12-9-21, ACTUALLY RECONSTRUCTING MY JOURNEY WITH MODEL BOATS ORIGINALLY IN ANOTHER BLOG THAT WAS CLOSED. LOVE AFFAIR WITH MODEL BOATS ---------------------------- I WAS PROBABLY 8 (1958) WHEN MY WE SPENT SUMMER IN CEBU CITY WITH MY COUSINS. THE APARTMENT HAD A SMALL "POOL" AT THE BACK TO HOLD WATER PUMPED FROM THE GROUND. A NEIGHBOR HAD THIS LITTLE TOY BOAT BARELY 8"LONG BUT BATTERY OPERATED. THAT GOT ME. WHEN I RETURNED HOME TO ZAMBOANGA CITY, THAT IMAGE OF A MODEL BOAT RUNNING IN POOL WAS STUCK IN MY MIND. THEN I SAW A TOY BOAT THAT WAS NOT BATTERY OPERATED BUT FRICTION DRIVEN. I BOUGHT IT. A STRING WAS PULLED TO SPIN A FLYWHEEL. I REMEMBER I WENT TO A NEARBY RIVER ALONE AND RUN IT BY THE BANK. THE FIRST HAND CARVED BOAT I BUILT. ---------------------------------- IN 1962, OUR FAMILY MOVED FROM CANELAR-MORET TO A NEW HOUSE ALONG CANELAR STREET. MY MOTHER WAS THE SCHOOL LIBRARIAN AT BURLEIGH SCHOOL AND EARLIER, I CHANCED UPON AN AMERICAN BOOK, "BOATS,KITES, AND AIRPLANES" CIRCA 1935, PUBLISHED IN MINNEAPOLIS. I SAW THE BUILD-IT-YOURSELF BOAT. I WAS HOOKED. I ASKED MY DAD TO ASK HIS FRIENDS TO GET ME A LOG AND MY DEAR PAPA OBLIGED. HE MUST HAVE UNDERSTOOD ME. THE LOG ARRIVED, 12" IN DIAMETER, 36" LONG. ANDRENALINE RUSH. I WENT TO WORK. I WAS 12 BUT I ALREADY HANDLED HAMMER AND CHISEL, THE STADARD SAW, FILES,HACKSAW, TRI-SQUARE, THANKS TO MY "LOLO ASIONG" WHO WAS HALF JAPANESE AND HAND MADE ALL SORTS OF THINGS FOR US. BIG KITES, HUNTING KNIFE, FISHNG GEAR, BASKETS. I WATCHED HIM MELT LEAD. HE WAS A CRAFTSMAN. THE FIRST STEP WAS TO SQUARE THE LOG. I DO NOT RECALL EXACTLY HOW I DID IT BUT AM SURE I USED HAND SAWS. I FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTION IN THE BOOK. I CUT TEMPLATES TO MEASURE THE HULL AS I SHAPED IT. LOTS OF RASP WORK, PLANING AND SANDING. I REMEMBER I HAS A SPOKE SHAPE PLANER. THEN I BORROWED PLANERS AND CHISELS FROM CARPENTERS BUILDING OUR HOUSE. TO GOUGE THE LOG, I USED CHISEL. IT TOOK A LONG TIME BUT I PERSISTED. AT THAT TIME IWAS MOVED TO THE JESUIT SCHOOL, ATENEO, TO START HIGH SCHOOL. HERE IS THAT BOAT WHICH I KEPT TO THIS DAY. MY LINUS BLANKET. MY BOOK IS THE ORIGINAL, HARDBOUND,CIRCA 1935.