Encircled by a branch of the river Brit, the Sawmill is a peaceful retreat … a bolt hole. The front door, with its heavy wooden bolt, is reached by a wooden bridge, and the cottage is flanked on one side by a tall stone wall that has perfect perches for the local kingfishers, and on the other by the the river bank, verdant green with ferns. Above the downstream corner of the mill, a tall tree casts dappled light on the velux windows above the bed on the mezzanine floor – the blinds are kept only partly closed, to enjoy the morning sun filtering through the leaves above. The ceiling here is so low, that even though Sylvia has to stoop, she sometimes bangs her head on the beams. The road from Bridport runs nearby, yet the sound of the traffic seems distant, trumped as it were by birdsong, and the chuckling of the stream.

Followers of this blog will recall that, last October, we visited the Sawmill, this tiny cottage in Beaminster. I had heard about it after contacting Judy Sorum Brown, the author of the inspirational poem “Wooden Boats.” Well, last week, we visited the sawmill again, and explored a bit more of the local area and the Jurassic coast in particular. Although some pubs seem to have given up the struggle with Covid, we nevertheless found some super places to eat … and drink.

We also got in contact with Judy, and had a Zoom call to share our news, together with Keith and Jill, the Sawmill’s owners. Judy in Michigan, and us in Dorset … we had a great chat. The conversation turned to lost loved ones and to family sayings, and Judy shared with us one of her recent poems, that distils thoughts, memories and emotions so beautifully:

Immortality

If there’s immortality
It’s in remembering—
The way he told me how
His dad insisted that he
Double tie his shoes.  
No tripping. So I do too. 
The way she quotes my mother
Whom she never knew:
“That will not do.”
The way we laugh
Recalling the one friend:
“Show up. Do your best. And leave.”
Sometimes it’s someone
That we knew: the parent
Of a friend: “Just do the job 
In front of you.”
But much more often
We are a bucket brigade
Passing along 
The wisdom
Of those we never met
(At least in how we think
Of meeting). 
Maybe that’s how 
They come to be immortal—
Living beyond time—
Our saying makes them so,
Our scattering their words
Into a timeless stream,
Where they float forevermore.  
     Judy Brown, May 7, 2021 

Lyme Regis, is a favourite spot, with a superb restaurant (our third visit in recent years), the Cob …

… and the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy:

Now to explain why the title of this blog refers to the plural – Sawmills. I have been liaising with Tris Stone at Stones Marine Timber, to sort out wood for the planking and transom. Tris has been really helpful and, after a fair bit of discussion and advice, I am almost ready to put in my order: Sitka Spruce for the planking; Mahogany for the sheer strake (top plank) and transom; and oak for the timbers (ribs). Sylvia is relieved that we are not getting a load of 20ft lengths of Spruce that would have needed to be stored in the house as the garage is too short!

And Stems? Well, of course, there’s only one required. After a couple of part days in Docs Den, I have got the jigsaw pieces to fit together nicely. It was tricky, and I was glad to have at hand this Record 311 shoulder plane.

It bears the signs of age, and injury. Its previous owner had dropped it and, being cast iron, it had cracked. Mike had got it repaired, by having the fractured ends braised.

It reminds me of a lovely man, who was a patient of mine for many years, and who generously gave me some of his shipwrighting tools when he heard I was doing the boat building course at IBTC. The repair speaks of the value he gave to this tool – and no doubt all of his tools. Tools that would have been collected during his apprenticeship, from meagre wages, and used for decades as he worked as a master craftsman at local yards including Vosper Thorneycroft.

Seems to me that there’s immortality too in well-loved, well-used tools, passed on for another to treasure and use!

Now, I have to make some long copper nails; drill the holes with some extra long 5mm drill bits I have bought; and fix it all together with Sikaflex (sealant/bedding/glue) and the roved nails.

As the Chinese proverb goes: “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” It’s great to be making the first steps at last.

A consultant colleague recently did me a favour. To express my gratitude to Steve, I gave him a bottle of wine and turned a bottle coaster to go with it.

I decided that we could do with a small garden shed to house garden tools. So, here is the result of my efforts, which involved stripping down several pallets to provide most of the wood I used (apart from the front and roof). After producing about 30 shiplap planks from the pallet wood, for the back and sides, it was a joy to cheat with TGV planks for the rest! I have put a 25mm hole in one of the sides, ready for a bird box to sit inside the shed – fingers crossed for a blue tits nest next year!

I know … I have lofted this dinghy before! Well, almost.

Having bought the Paul Gartside 10ft clinker dinghy plans, I lofted her on the garage floor last year. Then, there came a pause, initially, because I had some projects to do for friends; and then I rather lost confidence, having heard that the students at IBTC had run into some problems with the lofting/design.

Anyway, during a visit to the college a few months ago now, I realised that the issue they had had was a misunderstanding of one of the comments in the plans. Armed with that information, I felt confident in the design, and set about lofting the dinghy once more. Of course, doing it a second time around, I found that I was able to do a better job this time.

With the lofting completed, it was time to make some moulds. The five moulds represent a cross-section of the boat at intervals from bow to stern, and for a framework against which to plank the dinghy.

I have also made the strong-back, the trestled T-bar structure that the boat is built upon.

So, at last, it’s time to start the build.

Today, I cut the templates out of the Mylar and used them to cut the pieces for the stem:

Now, I need to clean up the opposing edges – which is tricky where a bench plane cannot be used – to get as near-perfect a fit as I can. Careful Stuart!!