Passing the time
With a bit of time on our hands, we’ve put together a list of projects, documentaries and podcast that we’re into. By no means conclusive, hopefully you’ll find a few little nuggets in here to help pass the time. Enjoy!
Grandfather
Subsistence farming documentary
In the current climate, it’s natural to review how we’re living our lives. This beautifully shot documentary is almost silent, with an air of tranquillity that is seldom found in an attention grabbing world.
It follows a subsistence farmer, through the seasons, giving an in-sight into how life once was and how (potentially) it could be. It’s well worth a look.
If you like this, then have a look at the rest of the videos by The Northmen. There’s a reason they’ve got 300K+ subscribers on Youtube. There’s an incredible that documents the building of a dug out canoe. Click here for more Northmen videos.
Skin on frame
Build your own canoe
Skin-on-frame is a quick & simple way of boat building that predates the Romans in the UK (even earlier in parts of Greenland) that’s having a resurgence today.
If you’re looking to get into a new project, or sport, these boats are a great introduction to ‘the water’. The finished articles are so light, you can easily lift them onto a roof-rack by yourself.
One of the pioneers in this resurgence of skin-on-frame is called Brian Schulz of ‘Cape Falcon’. He’s got loads of great videos that inspire you to get your chisels out! We’ve embedded a video below, but you can see all of the Cape Falcon kayak videos by clicking here.
If you’re hands-on and looking for a bit of a getaway, then I recently built a kayak on a 7-day course, with boat-builder Ant Mace of Shipshape, Bristol. You spend a week building a kayak or canoe from scratch at Ant’s workshop on Underfall Yard, in Bristol’s Historic Dockland. Ant does a little bit of prep-work, so when you turn up there’s a vessel in kit form that he then leads you through building. On the last day, Ant (a very experienced paddler) takes you out for a test sail on the historic waters of Bristol Harbour. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable experience start to finish… and you leave with your very own boat! To view more details on Ant’s the canoe courses, click here.
Podcasts
As recommended by 45rpm
We’re just getting into podcasts; a lot later than we probably ought to have!
No Dig Allotment
Books:
Norweigan wood stacking
Cabin Porn
Let my people go surfing
Business for punks