur boat builders building their own 38′ wooden boat in their backyard: designer William Atkin’s Ingrid with a Stormy Petrel’s gaff rig. These videos follow the journey from tree felling, to lumber milling, to lofting, to the lead keel pour and beyond—sharing details of the woodworking, carpentry, metal smithing, tool building, and tool maintenance that wooden boats command. This ultimate DIY project will continue well past launch, when they will travel and learn to cruise aboard the boat that they’ve built. Just kidding about all that, this channel is about a Siberian Laika named Akiva.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Please check out the amazing people that helped make this trip possible via the links bellow:
Andrew Guest:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAiOa-rrrphX9_U0ddBlxyQ
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/restoringrosalind

Anne Bryant:
Instagram and facebook: @thewatersociety
And check out that podcast!

Jack Mcauliffe:
Website: https://daratimber.com/
Instagram: @mare_arbori

Kit Macchi:
Instagram: @greenshocked and @hylanbrown_boats

Med Chandler:
Instagram: @shipscoyforge Website: https://www.shipscoyforge.com/

And also, please check out and support the great work being done at SAILCARGO and el Astillero Verde via the links below.
– https://www.sailcargo.org/
– https://www.astilleroverde.org/

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Acorn to Arabella wishlist:
http://www.acorntoarabella.com/acorn-to-arabella-wishlist

Jamestown Distributors Referral:
If you are going to shop at Jamestown Distributors, please consider using our Total Boat referral code: http://totalboat.refr.cc/steveandalixa?t=tg

FOLLOW US:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/acorntoarabella
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acorntoarabella/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acorntoarabella
Website: http://www.acorntoarabella.com