PAY AS YOU GO

Building has some advantages: you know the boat inside and out and you can have it your way, whatever that may be. Probably the best argument is that you can spread the cost out over time – too often, lots of time – by paying as you go. Building yourself means labor is "free" and you can implement strategies to save money, such as creating a plain interior with the expectation that you will finish it later. In the end, you have a custom boat that is debt free.

But the most important reason is that I truly want to do this. Building a boat yourself is rarely the best decision, economically or otherwise. In my mind, that doesn't make it wrong. Boat building is a labor of love. As many have said, if you want to build a boat, great. If you want to go boating, buy something and get out there. I really want to build a boat.

What to build was the next question. I tend to be interested in the power world, although I certainly saw plenty of attractive sailing craft. I even dabbled with designing my own, and looked at some correspondence marine architecture classes. I examined various trawler plans by George Buehler, Michael Kasten and the like. These were nice boats, all ocean-capable world cruisers.

Time passed. More time passed. The activities and planning continued. Somewhere along the line, I told my young son that I was going to build a boat. Let me give you a hint: do not tell a 3-year-old something and expect them not to remember it – or to keep it quiet. He has been and continues to be patient, but occasionally I would hear "are you working on the boat plans?" or "when are we going to build that boat?" He wouldn't complain, but it would give me a little wrench. This was something I wanted to do. This was something I wanted to do with him.

HULL CONSTRUCTION

Over time, the trawler love gave way to various European designs. The Dutch Barge is still a favorite. I explored the possibility of obtaining plans from several designers for a version suitable for U.S. coastal and river cruising. This entire round of European design research led me to lean heavily toward a steel hull. I still think that might have been the best solution. But a lack of experience – I have never welded – and a lack of a place to perform noisy, messy steel work led me in another direction. Fiberglass is also a good material, but the required molds and support equipment for a one-off hull makes it impractical. Ultimately, all roads led to wood. But that one choice is something I could expound on for pages.

As a way to combine and structure all my research, I started a blog. That got me a bit more organized and busy with it all. The flip side is that being busy researching and updating web pages isn't being busy building a boat. I ordered and read books, hung out on design and building forums, and read tons of mailing lists. I found there are always multiple sides to an argument. Boat builders are as opinionated as any group – and often both sides are right, depending on the boat and the body of water.

Photo courtesy of Mildred's Cove BoatshopA Bluejacket 25.5 was under consideration. Pictured here is the Bluejacket 24.