Tropic of Destiny: November 2017

I enjoy all kinds of woodworking, or working wood, actually. It is the cutting, sanding, carving, shaping, staining of pieces of wood. I used to think of the wood as material, like clay is material to pottery, but it’s different in that wood is a living thing. As I ventured further into this art form, I’ve discovered that the life of the wood is an integral part of the work, and working the wood in a way that honors its life produces the most beautiful and meaningful pieces.

Being new to woodturning, I was advised to start with practicing on green wood. This is wood that’s been freshly cut and not fully dried. This is when I began to understand a piece of wood, even after being cut, is still changing. Even years after a piece is finished, can still change shape with changes in humidity and temperature with the seasons, so now when I finish my pieces, I continue to think of them as continuing to have a life.

As this bowl dried the rim developed two opposite high points,
giving it a more oval, boat-like shape.

An interesting phenomenon when you turn a piece of green wood, is the change of shape that takes place over time after it’s finished. Turning a piece of wood on a lathe gives you a perfect circle, but the wood continues to dry and contract. The outside layers of the tree will contract differently than the core, so what you typically end up with is an oval bowl. Some bowls that are turned on a lathe are so oval, you would wonder, “how is this possible?”, but as my fellow woodturners describe the process, it’s the wood having it’s final say. You may be an artist, and you may have the ability to shape the wood, but nature will always make the finishing touches.

When I placed this piece of wood on the lathe,
I cut it so the knots would end up on the side.

Once I understood this, I began to give more thought to the decisions I was making starting with cutting the wood from the tree. The wood has a grain, knots and bug holes. Should I place the knot on the side, the intersection with the branch on the bottom, and what angle do I want to give the rim? And more importantly, if I want to cut the wood so the rim has a particular shape or angle, what will the wood want to impose on my work? I’d have to guess what that might look like on the finished piece and every time I watched a finished piece change over time, I would learn more about the life of trees.

To add a design on a finished piece with wood burning, you have to keep the same things in mind. I found that the structure of the cells in the grains of wood caused the burn to take very unevenly. If I tried to burn a straight line, across the grain, it would result in a bumpy line, making a deep burn where the cells were weak, and not burning at all where the cells are compact. The same is true when applying a stain, it will be darker where the cells are more porous, and you may not get your desired results. Again, I had to make sure my ideas complied with the will of the wood. It doesn’t work to impose a design on the wood that isn’t connected to the grains of it’s life.

I discovered that imposing a design that runs counter to the grain
of the wood just doesn't work. You have to consider the wood's desire.

I learned that I’m able to make more beautiful pieces by honoring the life of the tree. Allowing the natural edge tell the story of it’s structure and wood burning designs that fit into it’s grain. Before I burn, I look at the “scene” and think about what the tree is trying to tell me. Do the markings left by the ambrosia beetles look like drumlins of Boston Harbor, or feathers on a dreamcatcher? Is that big knot in the wood a burning sun on a prairie where horses run free, or the setting sun on a harbor where the last boats to come in are sailing?

I find it funny that with my choices, it's the bottom of the piece that's always the most beautiful to me.

When people are shopping for hand-crafted items, they often consider how much effort went into making that individual piece when deciding what they’re willing to pay. What people often don’t take into account are all the mistakes that were made on the journey to having the ability to make the piece that you admire. All the guesswork, trials and damaged pieces that were necessary to arrive at the skilled practice that produced the piece that you’re considering has as much merit as the reverence for the life of the tree.

Historic Fishermen's boats on the start line. I'm on the committee boat with the flags.

A couple of weeks ago, the 50^th Bonaire Regatta was celebrated on this small Caribbean Island of Bonaire. This exuberant annual festival was everything it promised and more. As a volunteer on the race committee, I had the best view of the races – on the committee boat at the start line, raising the flag to start the races.

This year, the Regatta had historical significance to the Bonairian culture and the families of the fishermen who continue the tradition of wooden boatbuilding. With the help of Budget Marine, funds were secured and a group of volunteers engaged to restore historical fishing boats to sail for the first time in many years. It’s significant because it was the local fishermen racing their fishing boats that started the regatta fifty years ago. Since then, the Regatta has grown into races for many types of boats from many countries, including kids sailing races, windsurfers, kite surfers and even micro boats. Over the years, events were added to the Regatta such as a parade of flags representing the many nations celebrating the event, a boat parade, kids activities, carnival rides, hundreds of street vendors and multiple stages set up for international music talent concerts. In the days leading up to the Regatta, waterfront seating and stalls were set up, people getting their boats ready, musicians practicing… the entire island was alive with excitement.

The shore race committee overlooking the kids boats

For several months, I had been volunteering for the Bonaire Historical Sailing Boat Project, a project to rebuild the fishermen’s boats and we had four sea-worthy boats ready for the regatta. Well, almost ready. The day before, they were still painting the boat “Papagayo”, and it wasn’t until the morning of the race that the mast was installed and it was put in the water. But it was a success, and they were off!

Papaguyo and her crew. This couple gave up their vacation plans to help restore the boat, and the owner gave them the honor of crewing in the race for their efforts.

Arantsa with Giovanni's American Flag ready to race.

For the regatta, I volunteered to be on the race committee, and it was an important job. There were over 100 races to be held over three days, and each boat had to be accounted for at the start as well as the finish. We had a team of 5 people on the committee boat, which was positioned at the very end of the start line, so we had a perfect view. There was little time for photos because we had to keep precise timing with the starting horn signals and the raising of the flags.

It was an interesting group of people, the man in charge, Edwin came over from Curacao to officiate at the race, and he managed a group of volunteers, most of whom had no experience. I had been on race committee before, and sailed many races, but none on the scale of this race. We had a Dutch and Bosnian couple, a kitesurfer, a local high school girl and our leader. Everyone on the boat spoke English, and everyone except myself spoke Dutch, we also had speakers of Papiamento, Spanish and Bosnian, so it was a very diverse group. Even though everyone spoke English, all the conversation was in Dutch, and it was frustrating but by the end of the three days, I believe I was able to understand a great deal of it!

The first race to kick off the regatta was the race for the fishermen’s boats. The boats were interesting because of their wooden construction, so they don’t have as much weight in the keel as modern boats. When the boats are put in the water, they put a dozen sixty pound lead weights in the bottom of the boat. It’s the crew’s job to move the weights around to keep an “even keel”.

In the months leading up to the regatta, I worked with a crew to restore the historic fishing boats, and my favorite boat was owned by our work leader, Jopi. It was named after a beloved girl in their family, Arantsa. His brother, Jovanni came from Oklahoma to skipper the boat in the race, and we painted a Bonairian flag and an American Flag on the side of the boat. I still remember the discussion about how many stars should be on the American flag as I was painting them; it was towards the end of the day on a Friday and everyone had too many beers to be able to count the stars, and we laughed about it for days. It was a proud moment for me when Arantsa crossed the start line to kick off the 50^th Bonaire Regatta.

The most impressive sailors of all were the kids. There were kids as young as five years old sailing in the regatta. There was a morning and an afternoon race every day and the kids were excellent sailors. They worked together with kindness and cooperation, earning a young girl an award for her efforts, coming in with a smile no matter what the result and always helping others.

Very young sailors excited and having lots of fun!

This young girl won an award for her exceptional sportsmanship.

I enjoyed immensely my time on the race committee, I especially enjoyed Edwin’s enthusiasm for the people racing their boats, shouting at them, “Success!” as they passed over the starting line. The sailors were a happy group, but all around town, you’d see smiles everywhere. With spectators on the benches along the shore, cheering on their friends and kids, every restaurant and bar offering their goods, and music playing all day and night long, there were happy people and kids, kids, kids everywhere!

If you love sailing or festivals, this is a great time to visit the island of Bonaire. Next year, I hope to be crew in the races, but if that doesn’t happen, I will very likely be on the start line again.