Sternpost
F
or the success and very survival of any country, it’s vital that
the skills and trades of hand tools and woodwork should
be preserved and maintained for future generations. We all
know that the human race cannot keep on using oil and coal at
the present rate just to produce our power needs and demands of
today. The world will at some stage run out and new resources will
have to replace these needs, or we must revert back to the past.
Boat building in wood is one of the most versatile trades still
existing, requiring a deal of skill in a number of different trades,
pursuits and mediums coming together. The wooden boat also
needs a number of independent factors to be possible, let alone
economic – the very trees we depend on for the world’s clean air
for a start. Without the right timbers and the knowledge as to
which is the best for a particular job or part, it is all but a waste
of time and wood. To keep the tradition alive we need these
“right trees”. So what if it takes 100 years to grow, or 1,000.
Without replacing what we have already used it will never be
there. Youngsters need to be trained in these skills. The time
to start is now.
For too many years it has been “rip rip wood chip” and
ignoring regrowth of the durable quality trees just because
of short term gains and today’s bottom line. The
red cedars of the East Australian continent,
the Huon pines of Tasmania and the giant
kauris of New Zealand. Even the
common English oaks and English,
Dutch and wych elms of Europe
have been cut out or died of
disease. It’s so short sighted not
to get on and plant!
The wooden boat builder is
one of the few trades that utilises
nearly the entire tree. The bends
are valued for the knees and even
the butts into the roots can be
used. Trunks that have some
curve in them can be the perfect
planking or beams. The straight
stock is suitable for the rest of the
craft but may need the skills of
steam bending for planking, etc.
Even the bark of some trees is used
for tanning on sails and ropes to
preserve them. Remember, without
oil there is no synthetic rope or
cloth. Even the off-cuts are used to
heat the steam box and provide heating for the
tearoom. Very little need be wasted. One can even
rip up the good off-cuts to use as laminations or for
small items on small boats, and even for models.The links to other trades include the drawing or drafting of the
design, then the lofting to full size; the making of the moulds and
patterns; the setting up and construction of the hull. All requiring
different levels and types of skills. The hull is then finished off and
made water tight as well as being fitted out for whatever use is
intended. During these stages there are a number of trades bridged
over by the boat builder. Woodwork and carpentry of course,
plumbing and electrical, cabinetwork and painting, engineering
and some mechanical work, as well as simple black smithing
and boiler making. And don’t forget riveting and bolt making,
caulking and glassing. All these trades are so diverse, yet a part
of many boats. Then there is the artist who records the craft.
The builder has to overcome the problems of moving large
difficult-shaped items and eventually the whole boat itself. The
true wooden boat builder can turn their hand to most things. Once
the boat is launched, they then need to have the skills to handle the
craft and to deliver it to the new owner’s home, all in a day work.
Many of the traditional trades and skills no longer exist as
manufacturing and mass production takes over. The trade skills
are lost and once gone, are very hard to revive.
Fortunately the traditional wooden boats and their builders are
still in existence, but for how long? The boat must have a
need, a purpose for it to exist in the first place, and the
right people to make it all happen. The raw materials
must be available at an affordable price
or it becomes too elitist and the skills
too perfect to be justified. It is vital
for the future to retain the line of
the trade as it was handed down
for generations, if the future is not
going to be “re-inventing the
wheel”. I believe that the
countries that retain at least
a small group of dedicated
tradespeople in this art will
be the leaders to the future
prosperity of that country.
The trades can capture the
interests of the non academic
who struggle at school and can
lead them into a much brighter
future by giving them the free
hand nature they need.
Support trade will be vital too, such
as the toolmaker and the black smith.
The traditional timber worker and forestry
people, timber cutter, the local boatman and
fisherman. These keys must not be allowed
to be lost or unlocking the future could be
a painful and costly process.Tom Whitfield believes the key to the future is retaining traditional skills and trades
Wooden boats start with a tree