Why Not?

I'd like to talk about those crazy off course idea's you get when building your own wooden boat. Now it should be noted I'm of two minds on the subject. One one hand you should follow the plans. The designer knows what he's doing. Unless he doesn't.
There is something amazing about how a rather logical act such as building a wooden boat, the process that is not the actual act, can be so corrupted so quickly! In Year of the Boat Cheek makes the comment that humans want to be around beauty. And this I think explains why people love "boaty" looking boats. The lines and bowsprits, gaff rigs and ships wheels. I'm not immune. Look at my first attempt the Harley 8', it had belying pins for goodness sake! So I've once again entered on the path of going overboard when I don't need to. I may complain about people wanting to be boaty over a boat that works and I'll continue to do so. But this is a boat destined to be in public and I desire a certain look. There. I said it. If I wanted true performance I'd build a Goose. And I still might.
The Summer Breeze is inspired by the Bolger Teal. The Typesetter has one and it's a nice little boat.Clean lines, sturdy and when sailed right, brisk if not fast. A mutual friend of ours, the indomitable Andrew Linn built a Teal then turned the hull over to a friend and out of this came a miniature windjammer, the Anna Discors.

Stolen Shamelessly from www.sleepingschnauzer.com

This damn boat has been a thorn in the side for both The Typesetter and myself. We keep returning to it in conversation and moments of whimsy when we get to discussing "What if?. That whole beauty thing I'm guessing.. Now for those of you who've kept up on my boat building adventures I have the predilection to make small boats look bigger. Just wrote to Andy about the Anna Discors and he came back with "It's a hole in the water you have to push around" But the fact is he has a decent Subaru with a trailer. So as of now I'm fairly limited to pushing around holes in the water.
The gaff rig has always fascinated me. I actually came up with one for the Wawona but my mast and spars at t the time were not up to it. Hate to be tangential but here is a shot from the first time I laid eyes on her namesake back in 2008. She has since been documented and dismantled.

I have loved the look of the schooner and it's gaff rig and think it's time I build my own. It's not an impulse but a  long held desire and sometimes you have to follow those desires to see where they lead. It's said every boat you build gets a bit more complicated and closer to the boat you will ultimately build. I'm not sure what I want yet in the end but a forty foot schooner would be a pretty good place to end up. Of course a jib on a small boat can end up being more trouble then it's worth. But if done right it'll add a bit of beauty to an otherwise utilitarian craft and maybe my love of the gaff rig can be satisfied.
I'm also going to attempt something I've never done before either and that is a centerboard and trunk. The idea of cutting a hole in the bottom of a boat terrifies some but I think it'll be much easier in the long run then trying to deal with a leeboard. Leeboards and I have never gotten along well. I get that they keep the interior of the boat open and they don't require a trunk but I think I'd like to go a different route on this boat.
Of course I have to do the above while still maintaining the "Desire List".
Well I think that's out of the way I can let this blog go quiet again for a bit. For those interested here are links to the Summer Breeze page and that of the Anna Discors. And remember nothing is written in stone. And if it is a good chisel and some time can take care of it!

Passion is the Fuel for The Fire of the Soul

It's still a pretty hard winter here in the Big Sky Country. But a short session at The Typesetters house has ignited the boat building passion once again and I thought it deserved a blog post. But I'll start at the beginning.
Once the cold and snow settled here I was set on my next boat. The eight foot PDR inspired Cabin Cruiser known as the Ocean Explorer (OE) by  Perttu Korhonen with technical assistance from Mik Storer. For those living under a rock for the last few years a PDR is a boxy boat with great performance and is in fact a racing class. The OE adds a cabin for one person camp cruising.

From Duckworks.com

It has a full set of Storer foil and rig plans and would out perform just about any other 8' camp cruiser or open sailboat on the water. I had been lusting after it after I saw it on Duckworks and decided to pull the trigger and order the plans. The plans alone were worth the money. It's all in metric and some of the measurements are carried out to a tenth of a millimeter.  But as I pored over the plans a bit of apprehension hit me.
I knew I could build this boat. But could I build the boat in the time frame I had set out this summer? The Western Montana Home Built Boat Association has a messabout scheduled for June 24th on the Mighty Flathead Lake. And I'm planning on attending the Center For Wooden Boats Home Built Boat Show in July sometime. So with the worst winter in years  I was looking at a shortened time line as I work outdoors.
Building a boat is not a big deal but the OE is a different kind of cat then I'm used to. There is lamination, curves galore and a fit and finish that while nice does not lend itself to a very quick build. If done to plan it would be rather expensive if done right and I'd need a trailer and a hitch to get it around.
So knowing my timeline I've been sweating the last few months on how I"m going to get the money to get all this done and then find the time. Or find the time and then the money. It simply wasn't coming together.
Part of the OE's appeal is the ability to sleep on it comfortably. Well as comfortable as you can get in an eight foot boat with a cabin on it. This would save me paying for a hotel room in Seattle.
I finally decided I would simply throw my eight foot One Sheet Skiff Trudy C. on the roof of my 1970 Beetle and get it to Seattle. The boat is done and ready for a show, but I'd have to sleep in a hotel. Simple as that.
Enter a book. The Year of the Boat by Laurence W. Cheek. It chronicles  the build of a boat very much like the ones I've build and others that have been considered these long cold months. As I read it, skimmed it is more like it, I was returned in an instant to what building a wooden boat is all about. The fear. The trepidation. The hope and the unknown. And the urge to build a new boat hit me like a thunderbolt from the clear blue. I honestly was surprised. The last few weeks have been karate inspired and getting in shape and other martial goals. I had to get up in The Typesetters kitchen and pace. It was like electric energy and I had to satisfy it.
When starting this blog I laid out a series of considerations for my next boat. I'll put them up here.

• The ability to carry more then one person safely and comfortably.
• A proven design with a greater build history then the Harley 8. 
• Enough room to sleep one in relative comfort, and if not carry the gear to allow it.
• "Instant" construction using plywood.
• Small car compatible, either on top or behind.

Those requirements have not changed. The plan a long time ago, at least in blog time, was to build a Michalak Mayfly 14. But that entered into trailer land and for the foreseeable future that is not going to happen. Enter the Summer Breeze by David Beebe. An 11' 8" Day Sailer based on the Bolger/Payson Teal.

The plans are free. She'll carry two without fuss and sleep one semi-comfortably. Good amount of freeboard and room for floatation boxes. Able to be car topped and built in the style I'm used to. Not only that I can get into a 3D hull in about $70.00 and take it to the nines if I'm financially capable. So there you have it. Once again my future boat has changed. And it may well change again. But I'm on a mission now. I'm planning on getting the lumber next month. I have a place for dry storage so I'm not too worried about buying it early.
There are a few things I want to do with this vessel I've not yet done but have been advised to do so. Chief among them is cap the top of the hull with the gunwales. That'll hopefully stop the checking issue that cheap Luann can be notorious for.
And I may yet build the OE. It looks like a well thought out, very capable boat. But I don't think it's the boat for me, right now. But I will have the plans if I get a wild idea as I'm known to. But I'd rather be sailing then building and I only have till June!
For all my readers I highly suggest The Year of the Boat. Boat Building is a madness but one I'm privileged to share with home boat builders across the world from every walk and avenue of life. So if you'll excuse me I have boats to go dream about and voyages to plan that are yet to be taken. Passion is the fuel for the fire of the soul. And it feels very, very good to be alive.