After the first week of Senior Project, I am really enjoying my project and the experience of it. For the most part, the plan I have set out to complete during my project is on track. Coming into the project I did not have a clear goal as to what specifically I wanted to accomplish. But in the first few weeks, I have figured out and set timelines for the few projects I would like to complete in terms of boat work. My dad and I have set out to sand down and revarnish all of the wood on the boat, scrape off and repaint the steering pedestal, peel off the coats of paint on the hull, and, finally, get the boat ready for sale. While these goals may alter in the future, it is much easier to work towards these set milestones rather than just “fixing” the boat. Having the goals in mind has enabled us to outline a clear schedule/timeline for the project as it involves traveling back and forth about two hours each way.
As for the other parts of my project, I have enjoyed each of them as well, with slight modifications. For the community services aspect of the project, I have spent my time doing beach clean-ups at local beaches. My original plan was to somewhat emulate the work of the Eastern Long Island Surfriders Foundation, which tracks and documents each piece of trash they collect, helping them gain a better understanding of the type of trash that ends up on the beaches. While this type of documentation is incredibly helpful and insightful to the work of the organization, it is not sustainable for one person to do it on their own. I’ve altered this part of my project by documenting on average what I seem to collect the most and what category it fits into like COVID-related trash, small plastics, or building/car/boat parts. As for the art part of my project, my original plan seems to be the one I will follow at the moment. So far I have shot one roll of film for my project and hope to shoot another or even two more in the coming weeks. I plan to develop a series of them for my end result. Additionally, I will probably end the project with 2 or 3 final watercolor pieces.
After this first week of the project, I think that my expectations have become a little more realistic for the project given the time frame and amount of work I plan to do. All of the boat maintenance I thought I would complete in the beginning/ creation of the project may be done by the end of it. This is just due to the amount of time my dad and I have to work on it and the physical limitations of the work that can be done by two people on a thirty-foot sailboat. Even though I may not complete as much as I had planned, I think by completing my new goals I will be happy with the end result of my project.