Traditional Boat Building | Returning Old Skills to The Highlands of Scotland

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[@marnock951]

The editing makes this unintentionally hilarious

[@noctismortis7349]

I think it was pretty intentional

[@MB-js6kb]

As a traditional boatbuilder it's good to see people still buildiing boats.

[@Ralphwhy]

why does the editing make me feel like a Skyrim drunk?

[@mathesonwoodcraft5774]

I play a lot of Skyrim, very drunk. Interesting that this has come through in my production methods.

[@Ralphwhy]

@@mathesonwoodcraft5774 Haha, beautiful boat man!

[@jonyshaffer8078]

The best kind of drunk.

[@thecapacitor1395]

Editing is like a fine art. You see this boat builder and his tools? He doesn't hack away at the wood with every tool at his disposal, he uses them wisely and most importantly he knows when to stop, otherwise he can chisel too deep or saw too far. Editing is much the same, only difference is that your tools are keyframes, masks and timelines. Use them wisely and know when to stop xD Otherwise cool video 👍

[@HipposHateWater]

This can be either a brutal roast, or extremely informative and helpful advice depending on who's on the receiving end.

[@piccalillipit9211]

That was very well written...

[@gcvrsa]

"Be proud of where you are. And if you're not, then make it so." Words of true wisdom. Should probably keep the tartan, shortbread, and whisky, though. I quite fancy all three. :D

[@mateoandrews7609]

The editing was a tad bit strange, made it hard to focus, but apart from that, the content was pretty good.

[@alaskankare]

yeah the rowing bit at the beginning made me a little seasick lol but at least they were artistic. maybe that was the intent.

[@mathesonwoodcraft5774]

I'm a strange human, with a weird sense of humour. I entirely encouraging feedback in all senses of my work. So in particular, what were the areas I could have tidied up? -to make it flow more appeasingly. I'm aware the entire piece is rough around the edges and excluding a handful of shorter videos, this is maybe the 3rd (feature length) video I've produced, for use of a better... And it was entirely my first big jump into the world of audio editing, a side of producing I had but dipped my toes in. To put it short, time ran out. I could've worked on it for hundreds of hours more. Tom kind of let me have at it, which really shows a level of trust and is telling of his character. He's a cool guy and I can see more collaborations in the future, so any and all feedback will ultimately produce a better experience for all of us.

[@mathesonwoodcraft5774]

@@alaskankare *smiles sadistically* Yeah the rowing scene in particular was pointed out by Tom as being a bit disorienting. The conversation went a little like this- Tom- "...the zooming on the rowing section actually gave me some motion sickness, haha." John- "We're on a boat, the viewers are on the boat!" Tom_ "It might make for a more chill experience, if the footage were more stable." John- "PART OF THE CREW, PART OF THE SHIP!" . . . In the end, upon re-watching I agree. It ought to have been less drastic. But I was a way way down the line of exports, my SSD was considering divorcing me for what I was putting it through and ultimately, time ran out.

[@mateoandrews7609]

@@mathesonwoodcraft5774 it's alright, I get it, editing gets very confusing. I started studying video and audio editing this year and my videos are a garbled mess... The main thing was the amount of sway and zooms. If you want to make it more cinematic, stay away from the zooms. The camera pans were good, just too numerous, to make it less tiresome, spread it out. The overplaying and fading ina nd out of scenes was a good use. No complaint there. But the audio mixing was quite weird. At the beginning, for example, when Tom is making his intro speech, the hammering suddenly blasts out of nowhere. There are a few things like that across the video. Perhaps if the audio is lowered, then raised, and then lowered back down, it could make it all the more easy on the viewer. Apart from those things, the video was good. On a side note, I felt like I was watching a comedy video, which, as you said you had a sense of humor, maybe it was intensional. In that case, it worked. Also, the way you speak, man it feels like I was watching the video in 2x speed! I want to know how you do it XD No, but seriously, the video was good and I really liked the boat info and background. The black-and-white animation of the ancient vessel was really good. I hope the criticism helped, but hear me out: If you enjoyed making it, and enjoyed the result personally, nevermind critiques like the ones in the comment section here. Keep doing awesome stuff and enjoy yourself. Cheers!

[@mathesonwoodcraft5774]

@@mateoandrews7609 That's some real insight you've given me there, thanks for taking the time to be so thorough. The boat animation was a personal favourite of mine, another crash course- in my future productions I'm going to be doing a lot of them, a literal breakdown of a boat. In whatever episode, documenting the final build design of the Skiffs I'm raising money for, I would like to be able to create a frame by frame 'exploded drawing' of the boat. And audio man, don't get me started. I know I need educated on it, because I can hear every- single- mistake and I'm just not at the point yet where I can fix it economically of time. -it's a bit of a frustration, one day when I come to understand EQ, you'll find a thing that I've made and hopefully be like, 'damn, he learned. He learned so hard.' And critique goes as far as how well it's executed. To get to where I want to be, I need to hear what feedback is given. And even in the event of harsh feedback, if it's executed well I welcome it. Such as the guy below who simply said "Someone please shoot the editor" That one gave me a real chuckle. Thank you for the enjoyment.

[@northernembersoutdoors1045]

Old school traditional craft, great to see it alive and well, nice one.

[@kennymonty8206]

This is the content! This is what we want.

[@brumbybailey6599]

This makes me so happy! Excellent stuff, lads! That is a great and beautiful vision that we all need the world over.

[@lancelaxton6652]

I love the boat design. Incredible. He's got an eye for aesthetics.

[@ossian1937]

Small world... Plockton High School, where the “Am Bàta” project was realised and continues to this day, is about 300 yards from my house. On another note, if anyone is interested in the Gaelic terminologies relating to boat building, weather and navigation, including constellations , fishing (hand lines, rods and nets), as well as Gaelic lore relating to the sea and a glossary of Gaelic sea terms (mostly from Lewis), I can recommend a bi-lingual book called “Muir is Tìr” by Seòras Chaluim Sheòrais - George MacLeod and published by Acair, which appropriately, is the Gaelic word for an anchor. Great film by all involved and since this is more or less in the next Glen over from me I’ll be taking a closer interest. 🙂

[@averylividmoose3599]

He's so charismatic and the whole set up and the editing and just the interactions were hilarious

[@buskingkarma2503]

I love your channel! I'm English,but been living up here in Scotland in a small village in Ayrshire with my Scottish wife and family for about 30years,and I love it!

[@miked4152]

Very inspiring my friends. I hope he can sell more then he can produce to where he has to get more help and create more jobs for people out there. 😁👍

[@e.macdonaldoutdoors7825]

Water and the sea are in our blood! Thank you for this look at the history and importance of traditional boats and boat building in the Highlands and Islands. Vital to centuries of transport and lively hood of the Gaelic culture! Great! More please! Fascinating and a good tie-in to skills used for camping and thriving around lochs and the sea. Suggestion: The Grimsay Boat Shed (Ronald John MacLean - Director) out on the Outer Isles (Benbecula and Griomasaigh/Grimsay). The traditional and historic Grimsay Boat..."Never Broken in the Sea"!

[@jaymiewerner482]

Makes me want to "come home" to Scotland and become one with the land. But I think I'm too old for that now, I'll just have to settle for becoming one with the land where I find myself - or try to. The boat is beautiful and the scenery mystic and majestic at the same time. Really wish I'd been born in Scotland, it will always be my spiritual home.

[@gnollman]

Man, that's a beautiful little water craft he's built there.

[@PaulDeFitter]

fantastic project, happy to back him : )

[@mathesonwoodcraft5774]

thank you very much :)

[@josephr9551]

The boat and the landscape is just so beautiful. Scotland looks a lot like Maine, where I proudly live, except that Maine has far more trees (90% of Maine's landmass is covered in forests). Thank you for producing this video!

[@lukasmakarios4998]

Love your land, and the culture of your ancestors. Regardless of the current politics. Preserve and protect it for the future.

[@mattildahubbardo]

beautiful boat beautiful people.

[@codybaker1255]

I’m an American man whose of Scottish decent, and I found your channel because of my lineage, and a recent interest in it. And I subscribed to you because I want to see what Scottish Culture is, and I want to see a revitalization of it. I wish, with every fiber in my being that I could donate, however, I am, (as of yet) unemployed. I’ll send my best prayers to you Fandabi Doni, and you too Matheson Woodcraft.

[@howler6490]

That is 1 braw wee boat.It looks ideal for plootering aboot and gannin' intae wee quate sea lochs an inlets.Wee bit fishing,walkin', climbing.Aye,ye can even ca' it Dignity. Grand film an craic lads,pure majic.

[@dylanodoherty9702]

Shed a couple tears at the end there, not going to lie. Thank you for making these videos :)

[@garysalmon1519]

It's great to see the old skills saved and brought back to life, more please!

[@plainsimple442]

Fandabi, Enjoyed the vid very much. I had a traditional 14 foot Moosabec Reach boat built in the State of Maine, USA for the same reasons. Circ. 1850. Images are my boat. Moosabec Reach boat - Bing

[@j.t.leavell226]

I would love to build a Birlinn at some point and visit Scotland. Cheers from the USA!

[@johngallant1629]

I’ve always had a fascination with the old ways,that’s why I build bows,& I’ve always wanted to make a boat by hand,keep up the good work!! & as a (Catholic,that loves hunting,& fishing)I loved the talk about maintaining & managing the environment & this world God gave us.

[@alasdairmackintosh]

I was researching and read about the Scottish longships and galleys of the Hebrides. They were said to have been really fast like a viking longship, with as many as 40 oars. I can't imagine many more fearsome a sight than a bunch of Scotsmen in a long ship coming your way

[@bruadarach8914]

Great video showing what can be done with bare hands, knowledge and patience! Thank you

[@TheWirksworthGunroom]

The best of luck with it, a fine ideal and a great project.

[@josephinegibbs3902]

Loved the boat animation building itself in the air to help me understand what John was describing and then sailing away on the loch! Beautiful film and inspiring content.

[@DanielSMatthews]

My ancestors were from Aberdeenshire in the area surrounding Cairnorrie, and other parts, so I really appreciate what you guys are doing keeping the culture alive and being proud of your heritage while also thinking about how to grow it further so that it is a living culture yet true to its root. I live in Australia, which is a bit of a prison island at the moment, but I hope to bring my entire family to visit Scotland one day, including all five kids. The Scottish sure get around, my wife is Mayan indian from Central American, but one side of her family are descended from members of the Campbell clan!

[@terranaut]

Hi Daniel, my family is also from Aberdeenshire with the surname Milne, which became a protectorate of the Gordon clan (I think).

[@AspiringSpaceWizard]

Here Take my seed lassy !!

[@nomoremaybes]

That's the only boat I've ever seen that I'd want to own. Very cool.

[@tongos9]

My man John !!!! I know him from school! I also done the boat building at plockton high school☺️ best class I’ve ever taken

[@robertbrunston5406]

Very cool boat! Thank you for.

[@nicklaskallman280]

Very interesting video! I work with building and renovating wooden boats in Sweden.

[@tsampadi]

De Mystifying boat building 🤣 What a pair of heroes . Loved it but kept having to check I hadn’t dropped an acid tab. There was one guy With a modified Peaky Blinders hat on head and a modified bagpipe under his arm , taking to to the other lad who was building a kind of Lochness Monster🤔 I was surprised to find out that the Scots came up with the Coracle and when they made the point of 40 drunken Scotsman coming ashore from a longboat,just couldn’t help but consider what that would have been like if they were in coracles , they must have been running in circles for a couple of hours 🤣 Thanks Lads you made a happy man very old Cheers

[@iamrichrocker]

such a mystic landscape...Lord of the Ringish...lol..love your jacket too..

[@marksadventures3889]

Great graphics with a heart warming story there Tom. Slainte. What a good day to have a dram with a good man like that. Good luck John.

[@ThrashingBuddha]

I get a stiffy from watching stuff like this. Can you tell the lad to start making youtube videos about him making boats, please?

[@mathesonwoodcraft5774]

Then prepare your hard-on to be maintained, well into the future. As that's exactly what I'm planning on doing. These skiffs I'm about to embark on building, are going to be documented from concept all the way through to the final build process. And the success of the crowdfunding campaigns I'm running to get me started, depends on how thoroughly and quickly I can get about to producing the films. So honestly man, if you're keen- fire as little as £1, or whatever your local currency, into the campaign and it will make all the difference. When it comes down to providing exposure, these crowdfunding websites boost things that get lots of activity.

[@DonP_is_lostagain]

I spent every summer in my youth on the Chesapeake Bay and I can tell you, that's one beautiful craft. Going to contribute to his campaign. Slainté! DonP

[@NJRangerGeorge]

What an amazing experience. Thank you for taking us on the journey with two lads.

[@tuerkefechi]

Wonderfull video

[@brianshields7137]

I was lucky enough to have been able to live and work on cocos keeling islands and had access to the klunes ross library with some historic boat designs most of the hand made boats of the islands are of traditional highland craft and are still in use and of course in the museum there ,the craft on cocos were all used as working boats

[@quimblyjones9767]

I like how you are diversifying

[@JayCee-tp2gv]

Very interesting

[@patrickrobinson8040]

The editing was interesting, especially when he was describing how he will build the boat

[@angelikahagner2227]

What an Art of Hand work, a greate Symmetrie. A Masters Shipp

[@loveblues9633]

I love the vids but the cuts and the filming in the video just makes it hilarious especially on some whiskey

[@bentnosewp]

Donated to his cause

[@mathesonwoodcraft5774]

Thank you very much :)

[@lowden347]

Thank you347!!! 3 dimensional plane observations in wood is very difficult!!! I’m an Ironworker, technically I can FIX a mistake... JOHN, very nice work!!!...7

[@blister4walken]

Fascinating. Great looking boats. Once this lockdown is done i'm grabbing my highland gear and heading up to Scotland for some bracing weather and scenery.

[@iangibson6819]

I used to live in Lowestoft And my friend still does

[@HauntedCJ]

The boat dude was a bit stoic and serious.

[@igoriouspitchpuckington1594]

This is awesome! His craftsmanship is immaculate! Would you ever consider doing a coracle build/camping trip? Since rivers were the highways of the Isles, a small, portable, woven boat would have been a necessity for many

[@Itsjustavy]

some of this editing is crazy, love it!

[@achilliaroberso9366]

Really enjoyed watching this content, very intrigued by by this young mans process in the projects, the future. I’m sure that he will be successful. 👍

[@kaiabea280]

This was so beautiful, thank you

[@archONtour]

Driven guy, with respect and awe

[@sofiaduran4241]

Great video and boat!

[@michael.bombadil9984]

Beautiful boat. Living on the coast of NC, US, the boat in the video would be a skiff or a johnboat, perfect for the out of the way places that the power boats have dominated. It was great to hear you make a distinction between locals innovatorlng and commericalism. The powerboats have ruined us, and it took less than 30 years.

[@lukasmakarios4998]

Ask your friend if he plans to build one six times as long as it is wide? And add a square sail in the middle, to give the rowers a rest. That would be really cool... as a cross between Vikings and Clipper ships. It would be interesting to see how that one takes to the water. It should be really stable, and fast too. If he wants, he could put a motor in it, for backup, or to replace the rowers. And a more modern sail wouldn't hurt. The result would be a nice little yacht.

[@rainydaylady6596]

He seems a tad young for a midlife crisis. Loved this video. 💕🖖☺️

[@fletcherbullock7291]

I love the video it was so informative! I've been really wanting to get into boat building with traditional tools and I'll take this as a sign

[@thetraditionalsailor]

Very good lads!! Agree with most of the comments that the editing could be toned down a wee bit, but overall an excellent job of individual artistic style and keeping it real at the same time. Best of luck to you both in your creative pursuits; the builder and the story teller. My family originated on the east coast south of Edinburgh, now in Canada.

[@Feelicitasy]

PSA for anyone feeling weird in their head because of the fast cuts and the wide and fast camera sweeps: set speed to 0.75. Makes listening to Tom and John a bit more difficult, but it's worth not puking from motion sickness. Tom I loved the content, but I'd be very glad if you could try a less hectic editing style

[@ChAri764]

awesome video, really interesting stuff

[@j.t.leavell226]

Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first. Charles de Gaulle

[@peterward4005]

"If there is going to be a disaster we would of known about it by now" -captain edward smith😂

[@darrenwallingford7560]

good interestig

[@lukebello9646]

Is their any record of kilts being worn on boats? Or did highland boatman prefer trousers? There’s probably very little record but I would just imagine that if someone fell in the kilt could end up being quite cumbersome. Awesome keep up the great work!!

[@epayne]

I checked the website to see if he was still making boats and it said the site no longer exists. I trust he's still at it regardless.

[@andyn3532]

Whatever you guys are on share with the class 😂

[@RoundPea]

Anyone know where I can get Johns hoodie/jacket thing? looks amazing

[@josephlongbone4255]

There is a reasonable amount of evidence that the Picts were a extensively sea faring people: lots of their rubbish contain fish bones; their skeletons contain lots of fish carbon isotopes; most of their settlements are by the sea; and Pictish culture was primarily displaced on the mainland by the kingdom of Alba and on the islands by the sea-faring Norse to form the "Viking" kingdom of the isles. When I say displace, I don't just mean invaded but also that they intermixed until the old cultural identity was lost and a new one was formed.

[@bobmar1y]

Ok what did they use pre-viking contact?

[@filminger5096]

This is very cool but I laughed so many times because of the editing howling laughing

[@corujariousa]

The clothing you are both wearing in the video, do you usually wear it or just to set the atmosphere for the video?

[@mattjohnson312]

yo bruh whatever editor u hired really screwed u props on having the balls to say fuck it and post this

[@groundfloorguthrie]

This was an excellent video, but I absolutely *loved* the Kodachrome-esque look at 11:05! I don't know if that is yours or John's doing, but that sequence and the ones following are absolutely gorgeous... well done!

[@nobledust2202]

I think its funny how you can tell he speeds up the bits where the guest talks lmao

[@TheTraveller09]

Love the work, look to credit based economy and Clifford Hugh Douglas if the economy is an issue

[@williameddlewis4625]

this is what traditional boat builders have been saying for years better quality and less impact al we need is the sustainable wood

[@eldaytripper2]

Yer a fuckin legend Tom

[@hellhound9318]

Will this be new series of videos It seems interesting

[@matthewmorrisdon6906]

I am surprised he left out an important part of a Highland boat as the sail. The Highland Clans Morrison, MacKnightly, MacLeod, MacAulay, MacQueen, MacLean and MacKinnon are unique to the Hebrides. MacDonald claimed Ulster. The sailed boat would connect them.

[@dougsinthailand7176]

Nydam boat, 4th century AD, the earliest clinker-built boat find but of course not the earliest ever. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nydam_Mose#Nydam_boat

[@mathesonwoodcraft5774]

Nice find man, dunno how the existence of this one slipped my knowledge. Kudos.

[@MrMindWorx181]

How much are they looking for They don’t say

[@hudsonhornet6558]

Why does he look like witgar from the last kingdom 😂

[@David-lu4gq]

This is some dramatic editing. But good content, nice to watch.

[@noeyedeer3202]

Hey now, shortbread may only be a wee part of our culture. When you live in a country where it's hard to come by, it's a big miss!

[@TheEldritchArchives]

Great video! but what the hell is going on with the editing? I feel like im taking crazy pills.

[@MeganSmithers]

okay so this is not the right video to watch when i’m awake at 2am bc i’m nauseated

[@StreetBoi69uk]

There's authentic nationalism that you describe and base nationalism that is just a proxy for ignorance and personal inferiority issues. But no one should be allowed to besmirch your love of land, ancestry and culture. Nice one Tom!

[@Wizam007]

editing was really wierd, felt jarring and like the whole thing was on a very fast playback speed, also the sound was very glitchy and sometimes too fast for the natural speed, other than that another fantastic video with great content!!

[@asmith7876]

In general I love your videos but wow...the cutting, jumping, zooming....please don't do that anymore! Beautiful boat!

[@ConquerCollin]

This editing is taking a lot away from the substance of the video. The topic is interesting trying to be fancy with the camera just takes away from the topic

[@piccalillipit9211]

*PLEASE RE-UPLOAD THIS* without the crazy editing - I am really interested and want to watch it - but on my 27" iMac I am feeling sick by the 3 minute mark and have to abandon it...

[@epayne]

*quarter life crisis😂❤