Mentoring.

After Christmas I found myself in the position of mentor to two groups of students. The activities involved were ones that I’d expressed great interest in pursuing further and the tradeoff was that I would learn about what it is to lead a group of students.

Firstly, I spent a week teaching the basics of the magic of steaming, putting new timbers into Lilian, with a new group of six students each day from Southampton Solent University.

Secondly, I spent a fortnight engaged in an advanced lofting process for our victory class yacht. This was my vehicle for teaching the principles of lofting to my own junior colleagues who had just graduated joinery.

Both experiences were surprisingly intense work, and very positive. I learned a lot about communication and patience, and the occasions of seeing a light bulb come on in another’s mind as understanding clicked were well worth it.