Redwood Boats

At the family camp of our step cousin Francis near Butano State Redwoods we learned how to build a boat out of redwood scraps.  Francis has a special boat that his father made for him a few years ago.  Unbeknown to me there was a plan afoot to build a companion for Francis’ redwood sail boat.  Seth was slated to get a boat of his own.  So when Daddy Joerg arrived and the construction began, I rushed to get the camera because how often do Boy’s Almanac projects fall in your lap?

Daddy Joerg started jovially going about the business of building a boat with a hand saw and a great attitude.  Francis had concerns that the technology of the new boat was going to eclipse that of his original craft.  I don’t know if his anxieties were ever quelled, but Joerg did his best to parry Franics’ inquiries and keep the process afloat as they say.

Once Joerg had fashioned the cabin piece, Seth set to work coloring it.  Given only the option of highlighter pens from the utility cabinet Seth made due.  With all the building going on around him Seth seemed to take the decoration very seriously.  He stayed on task, and did not look up till the cabin was decorated and returned to the yard for assembly.

The mast was fashioned out of a redwood stick.  There were no shortage of these laying all about.  Finding a straight one was the tricky part.  The kids and I looked and looked and finally found a suitable shaft.  Joerg then fitted it into the hole and added the rigging.

The boat was not the only piece of vacationer craftsmanship about the place.  The house was constructed in 1910, and had all the touches of a lovingly built family retreat.

We came across another type of house in the shed.  A mouse house.  Although we tried to open the drawer quickly when all the kids were there, the inhabitant had since left.  I’m sure a weekend construction project featuring high pitched preschoolers and a foraging parent was more than that little guy bargained for when he moved in.

There were other creatures making their home in the exquisite flora and fauna around the house.  It was hard to set foot anywhere without stepping on a Banana Slug.

As soon as the construction of the new boat was complete, we headed up the canyon on an adventure hike.  Boats in tow, we threaded along the drippy walls of this primordial canyon to the falls, the perfect spot for boat racing.

The actual boating was a bit of a let down.   Mainly because the boys seemed to be averting thier boats from the rapids.  Seth was more interested in, “docking his boat in the sand and working on it” surprise, surprise. I mean after all, it’s hard to observe boat construction all afternoon and not want to try your hand at it first chance you get.  Francis on the other hand, simply wanted to float his boat.  After all his worriesome noise about Seth’s boat possibly out performing his, he barely sent it down a single rapid.  This all drove me crazy.  At one point I hijacked Seth’s boat and ran it down a rapid myself.  After doing so I understood why the boys were not all that excited about rapid running.  Francis was right, what was really satisfying was just the zen of floating a boat in a stream.  Watching it bob and sway, feeling how the string tugged in your hand and getting a feel for the current under the hull.

We look forward to many Sunday afternoons nestled in the redwoods, getting acquainted with wood working, and exploring the sand bars and eddies of this creek.  For now we have left our boats in good company on the mantle till we return, ready to sail again.