The many different hands who have helped build it, and the individual trees that make up its bones - he can tell you which ones he climbed as a kid and how they were harvested, including the first batch he felled with his grandfather. When he marvels at what the Arabella has become, Denette said what he treasures most are all the stories the ship already has to tell. There is much work to be done, but the Arabella is already something to behold as it nears completion, hulking with lumber, nearly every inch of it from trees that once lived on the farm, all funded through a modern form of “busking,” as Denette describes it. Advertising and merchandise sales grew, as did the subscriber base, and out of the nearly 3 million people who watched that video came a stable audience that supported the project through donations, merchandise sales, and never missing a video, something that took on added significance during the early days of the pandemic when watching the steady progress on the boat brought a soothing assurance. “If we can inspire you, convince you to follow along and help us out a little,” Denette wrote on the original webpage, laying out his gamble, “then maybe, just maybe, we can leave our jobs and build full time.”īuilding the boat, and the audience, happened slowly until January 2018, when the YouTube algorithm decided people might enjoy watching Denette pour 4.5 tons of lead from a homemade melting pot to make the ballast keel, the heavy counterweight on the bottom of the boat. I look forward to being with my human pretty much 24/7 and can’t wait to mark up the beautiful wood decks with my nails.From the outset - the first tree and video were cut in January 2016 - Denette documented his progress on YouTube, first with the help of a friend and soon with a full-time video editor in Fundis, paying him out of pocket with what Denette made as a route-setter at a climbing gym. I am excited for Arabella! Catching flying fish as they jump over the boat at night sounds fun as does barking at dolphins. That machine is terrifying! IT YELLS AS IT EATS! I am pretty fearless, except for when the vacuum cleaner attacks. I have fought coyotes and gone into caves to battle raccoons. My favorite activity is chasing furry woodland creatures! I danced with my first moose when I was 10 months old and boogied with my first bear when I was two. I am happiest when I am with my human, in the mountains, on a river, or flopped down by the wood stove. The man I was supposed to live with in Norway did not want a disfigured dog Steve did not care so I went to live with him. When I was a puppy I was terribly behaved and my mom nipped off the last 1/3 of my tail, which is how I ended up in the USA living with Steve. I am a West Siberian Laika who originally hails from just outside of Oslo, Norway. Helen Keller said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” It’s been far too long since he’s had a daring adventure he’s ready for something big. He says the longer he’s sedentary the hotter the fire burns for travel and adventure. He has led 28-day wilderness courses, guided rock climbing and mountaineering in Yosemite, patrolled the Appalachian Trail, traveled miles through underground caves, paddled Class IV white water in an open canoe, and kayaked in big seas. He gained deep experience traversing the wilder parts of our world on his own two feet, or by canoe, kayak, skis, and snowshoes. Steve attended Unity College in Maine, where he learned that he thrives on adventure. He feels very fortunate to have learned an immense amount from his family, and his love and respect for the natural world was a direct consequence of that upbringing, as is his love of woodworking and drive for self reliance. Raised on a small farm in Western Massachusetts, he was surrounded by three older generations.
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