One of the best tools one can have to build any project is experience; unfortunately, when one is starting out and a beginner-builder, that's not a tool in one's box yet. We realised that we could help provide this experience by creating a video of our techniques and that we could share some of our experience with other builders. We put totgether a 3-and-a-half-hour video of the entire process of building our Weekender sailboat. From choosing lumber to sailing, and all the points between, this video covers a lot and we think it really can help builders complete their projects more easily. While the video covers our Weekender, it's also applicable to the other sailboats as well, since the construction techniques are the same in all.
We think the Weekender Video is fun as well as useful — It covers a lot of information and still remains easy-to-watch, at least that's our story!
The Weekender Video is 3 1/2 hours long so it comes on two DVDs. There are a total of thirty-three chapters split over the two DVDs! You can view the chapters in two ways:
Click Here or on the image above and you can view a video of the DVD Chapter Menus!
Click Here or on the image above and you can download the PDF file of the Chapter Menus for both DVDs!
We really tried to cover all the important parts of the Weekender project: from picking the lumber to sailing tips. Everything along the way, including tool-use secrets, assembly tricks, bondo-techniques, fibreglassing, painting caveats, sailmaking, varnishing, and rigging short-cuts.
The video also tackles the dynamics of project building: how to overcome "First-cut Fever" (the anxiousness preceeding your first steps into a project), how to keep momentum rolling through the stretch. and how to combat "Finishing Touch-Fever" (that hesitance to get the project out on the water and try it!) We've had a lot of builders send us notes over the years mentioning how they appreciated the video as a confidence-building tool to help them push through when they were unsure about their projects. We're really glad to hear it, as that was one of the big reasons we did the video!
The video also tackles the dynamics of project building: how to overcome "First-cut Fever" (the anxiousness preceeding your first steps into a project), how to keep momentum rolling through the stretch. and how to combat "Finishing Touch-Fever" (that hesitance to get the project out on the water and try it!) We've had a lot of builders send us notes over the years mentioning how they appreciated the video as a confidence-building tool to help them push through when they were unsure about their projects. We're really glad to hear it, as that was one of the big reasons we did the video!
Video Clips of the Weekender Home Boatbuilding DVD Set to be added here soon!
Keep watching this space...
Keep watching this space...
We'd love to add clips of builder's videos also, so please send us your links and/or video clips to share!
We first posted ProjectCam back in 1996! Back then, it wasn't so easy to watch video on the Web and we wanted to share the feel of the Weekender Boatbuilding Video (on VHS tapes back then!) We put 60 still frames from the video into a slide show which showed some of the important scenes from the building process. More than a bit dated now, but ProjectCam still shows the flavor and concept of what the video tries to share with our builders. We still think it's worthwhile and we hope you get a bit of nostaligic fun out of it as well!
Back to 1996 we go...
How To Use ProjectCam
ProjectCam is sequential presentation of 60 still frames from our Weekender How-To Video. It starts at the beginning with lumber selection, and progresses through the various stages of building, ending up with the Weekender sailing around in the bay. Each frame should take about twenty to thirty seconds to refresh, given normal conditions. The whole show will therefore take twenty to thirty minutes to complete. The little number at the bottom of each still photo is the frame counter, which gives you an idea of where in the video the picture appears. When you order a Weekender Video, it won't have these to get in the way of the action.
If you're using Netscape Navigator, the pages will automatically advance every twenty seconds, but if you're ready to go to the next picture sooner, click on the "NEXT" button. If you're using another program to view ProjectCam, use the "NEXT" control button to go forward whenever you are ready.
Anybody can use the control buttons to go to the "NEXT" picture, go back to the "LAST" picture, or "PAUSE" to see a picture in detail.
If you're using Netscape Navigator, the pages will automatically advance every twenty seconds, but if you're ready to go to the next picture sooner, click on the "NEXT" button. If you're using another program to view ProjectCam, use the "NEXT" control button to go forward whenever you are ready.
Anybody can use the control buttons to go to the "NEXT" picture, go back to the "LAST" picture, or "PAUSE" to see a picture in detail.
Our goal with ProjectCam is to provide a sort of project peep-hole through which visitors can watch a project going together before their very eyes. In this case, a Weekender sailboat. Perhaps you're curious about what's involved in a do-it-yourself project, maybe you just love to watch other people at work, could be the Zen of creation grabs you: whatever your reason, grab a chair and start the show!
