Dreaming of Smaller Boats

Schock's definitive family sailboat doing what it does best. Photo by S/V Desdemona

  This will end up being one of this rambly posts that those of us in the boat building/owning blogsphere are infamous for. I have several already on this very blog so add some wood to the fire, get a good foot reast and bile up a pot of tay. We need to talk about the next boat.
 Have no fear for Essie dear reader. I still have great plans for her. This season will be new standing rigging, new sails and continued improvements overall to increase the livability and performance of her as a scheduled daysailer.When it comes to introducing friends to sailing or going later afternoon cruising on a bay there is no better boat that I can imagine. As I've sailed her this season I can't help but think that W.D. Schock had it right when he figured out her lines. Truly a classic boat and a joy to have on the water. But I can't make her become what she is not no matter how hard I try. She will never be an limited expidition solo sailboat.
  Sure I could keep trying to cram her into a space she really doesn't belong. There are plans to really try and make her capable of spending the night in a bay somewhere in relative comfort. And I think that can happen. And one of her slightly older sisters did make the Texas 200 successfully. But how well designed was the boat for that application? She's at home cruising with four people out for an afternoon or dashing around buoys and at that she excels. In fact I'd put her up against any vessels in her class, all comers. But the downsides to solo work are higher then I'd like.
 She really is a crew boat. At least one other hand is so nice to have it's almost a necessity. From rigging and launching to tacking and retrieving it's better with four or more hands. Her weight of 310lbs is rather unmanageable with one and even with a stick going forward will always be a chore. She has no kick up rudder and her hull is not for dragging up a beach.
 So I need another boat. Again. We've been down this road before. I've kicked around the Mayfly 14, the Cartopper, a PDR. All of these boats have several things in common. All are wood. All are homebuilt. And all can be had for cheap. And now a new entry has entered the fray and it's ticking all the boxes and then some. The Piccup Pram.
 With my current health finding a small light boat is something I need to consider. And at 100lbs the Piccup seems to fit that bill a bit better then my current boat. And at 11' it is a bit easy to store and maneuver on the hard. Room for sleeping aboard according to her designer and space for a few days worth of stores. Kick-up leeboard and rudder and great beaching ability. A boat that is able to sail Frenchtown pond one day and Dayton Bay the next.
 I'll continue the research but I would not be surprised to find plans on my front stoop in the next month or so. It's been awhile since I've actually built a boat and the thought of making form out of nothingness excites me a bit. But more-so is if done right this will be a boat for sailing, not building. But good workmanship will be it's own reward. And when I want to simply go mess about with a boat perhaps later in the day and closer to home, a Piccup will allow me to do so. And that is something I've been missing.