Week Four: Fine Dining and a tired Carpenter

This week turned out to be quite a test both mentally and physically as the complexity of our woodworking projects increased and residual tiredness caught up with me. On Tuesday I struggled to keep my eyes open in the morning lecture and I could make no sense of the technical drawings laid out in front of me that would help me. Before I had some sort of accident I took myself of for 40 winks on the BBA sofa, but woke up 2 hours later feeling even worse. Phil, on of my peers, kindly gave me a lift home where I slept almost uninterrupted until 8 am the next morning.

I decided that a combination of things had brought this fatigue on, one factor was some looming paperwork deadlines due back in London so I decided to get those dealt with on Wednesday morning accompanied with a hearty breakfast. I cycled down to the BBA feeling mentally and physically rested and got on with my work.







The frame I had been struggling with still looked like a lost cause and in my dispair I fished for helpful instructions from the tutors but to their credit they did not divulge the 'secrets' but merely listened to my whining and subtly kept me on track. I started to see the wood and the trees and after one careful pass with the chisel, and then another it appeared that my mortise and tenon joints would indeed fit.

I left with BBA with Mike (one of the instructors who I cycle with) and we headed up Cobb Hill, a viciously steep climb up into the heights of Lyme that wrenches the air out of your lungs but slaps stunning views to your eyeballs if you have the presence of mind to glance back over the harbour and out to sea. My legs and lungs did not burn so much as I was still on a high from my success at the workbench (have faith in yourself Rob!), and said goodbye to Mike before climbing further still through Lyme, Uplyme and into the clouds where my cabin awaited.






I had an hour to potter around before heading down to the BBA once more where Ken had picked up the 'Wednesday Night meal' mantle and was cooking up a storm with a huge Paella. A very tasty meal and another chance to bond further with everyone and a few wives and girlfriends who joined us. I knew it was time to leave when Jackson & Frank produced a bottle of Jameson's Whisky and I was glad I did because those two suffered in Thursdays morning lecture, much to the amusement of everyone else.













As more techniques are introduced to us we get to experience new tools and a mental shopping list has now formed in my head of the tools I would like to own- a pairing chisel, spoke shaves, a dovetail saw, a Japanese saw and so the list builds. There is a tool for almost every job but rather than getting weighed down with 100's of kgs of kit, there are core tools that we all have our eyes on. Time to find a job so I can afford to buy a few items to fill my new tool box which I will begin making the week after next.

Lyme Regis is basking in the glorious sun this week as are the many tourist that now visit. The carpark next to the beach is full even on week days and 1000's amble to the beach, eateries and the many shops advertising their wares. You can tell people are in holiday mode as they seem to loose all sense of how to use pavements thinking that the roads are pedestrianised for their pleasure and so they get a rude awakening with a toot from a passing car as they make a sloth- like bee line for a shop or ice cream stand that has caught their eye.








The front of the workshop in the BBA is open so people can look in to see what is going on and we have people stopping at least every half hour so by the time summer really hits I think we could talk solidly to people if we wished but I am sure the pressure of boat launch day will keep our noses hovering over our planes rather than chatting away.

The beach remains a great distraction and I can see how the local reef breaks since a small swell arrived so time to get my board down here in case I can sneak out for a lunchtime surf, or at least a paddle