The Mill Creek 15 begins.

Two sheets of 4 mm okoume plywood, to be cut into four strips each, later to be scarfed into blanks for what the plans term bilge and sheer panels.

Friend doubts ability to saw straight lines. With some merit, initially.

Squat with eye on line, watching the vertical plane, directing the sawyer to move shoulder, elbow, wrist and saw in the same plane. Hand drifts back towards the hip, the kerf curves slightly in the same direction. Notice the eye is located vertically somewhere between hip and line; direct the eye into the same plane as the the rest of the sawing apparatus. Not yet working together as a unified whole, not working strongly, but progressing. Body memory will come.

Slowly the kerf grows longer. Slowly too, it becomes straighter.

Sawyer is nervous but with progress sees that the kerf is nearly straight. Easily “close enough for gummit work,” or, more accurately, for this stage in the process.

Get six of the eight panels cut; two more to go. Maybe cut the bottom panels next. Then the scarfs. A long ways yet to go, but it’s a start.

And it seems the sawyer believes just a little bit more now than when we began.