Help Wanted
The Aussie Tiki 38 Gleda under construction. We're doing the same in Bridgehampton, NY.
Following on to Ethan’s post from earlier today about the dire job market, and Tod Kelly’s about asking the right hiring questions, I thought I’d let you all know that The Montauk Catamaran Company is hiring.
From what I’ve been able to glean on the internet and from asking some inappropriate questions of some of my Twitter-friends, I reckon the job pays about as well or better than adjunct professor at a state college, or an associate editor at a smarty-pants magazine (not a strong statement), and with a similar level of job security, which is to say – none.
By contrast the job has no particular education or skills requirement. Experience with wood-working would be good, but not required. Experience with fiberglass and resin would be good, but not required. A person who went deeply into debt to ready themselves to apply for this position has probably made a mistake.
Mostly what we’re looking for is someone (or two or three) who is a quick study, a diligent worker, and has a keen eye for detail. An applicant who could show they were a whiz with drywall compound and spackle would be an instant hire. Someone with old-school auto-body repair skills would probably find a place on the crew.
But if you have none of these skills, do not despair.
If you’re smart, if you can follow directions, and if you can show up when you say your going to show up, even when the job turns out not to be as fun/exciting/brag-worthy as you had initially hoped, we can probably train you into some measure of usefulness in short order.
I can’t guarantee that any of what you might learn in our boat-shop is likely to be transferable to a “real job”, and most especially not transferable into the (much ballyhooed) knowledge economy. Wax on/wax off, grasshopper. (On the other hand, a good friend of my leveraged his experience as an Alaskan halibut fisherman into a sweet position at Time.com, so you never know!)
On the other hand, it’s several months of steady work, indoors, at a reasonable rate of pay, and working for a good boss.
And when you’re done, and we launch Mon Tiki, and she floats upright, and schoons majestically, you can say “I built that.”
All earnest inquiries seriously considered. Click here for more information.
The Tiki 38 Metheny underway.
I have trouble with the comparatively easy task of fixing a broken window, so I would be an awful hire. But I have to confess the lure of “I built that!” to such a thing of beauty gives me chills.Report
My first boat was a Bolger Teal, which came together on my patio over a weekend in 1999, and which a named for one of my wife’s cats, Lil’Winnie.
Our first outing was my wife, who was quite pregnant with our first daughter, and our dog, a Newfoundland, all gliding across Lake Montauk in a boat I had made with my own two hands.
Given the ease of the build, the vast feeing of satisfaction was overwhelmingly unearned, but vastly enjoyable none the less.Report
Do you have any experience building river boats? I’ve always wanted to build my own dory. Tips/suggestions/advice?Report
Btw, I should add that I haven’t commented on some of these posts because I’m awestruck by both the size and coolness of the project. This is some really awe-inspiring stuff!Report
First:
The thing that’s really cool about boat building is that all the hard work is already done for you. On this 38 foot cat, every part is specified down to the millimeter, both for size and for where it aligns with each adjoining part. All you have to do is follow the plans. (By contrast, making film is like making a (big) boat where you have a handful of sketches on a napkin, and then you make the plans as you build the boat. Harrowing!)
RE: River dories.
I lived in Oregon and spent a lot of time on the Rogue, Umqua, and MacKinzie rivers. These boats are characterized by a lot of rocker for quick manuevering and a lot of bearing/flair forward for lots of reserve buoyance going through rapids. It’s a very distinctive design, evolved to where/how it’s used. This is one of the very coolest things about boat design, far more variety of uses/conditions, so much bigger variety of designs as compared to (for example) things that run on paved roads.
Any way, the design is *extremely* well suited to plywood/epoxy/glass or aluminum panel construction, and plywood/epoxy/glass panel construction is really easy to learn, and makes light, strong, seaworthy boat. (Mon Tiki is plywood/epoxy/glass). Start here:
http://www.dhdriftboats.com/driftBoatPlans.htmlReport
David, any chance you have any thing to do with ultralight trikes? I’m planning on going out west to buy one and then flying it back here in Michigan. Very excited-somehow boats and these flying machines seem to intersect. Just curious.Report
David, thanks for the link. I’ve been drooling over the photos for a while now, plotting and scheming for first foray. I like the little drift boat design a lot. It’s a very sexy vessel.Report
Consider this:
Before we bought our house I had never handled a circular saw. Through boat building I have gradually built up a set of skills and tools that not only allow me to build boats, but have also allowed me to replace doors and windows on our house, cut holes in walls and install new doors and windows, rip out to the studs and re-build both bathrooms including all plumbing and wiring, rip out to bare walls and rebuild our kitchen, including everything except the fabrication and installation of the countertop. Aside from that countertop, the only work we’ve ever paid to have done on our house was a new roof and the installation of a new furnace.
If you have any of these skills/tools already, you are already way way ahead of where I started. If you don’t, then this isn’t just your first boat you’re consideration; it’s the first step into a new relationship with your possessions.Report
Who’s doing your upholstery? I do an excellent job of piped box cushions. Buttoned or unbuttoned.Report
Most of the upholstery is down in the cabins, which are not public spaces on the boat in her roll as a daysailer, so cushion-making (buttoned or unbuttoned) is down on the list of priorities.
Sailrite makes very excellent sail kits for almost any boat, including the Wharram Tiki line, and sewing from one of their kits saves quite a bit of money. If someone on the crew is handy with needle and thread, and time permits, we’ll probably sew our own.Report
That there is one sweet lookin lady.Report
Man, if this were two years from now, I’d totally be there.Report
If this project goes well, there will be more. Stay in touch!Report
Stupid question:
How are you going to get her out of that building? The door don’t look big enough 🙂Report