I'm a fan of the Stevensons' designs myself having built their MiniCup.
There's a strong builder support community for them at http://www.byyb.org -
which include several Skipjack builders. Bolger builders have also built
themselves a strong community as well.

Based on your criteria, you need to decide what compromises you are willing
to make. Obviously you can pick up a used boat as many would suggest
although I personally believe that it is possible to build a boat for less
than you can buy and refurbish a used one for - if you are building a small
boat and if you don't worry about the level of finish. You also need to
honestly think about how you are going to use the boat - is your entire
family actually likely to want to participate and making a boat that will
safely hold four people makes it quite a bit bigger boat than one that will
hold just yourself or you and one child. It also depends on how large said
people are.

One simple design to consider is David Beede's "Summer Breeze" -
http://www.simplicityboats.com/summerbreezetemp.html You could also
consider building yourself something like that, or even one of Gavin Atkin's
"Mouse Boats" - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mouseboats/ just to get
something to get you on the water.

Additionally, you need to consider sea conditions - you say you are on the
coast - if the sea is rough at all, you will need a much more stable boat
than many of the easily built plans can accommodate - most of them,
including the ones I mentioned - are intended for calm inland waters.

No matter what your decision - good luck.

--
Andrew Butchart

http://www.floatingbear.ca



"Jim B." wrote in message
news:m8iGb.445165$Dw6.1352034@attbi_s02...
Ok. I live in a small coastal town in New England where the Dory was
snip

Please comment and advise. I am looking for boat plan recommendations,
similar experiences, tips, tricks, help with making it cheap,

--Jim B.