Jim,
I am also having a dilemma of similar substance and financial restraint. I
do believe it can be done though...with advice from people all over the
world (I am from Australia) and lots of questions to the right people in
chat rooms for boat building etc there are lots if you look.
I am an ex boat and aircraft builder, so am in the position of knowing what
I want and how to do it (not used ply before - which is what I will be
building my boat in) but have no money to buy the stuff DOH!.
I am now scouring the usual places where "stuff" can be found
cheap...building sites, second hand places etc.
I would suggest though, that you invest in decent quality plans with "how
to" stuff included with the plan package. These are generally written for
people with little or no skills in boat building (no offence :-) and are
very good for the first time builder.
Good luck with your search
Rod.
"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
invented (at least that is what I have read). Ever since we moved here, I
have wanted a boat. But we really can't afford one. It is very low on
the
financial needs list. But I have two kids (5 and 7 yr old) and I think it
would be great to have them grow up sailing with me and maybe even on
their
own. But enough with the hopes and dreams....
A little background on potentially pertinent skills...I did some sailing
as
a teen in a tiny sailboat called a Laser (??) and I loved it but only had
the chance a few times. My woodworking/building experiences consist of
shop
class in 8th grade and 3 years of drafting class in high school. These
days
I do not own any power saws. Once in a blue moon I might pick up my hand
saw and cut a 2x4 for some reason. As for other experiences, I majored in
and taught high school physics. Eventually, I found myself in a computer
tech job.
I have been trawling the internet for plans, advice, building materials
costs, building journals, etc. I actually started this little obsession 2
years ago but then it went away for a while. My wife is not sold in this
idea at all. Anyway, this is what information I've got so far:
-The boat has got to have an LOA of 17' or less. I want to build it in my
garage and keep it there for storage (haven't considered the length of a
trailer though). It is a two car garage and is 17'10" in length. One of
the doors is 5'10" in height, and 7'8" in width.
-I want the boat to hold two adults and 2 kids.
-I want a sailboat not a powerboat.
-I think I should build a small boat first.
-I also think it should be a plywood boat. I would prefer the first boat
use
less than 6 sheets of 8'x4' plywood. It looks like the initial big cost
will be in buying plywood sheets and around here that looks like $50 a
sheet
for marine ply. So if I could do this with 4 sheets to start the first
boat, then if my wife saw me build a cool boat with 4 sheets, then I
could
go bigger in the years to come. (At least it sounds like a good plan...)
-I realize the sail will also cost. So, adding oars to the first small
boat
might be the way to go and experimenting with plastic tarp material for
cheap.
-Plans I have considered for the first little boat:
*Some of stevenprojects.com plans
(http://www.stevproj.com/SailDingh.html) as well as the 11' skipjack
Stevenson published an a book in the 70's Sailboats You Can Build.
*Optimist Dinghy (http://www.optiworld.org/ioda-intro.html)
*Canoe (but I do not think I want to do this one since I couldn't
sail it) - http://www.bateau2.com/free/cheapcanoe.htm
-Plans I have considered for the bigger boat:
*Weekender http://www.stevproj.com/PocketYachts.html
*Bolger's Micro - This one seemed better then the Weekender
http://www.boatdesign.com/micro/
*Sztrandek (probably not a good one since the plans are free and
there will be no support)
http://www.zeglarstwo.3miasto.pl/sztraeng/sztrengl.html
Please comment and advise. I am looking for boat plan recommendations,
similar experiences, tips, tricks, help with making it cheap,
--Jim B.