Day #286 Consistency and Being Even Keeled – Character Development, Week #41

I grew up with a dad who enjoys sailing, so I understand the purpose and importance of a keel. Discover boating says of a keel “it prevents the boat from being blown sideways by the wind, and it holds the ballast that keeps the boat right-side up.” It helps the boat stay in balance and not lean to one side, causing it to stay afloat. I think it’s a perfect parallel to the consistency we’ve been talking about this week. We don’t want our personality and behavior to become unbalanced and unpredictable. There are times to be spontaneous, but when it comes to character, we want to have God as our keel so we can stay stable and not drown in this thing called. life.

Today, we made boats out of ice. I wanted to just make ice, but I couldn’t figure out how to get both a mast and sail from both ends. So, instead I was satisfied with keeping it in a small Tupperware container. I filled it with water and then stuck it, with nothing in it, in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then, I opened it and checked. It was starting to freeze, so I poked the straw in. The straw still wouldn’t stand up straight, so I put it back in for 10 minutes and checked again. It was fairly hard but still soft enough to stick in the staw, so I put the straw in, and it still leaned a bit. I kept the straw in and put it back in for five minutes. After that time, I straightened it one last time and then left it alone to let the straw set and the ice harden.

In the mean time, we made a sail for our boat.

I used a cork to act as the keel. Not a good idea…cork is boyant.  Well, on to the rest of what would work if you used a better material for a keel…  I used hot glue to attach it. I didn’t want to melt the container, so I put it on the cork first, let it cool a bit and then attached it before it was solidified. I was able to talk about the concept of being even keeled. I also talked about keeping God as our keel because he will always be there to help us make our lives and character more consistent. I also showed them a picture on the web of a boat and its keel.

When we put our boats in the bath tub, I realized my colossal fail. I think we’ll try it again sometime. Both ships didn’t float well anyway because I didn’t let them harden all the way (ran out of time), so they just didn’t stay afloat. I wonder if the straw was too long and the paper too heavy too. I’m not sure. I hope the whole concept wasn’t lost because of them watching our ships get destroyed. You could try to make an ice boat…I googled it, and there are successes. You might want to try another method of making a boat with a keel. I found a good one for you on Martha Stewart’s website.