Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Let's keep going before we change our mind

As of yesterday we are past the point of no return. Before if the project fizzled it would have been a private disappointment. But now that money is being spent and supplies are on their way, wives and girlfriends will also be upset if this doesn't end in a working boat!

The only progress we can make without the materials list and the plans is to order the epoxy and source the plywood. We've decided on WEST epoxy from Jamestown Distributors and meranti plywood (for the stems and rudders) and okoume plywood (for everything else) from Boulter Plywood.

We've bought all the resin we'll need but, because we don't know the build schedule yet, only some of the hardener. We got slow hardener to start out during the summer but if the epoxy work drags out into the fall and winter we will have to switch to fast hardener for the rest.

The plywood and lumber we can buy locally and save on shipping. That trip will wait until after we review the plans with the added benefit of spreading out some of the expenses.

Hopefully there is something we can take a picture of soon because we all know that's why people read boat building blogs.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

What have we gotten ourselves into ...

For the past several years I've wanted to build a wooden boat and my friend Cam has been sitting on plans for a 17' beach cruising Wharram catamaran. We eventually realized this and decided it was time to built a boat together. This will be his build and his boat, but I will be documenting for posterity.

Turns out he can't actually find the plans that set this project in motion so we've ordered a fresh set with the optional gaff sail plan and we'll put together a materials list when they get here.

We hope to splash in time for next season, wish us luck!