Overview

Lawrence Cheek decided that he had to build a boat. Not just any boat, but a beautiful wooden sail boat. This despite the fact that he barely knew how to sail and that he was the master of so few woodworking skills that it was frightening. ""The Year of the Boat"" is a memoir about what went on in that suburban garage; a roiling process of measuring, cutting, gluing and sanding that was punctuated with supreme satisfaction, utter frustration and plain bewilderment. From figuring out how to actually read a set of marine blueprints to learning the fine art of applying epoxy to getting the mast to stand up straight, this is a captivating adventure into the wilderness of doing it yourself. Building a boat turns out to be the antidote for chronic perfectionism (hence the boat's name, Far From Perfect).

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9781570616143

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Reviews

In one of the best written and most enjoyable boatbuilding books I've read--and I've read a few--author and journalist Larry Cheek provides the perfect blend of research and memoir. <br>-- Sail magazine (October 2008) <br> Full of both literal and metaphorical life lessons--like most good sailing books-- The Year of the Boat is also about much more. <br> --Joshua Colvin, Small Craft Advisor (Sept/Oct 2008) <br> The result is a beautiful little craft bluntly dubbed Far From Perfect, and a beautiful little book not just about the project but about life in all its leaky complications. <br> -- The Seattle Times, Sept. 14, 2008 <br> The narrative ebbs and flows between Cheek's work on the boat and musings on everything from the history of pleasure craft to his beef with archaic boatbuilding conventions, the impact of his woodworking mistakes on the environment, and man's place in nature, which serve as welcome context to Cheek's own path of personal growth. <br> -- Seattle Magazine, June 2008<br>

There is the challenge of making something oneself, then there is the struggle with perfectionism and its tendency to leach pleasure from the enterprise. Cheek's writing style is apt: somewhere between pur practical advice from lessons learned the hard In one of the best written and most enjoyable boatbuilding books I've read--and I've read a few--author and journalist Larry Cheek provides the perfect blend of research and memoir. -- Sail magazine (October 2008) Full of both literal and metaphorical life lessons--like most good sailing books-- The Year of the Boat is also about much more. --Joshua Colvin, Small Craft Advisor (Sept/Oct 2008) The result is a beautiful little craft bluntly dubbed Far From Perfect, and a beautiful little book not just about the project but about life in all its leaky complications. -- The Seattle Times, Sept. 14, 2008 The narrative ebbs and flows between Cheek's work on the boat and musings on everything from the history of pleasure craft to his beef with archaic boatbuilding conventions, the impact of his woodworking mistakes on the environment, and man's place in nature, which serve as welcome context to Cheek's own path of personal growth. -- Seattle Mag

In one of the best written and most enjoyable boatbuilding books I've read--and I've read a few--author and journalist Larry Cheek provides the perfect blend of research and memoir. <br>-- Sail magazine (October 2008) <br> Full of both literal and metaphorical life lessons--like most good sailing books-- The Year of the Boat is also about much more. <br> --Joshua Colvin, Small Craft Advisor (Sept/Oct 2008) <br> The result is a beautiful little craft bluntly dubbed Far From Perfect, and a beautiful little book not just about the project but about life in all its leaky complications. <br> -- The Seattle Times, Sept. 14, 2008 <br> The narrative ebbs and flows between Cheek's work on the boat and musings on everything from the history of pleasure craft to his beef with archaic boatbuilding conventions, the impact of his woodworking mistakes on the environment, and man's place in nature, which serve as welcome context to Cheek's own path of personal growth. <br> -- Seattle Mag

Author Information

Lawrence W. Cheek is the architecture critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. His work has appeared in Los Angeles Times Magazine, Coastal Living, and American Heritage, and he is the author of several travel books. He lives in Issaquah, WA.

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