Cleaning Up

Well, here it is, January 1st, 2015. The perfect day for a new start. As unlikely as it seems, I've been at this boatbuilding/woodworking thing for over 5 years now. Ever since I first decided to build a wooden boat, back in September of 2009. That is a lot of sawing, a lot of drilling, a lot of surface planing, and a lot of sanding.

Which all adds up to a lot of dust.

Which is why I've decided to kick off the year with a new resolution to 1) clean up all that dust and 2) to make a whole lot less of it in the future.

The first job is simple, it just requires a lot of work, which I kicked off today with some help from Helena.

I broke down the rickety plywood 'workbench' that I've been using for a couple years, and cleared away all the junk that was leaning against my shop's outside wall.

What all that work revealed wasn't pretty: a combination of peeling paint, dust, and mold. But all that needs is a bit of bleach and elbow grease, and paint to clean up.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to go round all 4 walls, cleaning and painting everything that won't move, and sorting through everything that will move, to separate the junk and clutter from the useful.

Junk and clutter are heading out the door.

Starting the big clean up

If there's anything better than buying something new, it's throwing something out. I think Thoreau said that.

With lots more to come...

The second part of my resolution -- making less dust in the future -- is both more complicated and more interesting. More on that in the coming weeks, but I need to clean up and get re-organized  quickly, because I have a long list of new projects that must be done by spring, including building a beautiful new bowsprit for the Blue Moon.

So, what's your boatbuilding/woodworking resolution this year?


Next Episode: A New(ish) Direction