false 3228435 1 When Daniel Robb set out to rebuild a family sailboat that had been deteriorating for years, he couldn't have anticipated what he was getting into. Although Robb was a skilled carpenter, boatbuilding (and boat repair) required a specialized set of skills. And this wasn't just any boat; it was a Herreshoff 12 1/2, a classic wooden sailboat. Built especially for the coastal waters of New England, this little sloop had sailed for years out of the author's boyhood home in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, before being relegated to a quiet corner of a yard, no longer the focus of the family's summer. Restoring the sailboat was both an act of respect and an homage to a place and a way of life that are in jeopardy of disappearing.<P><I>Sloop</i> is the captivating story of Daniel Robb's education in boatbuilding, peopled by an eccentric cast of characters -- lumbermen, boatbuilders, and local artisans -- who are part of a changing and perhaps dying world. They tell Robb how to find the materials -- certain kinds of wood, fastenings, caulking, and canvas -- he'll need, which are increasingly hard to come by, and they educate him in the techniques of restoration, an all-but-lost art. Building and restoring wooden boats means an initiation into a world where life is lived simply, with respect for materials, for labor, and for the local waters.<P>A craftsman and environmentalist, Robb is a willing and able student, and although the restoration of the boat takes far more time and effort than he'd calculated, it is ultimately successful. After all Robb's struggles with quartersawn white oak, homemade steam boxes, bronze screws, copper rivets, andold mast hoops, the Herreshoff sails again -- and a dying art and a vanishing way of life remain alive and vibrant just a while longer.<P>By turns charming, meditative, and wonderfully quirky, <I>Sloop</i> is a paean to a sense of place and to old-fashioned values. 3262686 3 6 2008 Sloop: Restoring My Family's Wooden Sailboat--An Adventure in Old-Fashioned Values total:8|4:4|3:3|2:1| 8 27 16 4 3 0 false false Mon Apr 13 06:35:03 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 04:58:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 12:07:14 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 12:56:33 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Aug 20 16:39:14 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 16 03:49:04 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 16:39:14 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Wed Aug 19 07:08:44 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 07:08:57 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Sep 19 18:42:40 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 19 18:42:40 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Aug 13 13:28:25 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 13:28:25 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 31 07:18:43 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 07:18:43 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 19 13:33:52 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 13:33:52 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun May 31 08:09:51 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 06:36:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Apr 22 16:58:59 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 16:58:59 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 11 08:02:47 -0800 2008 Sun Aug 16 18:40:46 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Sep 15 07:40:37 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 15 07:40:53 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Sun Mar 15 14:05:19 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 08 16:18:55 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 15 14:05:19 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Aug 04 07:08:17 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 07:08:55 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Jan 05 05:39:17 -0800 2009 Thu Jul 10 05:40:12 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 05 05:39:17 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jun 16 09:44:39 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 09:44:39 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3228435