I couldn’t go canoe camping anymore so I needed a new approach.
Plan A was a very traditional old school double ender in need of “TLC”. I couldn’t fix it enough to use it. Plan B was a less antique design but still quite old little wood sailing dory. It also needed “TLC”. Repairs on this one were less esoteric but my ham handed approach hadn’t been sufficient.
So I took on a 60 payment financing plan for a sloop. It’s a brand new, deep keel, two masted, 30′ fiberglass sailboat. It has a 15 HP outboard and all the electronic gadgetry; fuel injection, GPS navigation, VHS coms. It has a berth for sleeping and a galley for cooking. I also ponied up for a membership at the most exclusive marina in the state and have monthly slip fees.
Ha ha ha… of course I didn’t do that! Curmudgeons do things the hard way!
I started working on Plan C. My third attempt (but who’s counting?). I would rise above my inability to repair pre-existing boats by building entirely from scratch. In an abundance of caution (which was wise) I’d build the simplest, smallest, crudest, boxiest, sailboat you’ve ever seen!
I selected a ridiculously “simple” boat plan. Almost an insult to hydrodynamics. It would probably make anyone at a marina laugh and throw rocks at me. But screw them. I needed to start somewhere and how many people in a marina could build the boat they own?
This isn’t to say I was merely fabricating a toy. All reports indicate the very small boxy design is surprisingly seaworthy for its diminutive size. I think of it as the VW Beetle / dunebuggy of the sailboat world; tough and usable but crude, small, and slow. Also, it’s said to be fun… which, when you get right down to it, is the whole point. Most importantly, I’d build every damn inch of it. At the very least I’d know how to fix it when I (and this is almost guaranteed) inexpertly sailed it straight into a wall.
My “design specs” were that it had to carry myself and a week’s gear across lakes that would eat a canoe but nothing more. I would not mess with blue water, fast currents, or ocean level challenges. There are no passengers in my plans and it didn’t have to be fast. Settling on a squarish design meant it was easier to build but I wouldn’t win any beauty pageants. Speed is almost irrelevant. I only needed to travel at the speed of canoe (which is ridiculously slow). Later I added that I needed a gentle craft that a novice could handle alone.
This was to be my learning boat. But first, all hell broke loose…