Author: Chris Wells

I finished installing the air cell sisalation during the week. It felt like a big step. We now have a more or less enclosed space.

Next job: setting glass into the western and southern window frames. The windows are over-engineered, like everything else in the boatshed – and rightly so. Winter gales down here provide a good test of workmanship, and a good test of materials. Any construction that is weak, or made of second-rate materials, will sooner or later disintegrate.

The glass is of heavy gauge (if that is the correct term), and storm-proof.

 

I have not forgotten the weatherboards. In my dreams the walls seem endless – but during daylight hours, I can see that two and a half walls are completed; only one and a half walls to go…..

And master of all….

Durable, easily-maintained – and by turn weight, support, counter-weight, divide or stop, according to circumstance.

Also useful for straightening out nails that have been disfigured by an unhappy encounter with Ironbark.

This is not the original shoe-last from Dad’s workshop, but a fair (and functional) replica.

I found the hammer. It was resting on a patch of earth. I put it back in the toolbox, next to its new companion, the Kozuchi hammer of Japanese origin.

The redicovered hammer hammers; the Kozuchi hammer absorbs knowledge from its Elder, by association.

 

I wasn’t looking forward to climbing up a ladder for this job – but it proved to be relatively simple. The beadings held the glass firmly inside the frame, while I drilled holes and hammered the small nails.

I put a sheet of cardboard between the glass and the hammer head, just for peace of mind.

 

We now have two functional windows, high up, ‘harvesting’ the steady southern light.

Done.

No more Noggins and Studs, for the time being.

I should have the the aircell sisalation (insulation) in place by next Sunday.

 

 

Dad gave me this toolbox in 1987, when I was building the wooden cottage on Forktree Road, Carrickalinga. He made it from scraps of this and that scavenged from his workshop – somehow resisting the temptation to incorporate sections of Jarrah and/or Lignum Vitae. I can easily lift the box with one hand, even when it is full of tools.

Nevertheless, it is made to last, and will no doubt outlast me.

For twelve or so months, now, it has kept me company on the boatshed site. I could not ask for a more companionable companion: steadfast, reliable, good-humoured, sympathetic, discreet….

It sets the standard. I am daily reminded that solid construction is more important than superficial appearance – and can have a quiet beauty of its own.

I am working on two fronts at present: the eastern and northern walls.

It is perfect weather for building, with the gentle Autumn light, pleasant temperature, and calm seas (for the occasional swim).

I have fastened a sheet of air-cell sisalation along the eastern wall, in readiness for the weatherboards. You can see in the photos that the entrance is solidly defined.

My priority, however, is the northern wall, since the roof slopes from south to north, and I haven’t yet installed fascia and gutter. When it rains, the northern side can get a little uncomfortable – so I am concentrating my efforts on that wall. I need to finish the frames and window as soon as may be.

What a delight it is to work with this cypress. I think I may have mentioned it before, and if so, it is worth repeating. Cuts sweetly, planes sweetly, fastens easily (as long as you pre-drill the holes), has a lovely honey colour and intoxicating smell – what more could you ask from a humble wood? And termites find it distasteful; it is their loss.

I am hoping to get the boatshed water-tight before the late autumn rains sweep in. Of course, I need to put some glass in the windows – that will help.

Ps My thanks again to Sam for his excellent photographic work, which (as far as I know) he is providing free of charge. I particularly like the close-up photo of the northern wall frames and delicate sheoak. It reminds me of a Japanese woodblock print, in vertical format….