So this is interesting - I'm setting up a new blog (something I've not done before). I always swore to myself that despite working in the IT industry for a number of years, I wouldn't set up a blog and add to the general detritus of the internet unless and until I had something to talk about. Hopefully, having kept that promise to myself thus far, this new blog will have something to say!
So what is this all about? As I've said, I've been working with computers for many years, and built countless numbers of them for myself, friends, relatives, etc. I've built shelves, some basic furniture and turned my hand to a reasonable number of around-the-house DIY projects, but had a growing craving to have a crack at something a bit more challenging - something I could point at and be proud of. Equally I guess, something non-IT related - something "real". Working at an IT company, I'm surrounded by people who are experts in some very technical areas, but can be impractical to the point of being unable to wire an electrical plug - I've always prided myself on having some in more practical interests (as well as some admittedly geeky ones!)
I've been around sailing for most of my life - I learned to sail when I was about 10 on the Norfolk Broads, somewhere I love to be. I've taught and sailed on dinghies and yachts, but sailing a traditional gaff-rigged cruiser on the Broads (especially given at times you are a 30ft boat on a 50ft river) is something special.
Choosing to build a boat has been somewhat a journey for me - I've become quite keen on the concept of a "trailer-sailor". A trailer-sailor, as its name suggests, is a boat that can be sailed, but is small enough to trail. This term appears to be bent a great deal depending on who you talk to - anywhere from a rowing boat to a 28ft boat being pulled by a serious 4x4, but I guess my definition is somewhere in the middle: A boat with a cabin, but small enough to be pulled behind a sensible car. I'm thinking along the lines of something that the children could enjoy when they're older for creek-crawling camping trips where they can hide below with colouring books and sleep, but not so big and grand it has to live in a marina.
I'll admit to a few false starts in this vision. I was swayed by the (somewhat plastic) charms of the MacGregor 26 (you'll also note it doesn't really fit my criteria above). Its an interesting design, a water-ballasted boat, weighing little on your trailer, but heavy when sailing. The downside is the compromises involved - a flat underside to enable high-speed planing under engine, a water tank in the bilges (which in turn forces higher cabin sides and freeboard) and a lacklustre rig. To some extent, a jack of all trades, master of none. In truth, absolutely all boats have compromises in their design, but understanding what they are is important so that you can decide if they suit your style of sailing. The MacGregor is too large a boat for me to trailer, and the ability to plane under engine doesn't interest me, giving me an unnecessary compromise in sailing potential for a flat bottom which will likely slam in a seaway.
I also looked at the miriad choices of other trailer sailor designs - dehler 21, cornish crabber, sailfish 18, parker 21, red fox, tide 28, etc. Whilst I didn't have any particular problem with any of them, the overall choice is baffling. What was also bothering me is that I'd read in my sailing magazine a good article on towing boats, and one of the first things you'll find is that what you are towing should not be more than 85% of the weight of the towing vehicle. That in itself limits what I can pull to 1100 kgs (including gear and anything else on board the boat when towing) - I decided to look at something smaller.
I'd always loved gaff-rig boats, though I've only seen them in Norfolk or down in Cornwall (I'm in Hampshire). I started to look round the internet and came across what I can now describe as a dream boat for me. Its noticeably smaller than the designs mentioned above, but easier to tow. At not much larger than a dinghy, it was the PocketShip that caught my eye. The idea of building a boat myself really appeals because I will have total ownership of the boat and understand a lot more (I'm not daft enough to say "everything") about it when sailing. I would have something that I can look at and be proud of, a lovely gaff-rigged boat which I can single hand, take the children out in (even let them sail on sensible days as the forces in the rig aren't prohibitive) as well as bobbing up rivers and teaching them to fish.
I guess I'm also savvy enough to know not to be swept off by a dream. If this is going to happen, I want to make sure its not going to become an expensive garage-filler that I'm not completing. I'm obviously conscious of the fact I have a young family, and I want to be sure I have the time, the skills, the drive and enthusiasm and that I'm not going to be banking on time I don't have to achieve this. To this end, I've decided to build a "test project" first. The PocketShip is designed and sold as a kit from clcboats.com, who primarily make Kayaks. As I like kayakking, and a kayak doesn't take up a lot of room, this intruiged me, and allowed me to try out a clcboat design to gauge how likely it was I could take on something larger.
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| Photo from Wooden Boat Magazine |
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