Third Week Already! at Southend

Great progress is being made on the boat since we visited last week. The lads where putting the third plank onto the boat, as the larch planks are put onto the boat they get narrower and are fitted into the knees/ribs .

Knee/Rib sanded down so the plank fits snugly

The planks at the stern end twist and these are very awkward planks to work on. The lads have great patients because the process is tricky by clamping the plank on and off until it fits properly a great amount of skill is required because they judge it by eye.

Stern

Twisted Plank will be riveted and screwed on

You can really get a sense of the size of the boat with the planks going on. The lads are very clear in explaining how the boat is made I find it very interesting as I wouldn't be someone who likes to makes things.

We all had a bit of a chat about the mature students in the college and a number of us talked about how we progressed to getting to college through P.L.C and V.T.O.S courses. The time goes very quick when we are there I would like to visit more but our schedule is quite full during the week.

As I'm not originally from Wexford and wouldn't know the town very well, it's great that I can have an opportunity to see what is happening in a community in the town, rather than just knowing the student community.

I've also realised that I have forgotten in many ways what community is as I have lived in a number of counties in Ireland over the last twenty years and I have never really been fully integrated into any of them, through my own doing I must add. But when I think back to when I was younger and the people in the area that I knew and seen every day even though they weren't friends. This project brings those memories back to me because people know each other in the area. So by moving around community became a distant memory.

At one time I was involved in doing things in the community in Dublin and I enjoyed it but for some reason when I left I drifted completely and with the drifting came isolation. So on a lighter note it's great to see people out interacting and talking to each other... so looking forward to next week's visit if I don't get to visit earlier.