With the wind on Sydney Harbour gusting out of the WNW at 35 knots the only option this morning was to work inside ...
... with the enthusiastic assistance of a not-quite 4-year-old apprentice carpenter
(who is demonstrating a competent style).
Peeling off long curls of aromatic cedar and huon pine with the block plane is a mesmeric activity.
When the blade is sharp and the block plane is in the groove it's a very enjoyable process.
Standing back for a moment to observe the tapering form of the main paddle from side-on.
On the way back home - an incidental and brilliant display of indigenous flora, glowing in the early Spring sunshine.
Drafting the profiles of the paddle ends onto laminated spotted gum blanks.
A visual test fit of the paddle end piece and the paddle shaft.
The connection between the two pieces will be by way of a concealed mortice.
Rather than replicate the Inuit paddle with its squarish end profile (designed for breaking through floe ice) the design of this paddle's end profile is an interpretation of the small Eora hand paddle ...
Image (by Lesueur ~ 1802) of Cadigal people using a narewang (paddle) in their nawi (canoe) on Sydney Harbour.
