The Year of the Boat: Beauty, Imperfection, and the Art of Doing It Yourself [Hardcover]

Lawrence W. Cheek (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2008

Lawrence Cheek decided that he had to build a boat. Not just any boat, but a beautiful wooden sailboat. This despite the fact that he barely knew how to sail and that he was the master of so few woodworking skills that it was frightening. The Year of the Boat is a memoir about what when on in that suburban garage—a roiling process of measuring, cutting, gluing and sanding that was punctuated with supreme satisfaction, utter frustration, and plain bewilderment. From figuring out how to actually read a set of marine blueprints to learning the fine art of applying epoxy to getting the mast to stand up straight, this is a captivating adventure into the wilderness of doing it yourself. The author tacks an intelligently digressive route as he touches on such topics as the invention of the retractable keel, the esteemed tradition of garage enterprises (think Hewlett Packard), the Platonic ideal sailboat, the hegemonic rise of fiberglass, and the pleasing shape of a rudder. Building a boat turns out to be the antidote for chronic perfectionism (hence the boat’s name, Far From Perfect).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book bubbles with humor and philosophical wisdom, and while the author might justly claim the title of king of wooden-boat klutzes, his prowess as a wordsmith deftly lifts this volume into the realm of literature."—John Vigor, author of The Practic

About the Author

Lawrence W. Cheek is the architecture critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. His work has appeared in Los Angeles Times Magazine, Coastal Living, and American Heritage, and he is the author of several travel books. He lives in Issaquah, WA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books (April 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570615446
• ISBN-13: 978-1570615443
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,241,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Year of the Boat, May 28, 2008

By 

Scott Matthies (Chaplin, CT) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Year of the Boat: Beauty, Imperfection, and the Art of Doing It Yourself (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not a how-to manual, but a description of how he found himself building a small wooden sailboat as a first time boatbuilder, punctuated with philosophical musings and stories of learning to sail and other related experiences. I identified completely with the author in that I followed the same path of dreaming about the Haven 12 1/2, wondering about Sam Devlin's Nancy's China, and then getting realistic and choosing Devlin's Zephyr. The book is a well-written, personal memoir and should be read by anyone whose ever toyed with the idea of building a wooden boat.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book that is Worth the Read (and Price) !, February 7, 2010

By 

Paul J. Sniadecki "NODRA Sailor" (Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Year of the Boat: Beauty, Imperfection, and the Art of Doing It Yourself (Hardcover)

Well written book about: building a wooden boat, sailboats in general, and dealing with issues of being "perfect." Read it soon, and enjoy the real-life adventure the author encounters.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Angst in the craft of boat building, November 9, 2009

By 

Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Year of the Boat: Beauty, Imperfection, and the Art of Doing It Yourself (Paperback)

I've enjoyed several of Lawrence Cheek's books, particularly the third edition of Compass American Guides: Santa Fe, 3rd Edition, where his humor and quirky approach to sightseeing perfectly fit a rather quirky city. (Compass American Guides: Santa Fe, 5th Edition edited by Andrew Collins is a seamless update.)

It was with some anticipation that I bought and read this chronicle of a year in Cheek's life. A short extract will give you a flavor of the strong pluses and minuses of this book:

"Today I'm wondering about the chain of events that has braided my recent adult life with a boat, and whether I may have just wasted a precious year. I'm building a boat--a modest wooden sailing dinghy that fits, barely, in my suburban Seattle garage--and I'm in trouble. I just discovered, thanks to the scrutiny of a boatbuilding friend in another suburb, that four months ago I left out a piece of its structure. A sprinkling of minor mistakes, scattered across the course of a year, appear to have mated and multiplied into swarms. Neighbors continually drop in and practically swoon over the boat's graceful lines, but all I see is mistakes and misjudgments, some cosmetic, some possibly fatal to its safe functioning. I'm depressed and discouraged. I don't know whether I'll have a respectable and usable sailboat when I finish it, or a learning experience that's too deeply flawed even to give away.

"My work has been incomprehensibly slow, stumbling, often incompetent, plagued by doubt and at the same time infected by too much pride to ask for help. I started out knowing I was fully unqualified to build a boat, but buoyed by the belief that every first-time boatbuilder is unqualified, by definition. Building a doghouse or a gazebo doesn't begin to prepare you for the complexities of a boat, nor for the emotional surf you're headed into."

I share many of Cheek's doubts about undertaking any craft project, having grown up on a hard scrabble farm and all but failing shop in high school. Nonetheless, I have sucessfully learned to replace broken window glass (six hours including two trips to the hardware store), side houses, frame sheds, rewire basements, run pipe for a fish pond, re-model two different kitchens and, in many ways the most interesting and rewarding, re-condition an old wooden bucket.

In that case, I bought an old wooden bucket for $.25 at a garage sale, purchased How to Make a Coopered Wooden Bucket, and as described in my review of that fine book, was able to turn my treasure into a bucket worth at least $1.00 at our next garage sale.

I empathized with some of Cheek's angst, but with the detailed and delightful guidance of James D. Gaster, I was able to enjoy the experience immensely. As I read this book, from time to time I wished Cheek would just get on with it.

At the end of the day, though, I found this a very useful insight into how a craft challenged person -- at least this one -- approaches a new project. Strengths and weaknesses -- the book earns four stars from this butter fingers.

Robert C. Ross 2009