St. Paddy's Day

Today is St. Paddy's day, my favorite holiday tied with Thanksgiving. No real work on the boat. Green beer and wings at Chicago Dogs, and then home to find most of my fiberglass and application tools etc. on the porch. All this, ten sheets of plywood and paint will - I hope - one day be a boat.

Before I Could Sail

Before I could sail, I want on a sailing trip. That's one the that really inspired this boat from the beginning. Florida, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic. I miss the boat days. Especially in February

and March in Maine. So one of the things that keeps me going on the boat and on cold days in February and March is the way those days felt.

Every New Beginning

So after the canoe, which started fast and finished slow, it took me a while to get started on the CK17. Getting out and buying the first sheet of plywood was the key. Here in Portland Maine the place to for the elusive marine grade plywood seems to be Maine Coast Lumber.

Once I got some wood and started cutting I got back in the groove and I've been on a roll ever since. Right now I have just about everything cut out. A dagger board, lifting floor and a couple pieces of the rudder are all that are left.

So for a couple three weeks its been all about the measuring, remeasuring and cutting.

I got metric plans - and I like them - no fractions.

My trusty Craftsman 3" circular trim saw is my best friend. I can cut a decent line and a fair curve with it.

I think I must read through all the plans and instructions at least a couple times a week and I think I see something new each time, or come up with a question for the forum. I've not had to ask a question yet, but there are lots of answers already there.

Of the parts I have a healthy respect/fear for - I'd say the dagger trunk is at the top of the list. It's cut and kind of mocked up, but it sits in the corner mocking me until I need to deal with it.

I have a couple helpers but the quiet one was out there tonight

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.