motivation

[tptbum]

About three years ago I started working on a "Cottage Cruiser."

I started the project becuase 15 years after moving into a "fixer upper" house, all of our projects were done, our little house was perfect, and my hands just felt like they were in search of a project.

Three months into the project I felt like i was making great progress, when my wife uttered those fateful words; "honey, lets look at some houses this weekend."

In short, two years later I have not put a single hour into the canoe project. We have now own a much bigger fixer-upper - and I have learned that much larger houses come with more projects that tiny little houses. I can't seem to find time to work on the canoe, and the pile of cedar strips and strong back parts is a constant reminder that there is something that I would rather be doing than drywalling the 2nd bathroom ':crying'

I am trying to make a commitment to one night per week. I figure some guys have bowling nights, some have poker nights, I can say "tuesday is canoe night" and I can stick with it. I have established canoe night three times,as in - "starting january 1st, tuesday will be canoe night." The date comes and goes, and I put no time in.

A couple of times I have suggest that if I give away my strips and burn the strongback at least we would be able to park a car in the garage, my wife says that I would hate myself for it eventually. I guess she is right, but I am frustrated by the lack of canoe time anyway.

Have any of you been in similar situations, I need a happy ending to hang my hat on here!!!

Any suggestions???

john

[ealger]

Hello John. I know that cold projects can be a source of guilt and aggrivation. There is an educational paradigm which says: 1st decide that you really want to do some task. 2nd, work on the project the same time each day. 3rd, dedicate a specific amount of time, say 1/2 hour. 4th, the work or study area are must be pleasant. That is, in the shop play some music from CD's and put up lots of lights. I avoid listening to radio talk shows.

Music in the shop is great but if I'm studying the scriptures, reading a text book, or programming, I gotta have it quiet.

If you have to leave the house to go to work, arise 30 minutes early and fit a strip. You can do it!
Ed...

[tptbum]

I didn't mean for my post to sound so whiny!

My old house did have a much better space for building a canoe - I have a certain amount of buyers remorse if you can't tell! Still, I have a nice big garage, and I should be able to make it fairly plesant to work in there - especially in the summer and fall - winter might be a problem - so I'd better get busy!


Still, you are right, I can do this if I want to.

j

[ealger]

I didn't think your post was whiny at all John. This is a great group to talk to and get ideas and some motivation to! Some great and interesting work has been posted here and we're hoping to hear from you and how you progress. So start taking some pictures and let us see 'em.
Ed...

[davidb54321]

John,

I put off building my canoe for about 30 years! I kept saying someday I will build a canoe, but nothing happened until I started working on it. I kept at it and now I have a hand-made canoe of my own to enjoy.

Just get to it!

[pawistik]

I understand where you're coming from and almost got sucked in myself after we moved last summer. As it was, I lost 6 months while we worked on the new house. I can't give you any advice or really tell you how to get going as for me winter came along and my wife suggested "leave the baseboards, and finish the kayak." I never did really regain the momentum I had the winter before we moved and life has often been in the way (having two daughters, one almost 5 and another getting closer to 2, does not help at all). All the time the kayak seemed so close to being finished but I found the finishing of my kayak to be a huge amount of tedious work. Now that winter is over and the boat is paddle-able, but not 100% complete, I've lost my momentum again. I still have footbraces, a backband to install, and I have to do some final touches on the seat. Rather than boatbuilding, there has been yardwork, raised flower beds to build, lawn mowers to overhaul, and a bit of paddling too.

Tomorrow, my wife & I are leading a day trip for the Saskatoon Canoe Club. The kayak & canoe are already loaded on the car and everything is ready to go. I think I'll go work on that seat and the bulkhead footbrace before I head to bed.

Cheers,
Bryan

[pawistik]

... I've lost my momentum again. I still have footbraces, a backband to install, and I have to do some final touches on the seat.

OK, strike the footbrace off the list! Even though the seat is still too tight and there is no additional padding in the cockpit, I now at least have something to brace my feet against.

By the way, I created a "to do" list that I have posted in the garage/shop. Each time I accomplish something, it gets stroked out. Perhaps this might help? Or it might just generate even more resentment.

I also second the music for boatbuilding. One of my favourite programs on the radio is CBC's Saturday Night Blues. It's great to work by and being out in the shop is the only way I'll get to really hear it.

Cheers,
Bryan

[tdoes]

Thanks folks, it's reassuring to hear others who can't spend a week at a time but keep the dream alive.
We'll all get there ... eventually.

[sluggo]

wow, my experiences are almost exactly like those above. Kids, gardening, activities, house work, etc.

I've been working on my canoe for maybe 6 months now. so far I've managed to rip strips, build a strongback, make forms and put a few strips on. I can see this taking a while...

[pawistik]

For those of us who build slow, I'd suggest not admitting a time-line to anyone, just as I should have done during my graduate studies at university. When they ask, and they do frequently, simply reply with a vague "Oh, a first boat often takes 300 hours or so to build." Of course, this may depend on your personality and your goals. Some may find they require a time-line lest it be put off indefinitely. I also definitely like the dedicated building night notion. I had intended to do it that way, but it didn't really work out as when my momentum was good I'd work late a few nights in a row & need the next few nights to catch up on sleep and things around the house. There's a certain bit of physics involved regarding inertia and momentum. It's hard to overcome the inertia, but once you're rolling, the momentum tends to keep it going.
Cheers,
Bryan

[Erik, Belgium]

tptbum,

I'm afraid I see this a little different. I don't mean to be offensive here, but I 'll give it a try.

For me, there is a difference between "working on the canoe as a hobby" and "haven't done anything on the canoe for 2 years".

If you really want to start working on it again, you 'll have to change something. Decide for yourself what and who 's taking up all your time, make a time schedule and keep to it.

If you come to the conclusion that there is no time left for the canoe, how sad this may be, than you 'll have just to accept it as it is, otherwise you 'll always stay "annoyed" about it.

I have little time left to build as well, yet I manage to build quite a few boats and paddles. My way to keep building is: no TV watching, and working on the canoe very late (I often start late as well, sometimes at 10PM). This night it was 1AM when I stopped on my SOF.

I may be crazy, but I still like building. I couldn't live without it !

my 0.02 EURO
Erik, belgium.

[Jeff in Farmington, MI]

John,
I am glad to hear that I am not the only slow builder! I took about three and a half years to finish my first (but not last) canoe. During that time, there were many interruptions including all the usual: work, home relocation, repairs & remodeling, and of course weather. At one point, the canoe sat for about 14 months with no progress whatsoever. That was very difficult to take, but I realized that if the canoe were not my "primary diversion", I would not do my best work. So, if I couldn't make regular progress, I didn't work on it at all. I set it aside and felt content just to day-dream about it. I was afraid that I would mess something up if I just casually jumped back in from time to time.

Fortunately, my wife was very supportive. Even in the midst of remodeling our new (old) house, she would insist that I make the canoe a priority. OK, the fact that the canoe was in the living room at the end of the project may have had something to do with her benevolent attitude!

In the end, it all comes down to priorities. Taking care of the family and keeping the roof over your heads should always be the top priority. A perfectly manicured lawn? New flower beds? … No, not when there is an unfinished canoe!
Set your priorities, and finish the canoe. Don't worry about how long it takes. Once she hits the water, it won't matter anymore!

Jeff

[sluggo]

tptbum,

I'm afraid I see this a little different. I don't mean to be offensive here, but I 'll give it a try.

For me, there is a difference between "working on the canoe as a hobby" and "haven't done anything on the canoe for 2 years".

If you really want to start working on it again, you 'll have to change something. Decide for yourself what and who 's taking up all your time, make a time schedule and keep to it.

If you come to the conclusion that there is no time left for the canoe, how sad this may be, than you 'll have just to accept it as it is, otherwise you 'll always stay "annoyed" about it.

I have little time left to build as well, yet I manage to build quite a few boats and paddles. My way to keep building is: no TV watching, and working on the canoe very late (I often start late as well, sometimes at 10PM). This night it was 1AM when I stopped on my SOF.

I may be crazy, but I still like building. I couldn't live without it !

my 0.02 EURO
Erik, belgium.

That's when I've done most of my building, between 9 and 12:30am.

[tptbum]

Thanks everyone - and no offense taken Erik!

The trouble is that the new house is a real project itself, the bathroom that I just did took 4 months, I had thought it would be a couple weekends for a tile job, it ended up being plumbing - drywall - subfloor - studs - blah blah blah. So there are two factors;

First - work and kids take up as much time as they used to, and now my project time is taken up by my house

Second, and maybe most important - if I get home from work at three and put 4 hours into a bathroom project I have very little interest in hauling the tools downstairs to work on a canoe project

So I think the real question for me is, do I really want to do this, or is this something that I used to want to do when I had more free time? I think it is the former, but what I need to do is to figure out a time when I can do it - like I said, some guys have a bowling night, some guys play poker, it's not so much to ask that I could have a "boat night" regularly scheduled, once a week at least.

I the input I had from you guys may be just the motovation I needed to get over the hump and start working again. I will post in a week at let you know if I have made any progress,

Thanks guys,

John

[Glen Smith]

Looking at the pictures of beautiful boats posted by our members here on the forum and in the photo gallery section might help to inspire and motivate you. :eyebrows