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i'm a boat.

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Exatem

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I'm a boat.
“The best ideas do not come from reason, but from a lucid, visionary madness.”
erasm from Vietnamese
I received an email in which I was asked for advice on how to build a boat starting from the choice of the model. Given that I am not able to respond to this request, legitimate and worthy of being dealt with seriously, the question nevertheless unleashed in me an irrepressible desire. for once instead of addressing the usual historical/technical themes, which I now think represent a sort of “signature” identification, allow me a disgression or at least, to face an aspect, however sufficiently technical, with a different approach... semiserio (without that for someone should feel offended).

This time in fact, I want to talk about madness.

I intend to describe the mad, euphoric, devastating experience experienced by those who, one day unhealthy, decides to engage in the realization of a boat, but to do this it is essential that first define the characteristic features of the absolute protagonist of this adventure... “the self-constructor.”

according to wikipedia, with the term self-construction “in the field of architecture are the strategies to replace with amateur operators the enterprises that, in an advanced production structure, normally deal with the construction of the building on behalf of its future users".it is interesting to note that the voices that define the types of self-construction are: traditional, innovative, guided, didactic and, utopian...
Treccani defines the term utopia: “formulation of a political, social, religious order that finds no response in reality but which is proposed as an ideal and model; the term is sometimes assumed with a strongly limiting value (non-realistic model, abstract), sometimes instead it emphasizes the critical force towards existing situations and the positive ability to orientate forms of social renewal (in this sense utopia has been opposed to ideology)". from an exercise that is too simplistic (but let me pass) of the two terms, one could deduce that self-construction is a utopia, an unrealizable dream and therefore as such, a madness.
the alleged diversity of madness has always fascinated writers, poets and philosophers of all time and so far there are numerous attempts to analyze and interpret madness.
It is undoubted that although it is a recurring theme, it is set to many reading keys so much that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to give a single definitive explanation. madness is to act without reason, it is to carry out fearful and unreasonable acts, it is to abandon rational judgment. upstream of this mutation there is almost always a “unleashing cause”, an event that is reason for deviation from the “normal” purposes.

the madness of prayer is a consequence of the discovery of the secret love between his beloved angelic and medoro; Orlando becomes furious because he no longer can control his madness.
It would seem therefore that we are all destined to madness, it is enough to identify the “unleashing case” hidden in each of us.
but according to erasm from vierdam not necessarily it is so. in his “elogy to madness”, the world is permeated on it, madness is a vital force that allows an illusory vision of otherwise detestable reality. erasm claims that “Most of humanity indulges in madness and therefore the worst things always meet maximum success.” the essay is excessively prudent therefore it is satisfied with what it has while the crowd has the audacity necessary to risk and dream.

someone said that “in madness there is a pleasure, that only mad people know”. in the light of what I will go to expose, it is evident that for some of them it is in this intimate pleasure that the triggering cause of madness is hidden, as possessed by the gene of the self-constructor.
but who is self-constructor? from the premise it is deduced that it is almost certainly a “matto”, a subject that is believed to be invincible, that it does not fear the failure and is unmistakably convinced of its own means and innate abilities, convictions in which he confides blindly for which he plunges into any titanic enterprise.

There is an English proverb that the boat, after that of his wife, is the most beautiful and important choice that a man can make in his life. It is also true that according to others, the boat can give a man only two happy moments, the moment when he buys it and the moment when he frees it. Let's imagine then if the same is the result of hours and hours spent cutting, forming, curse, bending, quarreling, welding, scare. . .

We now come to the real enterprise, however, assuming that there are still some illusory convinced that he was the one who “choose” the wife (what sneakily makes us believe).
We also suppose that this someone is not sufficiently repented of his “choice” but wants “masochistically” to undergo the torture of self-constructing a boat.
Finally it is time to make life impossible and to be happy, because in the end of immanent labors, to put in the water the result realize that the same floats, is an immense satisfaction, able to make the most imbued of human fantasies, in short, a real libidine.

but we proceed with order then, from the beginning. already decide on what kind of boat to commit their own resources, it is a real "mission impossible". We must define the project and this already puts us in the face of a decisive choice, the material to use. generally for boats up to 8 meters opt for wood, besides it is preferable to orientate on fiberglass, besides still you can think of metal, aluminum or steel.
in any case know that it is not enough to have minimal marine knowledge, to have a good dexterity, a provided equipment. to these qualities it is indispensable to add an infinite patience, availability of time and money, absolute dedication to the cause, even if it is often not enough since in the gardens of houses of half world lie unfinished wrecks, silent testimonies of disillusioned expectations, resigns of guilt in front of the beloved spouse who, more than ever, will certainly not let you miss the opportunity to face the failure, the only wasted time
 
made this compelling but necessary premise, appurated the absolute masochism, the important economic availability, the fact that you are the lucky owners of a house with annexed garden and garage, that the wife in exchange for that mink that so much gave you finally authorized, we start anyway the enterprise and, after a sober ceremony to which we are the only invited, we wish what pomposously ". The next step is the choice of the building plan.
the market offers a wide choice of both price and “originality”. in particular the US market offers particularly rich catalogs since in the “states” evidently masochist constructors abound. Once the building plan is obtained, the dimensions of the elements must be obtained, the lines of water and the trace of the forms with which to make the seeds.

for the wood the construction is sufficiently simple (an euphemism), with a few panels you can get already a construction in marine plywood that makes the next sanding and painting easier but obliges the realization of a spherical hull. to realize a round hull you can adopt different construction techniques such as clinker, i.e. with overlapping bands, strip planking, longitudinal stripes glued, or diagonal layers, crossed and overlapped.

with fiberglass, things are already more complicated as it is necessary to have a mold. for metals construction is similar to that in wood with the difference that it is less challenging to waterproof the hull. and if aluminum requires specific attention in welding, iron is less sophisticated and a welding machine, a smery, a drill and little more, could already be enough for the purpose for which we will opt for this solution considering it simpler and cheaper.

the advice for a good steel project (but it is generally valid for each project) is simplicity, both the hull and the blanket. less will be cuts and welds, while maintaining good aesthetic qualities, the easier it will be to get a good result. the maximum of simplicity is logically represented by the single edge hull, but it is equally towards that hardly a design of this type can be defined beautiful. the walls without curvature will be simply feasible but the hull will look like a box. the bottom of the hull remains the most complex part to be realized since from the flat sections of aft and center, as you approach the bow, you will have to assume a v form that can only be realized with numerous cuts and curvatures. certainly the multiple edge carena is aesthetically more pleasing and also improves marine performance. always that it is well realized...

the bandage panels will be narrower and easy to bend but exaggerate with the same to approximate a round hull, will produce only two results, dark hulls and, very strong headaches due to the difficulties in creating strongly slipped bands without appropriate equipment for a hobbyist (...ops, excuses. I forgot I'm talking to an experienced ship builder).
Looking at a steel hull of a ship, you will not be able to do without noticing the showy deformations of the stripes. these are due to the heat generated by the welds for which it deduces that less welding we make, the better it is ( Consider that already the cut made with the cannello cause distortions). The edge construction involves a discreet waste of energy and material lost in the “sfridi”, a hull with 6 edges does not require more hardware than one with only one edge but has many more cuts. the sheet must be cut, adjusted, put into operation, with an increase of time and costs.

at this point we say that despite the countless difficulties overcome with momentum, the hull is realized.
Do you think you're done? the "beautiful" begins now instead.

you have to install engines and related services, plants, furniture, stucco, card, paint, test and test, disassemble, replace, reinstall, reassemble again.... To try, to curse, to dream, to illusion, to re-believe, to exalt, to get angry...
but madness does not feel reasons why from now on your evenings will be illuminated by sparks produced by discs si grinders, heated by flames that are oxyethylene, music by the rhythmic beat of the hammer.
and when in the end, tired, sweaty, dirty, you will return home for dinner, your sympathetic wife will welcome you with the malicious smile of those who have already seen the titles of this new film.
 
I also live near the sea, but I am very + rational, at least for the moment ............. :
 
If it wasn't for the distance...
We are actually relatively closer than usual... but see what can cause a winter evening without the usual housing comfort? without remote control, sofa and sky?
Maybe I'll go home. :-)
 
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And yet there are those who sail, in iron, if it is built in the valley of aosta, in quart near aosta, and now it has sailed for 15 years.
relatively small and inconvenient, 10 m. armed with a pole, frog and bow, motor of motor-cooker, added after the varo when you realized that mooring to sail is not easy. If I'm not mistaken about an old fern project. We complimented him for patience and constancy and so good wind.
hello and good year to all
 

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