Biggest DIY project I've ever seen

[mattbell]

A man I met yesterday has spent the last 30 years building his own 70' boat more or less from scratch. He even made the lumber himself from local trees that were cut down from various reasons.  He's less than a year away from finishing and launching the boat.  However, at this point he's around 70 years old, and he's worried that he won't get it done before he starts to lose his strength and ability to travel.

I got a tour of the boat.  He's developed an incredibly broad range of skills to pull it off, from woodworking to hydraulics to electrical systems to interior design.  I do have a maker mindset that values creativity, skill, and clever applications of wealth over raw wealth -- I am incredibly impressed by what he has done, but I would not be impressed by someone who merely purchased a 70' boat.

Some pics:

Comments

[patrissimo.livejournal.com]

I do have a maker mindset that values creativity, skill, and clever applications of wealth over raw wealth -- I am incredibly impressed by what he has done, but I would not be impressed by someone who merely purchased a 70' boat.

The idea of deriving pleasure from making, rather than having, is neat and cool. The more people who think that way are around, the more cool stuff will be around. And the happier people will be, b/c you can always make, but you can't always have.

On the other hand, our wealth comes from people who worked smart rather than working hard. Made things in the most efficient way, rather than the way which was the most fun (by hand). People who make things by hand are making the choice for artful poverty - to create less, but have the joy of doing it directly.

So my reaction to handmade stuff is always some combination of "how cool!" and "what a waste!", depending on how cool the customization is, and how easily it could have been mass-produced.

[radven.livejournal.com]

It is the difference between a "work of art", and a "product".

This boat is in every sense of the word a work of art. My jaw was on the floor constantly as we got the tour.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I do have a similar reaction to you when seeing handmade projects. I do try to remember that for some people, the act of doing a handmade project is all about the process. Thus, they can spend a lot of time doing something by hand and get something out of it even if it looks like a mass-produced product at the end. However, in my own creative endeavors, my satisfaction more comes from creating a unique and innovative end product, so I will take full advantage of whatever off-the-shelf stuff is available to save time. This difference has come up a few times in big group burningman projects, and the arguments that ensue are always kind of strange.