Louisville Magazine

JUL 2015

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

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LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 7.15 95 homeisrocksprings.com/lou on my chest. While chiseling a groove, I cut my hand, badly, and my blood splashes onto the seat. Te wood is thirsty and absorbent, and my blood will leave a stain. Te Inuits believe this inevitable bleeding helps the boat become part of one's soul. I don't know about all of that, but what I do know is that I can't be near my vessel without touching it and running my hands over its curves. On Wednesday and Tursday nights during "boat school," the other builders and I talk of the rivers and lakes we'll explore. Day 13 We take the frame outdoors and oil it repeat- edly. Every single passerby wants to know where I got it, and I reply at least a dozen times that I built this fair craft my own damn self. Te construction workers from high above the bridge give me thumbs-ups and high-fves. Te oiling makes the mahogany and sassafras more luxurious than I had ever thought possible. If the boat is alive, it is happy. I am near the end of my journey. Hillerich and Larsen check the kayak for fairness, go over the rough edges that would irritate the nylon fabric, or skin, we're about to put on. Te skinning is a three-person job, the fabric wetted and stretched like a drumhead over just fve points of contact, which reduces ag- itation and enables the boat to live as long as possible in its original form before needing new skin. I am not unaware of the meta- phor. A large upholstery needle whip-stitches the fabric to the skeleton, making invisible every beautiful dowel and knot. I'd asked my teachers if my son could help with the skinning, and I pass the needle to him so his hand will be part of the boat, knowing full well that someday I will no longer be here. I fgure I will see if his spirit can be with me when I take the boat to wherever it is I go when the time comes. Te Inuits speak of a "free soul," the one that travels in and out of you and extends beyond your body. Again, I don't really know about any of that, but I do know that my maker very well may look at me and ask me to account for my time on this beautiful planet. To which — just like in a game of "Have You Ever…?" — I can say I built a boat. I imagine he might ask me if I brought it with me, and, if the Inuits are not lying to me, I think that answer will be a resounding yes. I will run my hands over the skin of my kay- ak. "Look at how fair it is!" I will exclaim. "I built it myself!"

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