I finished fashioning my oar on the 4th, and started varnishing it last week. Frustratingly, despite having a supposedly dust-free dedicated varnishing room, dust has managed to get onto the wet varnish, so I shall need to sand it down tomorrow before adding more coats. The aim is to get 6-8 coats on, and to create a finish like a sucked lozenge!

Our latest project is to make a mast for the one-design Victory boats, that are based in Portsmouth. We each had a plank of Sitka Spruce, and had to ‘face and edge’ it prior to machining them to the required thickness. Getting a 20ft plank really flat, and the edge square and true was a two day effort.

After this, we scarfed one end so we can join two planks together, making a 40ft length.

We levelled several trestles, and, on Friday, we did a practice run and then glued up the scarf joints.

Tomorrow, we will have to unclamp, clean up, and glue the 40 ft planks together. Then, we will make it square and start the process of shaping the mast. It will be tapered and have a slightly oval cross-section, which needs to be carefully measured and planed, in order to meet the strict specifications of the class rules for these Victory boats.

Like making oars, spar building is one of those really satisfying, almost sculptural, parts of boatbuilding. Clinker boatbuilding is another example … now there’s an idea!

I had two visitors this week, both ex-patients. Paul’s unannounced visit on Thursday was a pleasant surprise. I showed him around the shop floor, pointing out the projects I had completed, and showing him the various boats under restoration and construction. Richard’s visit on Friday was pre-arranged, and it was great to show my wood-turning mentor around, and to chat over lunch. It is lovely to catch up with people for whom I have been their family doctor over many years – a link to what now feels very much a past life. I do miss those long-term Dr-patient relationships, though I don’t hanker for a return to mainstream General Practice. Instead, on Mondays, I do a short evening surgery at the local Practice – not my old Practice – and enjoy seeing half a dozen patients. It’s ideal for me, not having the hassle of routine practice – just the patients and the medicine. And, it allows me to do my Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act work as a still-practising GP.