“The Gust”, Willem van de Velde, 1680 The bad news is that we had to cancel our final voyage as planned, due to a foul weather forecast and the state of completion of the students’ watercraft projects. The good news is that we’ve agreed to complete all vessels for a March 19 launching, the first […]
Category Archives: Micro-Expedition
Micro-Expedition, Sessions 10 and 11
Grace prepares the chine logs for her portable catamaran project While the students continue to make admirable progress on their water craft, they are beginning to understand why I was so eager to encourage simplicity of design and execution early in the semester. I’ve made pains not to discourage anyone brave and bold enough to […]
Back to the Stump
Excerpt from ‘Afoot and Afloat’ by American naturalist John Burroughs. ‘A Summer Boating Trip’, Burroughs’ account of a boyhood adventure, was first published in 1881. You may read ‘Afoot and Afloat’ in its entirety here. //
Micro-Expedition, Sessions 8 and 9
Jack and Willey broke out the hand planes to joint a long stringer of Sitka spruce The boats are shaping up and the students are getting fired up for our journey next month. Here’s a little gallery from the past two weeks of Micro-Expedition, the Atelier Studio I am teaching this semester at CCA as […]
An Exploratory Paddle down the Estero
Idyllic launch where Estero Americano meanders along ranches below Valley Ford Over the weekend I made an exploratory paddle down Estero Americano to the coast. The tides are in a similar phase as the dates of our planned Expedition, so I wanted to make a trial run to see what the CCA students might expect […]
Micro-Expedition, Session 7
Jack and Willey made a lightweight building jig for their shallow kayaks We’re at our half-way point in the semester and the majority of the class are on track to complete their projects with time to spare before we make our voyage just before the winter solstice. Everyone was fully focused and hard at work […]
Micro-Expedition, Session 6
Estero Americano meanders westward towards Bodega Bay from Valley Ford. I’m proud of the progress the students have made in constructing their craft in anticipation of our voyage on Estero Americano. They’ve been working like a true Atelier, dutifully helping each other cut, mill and shape their stock, and the little boats are nearly ready […]