A few years ago I wrote a blog post on clamps. Boatbuilders use a lot of clamps as they piece together the wood. A boat is filled with a lot of complex curves. Often a narrow piece of wood has to be curved in multiple directions at the same time. And, since boats have such beautiful curves in their shapes, it is natural for boat builders to want to use additional curves in the decoration of their boats.

My current project is a 19’ sea kayak. Nick Schade draws beautiful and functional boats. This one is long and narrow and graceful - an expedition kayak that will be suitable for the open ocean, though I suspect that the biggest water it will ever see will be the somewhat more peaceful waters of the south Puget Sound. I’ve got three distinct colors of wood and am working with a design idea that has the colors braided across the deck of the boat. The hull of the boat was a bit more straightforward with straight lines running the length of the boat, but I wanted to do something more dramatic with the deck. After all, that’s the part of the boat I see when I paddle, and the part others see when they look at the boat. With the beautiful wood that I have, it seems appropriate to come up with a design that challenges me a bit.

Most of wooden canoe and kayak building involves cold moulding. Narrow strips have quite a bit of ability to be bent. For this boat, the strips are about 3/4 of an inch by 3/8 inch. However, this boat has a few curves that require putting the strips into a steam box to soften the wood fibers before the strip is put into its place.

Holding those strips of wood in place requires a combination of tools and techniques. I use masking tape to hold the pieces together while the glue dries when the joint is short and small enough for the tape to hold. I also have cut small pieces of wood that can be clamped to the forms to hold the strips right where I want them. The forms for this kayak are one foot apart, so the full length of the boat is made up of 18 forms plus special forms to hold the hand-carved stems in place at the ends of the boat. At some forms it takes a couple of clamps to hold a single strip.

I own a lot of clamps. I have buckets of c-clamps and additional buckets of spring clamps. I’ve been collecting clamps for years, adding a few here and there when I make a trip to the hardware store. There is a critical formula that applies to several things in my life: n + 1. “N” stands for the number of a particular item that you have, say canoes, or kayaks, or, in this case, spring clamps. The number you need is always n + 1, that is one more than the number you have.

I have spring clamps in 1”, 2” and 3” sizes, but for the kind of work I do, a 2” clamp is the most desirable. I have a 5 gallon bucket of 2” clamps. Last night as I worked on the boat, the bucket was empty and I found myself examining the boat forms looking for places where I could remove one clamp to use in another place. At this stage, the boat doesn’t look much like a boat at all - just a forest of spring clamps attached to forms with a few strips of wood.

However, I keep picturing the finished boat in my mind. I’m months away from that point and there are a lot of steps that have to be completed before it will be a boat. Like other woodworking projects there are days of sanding after all of the pieces are put in place and the glue dries. Then there is the process of finishing, which takes about six coats of varnish. And the boat will need to be outfitted with bulkheads, hatches with removable covers, coaming around the cockpit, a seat, footbraces, and more. Each item will have to be fitted, trimmed until it is just right. After I dry fit the piece, it is time to get out the glue and put it into just the right place. When the glue dries it’s time for sand paper. Wood has a distinctive grain, so which direction it is sanded makes a difference. I use 4 or 5 different grits of sandpaper, starting with coarse papers and getting progressively finer as the project continues. Once I get to the varnish stage, all of the sanding is by hand - a power sander would be too rough on the finish.

And, as I have said, all of that is months away. Right now, it is cut and fit and then get out a sharp knife to trim a piece. Each little piece has to be put in one at a time and clamped as the glue dries and the wood gets used to its new shape.

The trick to building a boat is being able to see beyond what is currently present. I can study the plans and imagine what it will look like. And, with the boat at its current stage, I can look past all of those clamps. The clamps are not the boat. They are not the goal. They are a way to get from a stack of wood to a finished boat. As much as I enjoy working with tools, and as many tools as I have, the day of celebration when I launch the boat is a day when the tools are all put away.

The goal of all of my tools is to be finished with the work and allow the boat to float on its own.

We do a lot of that in the church. We work and nudge and hold up the institution with the dream of the day when it will stand on its own in its own glory. In the meantime, we need a little support.

Maybe it is a good thing to be a pastor who owns a bucket of clamps.

I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. There is a contact me button at the bottom of this page. If you want to share my blog a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.