Hi All,

I must say I've been very impressed by the websites some of my respondents
have listed. Congradulations

OK, from a previous post, you've probably seen that I'm interested in Proas.
All sorts of designs and variations. Initially, it looks like a simple one
could be built stitch and glue. But there are some other things I'd like to
ask and share.

1) Does anyone know the chemical makeup of epoxy and fiberglass? I realize
I'll be starting conventionally, but I'm also interested in being able to
make waterproof, rock-solid glue from scratch. I know how to make an
elmer's type glue from just boiling down hooves and horns, but it's not
ultimately waterproof.

2) I'm asking this because this whole thing ties into a pet interest/hobby
I've had since my teens. How do you not only survive, but thrive if you're
dumped in a place with nothing but your own 2 hands? I started out by
learning Neolithic skills (the listing would be 3 pages long, consisting of
2-3 word phrases,) and stumbled into the Bronze Age. (Forging bronze I
haven't actually done, but it's not far from smelting copper, which is
actually easy.) Some of those skills I've actually done, others I just know
how (lack of opportunity to practice, but they're pretty simple. Doubt I
can do it? See rebuilding my own carbeurator below.) No one stranded
somewhere with me would lack for creature comforts, including spun clothes
and even paper. I thought a proa would be perfect for living in a marine
environment. It has it's own versatilities, and makes use of the natural
marine resources easier.

So if anyone's interested in that type of subject matter, I'd be happy to
share. On my end, I've got to learn conventional boat building, and adapt
it to a situation where you can't go down to the hardware store, but make it
out of tools and materials you make yourself. Even sandpaper isn't a
problem there. (After a little more thinking, I realized that I've got the
skills to add blankets, palletes, and pillows too, so it's not as rough livi
ng as you might think.)

Just a little humor... g No, I'm not trying out for that show
'Survivor'. g Sure, I'd probably come out the best fed and best living,
but the show flies in the face of a basic tenet you need to use those
skills - everybody cooperates and no one gets chased off unless they've done
something completely horrendous. Get a group of people working together,
and everyone will come out fine. That's the way it should be, in my humble
opinion.

3) I think I mentioned that I want to work/help somebody on their boat
because I've got nothing but free time and am coming back from Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome. (No, don't let the image of someone in wheelchair come to
mind. I'm far from that.) It will be a while, not an overnight recovery to
rebuild lost muscle, but I _want_ to be active, and my doctor wants me to be
too. So why not pick something that I've wanted to know about for a long
time? Please don't tell me to jog, walk, whatever. I'm not useing my mind
when I do that sort of thing, and it drives me nuts.

4) Why I want to help and learn for free has a couple aspects. If I'm
working with an individual in their back yard, they can't afford to pay me
anyway. I don't have a problem with that. I just want to learn. Secondly,
the government is looking after me while I'm getting well to the point where
I'm in great shape holding down a decent job (now now now - don't groan or
be repulsed. It could be your sister that got sick. Besides, by getting at
least some part-time work for free, you're getting your taxes back in not
having to pay someone.) While I'm on the road to recovery, I'm not allowed
to earn $200/month or more, or I loose their help.

I know some of you are screaming out there about dead-beats, and thinking
I'm one of them, but just remember it could be you or a family member who
one day goes through something debilitating that takes them years of search
to find a doctor who knows enough to set you on the road to recovery.

So please don't scream at me.

No, I don't look it. People often look at me and react with shock when they
find out the situation I'm in. I think it's because my mind didn't go, I
can speak and listen intelligently, and have enough strength to get around
and am finally reaching the point of real activity (not full-time, though.)
Could be because I still hold my head high and don't act like a hopeless
case. _I_ have hope, but hope alone isn't going to rebuild muscle or
endurance.

5) I've got an incredibly limited income. You wouldn't beleive how low.
That means I need to go work on someone else's boat until I can afford to
build my own, which will probably be at the 12th of never. So no - No boat
that I work on is mine. But at least I can take pleasure in learning and
repay with some work of my own. That's one thing the government doesn't do:
Feed your mind. It's driving me nuts.

How low? The government gives people who are anywhere from floored forever
to on the road to recovery, only enough for a roof over their head, food,
and utilities, plus maybe $100 left over for incidentals. No stitch and
glue kits for me. So I've got to turn to learning from helping others.
That low a figure should help the nay-sayers who complain about people in my
situation. You don't get rich, or even able to feed your mind or get an
education if you're in the program to help the long-term sick in this
country, no matter where you are on the scale of bottom to recovering.
Beleive me, I would love to have the strength to work full-time for pay, at
a decent job (I go out of my mind at rote jobs like McDonalds or answering
phones, being a store clerk...) and finally do OK in life.

So please don't scream at me or flame me off this NG. I really would like
to learn, and with half an electronics/computer science engineering degree,
I'm certainly willing to start with the very basics, and even though it
doesn't have bearing on Neolithic/Bronze Age skills, work my way up to the
more complex, like wiring, engines, lighting, communication, and all that we
have in this day.

(Yes, I've even worked on old-style cars, before they got too complex and
computerized for me to figure out by looking at them with a mechanic over my
shoulder, showing me what to do then having me do it. Anything '70's or
before is fair game. How many women do you know have rebuilt their own
carbeurator? I didn't even have a mechanic to show me that. Someone just
told me to pick up the kit with new gaskets and a float, unscrew the thing,
and put the new parts where they looked like they fit. Worked like a
charm...)

Please... Don't flame me or chase me away. I just want to learn from the
ground up with someone.

Sandra