For nautical people it could be confusing to have someone mention both Samson and Delilah posts.  In the picture you will note the Samson post in front of the mast step.

As an aside to explain why I specifically remember the mast step term, I remember looking around for a ‘step’.  Then, I was concerned because the mast was going to sit on top of this movable block thing.  Big Boat Man explained that the mast is the kind that will come down and go up as required, like when the boat goes under bridges.

One of his friends has called dibs on taking the boat up the Waikanae river to the foot bridge in Otaihanga Park.  He wants to drop the mast, anchor the boat on the upstream side of the foot bridge, put the mast up, and then sit and watch.  He peels with laughter when imagining the morning dog walkers standing around trying to figure out how that big sailboat got under the foot bridge.

So, back to the posts.  BBM explains that the boat needs something very sturdy for anchoring or other such activities requiring stability for the boat.  Ah, I say, so will we also have a Samson post in the back for when we pull up the nets?  I like that idea, anything having to do with stability and sturdiness surely could be replicated around the boat.

A few days later, I find BBM installing two posts in the back of the boat, shorter and not quite so broad as the front Samson post.  He said he liked the idea of having a couple of posts to use for fishing purposes.  Why two?  Because the boat needs to be balanced.  And are these optional on the scow drawings?  He looks at me and says no, it’s his boat and he can add two posts if he feels like it.

I think of BBM’s cooking and how he explains that you need to follow the recipes in a new kind of cooking until you understand the basic principles that work with that style. Then you can deviate from the recipe.  He has reached a point of doing what he wants with the boat because it has become his own design.

By this time Brynn has joined us.  If the front post is called Samson, what are the two in the back going to be called?  Samson and Delilah?  The titles stuck, and are now always referred to as Samson and Delilah.  All three of us know exactly what part of the boat we’re talking about.

And today, the day before SuperBowl LI, Big Boat Man is shaping Samson and Delilah in preparation for final painting.  Hourglass shape?  Of course, a womanly hourglass shape!

Well, I had to ask because all kinds of shapes have been used.  When BBM first turned the boat over and started forming the topside of the boat, he noted the French curves to Brynn.  She must not have been listening because all she caught was his reference to curves and thought he was talking about her.  I won’t go into how that misunderstanding got sorted.