Guideboat Update

It has been quite some time since I have posted any progress on my Adirondack Guideboat. Here is the latest. The gunwales, inwales and scuppers are installed. I am now working on the deck supports and decks. This part is taking longer than I planned. I want to have decks with a slight crown and also a curve in the front. I am still trying to work out how I will do the curve in the front. I hope to launch in August. I am committing to that month here so I will have a target to shoot for. Otherwise it is easy to do other things. I have lost some motivation in this build as you can probably tell.

100 Pushups

I came across this site in April. I have always liked pushups and have done them many different ways. I never thought about doing 100 in a row though. I started on April 25, 2010 and my initial test was 35 maximum. After going through the program that the website shows, I then did 60 on May 15, 2010. I recently just made it to 100. It does take about 6 weeks to do like the website says. I was able to enter in at week 3 in the training program, but I had to stay with week 6 for 3 weeks more before I could reach 100. It really works. Pushups are a great exercise and work the entire body. No equipment to buy either.

Back to a Local Decentralized Farm Economy

A solution to our employment and economic problems would be to revert back to a farming economy. Farming? Let me make some points. First of all, food and energy are two of our most important commodities. They provide tangible value and are necessary for survival. However, while we have migrated to a high technology economy, we have outsourced our food and have become reliant on foreign petroleum based fossil fuels. We don’t know where the food has been in the supply chain or what it has gone through to get to our supermarkets. Two or three large corporate agribusinesses control the production of our food supply using monoculture practices which are destroying the land. This goes against natural design and the war goes on to fight nature with pesticides and herbicides which further compound the problem. Massive amounts of petroleum based products go into the making of these chemicals. Food may be cheap but we pay for it by subsidizing agribusiness with our taxes. Health care costs balloon due to carcinogens and toxic chemicals in the food chain. Obesity is at epidemic proportions due to processed cheap food loaded with high fructose corn syrup. We subsidize petroleum with our taxes also by our massive defense spending to assure we can get oil tanker deliveries safely to the country.
As corporations continue to downsize and maximize profits, the game of musical chairs has intensified for the middle class worker. No longer is just the blue collar worker affected when the music stops. The white collar worker now lives in daily fear of a pink slip as the available chairs left are removed in massive amounts each day with no end in sight. Meanwhile, the stock market continues to go up. Shareholders demand unsustainable growth in their investments while friends and neighbors are let go. Uncreative managers are fighting for their own jobs and doing the only thing they know how to reduce costs quickly. Are the answers really alternative energy technology jobs that produce super expensive hardware that only a small elite can afford? Can we depend on academia, the government and corporations to develop ground breaking technologies which will create sustainable employment for all?
This is the wakeup call. I ask myself each day, “Am I really providing value by making this power point presentation, doing this study or doing an excel spreadsheet report?” One way to provide tremendous value to society is to provide safe, healthy, locally grown fruits, vegetables and farm products. I know no one wants an organic carrot when Big Gulps, Big Macs and Twinkies taste so much better and can be eaten while driving the car. Most people are now conditioned to despise food that makes noise when you bite it. However, to the desperate unemployed, business opportunities can abound if we change that attitude. We can provide all of our fuel energy needs through small farm ethanol and biodiesel plants and still have plenty of land for food production. Local farmers can generate income for the surrounding economy rather than sending money overseas. By eating more healthy organic fruits and vegetables we can see health improvements. Medicines can be from herbs and plants rather than chemicals with dangerous side effects. We can live sustainably by having these small farms and cooperatives. We don’t have to become migrant workers toiling in the hot summer sun all day long. Small farms, permaculture practices, crop diversity, crop rotations, livestock diversity, and biofuel production can be the new-old economic model which can provide people meaning and purpose to work. Everything goes in cycles. Why not an agricultural economy which instead of mass production, is run by the masses? No longer are we performing menial tasks in a cubicle that provide more humorous content for tomorrow’s “Dilbert” cartoon. We are all then contributing to the local economy and doing no harm to man, animal or planet. We are no longer living under the daily stress of getting fired from a corporate job. Working with our hands and contributing to the greater good of all will bring more meaning and purpose to our employment. We need to work. We don’t need more handouts or entitlement programs from the government. We don’t need megabanks either because local community banks can be started in the local farm based economy.
I see how beautifully nature operates and it all seems miraculous. The life all around us in trees, soil, micro-organisms, animals, birds, seeds all work in harmony with air, sun, and water. When I dig a hole for a plant and get my hands in the soil I feel really safe and protected for a brief moment. Maybe this is what the ancients were trying to teach us about God or a powerful, creative, practical, tangible presence that is all around us. The earth is the most massive, living, breathing entity any of us will ever come in contact with yet we treat it like it is just dead matter for the sole purpose of human consumption. I don’t agree that we need to save the earth. The planet needs no help from us to survive. The earth can shake humans off like bad fleas and then go on to regenerate itself over millions of years to pristine conditions of balance and harmony where all kinds of life thrives. The planet will go on but will humans? Survival as a species will only be attained by working in harmony with nature and the planet. I like what permaculturist Geoff Lawton said “All the world's problems can be solved in a garden”. We don’t need to re-invent anything. Everything we need to get back on track is already known. I think it is now time to stop praying and start planting. By taking the stance that our purpose for employment is to do no harm to man, animal or environment, we give nature the opportunity to meet our every need. Clean food and energy can become sustainable local businesses run by the many rather than scarce dangerous commodities controlled by a few.

Pond Hockey

In early January 2010, we had about of week where the ponds outside were frozen thick enough to stand on. I did not think of taking my son to play on any because I was not sure it would hold us and I did not know how deep the ponds were. Then we had a few weeks of mild temperatures where all the ice melted.

We have again hit a cold week where temperatures have been below freezing for about a week now. I found a great little body of water by the side of the road. The depth is only about 6" in some spots and the ice appears to be at least 2" thick. We played ice hockey on it yesterday and it was so much fun. It brought back great memories of ice skating outside on a pool cover when I was a kid. My sister and I would skate anytime we wanted right out the back door. We are going to go again today. This time I will bring my skates and try it out. It would be the first time I have ice skated outdoors in about 30 years. Now I am actually happy when the temperature get below freezing outside. It is funny how perspectives change based on how you look at things and what you want to do.

I have really wanted to skate outside again after I recently purchased the Pond Hockey documentary on dvd. This is a wonderful movie for anyone interested in outdoor ice hockey and just having fun outside with skates, a puck and a hockey stick.

Improving the Economy

Things we don’t need more of:
Cellphones, televisions, stereos, ipods, cars, homes, furniture, planes, weapons, weapons systems, defense spending, self-help books, self-help websites, internet marketing websites, religions, movies, pills, video games, government, lawns, lawn mowers, dangerous power tools, chemicals, restaurants, federal reserve notes, taxes, moochers, IRA’s, stocks, bonds, banks, handouts, bailouts, exercise machines, schedules, agribusiness, debt, talk shows, big retail chain stores, stadiums, regulations, high cost universities and colleges, administrators, copy machines, storage rentals, organized sports for kids, youth sports coaches

Things we do need more of:
Bicycles, healthy food, home grown fruits and vegetables, clean air, clean water, water conservation, renewable energy, solar energy, battery technology for renewable energy storage, environmental cleanup, modern intelligent education- Education of children in personal development skills, relationship skills, finance skills, sustainability skills, environmentalism, hope, sharing, benefits of peaceful economy based on sharing and honoring the land we live on, affordable health care, reputable and effective spiritual healers, community organizations, sharing, scythes, hand tools and skills to use them, natural organic fertilizers, compost, spending time with our neighbors and families, preparing home cooked meals, value backed currency, tree planting, art, Investing in yourself, self sufficiency, individual social value creation, contributors, bodyweight exercises, relaxation, family run farms, saving, music, radio stations that play music you have not heard, small mom and pop stores, permaculture, food forests, time banking-provide a service in exchange for a service, On-line interactive learning, electronic storage, sandlot baseball games, unorganized sports for kids to just have fun

As you can see, there is plenty of opportunity to provide things we need more of.

Layoffs, Valued Work and a New Model

Day after day we keep hearing about companies that need to reduce their costs in order to stay competitive. More people are getting laid off from their employers. At the same time, costs for services keep rising. The cost of health care continues to rise. If companies are reducing the labor in their workforce, I think we would expect the cost of services to go down too. This is not the case.

I would think that costs would be coming down for everything, including services. Instead service costs keep rising, taxpayers pay for subsidizing companies, and companies lay off workers to reduce costs. This does not make sense. There is no competition and responsibility for good management if bankrupt corporations can just be bailed out. The electronic digits that represent the national debt continue to have no affect on those who freely spend it for us without our consent. I have had no say in corporate bailouts, wars, stimulus plans, or healthcare reform.

Sometimes I think that the only sustainable occupation is to start a small farm and become a farmer. I mean small scale. I would grow my own organic food utilizing crop rotations each year. I would have a cow, chickens, bees and pigs in a small barn. Compost and manure would be used as fertilizer. I would have eggs, milk, cheese and vegetables where I knew the origin of each before I put in my mouth. Exercise is replaced by fulfilling manual work out in the sun. Healthy food would be my healthcare plan. I am good with my hands and can build and repair things. Off-grid energy can also be sustainable on a farm by growing energy crops. I know this would not be easy getting started. It would be better to live on an existing family farm for a few years to learn the ropes first. This is my plan if I get laid off. I don’t know what else would work in the current conditions of our country. I don’t know how our currency is maintaining any value at this point. Those who are self-sufficient and can provide value from their own labor and land will become the new currency.

I know I should be happy living the American dream. I am grateful that I live like a king compared to the major portion of the human race. I have a modest house but it is clean, dry and warm. I have clean water, hot water, computers, sanitation system, garbage removal, televisions, cars, woodworking equipment, books, refrigerator, health-dental-vision care. I should not have a care in the world.

However, this American dream is very stressful to live out. At any moment without notice, it can all be taken away. Each day brings more fear that this will all end because I know I am riding a wave that is unsustainable. I have no debt other than a small amount remaining on the house mortgage. We live well below our means. I wonder which is better, to live without fear and have nothing or to live with constant fear and have everything?

I don’t know who is benefitting from the cost reductions that layoffs supposedly bring. I no longer invest in the stock market. It is based on the game of chance and promises you that it will create value for you without any effort on your part. This is a big myth. It is a game that cannot be won. I read that layoffs are needed to please the customers and shareholders. Tell me, as a customer and a shareholder if you have been pleased lately with the millions of layoffs that have occurred this past year alone in order to reduce costs?

I think I am beginning to realize that everything does work in perfect order without my help. If this current model is unsustainable, it cannot be propped up no matter how many trillion pieces of federal reserve notes are printed out. I have been a participant in the current model and take responsibility for where we are now. I cannot blame anyone as it is no one’s fault. There is nothing to forgive. I can be glad because a new model must be about to arrive, because it is arising in my consciousness. If I can see it, the world sees it because the world is me. It will be good because that is what the Creator is. When thought changes, then the only thing to layoff is being afraid.

Stitch and Glue Guideboat Project

This is my latest boatbuilding project. It is a stitch and glue Adirondack Guideboat and the plan was from John Gardiner. Stitch means the panels are held together with wires that are spaced every 12" or so. Then thickened epoxy is put in between the stitches to tack the boat seams together. The wires are then cut and pulled out. Then a thickened epoxy fillet is put down along the entire joint. 6 ounce fiberglass tape is put down over the epoxy and then the glass tape is epoxied. This is what is meant by "Stitch and Glue". It is messy but a fairly quick way to get a hull built. I really liked the design that John came up with based on Dwight Grant's "Ghost". I will be posting more on the progress of this boat in the next few months. I have always loved the guideboat design but hesistated to build one because of the time commitment (300+ hours) and >$1000 in material for a cedar strip version over laminated frames. One day I may do that but I can't now. This boat should take about 100 hours to build. I plan to launch it in April 2010.














This is a picture of my friend Steve, who has a kevlar Adirondack Guideboat made by Steve Kaulback. Steve is a fantastic rower with incredible strength and endurance. He leaves me in the dust in his boat while I tag along behind in my Natoma Skiff. He has let me try his boat a few times and I can really tell the difference in speed, tracking and glide compared to my homebuilt Natoma Skiff. It is by far the best boat I have ever rowed by far. It looks great too. Steve's kevlar boat is what gave me the idea to build John Gardiner's guideboat. Hopefully in 2010 I will be able to keep up with Steve a little better. Guideboat against guideboat, I will have no more excuses.