Flying Solo With A 300 lb Rudder - Episode 246 - Acorn to Arabella: Journey of a Wooden Boat
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Steve is goin’ it alone, kind of, this episode. Beside a little help from our dear friends David and Aaron, he’s been using a combination of mechanical advantage with climbing gear and a respect for gravity. The rudder hardware from Victoria that our stalwart machinist, Joe, has rehabilitated is put into place this week, which means it must be aligned very precisely.
These days, Steve is working on painting the cabin house as he waits for the afternoon sun to shift around to the stern of the boat, where he works on the rudder. This is a pattern we know well here at this time of year, when the days are short and cold. We’re creeping up on the very first of our exterior colors, and it’s exciting in many ways.
Thank you to everybody sharing so much—their family stories about cancer, survivorship, loss, inspiration, hopes, and well wishes. We are absolutely overwhelmed and full of gratitude for your support in all the ways it’s been received. Yes, watching the ads helps us. Telling your friends about the channel helps us. Sending us a contribution through our website helps a little more than the Bonfire campaign, but your shirts are seen by many, and those conversations mean the world. THANK YOU.
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Acorn to Arabella is a wooden boat building project taking place in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve started as an amateur wooden boat builder building a 38′ wooden sailboat in his 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 classic wooden boats command. This ultimate DIY boatbuilding project will continue well past launch, when he and the crew will travel and learn to cruise aboard the handmade wooden boat that they’ve built. Just kidding about all that, this channel is about a Siberian Laika named Akiva.
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Acorn To Arabella
We are building a 38’ sailboat from stump to ship, once complete she will take us around the world. We hope to inspire and educate as many people as possible along the way. Join us on our journey and let us show you that with a bit of dedication, good company and some old school smarts even the wildest of dreams can be made to come true! For inquiries about collaborating or integrations, please email [email protected].
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