Thursday, July 18, 2013

Woodworking celibacy

Having been on job for 1 week now, I can feel the impact of not being able to work wood.
I was made redundant at my former company, since a vessel was sold from the fleet, and therefore there were too many crew members.

This allowed me to stay at home for 3 months working on the roof and other projects, but I needed to get an income again.
I have joined my old company again, just as a reliever in the high season. This job is on a high speed ferry between Denmark and Norway.

The woodworking problem with this ferry is that we haven't got a real accommodation. So each night we go to an old navy base to sleep. So I have nowhere to work wood. Besides that, the workshop area of this ship is close to non existing.

On top of this, the Internet connection and the computer system on board is really not working very well. I would say it resembles the days of the Commodore 64 computer. E.g. a picture on the Internet is deliberately blurred beyond recognition, presumably to make the Internet faster (which it isn't).

I try to cope with this self chosen celibacy (self chosen because I need a job) by making a lot of small sketches at corners of pieces of papers. Those are mostly sketches of things I would like to build such as a bench and table that I have promised to make for a friend, or the future porch (where I didn't manage to take measurements before leaving anyway). The surfing and blogging possibilities are fairly limited due to the state of our IT system.
Previously I would have brought at least a couple of woodworking books or magazines, but I rode on the motorcycle when I signed on, so the luggage capacity was not suited for anything like that.

I miss working with wood - but I choose to look at it in a positive way:
-Missing working with wood means that it is the right hobby for me. If I didn't miss it at all, then I probably shouldn't spend so much time on that particular hobby nor any  money on woodworking tools.

-Being away from the hobby helps me appreciate working wood once I get back home again.

Before you start feeling sorry for me, I have to say that the contract period of this ship is only 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off, so in about a week I should be home again.

As a side not, the ferry is: HSC Fjord Cat. The current holder of Hales Trophy or the blue ribbon of the Atlantic. It is the fastest passenger ship to have ever crossed the Atlantic.
The ship is a Catamaran which is built in Tasmania by the yard Incat.

I hope that yoy all get to do some woodworking wherever you are, and if you can't get to woodworking, then I hope you will be able to cope in one way or another.
Have a nice weekend


4 comments:

  1. Maybe you could take up carving? That doesn't take much space or tools. A lap would suffice in many cases.

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  2. Good luck and I feel your pain. I am also experiencing a bit of woodworking celibacy at the moment; it's far too hot to woodwork here. At least it sounds as if you will be in the shop soon enough, and you should have a lot of good ideas by then!

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  3. I think that carving is a good idea. I'll have to plan that for the next shift after my time off.

    I will definitely have a lot of good ideas. But I am not sure how much actual woodworking I will be able to do. It is the only time my wife and I have a holiday at the same time this year, so we are going to do some family holiday things.
    I think that Gustav (10) can get the plaster of his left arm which he broke about a month ago. So I am convinced that going swimming will be high on the priorities list.

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  4. I agree... you can carve anywhere! (I've done that at work before too)

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