In The Beginning

First there was a sailing trip, and a return home, and time on land with no boats, and then a motor boat. But over time I started to miss the sailboat. Then a friend of mine acted as a care taker on Jewell Island one of the Maine island Trail islands.


I went out there in the motor boat, but I started thinking about getting back under sail. My wife as a result of the first sailing trip mentioned above - hates sail boats to some degree. But she'll get over it. I put the Island Trail together in my head with a sailboat, my son (some day),and some sea based camping.

So in the end, I wanted a boat, and I wanted the perfect boat for camping on the Island Trail and sheltered Maine waters. I wanted something to do as a creative outlet. So I decided to build a sailboat after seeing some of the "stich and glue" boat plans at http://www.bateau.com/. But I'm not a woodworker, and I'm bad at taking accurate measurements, and I sometimes don't have alot of patience. So I decided to do an experiment first and build a basic canoe. It was made from two sheets of plywood and some fir strapping - epoxy, fiberglass etc.

I learned that I might actually be able to pull of a bigger boat. I made mistakes, but I learned alot and I think the canoe will actually float.


So this is where the beginning ends and the next stage - the Cat Ketch 17 (CK17) begins.