⛵ On craftsmanship & physical things #20

Physical beauty & craftsmanship in a digital world

Thank you so much to those who bought me a coffee from my last newsletter, I really appreciate it! Catch up on previous editions here.

While I mentioned in my last post I would be writing about boatbuilding, I didn’t necessarily mean I was going to write a linear logbook on the construction of small vessels (I am adding this to my newsletter though) - rather, like many things which pique my interest, I enjoy using the time to think about many different things and how they all connect… Also I need help naming my expedition rowing boat - read on to the Logbook section for a link!

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My workshop is a perfect square: 8x8m with a mezzanine for storage. Half of the floorspace is dedicated to the construction of an Expedition row boat - my project in craftsmanship, exploration and rowing up the Clarence River - just to see what’s up there (I once hitchhiked to the arctic circle just to see what 24x7 daylight felt like - these are reasons enough for me). The other half of my workshop is now slowly piling up with the contents of our sailing vessel Euphoria. My time is split between writing (in addition to this newsletter, I’m working on other book ideas and projects in the background), rowboat construction and a refit on Euphoria’s critical systems, in anticipation of significant voyaging ahead.

I maintain a work split of about one third knowledge work, to two thirds physical work. This is the ideal ratio for me, because if I spend too much time inside my own head, my creativity & output shifts from creating to destroying. The trick to being happy is a mindful observation of what works for us individually - there is no external answer to this lifelong question. Much like the circadian rhythm of sleep which is uniquely ours, there exists a similar and equally unique inner schedule of creativity. Once discovered, a person will likely then have to live like some kind of pirate to protect and nurture it - which is where it usually crumbles and conformity follows… But that’s a thought for another time.

Back to boats - ok, not just yet. I was recently reading about the difference between digital analogs and digital natives. Effectively, analogs are people born from around the 1940s to the early 1980s and natives were born from the early 80s to around the 2010s. What’s the discerning cultural difference? Put simply, analogs view technology as a distraction from reality, while natives view reality as a distraction from technology. This is a pretty big deal. I was born on the border of this cultural shift, which allows me to happily move in and out of native and analog mode. While this crossover seems immediately advantageous, there are pros and cons, plus quite a bit of fence sitting: It’s hard to move when you can see two sides of the coin with equal measure. In observing my own happiness and my splitting between knowledge work and physical work, I am however more analog than native.

When you consider 75% of kids want to become YouTubers - or put in another way, 86% of kids want to become influencers, I sometimes wonder who is going to do anything in the physical realm - it seems Internet fame is more interesting. We can automate the construction of cars, but can we automate the construction of beauty and craftsmanship? And even if we did, would anyone be interested? Visual arts are shifting dramatically with the advent of NFTs right before our very eyes - physical beauty and physical ownership just doesn’t seem to matter in the same way it once did. Even in the maker movement with all those who extol the value of physical work, I sometimes wonder in consideration of the analog/natives paradigm, whether it’s inhabited primarily by analogs who pushed too far into knowledge work & backtracked.

Humans have always placed value on the spiritual and the physical. The third dimension is the digital. Analogs appear to be more stuff oriented - big houses and storage units full of things - while natives tend rent or have small houses/cabins and place their art on blockchains instead of hallways. They have no qualms in spending $12 on an ebook, meanwhile the analog quietly squirms at the idea of not having something to shelve, reluctantly pressing Buy Now.

When I glance around the teak cabinetry and metalwork of Euphoria, I realise there are probably only a handful of people left who can do work like that. I wonder how craftsman will be valued in future? If at all?

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Logbook

The expedition row boat has finally gone three dimensional. The bilge pieces have been been stitched together with copper wire and the beginnings of an epoxy fillet which holds it all together has been laid. After this process, the wire is snipped free to form a freestanding hull. For the first time in my boat owning life, I’m in a position where I can name the boat without fear of catastrophe - re-naming a boat is considered the worst of nautical crimes - however, if the boat is brand new, it’s free rein!

So, how about you name it? Vote for the best name in my next newsletter. Click to make your suggestion.

Our plans are firming up for Euphoria and where we will sail in 2022. The world appears to be slowly opening up and these plans involve leaving Australian shores. For the first time I have the opportunity to prepare a sailing boat on home turf, with access to everything I need including a workshop - in all my prior boat preparations, I’ve been in foreign ports hacksawing on dock ends while borrowing everything from tools to cars in order to get things done. While the romantics will tell you that long distance sailing is the fine art of fixing things in exotic places, I can tell you the realist would rather be well prepared in places where things can be done with ease.

Recent inputs

I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction with a slight dash of fiction. My Kindle is full to the brim with books, including Classic Krakauer, How to blow up a pipeline, Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different & The Hunter (also an excellent movie if you haven’t seen it!) and Voss.

Elsewhere

Buy me a coffee / Read my book / Instagram / Website & work / My Airbnb / Goodreads

Reach out

If there is something you’d like me to riff on in the next edition or delve into further personally — simply reply to this email.