| This is an important incantation. Whenever I've reached the
limit of my skills or patience (it's pretty much a horserace) I wave my
hands over the boat and in a deep, rumbling, trembling whisper I invoke
the spirits of my ancestors, none of whom were boatbuilders, and I speak
those awesome words of power: workboat finish. And with that mighty spell
the next step, whatever it might be, comes into being; the task I was struggling
with is closed tightly against further toil and the new task is begun at
THAT VERY MOMENT. The very stars and planets could not move me to grind
another seam, the earth herself could not force me to further sanding, nay
even the ocean's very will could not get an extra coat of finish laid on,
for the mighty words have been spoken: workboat finish.
Woodworkers shudder and shipwrights cringe, but the raw primal force of impatience and the finely tuned hand of incompetence have come together, and no apprentice could do less well. Yea, there is a terrible secret to the "workboat finish" and I will share it with you, if you will swear on whatever is handy to use it only when you feel like it. The secret is as simple as mind over matter. It is this: If you don't mind, it don't matter.
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