Saga of the Blind Boatbuilder
 

Yesterday (Saturday), while working on my two Stevenson Mini-Cup
boats, my glasses suddenly broke. This was not a break that could be
repaired with tape and I realized I was essentially legally blind till
Monday since I had no backup. Being absurdly optimistic and stubborn,
I decided this was no real impediment although my range of vision was
maybe 6". So, with the aid of my 13 yr old son, I proceeded to work.

"Nickolas, help me find the tape measure"

Nick: "Dad, its right next to you"

Putting it in place,

Me: "What does it say"

Nick: "What are all these marks betwen the numbers?"


I stubbornly went forward. We managed to get the centerboard box of #2
mounted and I really thought it went well, better than #1 since I
measured much more carefully. I had to trim about 1/8" from its
height (safety glasses and eyes about 6" from the cut).
Meanwhile, being tired of being blind, I called the HMO emergency #
and they gave me some emergency contact lenses (I wore contacts years
ago), unable to correct astigmatism or the bi-focal problem but at
least I could sorta see (now have to be about 3' from the monitor to
see it). I really thought #2 centerboard box had gone well till I
went out this morn and looked and saw that I had mounted it upside
down! This mast hole is unavailable unless the wind is underwater.
HMMM. what to do? Not possible to remove the box at this point. Will
prob have to cut a hole for the mast and push a piece of wood into the
hole to form a bottom. Minor problem.

Saga of the Blind Boatbuilder
 

On Sun, 02 May 2004 08:58:13 -0700, Parallax wrote:

Yesterday (Saturday), while working on my two Stevenson Mini-Cup
boats, my glasses suddenly broke. This was not a break that could be
repaired with tape and I realized I was essentially legally blind till
Monday since I had no backup. Being absurdly optimistic and stubborn,
snip

Good read!
It reminds me of a fellow I knew back in the late 1980s. Despite very
poor vision - depth of vision was no problem but field of vision, he
could just se my complete face if I sat across a table - he designed
and built himself a small coastal cruising cat and went sailing.
The boat was far from pretty but it worked.

--
================================================== ==================
Martin Schöön * * * * * * * * * *"Problems worthy of attack
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * prove their worth by hitting back"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Piet Hein
================================================== ==================

Saga of the Blind Boatbuilder
 

Time to make a rotating board.

"Parallax" wrote in message
om...
Yesterday (Saturday), while working on my two Stevenson Mini-Cup
boats, my glasses suddenly broke. This was not a break that could be
repaired with tape and I realized I was essentially legally blind till
Monday since I had no backup. Being absurdly optimistic and stubborn,
I decided this was no real impediment although my range of vision was
maybe 6". So, with the aid of my 13 yr old son, I proceeded to work.

"Nickolas, help me find the tape measure"

Nick: "Dad, its right next to you"

Putting it in place,

Me: "What does it say"

Nick: "What are all these marks betwen the numbers?"


I stubbornly went forward. We managed to get the centerboard box of #2
mounted and I really thought it went well, better than #1 since I
measured much more carefully. I had to trim about 1/8" from its
height (safety glasses and eyes about 6" from the cut).
Meanwhile, being tired of being blind, I called the HMO emergency #
and they gave me some emergency contact lenses (I wore contacts years
ago), unable to correct astigmatism or the bi-focal problem but at
least I could sorta see (now have to be about 3' from the monitor to
see it). I really thought #2 centerboard box had gone well till I
went out this morn and looked and saw that I had mounted it upside
down! This mast hole is unavailable unless the wind is underwater.
HMMM. what to do? Not possible to remove the box at this point. Will
prob have to cut a hole for the mast and push a piece of wood into the
hole to form a bottom. Minor problem.

Saga of the Blind Boatbuilder
 

"ddinc" wrote in message ...
Time to make a rotating board.

"Parallax" wrote in message
om...
Yesterday (Saturday), while working on my two Stevenson Mini-Cup
boats, my glasses suddenly broke. This was not a break that could be
repaired with tape and I realized I was essentially legally blind till
Monday since I had no backup. Being absurdly optimistic and stubborn,
I decided this was no real impediment although my range of vision was
maybe 6". So, with the aid of my 13 yr old son, I proceeded to work.

"Nickolas, help me find the tape measure"

Nick: "Dad, its right next to you"

Putting it in place,

Me: "What does it say"

Nick: "What are all these marks betwen the numbers?"


I stubbornly went forward. We managed to get the centerboard box of #2
mounted and I really thought it went well, better than #1 since I
measured much more carefully. I had to trim about 1/8" from its
height (safety glasses and eyes about 6" from the cut).
Meanwhile, being tired of being blind, I called the HMO emergency #
and they gave me some emergency contact lenses (I wore contacts years
ago), unable to correct astigmatism or the bi-focal problem but at
least I could sorta see (now have to be about 3' from the monitor to
see it). I really thought #2 centerboard box had gone well till I
went out this morn and looked and saw that I had mounted it upside
down! This mast hole is unavailable unless the wind is underwater.
HMMM. what to do? Not possible to remove the box at this point. Will
prob have to cut a hole for the mast and push a piece of wood into the
hole to form a bottom. Minor problem.

Supposedly will have new glasses this afternoon (Monday). I wonder if
I will be disapointed with what I see of my weekenfd boatbuilding.

Saga of the Blind Boatbuilder
 

This takes me back to the first sailboat our family purchased. It was
completely designed and built by a blind man. (He was a cabinet maker by
profession, but was also designing a small dinghy that fathers and sons
could easily build together as a project.)

Our boat was called "Margaret M" and was a full wine-glass-shaped hull
with cast keel, far ahead of its time as it had a very sharp (almost
concave) bow and widened (very sleekly) to a much fuller section farther
back (which many ocean racers later adopted as the style of choice.)

The hull was carvel planked / caulked. The deck was finished bright and
was planked by alternating strips of light and dark wood which looked
fantastic. (You wouldn't expect a blind man to care about such detail.) =

It had a teardrop profiled mast, and a small cockpit with a grate in
the floor take in any water that came aboard. (It was a very low
profile hull so often water swept the deck and wasn't all deflected by
the angled splash shield ahead of the mast.) Sailing characteristics
were fantastic otherwise.

We understood it had been built entirely by feel (using long stringers
until things "felt right"), and although we had found it as a used boat,
my Dad tracked him down and we later visited and my recollection was
that he was indeed totally blind.

Boats have come and gone, but this is the one that really stands out in
my mind.

Dave

Martin Sch=F6=F6n wrote:
=

On Sun, 02 May 2004 08:58:13 -0700, Parallax wrote:
=

Yesterday (Saturday), while working on my two Stevenson Mini-Cup
boats, my glasses suddenly broke. This was not a break that could be=

repaired with tape and I realized I was essentially legally blind til=
l
Monday since I had no backup. Being absurdly optimistic and stubborn=
,
snip
=

Good read!
It reminds me of a fellow I knew back in the late 1980s. Despite very
poor vision - depth of vision was no problem but field of vision, he
could just se my complete face if I sat across a table - he designed
and built himself a small coastal cruising cat and went sailing.
The boat was far from pretty but it worked.
=

--
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Martin Sch=F6=F6n =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0"Problems wort=
hy of attack
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 pro=
ve their worth by hitting back"
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=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Piet Hein
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