Chapter 38 - 14: Rainy Night (Part 2)
The raft played a crucial role in this.
According to the data on the blueprint, the raft Chen Zhou needed to build was three meters long, two meters wide, with a double-layered bottom to prevent seawater from wetting the cargo.
To ensure smoother navigation, he also planned to install a simple anchor and sail on it.
Having never used oars before, Chen Zhou was skeptical about whether he had the skills to row the raft successfully.
Under such circumstances, having more power options was undoubtedly better.
Roughly estimated, once built, the safe load capacity of the raft, excluding Chen Zhou and the anchor and sail weight, would be around 150 to 200 kilograms.
During transport, the cargo on the raft must not stack on one side; it must be balanced in weight from front to back, left to right, to avoid capsizing.
When loading cargo, it’s also necessary to estimate based on the safe load range, preventing overload accidents, and avoiding inadequate cargo that would waste time.
For the four main frames of the raft, Chen Zhou planned to use the two spare boom poles stored on the ship.
In fact, the thickness of the main mast boom was more suitable than the spare poles, but Chen Zhou didn’t have the courage to climb up and saw off the main mast boom.
Cutting the main mast directly from the base would not only waste time but also create unnecessary danger.
Weighing the pros and cons, the spare poles were a better choice.
After selecting the frame materials, Chen Zhou moved the toolbox, poles, planks, and spare mizzen to the spacious mid-deck and began making a rope measure for measuring length.
During his last physical examination at work, Chen Zhou’s barefoot height was 1.84 meters.
Now, he needed to mark his height on the wooden wall against his scalp, find a rope long enough, cut it to 1.84 meters, and then determine one centimeter’s length through repeated folding and cutting.
This one centimeter might not be accurate and could have a 1 to 1.5 millimeter error, but it was the fastest and simplest way Chen Zhou could think of to determine the length unit.
With a reliable rope measure, Chen Zhou marked with the dagger and ink, beginning to cut the two poles into four appropriately sized sections.
These four wooden posts would be the front and rear beams and the left and right side beams of the raft.
The left and right side beams needed an extra twenty centimeters because the ends of these posts needed to be chiseled into square tenons that could insert into the front and rear beams, which would be integrated into the beams once assembled.
Propping the boom pole end on a pile of planks and wedged two triangular blocks under the round wooden post to prevent it from moving, Chen Zhou began the monotonous physical labor.
The carpenter’s toolbox was well-equipped with long and short saws, all kept quite sharp.
With a fearless drive, Chen Zhou vigorously pulled the long saw.
Amid the sound of poles being torn, wood shavings flew, and his heart rate rose quickly with the physical exertion.
Eventually, Chen Zhou lasted only a few minutes before heaving deep breaths and putting down the long saw, leaning against the planks and sitting dejectedly on the ground, feeling his heart almost leap out of his chest, with a thin sheen of sweat covering his forehead before long.
"Huff~ huff..."
Gasping for air, Chen Zhou even felt dizzy, not expecting his body to have become so weak.
Judging by this, the schedule he had set was completely laughable, completing it on time was impossible even if it killed him.
Staring at the long saw wedged in the wooden post, Chen Zhou intensely missed chainsaws, power saws, and everything about modern industry, but none of these things could exist in this time and space.
Expecting help and to slack off was even more impossible.
He was the only one on the entire isolated island; unlike a cement factory, if you don’t work, someone else will. Smoke a cigarette, go to the bathroom, play on your phone, or just loaf around; either your shift ends, or the work is inexplicably done, without such hard work, with no room for laziness.
After resting motionlessly for a moment, once his heart rate calmed, a wave of hunger arose.
No choice, Chen Zhou spent some more time making a simple breakfast, filled his stomach, met his physiological needs, and reluctantly returned to the deck.
This time, there were no excuses for slacking off; even if he was exhausted, he had to keep working.
The entire morning, Chen Zhou was caught in an endless cycle of frenzied sawing and collapsing to rest.
Having not engaged in heavy physical labor for too long, his weak muscles were barely usable, and at lunchtime, his fingers trembled uncontrollably as he held a spoon, like someone with Parkinson’s disease.
But what could be done about that?
Chen Zhou couldn’t complain to anyone; only a dog which would never understand him was there.
He did have the power to freely manage his working hours and could rest at any time.
But the storm loomed like a slave master with a whip, watching him closely, ready to whip the internal torment of guilt into him at any moment of slackness, depriving him of peace.
Only working hard could he temporarily escape the suffocating sense of guilt.
Before starting the afternoon’s tasks, Chen Zhou checked the beams he had already cut.
He found that although he began sawing with the blade nearly perpendicular to the surface of the pole, the cross-section of the finished pole was not smooth but severely slanted, needing further adjustment.
𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Fortunately, Chen Zhou remembered to allow for carving material, deliberately leaving an extra four centimeters for correction to prevent unexpected situations due to inadequate skills. He could later use a chisel and axe to gradually smooth the cross-section.